Phonics Videos

This is the FREE version of "Phonics Time." Some videos may be up for a limited time.
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If You Want to Be a Reader

If You Want to Be a Reader EduTunes With Miss Jenny from EduTunes With Miss Jenny on Vimeo.

Teaching Tips

This song motivates children to read, and also tells them specific strategies to use when reading. Before and after the song, brainstorm strategies students can use to become better readers.
Note that this song instructs children to "Point to every word." Pointing to words, known as "tracking," is an early reading strategy. As children improve, they don't always need to track words. However, I do often ask children to point to words in the corresponding packets as they sing. The songs are fast--so tracking is helpful to them. I can also see who is reading successfully, and who needs help finding the words.
At the end of the song, students may contribute comments like, "The letters 'ea' make the 'e' sound in 'reader,'" or ask questions like, "What is a topic?" Use contributions to expand on insightful observations and to correct misconceptions.

ABC Fun

Teaching Tips

Knowing basic letter sounds is one of the greatest predictors of early reading success. In 2 minutes, "ABC Fun" exposes children to every letter in the English language, along with basic sounds. In addition, they learn to associate those letters and sounds with pictures. I chose simple examples to maximize letter-sound-pictorial associations.
Use the chart in the Phonics Time book to chant this song out of order. Ask students how they want to chant...Backwards, vertically down the chart, etc.
Students may:
- Contribute simple observations, such as pointing out that "b says ball"
- Demonstrate misconceptions, such as confusing "b" with "d;"
- Make high-level observations, such as noticing that "walrus has two syllables divided between the l and the r."
Use all comments as mini-formative assessments as you expand all students' knowledge and clear up misconceptions.

Letter Sounds

Teaching Tips

In "ABC Fun," children learned to associate letters and sounds with pictures. Now, children spend 30 seconds reviewing sounds in isolation.
Assess students' knowledge of letter names and sounds using the assessment in the Phonics Time book.
Reinforce this song with flashcards. Focus on letters that your child missed in the assessment. You can use cards with letters and pictures to support early learners, or cards with letters only for more advanced learners.
Many children get confused by differences between the letters b,d,p, and q. Focus on these letters periodically.
As adults, we don't think much about how letters sound. Studies show that children who can correctly pronounce individual letters and differentiate sounds in words become better readers and spellers. Help children to pronounce words similarly to the pronunciations used in the song. Note that I've chosen pronunciations based on a highly-trusted, time-tested program called Orton Gillingham.

All Rhymes End With the Same Sound

Teaching Tips

The ability to rhyme is one of the greatest predictors of early reading success. "All Rhymes End With the Same Sound" exposes children to 12 sets of rhyming words in just over a minute. They learn "phonemic awareness," or the awareness of sounds in words, when they listen to this song. Early readers will notice simple spellings, e.g., in can and fan, while more advanced readers can focus on more advanced spellings, such as the "ou" sound and the ending blend "nd" in "round."
Play a game I call "Find Your Family." Write words that are appropriate for your students' levels on cards. Ask children to close their eyes. Give each student a card, and ask children to find their rhyming family partners. They can then get in front of the class and share their rhyming words along with any insights about the spellings.

Beginning and Ending Sounds

Teaching Tips

Before and after this song, ask students to name the beginning and ending sounds of various words. You may want to use words from the song, students' names, or words that you are studying. Alternatively, ask students to generate words as other students name the beginning and ending sounds.
Students may notice things like, "When you change the 'b' in 'bar' to a 'c,' you get 'car,'" or "The letters 'ck' make the /k/ sound in 'duck.'" Reinforce students' insights and correct misconceptions with mini-lessons.

Build a Word

Teaching Tips

"Build a Word" teaches the skill of "blending," in which children blend individual sounds to make words. To reinforce this skill, teach children to put up one finger as they say each sound. For the word bat, they can put up their thumbs as they make the /b/ sound. They can put up their first fingers as they say the /a/ sound. They can put up their middle fingers as they say the /t/ sound. Then, teach children to move their fingers like a blender as they say the word.
Higher-level readers may also notice interesting spellings in words. The song starts with short vowel words and ends with more advanced words to meet a broad range of needs, over a period of time.
Students may notice things like, "If you change the 'b' in 'bat' to an 'h,' you get 'hat,' or "I notice two things about the word 'shine.' The 'sh' makes the /sh/ sound and the magic e makes the 'i' have a long vowel sound."

