Find l phonics resources for teaching the ‘l’ grapheme and /l/ phoneme in Reception. These worksheets, games and practical activities help pupils recognise ‘l’, practise saying the sound clearly and use it when blending, spelling and writing simple words.
Use the activities when introducing ‘l’ in Phase 2 phonics, as follow-up practice or to revisit the sound with pupils who need a little more support. Explore our complete collection of Phase 2 phonics resources, or visit our main phonics resources page for resources covering Phases 1 to 5.
In Phase 2, pupils learn that the grapheme ‘l’ represents the /l/ phoneme heard at the beginning of words such as leg, lid and log. They practise spotting the letter, remembering the sound it represents and using it alongside the other graphemes they have learned.
Model /l/ clearly without adding an extra ‘uh’ sound. Pupils can hold the /l/ sound briefly before moving on to the next sound in a word, which can help when they are learning to blend.
Our l phonics resources offer plenty of ways to practise the new sound without simply repeating the same task. Depending on what your pupils need, you can use them for:
Choose the activities that fit naturally into your phonics teaching. They can be used with the whole class, with a small group, for independent practice or when you want to give particular pupils another chance to revisit ‘l’. They are suitable for use alongside your school’s chosen systematic synthetic phonics programme.
With ‘l’ added to the sounds they already know, pupils can begin reading words such as leg, lid, log and lip. Encourage pupils to look across the whole word, say the sound for each grapheme and blend the sounds together.
You can turn the process around for spelling. Say a simple word aloud and ask pupils to listen for each sound before choosing the letters they need to write it. Moving regularly between reading and spelling helps pupils become more confident using ‘l’ rather than only recognising it on its own.
The simple shape of lowercase ‘l’ makes it a useful letter for building confidence with early handwriting. Pupils can practise the correct starting point and movement through tracing, guided writing and larger mark-making activities before writing the letter independently.
Browse our full range of Phase 2 phonics resources to find worksheets, games and activities for the other sounds taught during this phase. You can also explore our main phonics resources page for teaching materials covering Phases 1 to 5.
In Phase 2 phonics, pupils learn ‘l’ as the grapheme representing the /l/ phoneme, as heard at the beginning of words such as leg, lid and log.
Say /l/ clearly without adding ‘uh’ afterwards. Keeping the sound clean helps pupils blend it smoothly with the other sounds in a word.
Pupils can use ‘l’ with previously taught graphemes to read words such as leg, lid, log and lip. As always, independent reading practice should use words made up of sounds pupils have already been taught.
