Unlock the fun of Learning with
The Power of Playful Word Work
Deeper Engagement.
Stronger Readers.
Learning to Sound out Words takes Practice - Why not make it Fun?!?
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Crazy Cards go Beyond just Sounding out Words: After decoding a word, students must say a silly sentence using that word. This helps them make deeper connections between the words' sounds, spellings, and meanings—building vocabulary, syntax, and morphology skills too!
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The Strategy in this Game is Irresistible: Do your students get a little off task and distracted? Not with Crazy Cards! Students LOVE these games, and so will you—there is no prep needed, and the instructions are the same for all 25 decks of cards. Same instructions = fewer interruptions!
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Different Ability Levels can Play Together: Designed for both special education and general classroom settings, Crazy Cards make differentiated instruction easier by making spelling patterns explicit, and by making the strategy of winning (and making up a funny sentence) the goal!
The Sound Readers® Crazy Cards Series:
A Fun, Strategic Path to Decoding & Spelling Mastery
From basic short vowels to advanced vowel teams and suffixes
Crazy Shorts
-FOR STARTERS
Starting with the basics. These 5 decks are the perfect phonics card games to help children learning to read cvc words, and other short vowel words (with digraphs, FLSZ, -ck, -ng/-nk). This fun, fast-paced game is a spin on Crazy 8s, but with a reading twist—complete with WILD cards and MISS YOUR TURN cards to keep the excitement going! Available ready-made, or in a printable 'make your own' format.
Ideal for any beginning or struggling reader.
Crazy Shorts
-WITH BLENDS
Take your students' skills to the next level with this next set of 5 phonics card game decks designed to help readers master initial & end blends (ccvc, cvcc). Perfect for:
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reinforcing short vowel sounds
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reducing common confusions.
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making mixed ability group word work easier
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addressing needs of dyslexic, ADHD, and even adult learners .
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small groups, literacy centers, peer partners
Buy ready-made, or in printable format!
Original Crazy Shorts
Words in this set are different than in Set #1 & #2, and focus on one short vowel sound per deck. Preschool to 3rd grade students (or any struggling reader) can read the words by reading the 'splash' sound - which is a word family - then sounding out the word and making up a CRAZY sentence to build oral language (which is also the part that gets them belly-laughing, and having fun!
Crazy Longs
Take word work to the next level with Crazy Longs! This set focuses on all the different ways to spell the long vowel sounds—one deck per vowel—making it the perfect resource for mastering long vowels in a fun and interactive way.
Beloved by Dr. Marnie Ginsberg (Reading Simplified), Crazy Longs is her favorite game to teach long vowels!
SAVE when you buy these 3 Sets
(Original Shorts + Longs & Mores)
Crazy Mores
Take word work mastery even further with Crazy Mores, the game that teaches advanced spelling patterns (ways to spell the sounds /oo/, /er/, ou/ow, oi/oy, au/aw, etc), and suffixes (ture, tion, etc.), and more! Designed to help students tackle the most challenging spelling patterns in English, Crazy Mores keeps the same fun game play that your students love—just with more complex skills to master.
How to Play Crazy Cards
Crazy Shorts FOR STARTERS Deck #1: cvc words
Crazy Longs Deck #1: long a words
Click Here for Crazy Shorts for Starters Deck #2: Digraphs
Click Here for Crazy Shorts for Starters Deck #3: Floss Words
Click Here for Crazy Mores 5 Deck #25: Suffix Words
Click Here for Crazy Longs Deck #17: Long "e" Deck
Click Here for Crazy Mores 3 Deck #23: ou/ow, oi/oy, au, aw
Games may also be purchased in printable format!
Recently added to The Reading League Decodable Text/Games Listing
Founder of Sound Readers Crazy Cards, Martha Kovack, MEd,. talking with founder of Reading Simplified, Dr. Marnie Ginsberg, about the card games and their instructional power.
