Digraphs Word Ladders and Word Chaining Phonics Worksheets | Science of Reading

Elevate your phonics lessons and add fun to your phonemic awareness activities with digraph word ladders!

A word ladder, also called a word chain, is a simple tool designed to build phonemic awareness and support decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) skills. Students use higher-level thinking as they substitute sounds to make the next word.

Ideal for interventions, word ladders strengthen letter-sound connections and are perfect for practicing sound substitution and using picture clues.

Included in this resource are 52 printable and projectable word ladders for students to practice reading, writing, and spelling words with beginning and ending digraphs during phonics lessons, at a center, and on your whiteboard with the projectable version!

Teacher scripts enable you to use the word ladders as a guided activity. Answer keys are included for all the ladders.

Digraphs Word Ladders included:

Beginning ch, sh, th, wh

Ending -ch, -tch, -ck, -ng

Easily differentiate the Digraphs Word Ladders with 3 flexible options:

Printable word ladders with picture prompts – Guided teacher notes and a script are provided for you to walk students through sound/letter substitution.

Projectable word ladders with picture prompts – Students climb down the ladder by substituting letters to spell the picture name. Then advance the slide to check their answers. The projectable version is also ideal for modeling sound substitution and how to use the printable versions!

Projectable word ladders with a starting prompt – Students start with one picture prompt and then substitute letters to generate new words.

When to use Digraphs Word Ladders:

• Phonics practice
• Interventions
• Literacy centers
• Small groups & word building
• Whole group phonics lessons
• Review

PowerPoint, PDF, and Google Slides included:

These projectable word ladders are included in PowerPoint, Google Slides, and PDF formats.

NOTE: The Google Slides version is included for teachers who do not have PowerPoint. The Google Slides are designed to project on your whiteboard, as you would a PowerPoint, and are not intended to be used on student devices.

How to use the Digraphs Word Ladders:

Print the black and white word ladders, that come 3 to a page, as instant phonics practice that is perfect for a center.

Print the colored PDF version to use as a phonics center or for small group word-building.

Project the PowerPoint or Google Slides on your whiteboard for an engaging addition to your lesson or to use as a center. Students write the answers inside the rungs of the ladders on the whiteboard.

***Please download the preview to see more details and everything included.

Happy teaching!

Linda Kamp

Around the Kampfire

You may also like these digraph activities:

Digraphs Word Mapping Activities

Digraphs Phonics Unit & Centers