B. Foundations of Language · Sounds, Letters and Reading Words

Letters and Their Sounds

B2.2 B2.3About 35 minutes

Learning goals

I can name all 26 letters, uppercase and lowercase, in order and out of order.
I can say the alphabet in order and tell which letter comes before or after.
I can say the most common sound for each letter.
I can tell vowels from consonants.

Words to know

alphabet
All 26 letters in order, from A to Z.

uppercase letter
A big (capital) letter, like A, B, C.

lowercase letter
A small letter, like a, b, c.

vowel
The letters a, e, i, o, u. Every word has at least one vowel sound. Y is sometimes a vowel too.

consonant
All the other letters, like b, c, d, f, g.

alphabetical order
Putting words in the same order as the alphabet, using their first letter (ABC order).

Letters are pictures of sounds

In the last lessons, you listened for sounds. Now we'll learn the letters that show those sounds on paper.

Every letter has:

a name (the letter b is called "bee")
a sound (the letter b says /b/)
two shapes: an uppercase B and a lowercase b

Letter	Sound	Key word	Letter	Sound	Key word
Aa	/a/	apple 🍎	Nn	/n/	nest 🪺
Bb	/b/	ball ⚽	Oo	/o/	octopus 🐙
Cc	/k/	cat 🐱	Pp	/p/	pig 🐷
Dd	/d/	dog 🐶	Qq (qu)	/kw/	queen 👑
Ee	/e/	egg 🥚	Rr	/r/	rabbit 🐰
Ff	/f/	fish 🐟	Ss	/s/	sun ☀️
Gg	/g/	goat 🐐	Tt	/t/	tent ⛺
Hh	/h/	hat 🎩	Uu	/u/	umbrella ☂️
Ii	/i/	insect 🐞	Vv	/v/	van 🚐
Jj	/j/	jam 🍓	Ww	/w/	worm 🪱
Kk	/k/	kite 🪁	Xx	/ks/	box 📦 (at the end)
Ll	/l/	leaf 🍁	Yy	/y/	yo-yo 🪀
Mm	/m/	moose 🫎	Zz	/z/	zipper 🤐

The most common sound of each letter, with a key word

Vowels are special

The five vowels are a, e, i, o, u. Every word needs a vowel sound.

The short vowel sounds are:

a as in apple
e as in egg
i as in insect
o as in octopus
u as in umbrella

Sometimes y acts like a vowel, as in my and happy. All the other letters are consonants.

The 26 letters in ABC order. The 5 vowels are coloured. Every word needs a vowel sound.

Letters that look different

Letters can look a bit different in different books and fonts. These are all the same letter:

a and ɑ
g and ɡ
A, A and 𝐀

Look for the main shape. A lowercase a always has a round part with a line on the right.

Alphabetical (ABC) order

The alphabet goes in the same order every time:

a b c d e f g | h i j k l m n o p | q r s t u v | w x y z

To put words in ABC order, look at their first letter. Which first letter comes earlier in the alphabet? That word goes first.

apple, banana, carrot are in ABC order, because a comes before b, and b comes before c.

Worked example

Let's put words in ABC order

Put these words in ABC order: moose, beaver, loon.

Look at the first letter of each word: moose, beaver, loon.
Find them in the alphabet: b comes first, then l, then m.
Write the words in that order.

beaver, loon, moose

Find each first letter in the alphabet: b comes before l, and l comes before m. So the ABC order is beaver, loon, moose.

Worked example

Let's match letters to sounds

Which letter makes the first sound in umbrella?

Say the word: uuu-mbrella.
The first sound is /u/.
The letter that says /u/ is u. It is a vowel!

The letter u.

Letters with more than one sound

Some letters can make more than one sound:

c usually says /k/ (cat, cup), but can say /s/ (city).
g usually says /g/ (goat, gum), but can say /j/ (giraffe).

Try the most common sound first. If the word doesn't sound right, try the other sound.

Letter riddles

Which letter is a body of water?

C! (sea) 🌊

Which letter is always asking questions?

Y! (why?)

Hands-on activity

Alphabet hunt

You need: cereal boxes, food packages, magazines or flyers, and a pencil and paper.

Write a to z down the side of the paper.
Hunt for each letter on boxes and flyers around the house. Find both an uppercase and a lowercase one if you can.
Each time you find one, say its name and its sound, then tick it off.
Look for different fonts. Is it still the same letter?

Bonus: Grab 4 cans or boxes from the cupboard and line them up in ABC order by their first word.

Your turn

What sound does m make?

Is e a vowel or a consonant?

What letter comes after g?

What letter comes before t?

Write the uppercase partner of r.

Which letter makes the first sound in fish?

Put in ABC order: dog, apple, cat.

More practice: warm-up

Name the 5 vowels.

What sound does s make?

Write the lowercase partner of B.

Which letter comes first in the alphabet: k or d?

Which letter makes the first sound in pig?

More practice: on your own

Which letter is missing? l, m, ___, o, p

Which word starts with a vowel: egg, leg, peg?

Put in ABC order: snow, ice, rain.

What sound does x make at the end of fox?

Say the sound of each letter: t, a, p. What word do they make?

Challenge

Put in ABC order: zebra, goose, bear, owl.

The word city starts with c. What sound does c make in city?

Name a letter that is a consonant and comes between u and x.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which letter is a vowel?

What letter comes right after m?

Which is the lowercase b?

Which word comes first in ABC order?

Which letter makes the first sound in umbrella?

What is the most common sound of the letter c?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 1 students should name upper- and lowercase letters in and out of order quickly (B2.2) and know the most common sound for each letter, with automaticity (B2.3). "Automaticity" means instantly, without stopping to sing the alphabet song.

How to help at home:

Make flash cards and mix them up. Practise just 5 to 10 at a time; add new ones as old ones get fast.
Practise both name and sound: "This is em, it says /m/."
Play "What comes after?" and "What comes before?" in the car.

Common difficulties:

b/d and p/q mix-ups. Very common at this age. Use a key word card (b = ball, d = dog) and see the printing lesson in the writing unit.
Short vowels sound alike (especially /e/ and /i/). Use the key words egg and insect, and exaggerate the mouth shape.
Saying "buh" instead of /b/. Keep consonant sounds short and clipped.
Needing to sing the whole song to find a letter. Practise starting the alphabet from the middle: "Start at k."