Phoneme/Grapheme Screen Instructions

This screening tool is to help you uncover the phonemes and graphemes which are
not yet mastered by your pupils.

This is not a test of words already learned. This is a pre-test to ascertain which
phonemes and graphemes a pupil has already mastered and which ones we still
need further work.

Make sure that the children know that this is not a test but a way to help you know
what to teach them next.

The screening can be carried out with a whole class or group.

You will need:

 a copy of the word list and sentences

 a recording sheet for each child to write on
 phoneme/grapheme recording grid for each child

Hand out the record sheets to every child.

Make sure that they have pencils etc so you are not interrupted in the middle.

Tell the children that if they cannot work out a word, they can just draw a line
instead.

Read the word. Then read the sentence highlighting the word they should write.
Then read the target word once more. Allow adequate time for them to write the
word before moving on.

There are forty-two words and this is likely to be too much for a child to concentrate
for in one sitting. You could do words 1 – 21 on the first day and 22 – 42 on the next
or some other way of dividing the list.

When they have finished take each paper in turn.

There are target graphemes which you are looking for in each word. Tick the
grapheme on the recording grid if it is correct and place a tick in the end column if
the child has spelled the whole word correctly.

There is a tally at the bottom of each column.

This should give you an idea of where the gaps in the child’s phoneme/grapheme
awareness lie.

Sometime you may need to work on individual patterns and other times on
categories such as suffixes.
Phoneme/Grapheme Screening Word list

1 rat I screamed when I saw a rat in the garden.

2 lick I had to lick the ice cream quickly because it was melting
3 fox I saw a fox chase the chickens.
4 when When will we go to the beach again?
5 this I showed this picture to my friend.
6 jump I had to jump over the fallen tree.
7 gate The gate would not open.
8 glue I spilled the glue and stuck my book to the table!
9 here Put the ball here and I will kick it.
10 kite The kite blew out of my hand and got stuck in a tree.
11 where Where did you put your book?
12 party I can’t wait until it is my party.
13 numb I hit my thumb with a hammer and now it is numb.
14 phone I will phone when I get home.
15 rage He went into a rage when he lost the game.
16 match He lost the match because he was wearing the wrong shoes.
17 knowledge My knowledge of skydiving is poor.
18 quiet ‘please be quiet’, said Dad.
19 green The grass was no longer green because there had been no rain.
20 train I took the train to Edinburgh last week.
21 float I tried to float in the pool but I sunk like a brick!
22 weight The brick was a heavy weight to carry.
23 light I turned the light on when the sun went behind a cloud.
24 hearing The dog barked because he was hearing something strange.
25 straight He drew a straight line on the page.
26 bread Bread and jam fills you up.
27 hammer I used a hammer to mend the fence.
28 willing Are you willing to help me tomorrow?
29 spoil You will spoil the cake if you put on too many sweets.
30 cookies I made cookies with chocolate chips in them.
31 bound I bound the sticks together with string.
32 chewing I saw the dog chewing my shoe.
33 loch We sailed a boat on the loch.
34 enjoy I don’t enjoy running long distances.
35 shower I got soap in my eyes when I had my shower.
36 shouted I shouted to my dog to come back.
37 happiness Happiness is a lovely feeling.
38 pleasure It was a pleasure to help the little girl bake a cake.
39 realisation I came to the realisation that it was too cold for ice-cream.
40 Useable Don’t throw out the box it will be useable for many things.
41 confident I didn’t feel confident before I jumped off the diving board.
42 fortunate I was fortunate that I remembered my rain coat.
Phoneme/Grapheme Pupil Recording Sheet

Name: Date:

Age: Teacher:
Phoneme/grapheme Screening - Answer sheet

Word Initial Final Short Digraph trigraph Blend Long Other doubles Inflected Harder root Correct
Consonant Consonant vowel vowel vowels endings suffix spelling
1 rat r t a
2 lick l i ck
3 fox f x o
4 when n e wh
5 this s i th
6 jump j u mp
7 gate g a-e
8 glue gl ue
9 here h e-e
10 kite k i-e
11 where wh e-e
12 party p y
13 numb mb
14 phone n ph o-e
15 rage r ge
16 match m tch
17 knowledge ow kn dge
18 quiet qu
19 green gr ee
20 train tr ai
21 float t fl oa
22 weight w eigh
23 light igh
24 hearing ea
25 straight s aigh
26 bread d ea br
27 hammer h mm
28 willing ll
29 spoil l sp oi
30 cookies c oo ies
31 bound b nd ou
32 Chewing ch ew ing
33 loch l ch
34 enjoy oy
35 shower ow
36 shouted sh ou ed shout
37 happiness ness happi
38 pleasure ure pleas
39 realisation ation realis
40 Useable able use
41 confident ent confid
42 fortunate ate fortun
42 friend ie fr
43 call o ll
/24 /10 /12 /2 /9 /13 /8 /3 /3 /6 /7 /97
Phoneme/grapheme Screening

Name: Date: Age: Teacher:

Word Initial Final Short Digraph trigraph Blend Long Other doubles Inflected Harder root Correct
Consonant Consonant vowel vowel vowels endings suffix spelling
1 rat
2 lick
3 fox
4 when
5 this
6 jump
7 gate
8 glue
9 here
10 kite
11 where
12 party
13 numb
14 phone
15 rage
16 match
17 knowledge
18 quiet
19 green
20 train
21 float
22 weight
23 light
24 hearing
25 straight
26 bread
27 hammer
28 willing
29 spoil
30 cookies
31 bound
32 Chewing
33 loch
34 enjoy
35 shower
36 shouted
37 happiness
38 pleasure
39 realisation
40 Useable
41 confident
42 fortunate
42 friend
43 call
/24 /10 /12 /2 /9 /13 /8 /3 /3 /6 /7 /97