How to Teach Letter Sounds
Help students get on the road to reading! Read about how to teach letter sounds in a way that is simple, engaging, and effective.
Why Letter Sounds Are Important for Teaching Reading
As adults, we tend to forget that learning to read is a multi-step process.
Words are made up of individual sounds called phonemes.
It takes practice to hear the individual phonemes in words.
It’s also a challenge to string them together to form a word. (This is called blending sounds.)
The letters of the alphabet represent the phonemes, but it’s not that simple.
Some letters represent more than one sound (like “c” in celery and cauliflower).
Some letters work in pairs to represent individual phonemes (like “ch” in chair). Separately, the letters represent different sounds.
If you want to know how to teach letter sounds, you need to work your way through a series of learning activities with your students.
This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.
Phonological Awareness Activities
Before you begin teaching letter sounds, you need to cultivate phonological awareness.
Phonological awareness involves a student being able to recognize the sounds in spoken words.
It is the first step to learning letter sounds.
Rhyming Songs, Poems, and Games
Words that rhyme share the same phonemes except for one (cup and pup, for example).
By emphasizing rhyming words through songs, poems, and games, you can boost your child’s phonological awareness through play.
Check out this article on how to teach rhyming words.
Then, try some of these rhyming activities to learn phonological awareness through play!
Count Words with Manipulatives
Say a silly sentence and have students count the words in the sentence using Legos, cheerios, or their fingers.
Puppet Talk
You can help kids hear syllables in words by using a hand puppet.
Have kids count the number of times a puppet opens and closes its mouth as you say a multi-syllable word.
Teaching Letter Names
Letters are symbols for the sounds in words.
Letters are not pictures, so it will take frequent exposure and practice to learn to recognize their symbols.
Children learn the letters faster if they are three-dimensional and not just printed on a page.
This set of three-dimensional letters comes with uppercase and lowercase letters. Plus, it’s magnetic!
For more on teaching the letter names, check out this article.
How to Teach Letter Sounds
Once a child can readily recognize the letters by name and has the phonological awareness to hear and separate the sounds in words, he is ready to learn the letter sounds.
Teach Common Letters First
Some letters are more common than others.
Start with the letters that are used the most: the vowels.
The vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. Begin by teaching the short vowel sounds (you can introduce long vowel sounds later).
The short vowel sounds are:
- a in apple
- e in elephant
- i in igloo
- o in octagon
- u in up
Vowel sound are made entirely by the voice (you can sing them as a long, clear note).
Each vowel sound is made by slightly changing the shape of the mouth and position of the tongue.
Practice making these sounds in front of a mirror.
Teach the sound/symbol connection by using the three-dimensional letters as flashcards.
You can also play matching games, in which you match a letter to a picture that starts with that letter sound.
Focus on Lowercase Letters First
Think about it: almost all the letters you see in print are in lowercase.
Emphasize lowercase letters when you teach the sound-letter combination.
Teach Letter Sounds Kinesthetically
Kids thrive when they learn by doing and feeling. Think beyond traditional flashcards.
Teach the letter sound association with as many tactile objects as possible.
Use three-dimensional letters or sandpaper letters.
Form letters out of play dough or Wikki-Stix or etch them into grits or kinetic sand.
Use cookie cutters to make letters out of Jell-O or play dough.
Use Simple Pictures as an Association
You can use simple pictures to help kids associate letters with their sounds.
Here are some examples:
- a and apple
- b and bat
- c and cat
- d and dog
The pictures should be animals or items with which the child is readily familiar.
Ideally, the words represented by the pictures should be short, with one or two syllables.
You can use the pictures as a bridge to learn the letter sounds (like these cards that incorporate the letter into the picture).
Consider Multimedia Reinforcement
While in-person instruction is best, multimedia sources can be great reinforcement tools.
Leapfrog Letter Factory is a 35-minute video that is a gold mine for reviewing letter sounds.
Apps such as Letter Sounds A to Z and Jolly Phonics Letter Sounds are perfect for on-the-go review.
Teaching Letter Sounds
Now that you know how to teach letter sounds, keep this in mind.
The best way to teach is through patient and consistent instruction.
Set aside time to work on letters every day. It doesn’t have to be long. Be consistent!
And remember that learning to read is challenging. Be patient with your student. These things take time.
