A beginner-level phonics illustrated card-game that involves reading / spelling regularly decodable words. The cards come in four sets, are divided into two levels, and are all available on CD-ROM. Provided below for downloading are two sets of Gridlock cards, along with some game ideas.

In the first set, the emphasis is on rime-based word families. For example, the card that practices the rime "ell" shows the word and picture "bell" on the face-side and, on the back side, the words and pictures "fell, spell, yell, well, hell, bell".

The second set emphasises double-letter phonemes. The card for "spoon", for example, shows the word and picture "spoon" on one side and, on the other side, the words and pictures "baboon, food, lagoon, zoo, bedroom, spoon".

Each of the sets consists of 28 cards. Download each set of four for printing, with the keyword on the front side and the corresponding word-family / phoneme-group on back; then, laminate and cut into four (A4 paper; 10x14 cm cards).

For further information about Gridlock or the many other items on the "Blending a Hand" CD-ROM, please email David Lisgo.

Rime-based cards

Phoneme-based cards

Tic-Tac Toe version (2 or more players, singly or in groups)

1. lay 25 cards with the keyword side face up in a 5x5 grid (unused cards placed to side)
2. student chooses a card to read by rolling 2 dice to select "card-coordinates" (e .g., a roll of 3 & 4 refers to the the 4th card in the 3rd row, or vice versa). 6's are wild, and if a card has already been read then play passes to the next person or group
3. same student then:
   1. reads the keyword of that card, and
   2. turns over and reads the word-family on the back
   3. places a colored counter or chip on the read card
4. at game end, score as you would a large Tic Tac Toe game; e.g., give 0 points for one chip, 1 point for every two in a line, 3 points for every three in a line, 5 points for every four in a line and 7 points for every five in a line.
   

Track version (2 or more players, singly or in groups)

1. lay all 28 cards in a circuit with the keyword side face up
2. student rolls one die, moves his/her counter forward, and read the keyword
3. same student then rolls a second die, and then teacher/fellow-player reads aloud the correspondingly numbered word from the word-family on the back of the same card's back (e.g., if student lands on the "nest" keyword card and then throws a 5, he/she would then be asked to spell the word "pest")
4. first player or team to race around the circle one or more times wins

The first game can be teacher controlled and the teacher asks the students to spell the words. In subsequent games, the students play with minimal assistance from the teacher and they dictate words to each other.