Unlocking Literacy Through Practice
Building literacy is a process that requires daily commitment, particularly for students living with learning difficulties.
In this post, you’ll discover how to use reading and spelling drills to strengthen phoneme-grapheme correspondences, build fluency, and foster confidence.
Perfect for parents, tutors, and educators, this guide walks you through practical strategies and tools to help students succeed.

Why Daily Practice is Essential
A Deep Dive Discussion On Daily Review
Children who struggle with literacy often need significantly more practice to master reading and spelling patterns compared to their peers. Research indicates that while typical learners may require 20-30 repetitions to achieve mastery, children with learning difficulties often need 80-100 repetitions, and those with fine motor challenges or dysgraphia may require several hundred repetitions when it comes to handwriting
This aligns with broader findings in motor skill acquisition research, which suggest that achieving automaticity in any skill requires consistent, repeated practice over time. According to Schmidt & Lee (2019), repetition is crucial for reinforcing neural pathways, particularly for complex motor and cognitive tasks like handwriting and spelling.
Spaced practice, where repetitions are distributed over time, has been shown to be more effective than massed practice, e.g. multiple repetitions in a single day (Cepeda et al., 2006). This means daily or near-daily practice significantly enhances retention and fluency, ensuring that these repetitions are more impactful. By focusing on distributed practice, students can build the foundational skills they need for literacy success while avoiding burnout.
The consistency of daily practice not only accelerates learning but also helps solidify the connection between phoneme-grapheme correspondences, handwriting, and spelling, providing a robust foundation for literacy development.
With consistent, daily practice, many children living with dyslexia can master new skills more efficiently, potentially within a couple of months. In contrast, practising only once a week can significantly slow progress, sometimes extending the timeframe to a year or more, which may risk frustration and reduced motivation.
Reading Drills
How to Run a Reading Card Drill
Preparing the Deck:
Every time the student is introduced to a new grapheme, a corresponding reading card is added to their deck. As the student learns more graphemes, the deck grows. Early on, it’s important to practise the full deck every day, but as the deck becomes larger, it can be divided into smaller sets for alternate-day practice. (Printable cards are available for download)The Drill in Action:
- Hold up a card with the grapheme facing the student.
- Ask them to say the sound (or sounds) associated with the grapheme.
- If they get it right, set the card aside in a “completed” pile.
- If they hesitate or make an error, gently correct them by providing a clue (e.g., “This is the sound for ‘ă, as in apple’”) and place the card in a “try again” pile.
- After going through the whole deck, revisit the “try again” pile, giving the student another chance to say the correct phoneme.
- Discuss strategies for remembering the sound.
Handling Multiple Sounds for a Grapheme:
The LSK simplifies the cards for struggling students so that there is just a single sound per card and only uses short vowels. However, if your student has already learned multiple sounds, like ĭ (as in igloo) and ī (as in ice). When these appear, prompt the student to say all the sounds in order. For example:- Show the card “i.”
- Ask, “What sounds does this grapheme make?”
- The student responds, “ĭ, ī.”
- Provide keywords if needed (e.g., “ĭ as in igloo, ī as in ice”) until they can recall both sounds without help.
Monitoring Progress and Adjusting Practice:
- Cards that the student consistently gets right over several months can be moved into a “review” deck for less frequent practice.
- Cards that are repeatedly missed should remain in the daily practice deck and may need reteaching to ensure understanding.
Pacing and Encouragement:
Keep the drill brisk but supportive. If the student struggles, reassure them that it’s okay to make mistakes and focus on their effort. A positive, calm atmosphere makes the activity more enjoyable and productive.
At the end of the session you can draw the students attention to how much they have learned and how much they know!

Reading card drills are a powerful tool to help students develop fluency and automaticity in grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs). The goal is to strengthen the connection between what a student sees (the grapheme) and what they say (the phoneme). By revisiting these connections daily, students begin to recognise graphemes instantly, laying the groundwork for reading fluency. This process is particularly important for students living with literacy difficulties, as it provides a structured and supportive path to mastery.
Spelling Drills
How To Run A Spelling Card Drill
Spelling cards are the primary tool for practising grapheme-phoneme correspondences and reinforcing handwriting skills. Each time a new letter sound is introduced, the student is given a reading card (see above). These can also be used as spelling cards. The routine is simple but highly effective: (Printable cards are available for download
- Start the Drill: Clearly say the sound without showing the student the card and ask them how to spell it. e.g. ‘How do you spell /ă/?’
- Student Responds and Writes: The student replies with the sound and the name of the letter used to spell it, while writing the corresponding letter in their book. For example:
- Teacher: “How do you spell /ă/?”
- Student: “/ă/ is a [ayy],” while writing “a” in their book.
If the student makes an error, provide immediate, constructive feedback and encourage them to try again. This process integrates phonics, spelling, and handwriting, helping students build fluency and automaticity over time.
For most students, this routine is sufficient to achieve independence and mastery.

