Sound Out turns phonics practice into whole-class games. Start with the phase your class is on, then pick the exact sounds you are working on this week — from first letters to digraphs, trigraphs and alternative spellings — and play: spot the sound in words drifting across the board, sort words into columns by their sound, or let the board read a word out for children to tap the sound they heard. Every word is read aloud, so children hear it as well as see it.
Daily phonics warm-ups pitched to this week's sounds. A five-minute Sound Spotter burst after the taught session. Sound Sort on the board as a plenary, with pupils directing the sorting. Grapheme Grab as a quick assessment — the board says a word, a child comes up and taps the sound, and you hear straight away who's secure and who needs another pass. For Reception before letters begin, Phase 1 covers oral blending, alliteration, rhyming and syllables. And Phase 4 works the way Phase 4 is taught: no new sounds, just words with two consonants together.
Which phonics phases does Sound Out cover?
Phases 1 to 6. You start by picking the phase your class is on. Phase 1 is listening only — oral blending, alliteration, rhyming and syllables. Phases 2, 3 and 5 cover the sounds, from single letters to digraphs, trigraphs and alternative spellings, and you pick the exact ones your class is working on. Phase 4 introduces no new sounds, so it asks for word shapes instead — words with two consonants together. Phase 6 covers the Year 2 suffixes.
What games are included?
Three, plus the Phase 1 listening activities. Sound Spotter puts words drifting across the board for children to spot the target sound in; Grapheme Grab reads a word aloud and children tap the sound they heard; Sound Sort is drag-and-drop into columns. Pick Phase 1 and you get oral blending, alliteration, rhyming and syllables instead.
Do pupils need their own devices?
No. Sound Out runs entirely on the classroom whiteboard — or on a single iPad. There is nothing to join, no codes and nothing to install.
Does it read the words aloud?
Yes — words are read aloud with a clear narrator voice, so pupils hear the word as well as see it. Ideal for blending practice.
Is Sound Out free?
Yes to start. Sign in with a free Sage Teachers account; starting a phonics activity spends one token, and re-starting the same one costs nothing. Every teacher gets 20 free tokens on signing up, and Sage Teachers Pro gives you 30 a day.
More early reading: Read Along for whole-class phonics chants, Spelling Lists for weekly words, and Vocab Mat for printable picture word cards.