Phonics inventory template
By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated
Short answer
A phonics inventory is a short individual assessment that checks each decoding skill in order, from letter sounds to multisyllabic words, with real and nonsense words for each. Give it one-to-one in 10 to 20 minutes, stop when the student misses most items in two sections in a row, and use the first section below mastery as the starting point for intervention and the IEP baseline.
A phonics inventory (also called a decoding survey or phonics screener) answers one question: which decoding skills does the student have, and where does instruction start? A general reading test gives a score; an inventory gives a map. It is diagnostic data, the kind used to plan and adjust intensive intervention.[1]
The template below covers 12 skills. Copy it, write your own words in the blanks or use the sample words, and score as you go. For what to do with the results, see the phonics interventions pillar guide.
How to give it
- One-to-one, in a quiet spot. 10 to 20 minutes.
- The student reads from a clean copy; you mark a separate score sheet.
- Say: "Some of these are real words and some are made-up words. Read each one the best you can."
- Do not correct or teach during the inventory.
- Allow about 3 seconds per word. If the student sounds out correctly and then blends, count it correct but mark "slow" (S).
- Stop rule: stop when the student reads fewer than 3 of 10 items in two sections in a row.
The fill-in template
Each section has 5 real and 5 nonsense words. Score each item as correct (+), error (write what the student said) or slow (S).
| Section | Skill | Real words (5) | Nonsense words (5) | Score of 10 | Errors noted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Consonant and short vowel sounds | (26 letters, scored separately: of 26) | |||
| 2 | CVC words | sat, pin, hug, red, mop | fip, tam, rog, lub, ned | ||
| 3 | Digraphs | ship, chop, thin, duck, when | shub, chet, thap, wock, whid | ||
| 4 | Blends | stop, flag, hand, crisp, strap | blim, frond, spet, grust, stram | ||
| 5 | Silent e | cape, hide, rope, cute, theme | tade, bime, frope, plute, sline | ||
| 6 | Endings | jumped, hopping, wishes, landed, baking | (5 real only, of 5) | ||
| 7 | R-controlled vowels | farm, fork, bird, hurt, fern | darm, sorp, nirt, gurb, ferd | ||
| 8 | Vowel teams | rain, feet, boat, play, night | tain, meep, soat, blay, zight | ||
| 9 | Diphthongs and variant vowels | coin, out, cow, moon, saw | moit, glout, fow, snoom, pawk | ||
| 10 | Two-syllable words | napkin, robot, table, sunset, music | tibnap, lopid, matle, crumtap, sonit | ||
| 11 | Prefixes and suffixes | unpack, repaint, helpful, kindness, preview | (5 real only, of 5) | ||
| 12 | Three-syllable words | fantastic, important, remember, volcano, invention | (5 real only, of 5) | ||
| Summary | Start at section: | Notes: |
Check any nonsense words you write against a dictionary. It is easy to write a real word by accident (fight, jaw), which turns the item into a sight word test.
Add a short spelling check of 2 words per section the student passed and the first one failed. Spelling often shows gaps that reading hides.
Scoring and placement
- Mastered: 9 or 10 of 10, with few slow responses.
- Instructional: 5 to 8 of 10. Teach here.
- Not yet: 0 to 4 of 10.
Start instruction at the first section that is not mastered. Look at real versus nonsense words: if real words score well and nonsense words do not, the student has memorized words without the pattern. Teach it.
Completed example
Amir is a fictional 4th grader referred for reading concerns. Given October 3.
| Section | Skill | Score of 10 | Real / nonsense | Errors noted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Letter sounds | 26 of 26 | Quick | |
| 2 | CVC | 10 | 5 / 5 | |
| 3 | Digraphs | 9 | 5 / 4 | "wock" read as "wok" |
| 4 | Blends | 9 | 5 / 4 | Dropped r in "frond" |
| 5 | Silent e | 6 | 4 / 2 | Short vowel on 4 items |
| 6 | Endings | 4 of 5 | "hopping" read as "hoping" | |
| 7 | R-controlled | 5 | 4 / 1 | "nirt" read as "nit" |
| 8 | Vowel teams | 3 | 3 / 0 | Reads first vowel only |
| 9 | Diphthongs | 2 | 2 / 0 | Stop rule reached |
| Summary | Start at section 5, silent e |
Summary written for the team: "Amir reads CVC, digraph and blend words accurately and quickly. Silent e words are 6 of 10 (2 of 5 nonsense), which shows partial knowledge. Vowel teams and r-controlled vowels are not yet in place. Recommend explicit instruction starting at silent e, with review of blends."
His baseline for a silent e goal comes from three 20-word probes after the inventory, not from these 10 items. The inventory places; the probes measure. See how to collect baseline data.
Notes on each section: what reviewers and parents look for
The word lists
Reviewers check that each section tests one skill. A silent e section with vowel teams mixed in cannot tell you which skill is weak. Parents often ask about nonsense words; explain that they show whether the child can sound out a pattern, since real words can be memorized.
The stop rule
Reviewers look for a stop rule so the student is not pushed through 20 minutes of failure. Note where you stopped and why.
Error notes
Error notes matter more than scores. "Short vowel on 4 items" tells the next teacher what to teach. A score of 6 alone does not.
The summary
Reviewers look for plain language and a clear starting point. Parents should be able to read the summary and know what their child can do and what comes next. The present levels for reading examples show how to turn a summary like this into PLAAFP wording.
Retesting
Give the inventory again every 3 to 4 months, or when a student finishes a stage. Weekly progress is tracked with short probes, not the full inventory.[2]
Templates and tools
After placing the student, plan lessons with the explicit phonics lesson plan template. The phonics skills checklist tracks each skill once teaching starts. Goal templates for every section are on the phonics decoding goals page, and wording examples are in phonics IEP goal examples. For English learners, see phonics for English learners on scoring accent.
Frequently asked questions
What is a phonics inventory?
A short, individual assessment that checks each decoding skill in teaching order, using real and nonsense words. It shows which skills a student has mastered and where instruction should start, which a single overall reading score cannot do.
Why include nonsense words in a phonics inventory?
Nonsense words cannot be memorized, so they show whether the student can actually decode the pattern. A student who reads real silent e words but misses nonsense ones has memorized some words without learning the rule.
How often should a phonics inventory be given?
Give it at placement, then every 3 to 4 months or when a student finishes a stage. Between inventories, track progress weekly with short probes of unpracticed words on the current skill.
Use it in IEP Atlas
- Phonics decoding goals (reading)
- Decoding in the IEP glossary
- Phonics in the IEP glossary
- Baseline in the IEP glossary
- Probe in the IEP glossary
Related guides
- Phonics interventions for struggling readers
- Explicit phonics lesson plan template
- Phonics and decoding IEP goal examples
- Phonics for English learners
- Phonics skills checklist
Sources
- Diagnostic Data, National Center on Intensive Intervention
- Progress Monitoring: Data & Goal Setting, National Center on Intensive Intervention
- Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences
Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.