Break It Down

Teaching Tips

"Break It Down teaches a skill called segmenting: breaking words into sound-parts. Early readers should do oral segmenting exercises every day. Give children a word, and challenge them to "break it down" into its sounds. More advanced readers will notice interesting spelling patterns in this song as well.
Teach children to karate chop their arms as they "break down" words. At the beginning of a word, they can chop at the top of their arms. They can chop by their elbows for the middle sound, and by their hands for the end of the word.
You may want to give each child four blocks. Teach them to tap one block for each sound they hear in a word. (Note that most words in this song have three sounds.)

The Sentence Song

Teaching Tips

Over my 20 years of teaching, I'm continually shocked when children grades K-6 forget sentence basics! This 30-second reminder is so important that I've included words here, along with another video featuring motions below.
As always, ask children what they notice about the song. Comments may range from, "I found a question mark" to "The word exclamation has four syllables. I can clap them: Ex (clap) cla (clap) ma (clap) tion (clap)."

The Sentence Song: Motions With Miss Jenny

Teaching Tips

Encourage children to do the motions with me!
Note how I turn my body to form a question mark properly. I'm always impressed with aerobics instructors who can hold up their right arms while telling me to hold up my left arm. If you are also challenged by this skill, you may want to turn your body as well!
When students forget, e.g., to end a sentence with a period, sing this song together as a reminder.
Do editing exercises. For example, after students write a story, say, "Color all capital letters yellow. If you forgot to begin a sentence with a capital, don't worry. You can change it now," or "Color all periods orange. If you forgot a period, add it now."

I Know Words: Short Vowel Sounds

Teaching Tips

In the song "Beginning and Ending Sounds," children focused on the first and last sounds that they heard in words. Now, they are focusing on the short vowel sounds that they hear in the middle of words. Play the "vowel sound game." Say a word. Ask your child to identify the middle (vowel) sound in that word. This oral activity helps children to become aware of sounds in words.
I've used the color red next to the contrasting color blue as a research-based way to emphasize the short vowels in words.
Ask children to blend words and point out interesting observations about the song.

Short Vowels, Short Vowels, Short Vowels

Teaching Tips

Children officially learn the term "short vowel" in the song "Short Vowels, Short Vowels, Short Vowels." The words in this song follow a simple spelling pattern: a consonant, followed by a vowel, followed by a consonant (also known as the 'CVC' spelling). This is an extremely common spelling pattern in the English language. It is also a simple pattern for children to read and spell.
Make sure that children have a strong understanding of how to read short vowel words before focusing on long vowels. Review the letters a, e, i, o, and u from ABC Fun. Color these letters red in print to focus your child's attention on them. Note that my entire Early Phonics program (available HERE) focuses exclusively on short vowel words and common sight words. This more advanced program includes long vowel words to challenge advanced students and higher-level readers. You may want to supplement with Early Phonics if your children need more support.
I teach my children that the short vowel symbol looks like a smile. It's happy because the words are spelled just like they sound. The smile "falls flat" for more complex long vowel words!

I Know Words: Long Vowel Sounds

Teaching Tips

This song introduces the concept of the "long vowel sound" to children. Some will benefit from hearing the sounds, while others will make observations about the interesting patterns in the text.
Observations may range from "I see the letter 'o'" to "The word 'spoke' has a beginning blend made by 's-p' and it has a long 'o' because of the 'magic e' at the end of the word.'"

Long Vowels, Long Vowels, Long Vowels

Teaching Tips

Long vowels can be a very difficult concept for children since they can be spelled in so many ways. For this reason, children are exposed to them many times on this CD. They were first introduced to long vowel words in "All Rhymes End With the Same Sound," "Build a Word," "Break It Down," and "I Know Words: Long Vowel Sounds." These songs have helped to ease them into a formal discussion about long vowels. The next song, "That Magic E," teaches the simplest spelling for long vowel words. "I Know Vowels" helps children to compare long vowel words to short vowel words. Other songs like "Special Letters," "2 Vowels Together," "Letter Tricks," and "Word Family Fun Part 2: Advanced Spellings" give children examples of more difficult long vowel spellings
As stated above, make sure that children have a strong understanding of how to read short vowel words before focusing on long vowels. Review the letters a, e, i, o, and u from ABC Fun. Color these letters red to focus your child's attention on them.
A sample student comment may be, "If you change the 'long i' in 'kite' to the 'o' sound, you get 'coat.' Look at the differences in the way those two words are spelled!"

