Phonics
English schools teach reading through sounds, not letter names. Here you start with the first sound of each word: a picture appears, the voice says sun and you tap the s. Then you read three-sound words by blending them (c-a-t, cat) and spell them with letters. The dots under each letter mark the sounds.
What children practise
- Hearing the first sound of an English word
- Matching each sound to its letter
- Reading three-sound words by blending: c-a-t, d-o-g, p-i-g
- Spelling simple words sound by sound
- Vocabulary for animals and things at home and at school
Levels and settings
Early years
First sound: a picture appears, the voice says the word and you tap the letter it starts with, out of two, three or four. On hard, reading three-letter words.
Year 1
Read a word (no voice) and tap its picture; then spell it with three letters and an extra one.
Year 2
Reading and spelling with two extra letters or pictures that look alike: same vowel, same ending.
How to play it in class
- Choose the year and difficulty, or in More options the level, the extra letters or pictures, the voice and the points.
- Press Start: each team sees the same thing in its half of the board.
- When listening or reading, the first team to tap correctly wins the point. When spelling, each team works at its own pace.
- After a mistake, that half pauses for a moment and the voice says what it was. The first team to reach the goal wins.
Ways to play
In teams, at the same time
The screen splits in two and each team plays on its own half at the same time.
For one player
One child plays on the whole screen at their own pace: on the whiteboard, a computer or a tablet.
Frequently asked questions
Why sounds and not letter names?
Because that is how English schools teach reading: blending the sounds of a word reads the word. Letter names come later.
Do the children need to know English?
No. The words are short, about things in the picture, and the voice says them in British English.
Is it free?
You can play 5 free games without signing up. After that, a one-off payment of €9.99 unlocks all 78 games for ever, on all your devices. There is no subscription.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It opens in the browser of the interactive whiteboard, panel, computer, tablet or iPad. Once loaded, it also works offline.
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