step 1 of 6
You can name all 26 letters now. Here is the secret of the code: every letter also carries a sound.
Mia points at the letter m. What sound does it make?
Single Letter Sounds
Know the primary sound for each consonant and the short and long sounds for the five major vowels; respond speedily to single-letter graphemes
What a learner can do afterwards
- Say the most common sound for each consonant when shown the letter
- Distinguish short vowel sounds in CVC words (e.g. /a/ in 'cat' vs /e/ in 'bed')
- Associate long and short vowel sounds with common single-letter spellings
1 · Read
Every letter has a main sound. A letter also has a name, but reading uses the sound. Look at a letter, and say its main sound fast.
Try it together
Look at the word cat. The letter a says its short sound, /a/, like the a in apple.
Vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. Each one can say two sounds. Short a says /a/ like in cat. Short e says /e/ like in egg. Long a says its own name, like the a in cake.
You can play it backwards too. Hear a sound, then find its letter. If you hear /s/, point to the letter s. The letter and its sound go together.
Good to know
Don't spell the letter or say its name. Just say the sound it makes, right away.
Say the sound fast: one sound for most consonants, and a short or long sound for each vowel.
2 · Watch
3 · Play
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
Then practise
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.