That Magic E

Teaching Tips

The "magic e" spelling is the most basic long vowel spelling pattern. This song explains how the magic e works with all five vowels, and it gives children many examples of the magic e "in action."
Ask children to sort the words in this song (and/or other words) by their vowel sounds.
I have a HUGE "Magic e" practice set, including flashcards, phonics readers, and more, available HERE.
As children begin to master the "magic e," teach them about short words that end in vowels, like "we," "be," and "no." We can "close" the vowels with consonants to make the vowel sounds short, as with "well," "bet," and "not." Of course, if we add "e" to "not," we get "note."
There are other reasons to add "e" to a word. I tell children that these are "other kinds of e's," but only the "magic e" makes short vowels long.
- One reason is when a word should end with v. Someone somewhere decided that English words never end with "v." Therefore, "have," "give," and "love" end with "e." There is a "Have, Give, Love" song on "Early Phonics."
- The letter "c" says /s/ when followed by "e," "i," or "y." The "e" helps it say the /c/ sound in words like "voice."
- The letter "g" says /j/ when followed by "e," "i," or "y." The "e" helps it say the /j/ sound in words like "orange."
- There is a vowel sound in every syllable. Therefore, syllables like "lit/tle" include an "e" for this reason.
- The "e" can also be used to keep singular words from looking like plurals, as in "house" and "purse."
- Other words have "e's" for unknown reasons, such as "some," "one," "come," "done," "were," and "where." Perhaps they were pronounced differently at some point. As children notice these types of words, I just say, "What an interesting pattern. Let's look for more words like that."

I Know Vowels

Teaching Tips

Children compare short and long vowel sounds using pictorial examples in "I Know Vowels." Your children should already know the short vowel examples from "ABC Fun." Now, help them to remember the long vowel sounds with the images in this song. You can also teach children that each long vowel "says its name."
Observations may range from "I notice that 'a' has a short vowel sound in 'apple' and a long vowel sound in 'apron,'" to "I notice that 'c' says /k/ in 'cream,' /s/ in 'ice,' and /sh/ in 'ocean.'"

Vowels and Consonants

Teaching Tips

"Vowels and Consonants" reviews the letters that usually make vowel sounds--a, e, i, o, and u.
Children also learn that "y" can make a vowel sound (in words like "sky," "gym," and "funny"). Children will study "y" as a vowel in the song "Sounds of Y."
The letter "w" helps vowels (in words like "grow" and "now"). Children will study these spellings further in the song "Two Vowels Together."

2 Words in 1 Fun

Teaching Tips

This song gives children a great start for short, daily word games. Tell them to be on the look-out for words-within-words everywhere they go--in books, on signs, in the grocery store, and more.
In this video, the longer part of the word is colored red, while the smaller word within the word is blue. Teach children to color-code words-within-words.
Work with students to create riddles: How long is the longest smile? A mile. Why are the mice cold? Because they're standing on...ice!

Sounds of G

Teaching Tips

Teach the phonics pattern, "G usually says /g/. It also usually says /j/ when followed by e, i, or y."
Stop the video to show charts about sounds of g. You'll notice that there are charts showing sounds separately, one that shows sounds together, and a Venn diagram that includes words with both sounds.
Create charts similar to the ones in the video featuring students' suggestions for "g" words.
As you read with students, e.g., in reading groups, stop to discuss spelling patterns from this song.

Sounds of C

Teaching Tips

This song is intentionally similar to "Sounds of G" since the spelling pattern for "c" is similar.
Teach the phonics pattern, "C usually says /k/. It also usually says /s/ when followed by e, i, or y."
Stop the video to show charts about sounds of c. You'll notice that there are charts showing sounds separately, one that shows sounds together, and a Venn diagram that includes words with both sounds.
Create charts similar to the ones in the video featuring students' suggestions for "c" words.
As you read with students, e.g., in reading groups, stop to discuss spelling patterns from this song.

