iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 12/01/2026

We built a new toy. You can make any letter sequence you want and see what words you learn at each step. Come try it out! Show us your best (and worst) sequences for teaching letter sounds. phonicsandstuff.com/letter-seque...

Letter Sequence Graphs - Phonics & Stuff

See what words students can read as you build a letter sequence. Enter a curriculum sequence, or make your own, to see how many and which words your students should be able to read.

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 12/01/2026

Join us for a virtual event hosted by LearnUp Centers and Phonics & Stuff! I'll be talking about how to use the Phonics & Stuff tools to teach reading. I've broken down 30,000 words so you don't have to! Come learn how this fuels our free games and teaching tools. www.eventbrite.com/e/learnup-sp...

LearnUp Speaker Series - What an analysis of 30,000 words tells us about how to teach reading.
Join us for a free webinar with Julia Shayto, who will be sharing insights on how to teach readign based on extensive analysis of phonics and spelling patterns.
Wednesday, February 4th 2026.
6 - 7 PM PST
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/learnup-speaker-series-with-julia-shayto-creator-of-phonicsstuff-tickets-1979748963443

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 29/11/2025

Explore interconnected morphemes as webs! Similar to a morpheme matrix, a morpheme web shows the variety of words that can be built with a morpheme base. We offer a handful of free ones, while members get access to over 5,000 morphemes! phonicsandstuff.com/morpheme-webs

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 11/11/2025

I've had a great time the past several years. Looking forward to it again!

Emily Hanford @ehanford.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Reposted by Julia Shayto

Sold a Story fans - we've got something new! www.youtube.com/shorts/a94It...

youtube.com

New Sold a Story discussion guides for Episodes 11-14

YouTube video by APM Reports

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 02/11/2025

We have a new daily puzzle! It's a fun way to learn different morphemes, but really it's just an excuse to have another word puzzle for me to play. phonicsandstuff.com/puzzles/morp...

Morpheme Mix - Phonics & Stuff

Play a daily puzzle where you mix morphemes to make words!

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 07/10/2025

It's been a few years, but we finally have a real home page. Plus, a new mascot. Say hello to Nibbles!

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 01/07/2025

We have something new I hope you guys will like! It's a daily morphology puzzle we're calling Morpheme Mix. Every day you'll get a collection of morphemes that you combine in different ways to make words. Let us know what you think! phonicsandstuff.com/puzzles/morp...

Morpheme Mix - Phonics & Stuff

Play a daily puzzle where you mix morphemes to make words!

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 18/04/2025

The subtraction worksheet is available now too! Create subtraction facts worksheets from 0 to 10 for students. phonicsandstuff.com/worksheets/m...

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 18/04/2025

Addition Worksheet Creator Create addition facts worksheets from 0 to 10. Why does a phonics website have math worksheets? Because we do phonics AND stuff. The stuff includes math! phonicsandstuff.com/worksheets/m...

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 02/03/2025

We finished re-formatting another Core Knowledge decodable. We love the high quality story and images, but think they work better when you put the stories and images on a single page. Enjoy! phonicsandstuff.com/decodables#r...

Decodable Readers - Phonics & Stuff

Phonics & Stuff Decodable Readers are free to use! They are labeled with the phonics elements in each one, so you can pick the correct level for your reader.

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 27/02/2025

How often does the rule 'i before e' actually apply? In our database of 30k+ words, 'i before e' occurs 902 times compared to 'e before i', which occurs 226 times. However, if you look at weighted word frequencies (how often a word actually occurs in English), it's a more interesting story.

Word frequencies.
word freq word freq
believe 240 their 68
friend 262 being 158
friends 331 either 407
die 432 received 487
married 547 neither 653
cried 554 seeing 729
tried 567 receive 847
replied 593 eight 864
quiet 665 foreign 1333
chief 692 weight 1475
view 701 seized 1935
lie 752 height 1945
piece 756 receiving 2193
ladies 795 weird 2213

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 14/02/2025

Can't wait for more of this!

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 11/02/2025

We have a new worksheet! Create 'Fill In Vowels' worksheets with customized settings. phonicsandstuff.com/worksheets/p...

Options for creating a 'Fill In Vowels' worksheet.
Number of Words
Number of Sounds
Add Instructions
Add Word Box
Missing Vowels - a e i o u

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 02/02/2025

We just made a new fun tool! Teaching students how to write letters correctly is critical, so we made some simple animations for use in classrooms or at home. Come try it out and let us know what you think! phonicsandstuff.com/handwriting

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Reposted by Julia Shayto

Yoïn van Spijk @yvanspijk.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

'Niece' and 'nephew' aren't the original English words. They were borrowed from French and supplanted native 'nift' and 'neve', direct cognates of German 'Nichte' and 'Neffe'. The French words have the same Proto-Indo-European ancestors so they're cognates too, but very distant ones. Here's more:

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 18/01/2025

On our site you can use Google to sign in now, so you don't have to remember another password. If you previously made an account, you can login with Google and it'll still have all your data. We also added a reminder for which you used to login, because I forget all the time on other sites.

Login page for phonicsandstuff.com with a reminder showing if you logged in with Google or email.

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 05/01/2025

Reposted by Julia Shayto

Cleopatra lived closer in time to 'yeet' being in the dictionary than to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 30/12/2024

Solstice! Completely missed posting this last week.

Morpheme mapping for solstice
sol = sun
st = stand, make firm
ice1 = person, quality of being, action

Word mapping for solstice
Graphemes: s o l s t i ce
Phonemes: /s/ /ō/ /l/ /s/ /t/ /ĭ/ /s/

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 28/12/2024

Here's a delightful discussion I had about our site and ways to make it better. I really like the community that's developing on Bluesky.

