Teach and practise the ‘k’ grapheme with our k phonics resources for Reception. These worksheets, games and practical activities help pupils connect ‘k’ with the /k/ phoneme, develop accurate letter formation and apply their knowledge when reading and spelling simple words.
Use the resources during Phase 2 phonics lessons, for small-group practice or when revisiting previously taught graphemes. Explore our complete collection of Phase 2 phonics resources, or visit our main phonics resources page for teaching materials covering Phases 1 to 5.
In Phase 2, pupils learn that the grapheme ‘k’ can represent the /k/ phoneme, as heard in words such as kit, kid and Kim. As pupils will also encounter ‘c’ representing /k/, teaching ‘k’ helps to build their understanding that the same phoneme can be represented by different graphemes.
When modelling the /k/ phoneme, pronounce it cleanly without adding an extra vowel sound. This makes it easier for pupils to blend phonemes together accurately and to identify individual phonemes when segmenting words for spelling.
Our k phonics activities give pupils opportunities to recognise, recall and apply this grapheme–phoneme correspondence in different ways. They can support pupils with:
Choose activities to suit whole-class phonics teaching, adult-led groups, independent practice or targeted support. Resources can be used alongside your school’s chosen systematic synthetic phonics programme to provide additional practice and consolidation.
Once ‘k’ has been introduced, pupils can use it alongside other known graphemes to blend and read simple words such as kit and kid. Word-building tasks and phoneme frames encourage pupils to attend to each grapheme in turn before blending the phonemes to read the complete word.
For spelling, pupils can segment a spoken word into its individual phonemes before selecting the graphemes needed to represent them. Regular opportunities to move between blending and segmenting help pupils use their phonics knowledge more independently.
Letter formation practice helps pupils become familiar with the shape and movement needed to write lowercase ‘k’. Tracing, guided writing, fine motor activities and multisensory practice can be used alongside phonics teaching to reinforce the connection between the written grapheme and the /k/ phoneme.
Find activities for ‘k’ alongside the other graphemes in our Phase 2 phonics resources collection. You can also explore worksheets, games, lesson presentations and practical activities for the wider teaching sequence on our main phonics resources page.
The grapheme ‘k’ represents the /k/ phoneme in words such as kit and kid. Pupils learn to recognise ‘k’ and recall the phoneme it represents when reading and spelling.
Both ‘c’ and ‘k’ can represent the /k/ phoneme. Encountering both graphemes during Phase 2 begins to show pupils that one phoneme can sometimes be represented by more than one grapheme.
Use short, regular activities that combine grapheme recognition, oral phoneme practice, letter formation, blending and segmenting. Giving pupils repeated opportunities to see, say, read and write ‘k’ helps build secure recall of the grapheme–phoneme correspondence.
