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.
- Free Plan
OW and OU Words - Word Search
Explore "ou" and "ow" words with this set of differentiated word searches.
- Free Plan
Vowel Teams Diphthong Worksheets
Practice diphthongs with this set of fun and engaging worksheets.
- Free Plan
Digraph Coding Robot Mat
Practice identifying digraphs with the help of a coding robot and mat.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Free Plan
Consonant Digraph Cut-and-Paste Worksheets
Reinforce your students' knowledge of consonant digraphs with this set of cut-and-paste worksheets.
- Free Plan
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.
- Free Plan
Medial L Words - List & Flashcards
Practice reading and articulating Medial L words with a list of 50 words and accompanying illustrated flash cards.
- Free Plan
Diphthongs Maze Worksheet
Excite your students to practice their knowledge of diphthongs with this fun clue-based maze diphthong worksheet.
- Free Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Long Vowel O Teams Interactive Activity
Practice identifying the different graphemes that spell the long /o/ sound with this fun boat-themed interactive activity.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Consonant Digraph CH Interactive Activity
Engage students in practicing their learning around the consonant digraph of ‘ch’ with this fun beach-themed interactive activity.
- Plus Plan
Vowel Teams Worksheet Pack
Practice writing and enhancing knowledge of vowel digraphs with this worksheet pack.
- Plus Plan
Common Spelling Rules - Instructional Slide Deck
Boost your students' spelling skills with an instructional slide deck teaching the different spelling rules.
- Plus Plan
Blends and Digraphs Clip Card Reading Center
Practice identifying digraphs and blends in word through interactive Google slides and traditional PDF printable formats.
- Plus Plan
Long Vowel Digraph Writing Worksheet
Learn to encode long vowel digraphs with this set of writing worksheets.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Diphthong Vowel Teams Pocket Chart Cards
Help students visualize and remember the different diphthong vowel teams with this pocket chart sorting activity with mouth articulation images.
- Free Plan
My Diphthong Cheat Sheet
Help students learn all about diphthong vowel teams with this handy diphthong student reference sheet.
- Plus Plan
Diphthong Vowel Teams Posters
Display this set of posters highlighting the main diphthong vowel teams with word examples and mouth articulation images.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Long I Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long i” spelling patterns with this set of differentiated word searches.
- Plus Plan
Long E Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long e” graphemes with this set of differentiated word searches.
- Plus Plan
Long O Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common “long o” graphemes with this set of differentiated word searches.
- Plus Plan
OI and OY Words - Word Search
Explore words containing “oi” and “oy” with this set of differentiated word searches.
- Plus Plan
Silent Letter Words - Reading Fluency Worksheets
Practice identifying the silent letters in words with this comprehensive collection of reading fluency passages.
- Free Plan
Decoding Strategy Poster Pack
Display different decoding strategies in the classroom with this printable poster pack.
- Plus Plan
Silent Letters Worksheets - Word and Picture Match Up
Explore one and two-syllable words with silent letters with this set of 7 skill-targeted worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Silent Letters Worksheet Pack
Use these 5 ghost letter worksheets for practicing the use and identification of silent letters in words.
- Free Plan
Silent Letters Worksheets - Read, Find, and Color
Identify letters that are silent with this set of three find and color worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Word Study List - Trigraphs
Introduce and explore words with trigraphs using a list of 50 trigraph words.
- Plus Plan
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.