Phase 4 · Set 14
Sounds: starting clusters (CCVC)
Tap a card to hear its sound, then say it. Look at the pictures. Tap the letters to blend a word.
Listen and say
No new letters in this set. Look for two sounds side by side and say both: frog, drum, stop. Each sound keeps its own sound.
Look and say
frog
drum
crab
clock
flag
Tap to blend
Tap a letter to hear its sound. Tap the play button to blend the sounds into a word.
Read it
The frog can swim and jump in the pond.
Now play
For grown-ups
What to do: let your child tap a card, listen, and say the sound back. Then look at the pictures and say each word. Finish by blending a few words and reading the sentence together. Ten minutes is plenty.
Mouth tips
Say each sound in the cluster separately, then run them together. Do not add a vowel between them: say t-r-ap, not tuh-ruh-ap.
Tricky words in this set: there, little, one, do, when, out, what. See the tricky words page.
Follow your own programme. This order follows the general Letters and Sounds phase order (GOV.UK, 2007, now historical). Schools in England choose their own phonics programme. The DfE publishes a list of validated programmes (there is no legal requirement to use one), and each programme orders the sounds a little differently. If your school has one, practise in its order and use these pages for extra listening and reading.
More: phonics notes for parents and teachers, phonics phases explained.