Spelling Sheets: An Interim Step
For students who struggle to complete the work independently in their book—particularly those living with dysgraphia—spelling sheets provide an alternative or supplementary option. These sheets guide the student through the same spelling drill process but include visual supports like tracing prompts and scoring checkboxes to encourage self-monitoring.
The sheets are designed for students who may need additional support in remembering the letters or forming them correctly. Each sheet covers the early teaching points, as students generally transition to independent work once they’ve developed greater proficiency. However, for some students, particularly those with fine motor difficulties, spelling sheets may remain a necessary tool for a longer period.
If a student continues to struggle beyond the early teaching points, it’s recommended to revisit pre-writing shapes to build automaticity before adding more letters to their cards.

Diagnostic Opportunities for Teachers
Spelling drills also provide valuable diagnostic insights for teachers. By observing a child’s performance, educators can identify:
Areas of Strength: Which sounds and grapheme-phoneme correspondences the student has mastered.
Areas Needing Improvement: Any letters, sounds, or handwriting skills that require additional practice to achieve automaticity.
Common Errors: Patterns of mistakes that can inform targeted interventions.
The Role of Reading And Spelling Drills
Reading and Spelling drills serve multiple purposes in literacy instruction:
Reinforcing Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondences: Each drill asks the student to recall how to spell a sound and write the corresponding letter or letters. For example, when working on the short /ă/ sound as in “apple,” the teacher says, “How do you spell /ă/?” The student replies, “/ă/ is a,” while writing the letter “a” in their book. This repetition strengthens the connection between sound and letter.
Reinforcing Mastery Through Repetitions: A single worksheet might include 10–20 repetitions of a target letter or sound. Spelling drills can provide another 10–20 repetitions in a session. Together, these exercises can allow students to accumulate up to 50 repetitions in one session, but it’s important to note that mastery cannot be achieved in a single session. Research highlights that spaced retrieval and review over time are critical to overcoming the forgetting curve and achieving automaticity. Distributed practice, where repetitions are spaced out over months and years, significantly improves retention and fluency. While the number of repetitions matters, the elapsed time for mastery is equally critical—on average, skill embedding requires several weeks to months of interleaved practice, depending on the student’s individual needs and the complexity of the skill being learned. This ensures that learning is consolidated and becomes automatic.
Building Handwriting Skills: Spelling drills integrate handwriting practice with literacy skills. Each time a student writes a letter while saying its sound, they reinforce fine motor skills alongside literacy, creating a dual benefit. Research shows that handwriting enhances memory through sensory-motor engagement (James & Engelhardt, 2012).
Developing Fluency Through Repetition: Frequent repetition ensures that students gradually build automaticity, enabling them to spell and write without hesitation. This is particularly important for children with dysgraphia or fine motor difficulties, who require even more practice to achieve fluency. Research also shows that handwriting enhances memory through sensory-motor engagement (James & Engelhardt, 2012).
Addressing Anxiety & Focus
Many children feel anxious about reading, spelling and handwriting, especially if they have struggled in the past. Drills offer an opportunity to lower this anxiety by providing a structured, predictable routine that fosters a sense of accomplishment and progress. Repetition through these drills can give students daily success, which significantly boosts their confidence and helps them feel capable of achieving their goals.
For students who face persistent challenges, these successes are crucial for building self-esteem. Each completed drill becomes a step forward, reinforcing the idea that improvement is not only possible but achievable with consistent effort.
Mini-Meditation for Learning
Spelling drills can be reframed as a calming, meditative practice. The repetitive nature of writing and saying letters allows students to enter a focused, calm state where they can engage fully with the task. This practice shifts their focus away from self-doubt or previous struggles and into the present moment, teaching them to work calmly and methodically. Encouraging a relaxed but attentive approach not only improves their performance but also teaches valuable mindfulness skills for managing stress and staying grounded.
This mindfulness approach helps students learn to focus on the present moment, avoiding runaway negativity and worry that can often accompany tasks they find challenging. In this sense, the drills act as both a learning tool and a stress-management technique.
Creating a Relaxed Environment
A calm and supportive environment is essential for reducing anxiety and encouraging focus during spelling drills. Encourage students to slow down, take their time, and focus on quality over speed. Reinforce that making mistakes is part of learning and provide gentle, constructive guidance as needed. By framing each drill as an opportunity for growth, students can develop a more positive attitude toward their work and reduce the fear of failure.
Providing specific, positive feedback during this time—such as acknowledging accurate responses or effort—helps reinforce good habits while ensuring students feel supported. These small moments of encouragement can turn a potentially stressful activity into a positive, confidence-building experience.
This approach also helps students learn mindfulness techniques. Encouraging them to focus on one step at a time, rather than worrying about the outcome, can transform spelling drills into a kind of “mini-meditation.” This mindfulness reinforces not just their literacy skills but also their ability to remain calm and focused under pressure, skills that will serve them well in all areas of learning and life.
Providing Specific Feedback
Constructive, targeted feedback during drills helps students understand what they are doing well and where they can improve. Highlighting specific successes while offering gentle corrections empowers students to take ownership of their progress. This reinforcement builds resilience and reduces anxiety over time, as students learn to approach challenges with confidence and determination. Teachers can model this approach to help children develop a more positive and calm mindset when facing learning challenges.
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