Sounds of Y: Long Version

Teaching Tips

This song uses a "mystery theme" to help children learn the sounds of "y." If they think of the sentence, "You are a spy who solves a mystery," they can remember the sounds of "y." "Y" says /y/ at the beginning of the word "you." At the end of a one-syllable word (like spy), "y" usually makes the "long i" sound. At the end of words with two or more syllables (like mystery), "y" usually makes the "long e" sound. "Y" occasionally makes the "short i" sound in the middle of words like "mystery" and "gym" as well.
You can point out that "i" makes all the same sounds as "y:" They both say /y/ in "yo-yo" and "onion." They both make the "short i" sound in "Jim" and "gym." They make "short e" sounds in "pretty" and "piano." They make "long i" sounds in "spy" and "mine."
The letter "y" also helps other vowels to make sounds, such as "ay" in "say," "ey" in "hey" and "key," and "oy" in "toy."
Work with children to create a chart with additional "y" words for each category.
See the video below for a shortened version if children no longer want to solve the mystery!

Sounds of Y: Short Version

Teaching Tips

This short version of "Sounds of Y" is for students who already solved the mystery of the word "mystery." Use it to review sounds of "y."
Continue charting words that follow the four "y" patterns. Play sorting games to help students to remember the sounds of "y."

2 Vowels Together

Teaching Tips

"Two Vowels Together" introduces your child to 18 different concepts, with 3 examples of each, in less than 3 minutes. I've included interesting spellings like "oo" with slightly different sounds in "look" vs. "cool" together to help children recognize interesting spelling and pronunciation patterns. Children will also see that "ea" and "ee" can make the "long e" sound; that "oa" and "ow" can make the "long o" sound; that "oo" and "ue" can make the /oo/ sound, and that "ou" and "ow" can make the /ow/ sound. Also, "ow" says "long o" and /ow/ in "low" and "cow."
When you see a vowel combination from the song in print, teach children to circle the vowels and discuss the spelling pattern.
Create charts of words that follow these patterns--perhaps one per day. Play sorting games to reinforce concepts.

A Vowel Sound in Every Syllable

Teaching Tips

Before or after this song, ask students to generate words, and clap the syllables.
Try using students' names. Make a chart of students' names showing 1-, 2-, and 3+ syllable names, and sing a version of this song about the class.
I've included a lot of "sight words" that don't follow typical phonics patterns in the "one-syllable" section in order to promote discussions.
When students comment about their learning, they may clap syllables of words or make connections like, "Look at the words 'does' and 'was.' Both have the short 'u' sound made by different spellings."

Beginning Blends

Teaching Tips

Children learned a skill called "blending" in "Build a Word:" They learned to put sounds together in order to make a word. A second definition of the word "blend" (often referred to as a "consonant blend") is when "2 or more consonants that retain their sound when blended." The letters "t-r" in "tree" keep their sounds and make a consonant blend. "S-h," on the other hand, makes a new /sh/ sound in the word "she." Children will be learning about these kinds of words (called consonant digraphs) in Song 22, "Letter Tricks."
Make charts of other words containing the blends in this song.
Students may comment on blends or connect to other learning. Sample comments include, "I see the 'f-l' blend in the word 'flag,'" "The word 'flag' has the 'short a' sound," "I notice two vowels together in the word 'spoon,'" or "I see the word 'rush' inside the word 'brush.'"

Ending Blends

Teaching Tips

Now, children are focusing on blends at the ends of words. This is a more difficult concept than beginning blends.
Make charts of other words containing the blends in this song.
Students may comment on blends or connect to other learning. Sample comments include, "I can either sound out the whole word 'nest,' or read 'n-e-st,'" "All of the words in the first section have the 'short e' sound," or "The letter 'a' makes the 'short o' sound in 'wasp.'"

