The 1st grade sequence
Step 1: Blends & Digraphs (Level 2)
Two-letter sounds and consonant clusters — ship, chin, that, stop, hand. The next step once short-vowel words feel easy.
Digraph SH
Shelly and the Shag
ship, shop, shed, shell, shut, shin
Digraph CH
Chuck's Lunch
chip, chop, chat, chin, chest, check
Digraph TH
Thad's Bath
this, that, them, then, than, the
L-Blends
Kim's Blocks
black, block, blue, clap, clip, clock
Digraph WH
Kim's Whisk Mix
what, when, where, which, while, whim
Digraph CK
Kit's Lucky Rock
back, pack, rack, sack, tack, deck
R-Blends
Pip's Frog Painting
brag, brick, brush, crab, crash, crib
S-Blends
Shelly's Swing
scan, skip, skin, smell, snap, snag
BR Blend
Brad's Bridge
brad, brag, brat, bred, brick, brig
CR Blend
Kim Cracks Nuts
crab, crack, cram, crash, crib, crop
GR Blend
Gwen's Grand Plum
grab, gram, grand, grass, grid, grill
SP Blend
Pip's Spud Spot
span, spat, sped, spell, spend, spill
ST Blend
Jen's Stuck Pot
stab, staff, stamp, stand, stem, step
TR Blend
Kim's Truck Trip
tram, trap, trek, trend, trick, trim
Blends & Digraphs Review
Kim's Drum Sticks
ship, chip, thin, whip, black, clap
DR Blend
Kim's Pink Dress
drag, drip, drop, drum, drug, drunk
FL Blend
Kit's Nut Hunt
flag, flap, flash, flat, fled, flesh
Step 2: Long Vowels & Silent E (Level 3)
Words where the vowel "says its name" — cake, bike, hope, cute. Magic-e and the first long-vowel patterns.
Silent E — Long A
Kate's Cake
cake, make, bake, lake, take, name
Silent E — Long I
Mike's Hidden Bike
bike, hike, like, kite, bite, hide
Silent E — Long O
Rose Fixes the Cake
bone, cone, tone, zone, home, dome
Silent E — Long U
Jane's Huge Fort
cube, tube, cute, mute, huge, fuse
Silent E — Mixed
Jake's Cake Ride
cake, make, lake, bike, hike, kite
Step 3: Vowel Teams & Advanced (Level 4)
The last of the single-syllable patterns — vowel teams (rain, boat), r-controlled vowels (bird, fort), and diphthongs (coin, cow). Next comes putting them together into longer words.
Vowel Team — AI
Pip's Rainy Train
rain, main, pain, gain, fail, jail
Vowel Team — AY
Jay's Birthday Play
bay, day, hay, jay, lay, may
Vowel Team — EE
Kim's Green Seed
bee, fee, see, tree, free, three
Vowel Team — EA
Pam's Beach Dream
sea, tea, pea, beach, reach, teach
Vowel Team — OA
Ron's Big Boat
oat, boat, coat, goat, moat, oak
Vowel Team — OW (long O)
Pip's Snow Day
bow, low, mow, row, sow, tow
Vowel Team — IGH
Pip's Bright Light
high, sigh, thigh, fight, light, might
R-Controlled — AR
Pam's Farm Cart
car, far, jar, bar, scar, star
R-Controlled — ER
Jane's Purple Fern
her, fern, herd, jerk, perk, term
R-Controlled — IR
Beth's Thirsty Bird
bird, dirt, fir, firm, first, girl
R-Controlled — OR
Ron's Big Storm
for, born, corn, fork, fort, horn
R-Controlled — UR
Burt's Hurt Hen
fur, blur, slur, spur, burn, curl
Diphthong — OI
Jon's Shiny Coin
oil, boil, coil, foil, soil, toil
Diphthong — OY
Kate's Joyful Toy
boy, coy, joy, toy, soy, ploy
Diphthong — OU
Scout's Lost Hound
out, our, ouch, mouth, south, found
Diphthong — OW
Pip's Brown Cow
cow, how, now, vow, wow, brow
Vowel Teams & Advanced Review
Jane's Rainy Day Beach Trip
rain, snow, feet, beach, boat, high
Not quite ready, or already past 1st grade skills? Start with Kindergarten Decodable Books (Level 1) or move on to 2nd Grade Decodable Passages: Multisyllable Words (Level 5).
Browse all decodable readers →