Decoding Teaching Resources
Build students' decoding skills with reading activities, printable worksheets and more teacher resources, all created by teachers for classrooms like yours.
This comprehensive collection is filled with resources aligned with both the TEKS and Common Core English curriculums, and each resource has undergone the Teach Starter teacher team's thorough review process. Download resources you know you'll be able to add to your lesson plans immediately!
New to teaching students decoding strategies? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a look at how this skill plays into early literacy development and tips to help your students build their decoding savvy!
What Is Decoding in Reading?
It's something you likely know, but we like to start from the top, so let's dig into the meaning of decoding in a reading context. (Just want some ideas? Feel free to scroll down to our collection!)
Simply put, decoding is translating written words into spoken language.
Need a little more?
In early literacy education, decoding refers to the process of breaking words down into their individual sounds and then blending those sounds together to form recognizable words. As students build their skills, they are eventually able to decode — or read — increasingly more complicated written texts.
The process of encoding builds off of phonics instruction, understanding of sight words, pattern recognition and the use of context clues, helping students become fluent readers with strong comprehension skills.
Decoding vs. Encoding — What's the Difference?
When discussing decoding in early education, we typically talk about reading instruction. As noted above, we teach our students to decode — or translate — the written word into the spoken form.
Of course, we don't do this in isolation. Kids need to learn to encode too, and linking instruction of both has been shown to help students learn to be stronger readers and spellers.
So, what is encoding, and how does it differ from decoding?
In an educational context, encoding is the polar opposite, and we tend to use the term in regard to teaching kids to write. In its most basic forms, encoding involves learning to spell different words by representing the sounds with corresponding written letters.
In essence, instead of translating written words into speech, encoding means teaching our students to translate spoken words into written words.
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OW and OU Words - Word Search
Explore "ou" and "ow" words with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Vowel Teams Diphthong Worksheets
Practice diphthongs with this set of fun and engaging worksheets.
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Consonant Digraph Cut-and-Paste Worksheets
Reinforce your students' knowledge of consonant digraphs with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Digraph Coding Robot Mat
Practice identifying digraphs with the help of a coding robot and mat.
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Th Word List and Digraph Flashcards
Practice reading and spelling words with the Digraph TH with a list of 50 words and accompanying illustrated flash cards.
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Medial L Words - List & Flashcards
Practice reading and articulating Medial L words with a list of 50 words and accompanying illustrated flash cards.
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Diphthongs Maze Worksheet
Excite your students to practice their knowledge of diphthongs with this fun clue-based maze diphthong worksheet.
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Long Vowel Words - Long A Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long a” vowel teams with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Long Vowel O Teams Interactive Activity
Practice identifying the different graphemes that spell the long /o/ sound with this fun boat-themed interactive activity.
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Long E Vowel Teams Interactive Activity
Practice identifying the different graphemes that spell the long /e/ vowel teams with this fun space-themed interactive activity.
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Blends and Digraphs Clip Card Reading Center
Practice identifying digraphs and blends in word through interactive Google slides and traditional PDF printable formats.
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Common Spelling Rules - Instructional Slide Deck
Boost your students' spelling skills with an instructional slide deck teaching the different spelling rules.
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Science of Reading Decoding Strategy Bookmarks and Poster
Help students succeed in reading fluency with this free printable bookmark and poster set of strategies for decoding unknown words.
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Vowel Digraphs Poster Pack
A poster showing words and pictures for various vowel blends.
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Roll and Read Vowel Teams Diphthong Activity
Explore different diphthongs with this fun gamified diphthong activity.
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AI, AY and A_E Vowel Team Lesson Resource Pack
Introduce students to AI, AY, and A_E vowel digraphs with this set of teaching slides and mini activity book.
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Diphthong Vowel Teams Posters
Display this set of posters highlighting the main diphthong vowel teams with word examples and mouth articulation images.
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Vowel Team Dominoes - OA, OW, and OE
Decode words with oa, ow, and oe vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds using this set of 28 dominoes.
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OI and OY Words - Word Search
Explore words containing “oi” and “oy” with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Silent Letter Words - Reading Fluency Worksheets
Practice identifying the silent letters in words with this comprehensive collection of reading fluency passages.
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Decoding Strategy Poster Pack
Display different decoding strategies in the classroom with this printable poster pack.
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Silent Letters Worksheets - Read, Find, and Color
Identify letters that are silent with this set of three find and color worksheets.
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Word Study List - Trigraphs
Introduce and explore words with trigraphs using a list of 50 trigraph words.
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Words With Y as a Vowel - Word List
Introduce and explore words containing the letter “y” making a vowel sound with this y vowel word list.
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Word Chain Worksheet - Beginning L Blends
Manipulate the individual phonemes in words to create new ones with this differentiated word-building worksheet.
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Meet Magic E - Poster and Worksheet Set
Remind your students how words are transformed by the magic e with this poster and worksheet set.
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R-Controlled Vowel Clip Cards-Digital and Print
Build an engaging literacy center or station activity around r-controlled vowels with these digital and/or printable r-controlled vowel clip cards.
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Four In A Row Vowel Digraphs Game — OA, OW, and OE
Decode words with OA, OW, and OE vowel teams representing the long 'o' vowel sound.
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Long Vowel Digraph Writing Worksheet
Learn to encode long vowel digraphs with this set of writing worksheets.
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Consonant Digraph Phonics Journal
Help students remember and record words and examples of different consonant digraphs during your phonics lessons.
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Long Vowel Digraph Cut-and-Paste Worksheet
Reinforce your students' knowledge of long vowel digraphs with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Long I Vowel Teams Interactive Activity
Practice identifying the different vowel teams that spell the long /i/ sound with this fun iceberg-themed interactive activity.