The Sounds & the Sequence

A free structured-literacy quick reference · Reading Forge by Ace Schools

Each entry shows a speech sound with a keyword picture-word — the keyword contains the sound, though its spelling may differ. Vowels use a breve (ă) for a short sound and a macron (ā) for a long sound. Long-vowel sounds have several spellings (a_e, ai, ay…), taught across the sequence below.

Consonant sounds

bball

ddog

ffan

ggrapes

hhat

jjellyfish

kkite

lleaf

mmonkey

nnest

ppig

rrobot

ssun

ttap

vvan

wweb

yyo-yo

zzebra

ngring

Consonant digraphs

shshark

chcheese

ththumb · unvoiced

thfeather · voiced

whwhale

zhtreasure

Short vowel sounds

ăcat

ĕegg

ĭigloo

ŏorange

ŭmug

oobook

Long vowel sounds

āsnail

ēbee

īspider

ōboat

oomoon

ūuniform

R-controlled & other vowel sounds

arcar

orfork

er/ir/urbird

airchair

earear

awpaw

oicoin

owcow

əladder

Spelling patterns you'll also meet

ck/k/ · duck

tch/ch/ · catch

dge/j/ · bridge

qu/kw/ · queen

x/ks/ · fox

The scope & sequence — ten regions

1
The Ember HallFirst letter sounds & formation
PreK–K
2
The Coal YardShort vowels + CVC blending
K
3
The Twin AnvilsConsonant digraphs
K–1
4
The ChainworksConsonant blends + FLOSS & -ck rules
Grade 1
5
The Silent TowerMagic e (VCe)
Grade 1
6
The Twin RiversVowel teams (ai/ay, ee/ea, oa/ow…)
Grades 1–2
7
The Growler's DenR-controlled vowels (ar, or, er/ir/ur)
Grade 2
8
The Great BellowsDiphthongs, soft c/g, silent letters
Grade 2
9
The Splitting HallsSyllable types & division; schwa
Grades 2–3
10
The Rune ArchiveMorphology: prefixes, suffixes, roots
Grades 3–4