Roll, Read & Cover: Short I is a hands-on, interactive phonics game designed to help early readers build confidence and fluency with short i CVC words. Students roll two dice – one for the onset (beginning sound) and one for the rime (word ending) – and blend the two parts together to form a word. If the word matches a picture on their game board, they cover it. This fast-paced activity reinforces blending, segmenting, decoding, and word recognition in a fun and playful way.

This resource is perfect for literacy centres, partner games, small group intervention, or as a phonics warm-up. It helps students practise blending sounds, improve fluency, and connect spoken and written language – all while having fun. With repeated exposure to short i CVC words such as pig, lid, bin and sip, students strengthen their foundational phonics knowledge through meaningful repetition.

Roll, Read & Cover is also a great way to promote peer support, turn-taking, and engagement with phonics in a low-pressure setting. It can be easily adapted for different ability levels and learning formats.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Blend onset and rime to read and build short i CVC words
• ✅ Recognise and decode medial vowel sounds in simple words
• ✅ Improve reading fluency and word recognition
• ✅ Strengthen phonemic awareness through oral and written practice
• ✅ Engage with phonics in a collaborative, game-based setting

What’s Included:

• Printable onset and rime dice templates
• Game boards with images matching short i CVC words
• Instructions for printing, cutting, and gameplay

Materials Needed:

• Printed game boards and dice (use cardstock for durability)
• Scissors to cut out dice
• Counters or tokens for covering pictures

How to Use:

1. Print and prepare the dice and game boards. Use different colours for the onset and rime cubes if desired.
2. Assemble the dice and distribute to students with their game boards and counters.
3. Students roll both dice and blend the two parts to form a short i CVC word.
4. If the word matches an image on their board, they cover it. First to cover all images wins.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use in literacy rotations as a targeted phonics station
• 💡 Pair with whiteboards so students can write each word they build
• 💡 Challenge students to find and write a rhyming word after each roll
• 💡 Use to reinforce short i sounds following explicit phonics instruction

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Laminate the dice and boards for long-term use and easy wipe-downs
• 💛 Pre-teach the onset and rime combinations to support early learners
• 💛 Enlarge game boards for younger students or those needing more visual space
• 💛 Introduce a challenge round where students use their word in a sentence

Roll, Read & Cover: Short I transforms phonics practise into a playful, engaging routine that builds early reading confidence one roll at a time. Your students will love learning through movement, games, and connection.

Available in our basic fun font and all Australian state fonts.