Learn to read long i words with these FREE Read 'n Stick Mats

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Looking for an activity to help teach long i words? Look no further! Today I’m sharing nine free Read ‘n Stick Mats.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

If you’re a regular follower, you might have seen my long a, long o, and long e mats. Skip ahead to get the mats at the end of the post. But if you’ve never heard of Read ‘n Stick Mats, read on.

I created this set of picture mats for my Five. By reading the accompanying word cards, he’s learning to read the following phonics patterns within long i words:

i-consonant-e (as in mice)
i-consonant-consonant (as in ind)
igh (as in flight)
y (as in fry)

I call these my Read ‘n Stick Mats because you can laminate the pages and attach Velcro dots for extra fun matching. (Gotta love that rrrrip!)

If you’ve seen my previous sets (long a, long o and long e), skip this introduction and go straight to the mats. But if you’re new, read on:

Why use Read ‘n Stick Word Family Mats?

1) They’re hands-on. My son enjoys reading the words and sticking them to the pictures. Flash cards? Not so much.

2) The visual aid of the pictures gives an extra clue for beginning readers. It makes the reading task more manageable.

3) They’re vocabulary builders. I’d love to make all eight words familiar ones – like nine and shine. But there aren’t enough of them! The bonus if that your child’s vocabulary expands when you teach him words like swine and rind.

(The above picture is from my long e set.)

How do you use Read ‘n Stick Mats?

1) Print and laminate each mat on sturdy cardstock. I love this affordable home laminator and laminating sheets! Then print and laminate each set of cards. Cut them apart and stick Velcro dots to the pictures and backs of the cards.

2) You can certainly print the mats and cards on plain paper, and have your child match them. However, for a more durable and lasting activity, I recommend #1. A bonus of the Velcro dots is that you can store the mats without the cards getting lost — just stick them on!

3) My mats were constantly getting misplaced until I punched holes in them and stored them in a 3-ring binder.

4) Take off all the cards. Have your child read the name of the family in the center of the board. Then have him read each card and match it to the picture. You will be teaching new vocabulary along the way when he gets stuck on a particular word (“What’s does pride mean?”).

5) After a few times of doing this with you, this is something your child might be able to do himself. You can pull out the binder for a reading warm-up before trying some early reading books — or if you’re not there yet, do a few Read ‘ Stick mats after you read books together. You could even put the binder in a bag and bring it along to the waiting room.

And here they are!