Letters and Sounds
Letters and Sounds
Items in this lesson
Letters and Sounds
Open with the idea that letters help us read and write words. Keep the tone playful and familiar.
Our learning goal
I can say some letter sounds and use letters to spell simple words.
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What letters or sounds do you know?
Use this as a gentle warm-up. Accept single letters, simple sounds, or familiar words children connect to letters.
Letters have names
We see letters in books, on signs, and in our names.
Each letter has a shape.
Each letter has a name.
We can learn to spot and say letters.
Keep this concrete by pointing out a few familiar letters such as the first letter of children's names.
Letters make sounds
Letters do more than have names. They also help us hear words.
When we speak, we hear sounds. When we write, we use letters to show those sounds.
Emphasise the difference between a letter name and a letter sound in very simple language.
A sound at the start
s can say s in sun.
m can say m in mat.
t can say t in tap.
We listen for the first sound in a word.
Model the sound, not the letter name. Stretch the first sound clearly: sssun, mmmat, ttap.
Look, say, listen
To learn letters and sounds, we:
look at the letter
say the sound
listen for it in a word
match the sound to the letter
This slide gives a simple routine the teacher can reuse throughout the lesson.
What do letters have?
Names
Shoes
Hats
Beds
Checks the idea from the first teaching block that letters have names, shapes, and sounds. The playful distractors fit the age group.
Letters and sounds
We look at a letter and say the sound. We can hear s in sun and m in mat.
Echoes the exact examples taught: s in sun and m in mat. Keep the focus on matching a seen letter to a heard sound.
Spelling means choosing letters
We spell words by putting letters in order.
The letters match the sounds we hear.
Short words are a good place to start.
Avoid technical terms unless the class already knows them. Focus on hearing sounds and matching letters.
Hear the sounds in a word
In cat, we can hear three sounds:
c
a
t
We can write a letter for each sound.
Say the word slowly and clearly. Keep the example oral first, then connect it to print.
Put letters in order
The order of letters matters.
tap and pat use the same letters, but the letters are in a different order. That makes different words.
This is the key idea for spelling: not just which letters, but where they go.
Small words we can spell
sat
mat
pin
dog
We listen to the sounds and choose letters to match.
Use only examples that fit simple, regular sound-letter matches for this age group.
Reading and spelling work together
When we read, we look at letters and say the sounds.
When we spell, we hear the sounds and write the letters.
Letters and sounds help us do both.
This is the landing point of the lesson arc: the same letter-sound knowledge supports both reading and spelling.
Which word has the letters in the right order?
pat
tap
apt
tat
Tests the key idea that order matters in spelling. 'tap' was explicitly contrasted with 'pat' in the content.
Spelling a small word
We spell words by putting letters in order. In cat, we hear c, a, and t.
Uses the exact lesson phrasing: letters in order, and the model word cat with c-a-t.
What is one thing you learned?
Look for simple reflections such as a letter sound, a short word like cat, or the idea that letters help us read and spell.
How did spelling words feel today?
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What helped you learn best?
Invite brief answers such as 'sun', 'cat', 'the pictures', 's sound', or 'hearing the first sound'. This is reflection, not right or wrong.
Glossary
letter - a shape we write and read
sound - what we hear in a word
word - letters together that have meaning
spell - to write the letters in a word
name - the special word for a person or thing
read - to look at words and say them
write - to make letters on paper
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