Letter Tricks

Teaching Tips

In 2 minutes, "Letter Tricks" exposes children to 26 advanced letter combinations, their sounds, and examples. Note that Advanced Phonics (available HERE) gives children more practice with these challenging combinations.
I placed interesting spellings next to each other to help children to generate insightful observations. Expect student comments like "I notice that 'her,' 'bird,' and 'surf' all have the /er/ sound, but they're spelled differently," or "The letters 'o-i' say 'oi' in 'boil,' and the letters 'o-y' say 'oy' in 'boy.'"
Here are some more phonics patterns to discuss with children:
- The letters "ck" say /k/ after short vowel words.
- The letters "ea" say "short e" in "bread" and "long e" in "eagle." Note that they can also make the "long a" sound in "steak."
- The "ng" sound at the end of "sing" is considered to be one sound. Teach children to say "n" by placing their tongues on the roofs of their mouths, while the tongue is in the back of the mouth for "ng."
- The letters "ou" have many sounds. They say /aw/ in cough, /ö/ in "you," /ü/ in "should," /ŭ/ in "cousin," /ow/ in "house" and /ō/ in "soul."

Word Families Part 1: Short Vowel Words

Teaching Tips

This song gives children exposure to many short vowel spellings in a very short time. It's a great introduction and/or review of some of the most common spellings that (together with Word Families Part 2) make up over 550 of the most common words in the English language.
Choose to focus on certain target spelling patterns, or encourage students to point out different spellings to discuss after singing. Brainstorm lists of words that are spelled similarly.
Review the pattern that "ck says /k/ after short vowel words." In this song, children can see this pattern in words that end in "ack," "ick," "ock," and "uck."
Play sorting games in which children sort words with two or more spelling types.
You may also want to hand out cards and ask children to find their word family partners. Once children find their partners, they can share words with the class.

Word Families Part 2: Long and Variant Vowel Words

Teaching Tips

"Word Families Part 2" gives children exposure to many long and variant vowel words in a short time. It's also a great introduction and/or review of some of the most common spellings that (together with Word Families Part 1) make up over 550 of the most common words in the English language.
Again, choose to focus on certain target spelling patterns, or encourage students to point out different spellings to discuss after singing. Brainstorm lists of words that are spelled similarly.
Play sorting games in which children sort words with two or more spelling types. You may also want to hand out cards and ask children to find their word family partners. Next, partners can write sentences containing words or just share words with the class.

Who, What, When, Where, Why

Teaching Tips

This song teaches children to read and spell some of the most difficult "sight words," or words that do not follow phonics patterns. Through repetition, they learn the words "who," "what," "when," "where," "why," "about," "because," and "always."
Don't be surprised if you hear students repeating spellings as they write, and even with friends in the playground--with the same inflection from the song.
Use flashcards to reinforce learning.
As always, ask students to point out interesting findings. One may notice that "wh" makes a different sound in "who," while another may notice that "ou" says /ou/ in "about."

_ight

Teaching Tips

The song "_ight" intentionally sounds similar to "That Magic E." Teach children that the words 'sit' and 'sight' are similar to 'at' and 'ate' because in both cases, something causes the short vowel sound to become a long vowel sound.
As with other songs in this set, encourage children to point out all interesting spelling patterns and connect to learning from other songs. For instance, a child may point out that the "gh" in "rough" is spelled like the "gh" in "enough" from "Letter Tricks."

Compound Word Whiz

Teaching Tips

Children can benefit from listening to this song and "becoming" a compound word: Teach them to hold up one fist for each individual word. They can move their fists together to create the compound word.
Comments may focus on compound words or connect to other songs. One child may point out that "starfish" is easier to read if you read one word at a time, while another may recognize the "all" spelling pattern in "baseball" from "Phonogram Funk."

A Contraction Has an Apostrophe

Teaching Tips

Teach children that a contraction is made up of two words. An apostrophe takes the place of some of the letters.
As with "Compound Word Whiz," children can benefit both from acting out, and from reading, this song. Teach them to clasp their hands together when they hear a contraction. They can move their hands outward to demonstrate the 2 words that make up the contraction.
Students may notice that "n't" always means "not," and that "won't" is a bit more complex than the other words.

Homework Time

Teaching Tips

This song gives children the message that homework time is a "wonderful time of the day." Where in society do they get this message? Let's try to instill a love for school learning, and yes, homework, into our children at an early age. Let your child have
fun with this song! Of course, you can also discuss the print sometimes...
Students may notice that homework is a compound word, point out the "magic e" in "home," comment on the "ight" in "right," or clap the syllables in "wonderful."