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Identifying Letters and Sounds

Practice matching uppercase and lowercase letters to the sounds they make. This lesson builds on letter recognition by teaching you to hear and say letter sounds so you can start sounding out real words.

Introduction

You already know the shapes of letters. Now you will learn what sound each letter makes! Every letter, big or small, has its own sound. When you know letter sounds, you can start to read and sound out real words.

What Do Letters Sound Like?

Every letter makes a sound. The letter B makes a "b" sound, like in "ball." The letter S makes a "s" sound, like in "sun." When you say a letter's sound out loud, you are getting ready to read words.

Some letters make one main sound. Other letters, like vowels, can make more than one sound. For now, you will practice the main sound each letter makes most of the time.

Big Letters and Small Letters Make the Same Sound

A big letter and a small letter look different, but they make the same sound. B and b both say "b." M and m both say "m." This is an important idea: the shape of the letter changes, but the sound stays the same.

Look at the letter cards below. Each card shows a big letter, a small letter, and a picture word that starts with that sound.

Big and small letters that share the same sound

Say each sound out loud. Then try to think of another word that starts with the same sound, like "banana" for B or "cup" for C.

Using Letter Sounds to Read Words

When you know letter sounds, you can sound out short words. Look at the word "cat." Say each sound one at a time: "c," "a," "t." Now blend the sounds together fast: "cat!" This is called sounding out a word.

Try it with the word "sun." Say "s," "u," "n," then blend them together: "sun." Sounding out words is a skill you will use every time you read a new book.

Key Terms & Definitions

Letter Sound: The sound your mouth makes when you say a letter, like "m" for the letter M.

Uppercase Letter: A big letter, like A or B, that makes the same sound as its small letter.

Lowercase Letter: A small letter, like a or b, used most of the time in words.

Sound Matching: Finding letters or pictures that start with the same sound.

Sounding Out: Saying each sound in a word one at a time, then blending them to read the word.

Fun Ways to Practice

Play a sound hunt game. Pick a letter, then walk around your house and find three things that start with that sound. Say each object's name out loud and listen for the matching sound.

You can also sort picture cards into piles by their beginning sound. Put "dog" and "duck" together because they both start with the "d" sound. Then say the letter that matches that sound.

Related lessons

Recognizing All Alphabet Letters