Yoïn van Spijk @yvanspijk.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Reposted by Julia Shayto

After a cosy Christmas fire, there are cinders in the fireplace, as well as ashes, which in French are called cendres. 'Cinder' and 'cendre' may look alike but they aren't etymologically related: they come from two unrelated words. However, 'cendre' did influence the spelling of 'cinder'. More:

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 26/12/2024

I see academics complaining that schools are ignoring results of their research, but it might be easier if reading the papers themselves wasn't so difficult. (I almost said arduous, but Flesch wouldn't approve.) www.economist.com/science-and-...

economist.com

Academic writing is getting harder to read—the humanities most of all

We analyse two centuries of scholarly work

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 22/12/2024

What do guillotine and tortilla have in common? They both spell the /y/ sound as “ll” The first comes from French and the second from Spanish. phonicsandstuff.com/wordlist?wc=...

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 18/12/2024

These posts delight me. It speaks to my inner word nerd.

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 18/12/2024

Besides the great engagement, I like the underlying design ethos here. We can control our data and social graph. If for some reason Bluesky has issues in the future, it's easy to pick up and start elsewhere. So, Bluesky is incentivized to be user friendly.

Yoïn van Spijk @yvanspijk.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Reposted by Julia Shayto

'Mansion' has the same origin as French 'maison' (house). 'Mansion' comes from a late borrowing of Latin 'mānsiōnem' (dwelling). French 'maison' was inherited: it evolved uninterruptedly in the spoken language. The i jumped over the s. Click to listen to more words whose i did this: 1/ (thread)

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 15/12/2024

Our flashcard tool is for a student working with a teacher. The student reads a word, then the teacher rates if it was Hard, Medium, or Easy for them. Currently, we only support a few scope and sequences, but plan to add an option for custom ones in the future. phonicsandstuff.com/flashcards/r...

Reading Flashcards - Phonics & Stuff

Practice reading flashcards with a student. Rate a student's response as easy, medium, or hard as part of spaced repetition lessons.

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 08/12/2024

Excellent points here! I think this doesn't apply to just balanced literacy-style levels, but also to other attempts to identify what "stage" or "phase" young readers are in. We need to focus on the specific skills that they are lacking and teach those skills. Otherwise we're just wasting time.

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 06/12/2024

I'm excited to see The Reading League Virginia (@thereadingleagueva.bsky.social) join Bluesky! I've really enjoyed attending The Reading League conferences. The next one is in October in Chicago! www.thereadingleague.org/conference/

thereadingleague.org

The Reading League Conference

Join education leaders and changemakers from across the globe for a multi-day conference focused solely on the science of reading.

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 05/12/2024

We only have 16 words in our database with the 'dj' spelling for the /j/ sound. They're all for words starting with 'adj'. Adjective is one of the more common ones. It's sort of odd that we don't pronunce the 'd' sound, but that's English for you.

Morpheme mapping for adjective
ad = to, toward
ject = throw
ive = adjective form of noun

Word mapping for adjective
Graphemes: a dj e c t i ve
Phonemes: /ă/ /j/ /ĕ/ /k/ /t/ /ĭ/ /v/

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 02/12/2024

These look really cool! I like the layout.

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 02/12/2024

Incorporating vocabulary into real world uses is so important. It gives the brain more ways to remember them. Otherwise, they're just a bunch of disconnected words. This is a great way to tie together new terms students may see in lessons.

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We released a new, free decodable reader! Find out what adventures Gran has on her trip. phonicsandstuff.com/decodables

All Short Vowels and Basic Consonants included
Digraphs: a_e ee e_e i_e o_e u_e th ng sh ch ck wh qu
Word Types: V VC CV CVC VCC CCV CVCC CCVC CCVCC VCCC CVCCC CCCVC multisyllable
Tricky Words: the he she me we be of a I to do who two you your was are
were they their there where what one once some from by my why said says all so no have

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An excellent thread of resources! I use these when adding to our Morpheme Mapper (or just for fun because I'm a nerd.)

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Sadly, this is the case. If a student can't read how can they pass middle school science, English, or other classes?

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Dolly Parton is a national treasure. If you have young kids, her Imagination Library will send you free kids books.

msbenison.bsky.social @msbenison.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Reposted by Julia Shayto

Morpheme Mapper tool. Check it out. phonicsandstuff.com/morpheme-map...

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 29/11/2024

I read this Zig Engleman book after hearing about him on @mrzachg.bsky.social's podcast. It was great but it took me a long time to get through because I had to stop to make notes or read related studies.

Teaching Needy Kids in our Backyard System
42 years of trying
By Siegfried 'Zig' Engleman

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 28/11/2024

The 'ur' in turkey is one of the digraphs for the sound /er/. The most common is 'er' (about 60% of the time), while 'or', 'ur', and 'ir' each occur about 6% of the time.

Word mapping for turkey
Graphemes: t ur k ey
Phonemes: /t/ /er/ /k/ /ē/

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Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 25/11/2024

For anyone that wants to nerd out on the tech that runs our site, check out @ryan.phonicsandstuff.com.

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 24/11/2024

Well, that was embarrassing. The audio for our games wasn't working correctly on the iPhone Safari browser. For how long? Who knows? Who now owns an old hand-me-down iPhone, so we can test these things? That'd be me! Anyway, if you have an iPhone go try our games!

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 23/11/2024

Is anyone interested in beta testing our flashcard tool on Phonics & Stuff? We'd love some feedback before making it public. Send me a DM, if so.

Flashcard with picture and word: cat
Rating buttons of hard, medium, and easy.
A button to flip the card over.

Julia Shayto @phonicsandstuff.com · 23/11/2024

I'm in the Fairfax county schools as a reading interventionist. Glad to meet with people and discuss!