Supercharge Your Phonics Routine: 5 Ways to Use a Phoneme-Grapheme Chart in Daily Warm-Ups and Blending Drills

Phonics instruction is at the heart of the Science of Reading, and consistency is key. One of the simplest ways to anchor your instruction and provide repeated exposure to essential sound-spelling patterns is through daily warm-ups and blending drills.

To support teachers and interventionists, we’ve created a FREE one-page Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence Chart that you can print for each student. 

This chart includes all 44 phonemes in the English language—organized by consonant sounds (stops, nasals, fricatives, affricates, glides, and liquids) and vowel sounds (short vowels, long vowels, diphthongs, r-controlled, and other vowels). Next to each phoneme, students will find common graphemes and example words.

This isn’t just a reference tool—it’s a daily-use powerhouse. Here’s how to make it part of your students’ daily phonics practice.

Why Warm-Up and Blending Drills Matter

Before diving into new decodable texts or spelling patterns, students benefit from activities that activate prior knowledge, reinforce foundational skills, and boost confidence. Phonemic awareness and phonics drills are most effective when they’re structured, predictable, and brief—just 5–10 minutes a day can yield powerful results.

5 Ways to Use a Phoneme-Grapheme Chart in Daily Phonics Warm-Ups

1. Sound Mapping Practice

Have students choose (or you assign) 3–5 phonemes from the chart each day. Say the sound aloud, then have students:

• Point to the matching phoneme on their chart. You can also laminate the chart for re-use and ask students to circle the matching phoneme with dry erase marker.
• Say the sound and name the graphemes aloud.
• Write the grapheme(s) on a whiteboard or in a phonics notebook.
  
  

This reinforces phoneme-grapheme connections and handwriting simultaneously.

2. Blending Line Drills

Select graphemes from the chart to build CVC, CVCC, or CCVC word lines. Use the chart to help students:

• Identify the sound each letter or grapheme makes.
• Blend the sounds smoothly from left to right.
• Check the example words on the chart to verify or extend their understanding.
  
  

It’s a great way to scaffold newer readers and help them generalize blending strategies.

3. Articulation + Auditory Discrimination Practice

Because the consonants are organized by manner of articulation, you can focus on one type (e.g., fricatives or stops) during a warm-up. Teach students how their mouth and voice produce each sound. Practice:

• Feeling voice on/off (voiced vs. unvoiced)
• Identifying minimal pairs from the same articulation group (e.g., /f/ vs. /v/)
  
  

This deepens phonemic awareness and pronunciation accuracy.

4. Grapheme Sorts

Using the chart, students can do quick 2-minute sorts:

• You say a phoneme (e.g., /ā/)
• Students find all graphemes that represent that phoneme (e.g., a, a_e, ai, ay)
• Students sort a list of words by grapheme and match them to the examples on the chart
  
  

This boosts orthographic mapping and pattern recognition.

5. Personalized Fluency Warm-Ups

Encourage students to use their charts to create their own "sound decks":

• Pick 5–7 phonemes from the chart.
• Write 1–2 words for each from the examples.
• Practice reading them aloud with a partner or independently.

Not only does this build fluency, it promotes ownership of their learning.

Make the Most of This Chart

Your students need repeated, meaningful exposure to the connections between sounds and spellings. Our Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence Chart was designed to be:

• Simple enough for daily use
• Comprehensive enough for reference and instruction
  Aligned with how the brain learns to read
  

Whether you're working with early readers, striving decoders, or ELL students, this chart can become a cornerstone of your daily routine.

Grab Your Free Chart!

Want to start tomorrow? Download your FREE Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondence Chart now and get ready to transform your phonics warm-ups.