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FreeClassTool.
EN — Language: English

Word Builder

Moveable alphabet tiles for phonics: build words on a word line, hear them read aloud, and explore 40 word families.

Literacy & VocabularyGrades K–3
Mode
  • Vowels
  • Consonants

Tap a letter or drag it onto the word line. You can also type on your keyboard.

Type letters to add tiles and press Backspace to remove the last one. On a tile in the word, left and right arrows move it and the up arrow parks it above the line. On a parked tile, arrow keys move it, and Enter or the down arrow puts it into the word. Delete removes the tile.

Tap a letter to add it to the end of the word, or drag it onto the mat · drag tiles to move them · drag a tile back to the tray to remove it · type letters on a keyboard, Backspace removes the last one

Adds sh ch th wh ck ng and 19 blends such as bl, st and tr.

New tiles and the tray use capital letters.

Word families only. Presentation mode starts with it hidden.

A soft click for each tile and a chime for a real word.

Your tiles and settings are saved in this browser. The word line holds about 9 letters; up to 24 tiles fit in the parking area. Sound it out reads letter names, not letter sounds.

Printables

Cut-out letter tiles in lowercase, matching the tray: red vowels, blue consonants. A short line under each letter shows which way is up.

Printable

Turn on Uppercase letters or Digraph & blend tiles above to change the tile sheet.

Paper size

Preview · US Letter

Build Words with Virtual Moveable Alphabet Tiles

Word Builder puts a moveable alphabet on any Chromebook, iPad or interactive whiteboard. Vowels are red and consonants are blue, and you can add green digraph and blend tiles such as sh, ch, bl and st. Tap a letter to add it to the end of the word line, or drag tiles anywhere on the mat and park spare letters above the line. Hear it reads the word aloud, and Word families mode locks an ending like -at or -ight in place so students change only the first letters. It is free, needs no sign-up, and your tiles are saved in your browser.

Use the Word Builder in 3 steps

  1. Pick Free build or Word families. Free build gives students an empty word line for any word. Word families locks an ending such as -at, -ip or -ake at the end of the line; choose one of 40 families from the Word family menu or step through them with the arrow buttons.

  2. Add, move and remove tiles. Tap a letter in the tray to add it to the end of the word, or drag it onto the mat. Drag tiles to reorder the word or park them above the line, and drag a tile back to the tray to remove it. On a keyboard, type letters to add tiles and press Backspace to remove the last one.

  3. Hear the word and check the family list. Press Hear it to hear the word read aloud, or Sound it out to hear each tile’s letter names one at a time and then the word. In Word families, a word from our list shows Real word! with a chime and gets a check mark in the Real words list.

Ways to use the Word Builder in class

  • Word family chains

    Pick a family such as -at in Word families mode and build cat. Then ask students to change only the first letter to make a new word: hat, mat, sat. Each word on our list shows Real word! and gets a check in the Real words list, so the class can see how many they found.

  • Change one letter

    In Free build, make a word like pig on the word line. Ask a student to drag one tile up to the parking area and bring a different letter down, making a new word such as pin or wig. Press Hear it after each change so everyone hears the new word.

  • Spell it together on the big screen

    Open Classroom Presentation Mode and say a word. Students take turns tapping or dragging the letters onto the word line, then press Sound it out to check the spelling letter by letter. The Real words list stays hidden on the big screen until you press Real words.

  • Hands-on tiles at the table

    Download the Letter tiles printable, which has a to z plus two extra copies of each vowel, and turn on Digraph & blend tiles for a second page of green team tiles. Pair it with the Word family worksheet so students build words with paper tiles and write them on the lines.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Sound it out say the letter sounds?

No. Sound it out reads the letter names one tile at a time, slowly, and then reads the whole word. It uses your browser’s built-in voice, and browsers don’t reliably say single letter sounds, so model the sounds yourself while the tiles light up one by one.

What happens when students build a word that is not on the list?

The tool never says a word is wrong. If the word isn’t on our list for that family, it shows “Not on our list — is it a real word?” so the class can talk about it. Each list is a short, kid-friendly set of real words, so some real words are not on it.

Is my work saved?

Yes. The tiles on the mat, the mode, the word family and your settings are saved in this browser, so they are still there after a refresh. Nothing is uploaded. Clear removes the tiles, and Undo brings back the last change.

Which word families are included?

There are 40: short a (-at, -an, -ap, -ag, -am, -ad, -ack), short e (-et, -en, -ed, -ell, -est), short i (-ig, -in, -it, -ip, -ill, -ick), short o (-op, -ot, -og, -ock), short u (-ug, -un, -ut, -ub, -ump) and long vowel families such as -ake, -ate, -ain, -ay, -ine, -eep, -oat and -ight.

Can students use it without a mouse?

Yes. Type letters to add tiles and press Backspace to remove the last one. Tab to a tile on the word line and use the left and right arrows to move it in the word, or the up arrow to park it. On a parked tile, the arrow keys move it and Enter puts it back into the word. Delete removes the selected tile.

Can I use capital letters or letter teams?

Yes. Turn on Uppercase letters to show capital letters in the tray and on new tiles, and turn on Digraph & blend tiles to add sh, ch, th, wh, ck, ng and 19 blends such as bl, cr and st. The printable letter tiles follow both switches.

Teaching guides

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