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Matching Letters to Sounds

Practice matching letters to their sounds and use that skill to spell and write simple words. This lesson shows how to break a word into sounds and pick the right letter for each one.

Introduction

You already know that letters make sounds. Now you will use that skill to write whole words. When you can hear all the sounds in a word and match each one to a letter, you can write words like "cat," "sun," and "dog" all by yourself.

Listening For Every Sound In A Word

A short word like "cat" is made of three sounds: /c/, /a/, /t/. If you say the word slowly, you can hear each sound come one after another.

Try saying "sun" very slowly. Do you hear /s/, then /u/, then /n/? Each sound needs its own letter.

Matching Each Sound To A Letter

Once you hear a sound, you pick the letter that makes it. The sound /s/ matches the letter "S." The sound /u/ matches the letter "U." The sound /n/ matches the letter "N."

Here is how the word "sun" is built one sound at a time.

Three sound boxes spell the word sun, one letter for each sound.

Writing The Word In Order

When you write a word, you write the letters in the same order you hear the sounds. Say "dog" slowly: /d/, /o/, /g/. Now write "D," then "O," then "G." You just spelled "dog"!

If you get stuck, stretch the word out like a rubber band. Saying it slowly, "d-o-o-o-g," helps you catch every sound so you do not skip a letter.

Checking Your Word

After you write a word, look at each letter and say its sound out loud. Point to each letter with your finger as you say the sound. If the sounds line up and make the word, you know your spelling is correct.

You can also change one letter to make a brand new word. Change the "c" in "cat" to a "b" and you get "bat." Change the "t" to an "p" and "cat" becomes "cap." One new sound, one new letter, one new word.

Key Terms & Definitions

Sound: The noise you hear when you say part of a word, like /d/ in dog

Letter: The written symbol that stands for a sound, like the letter D

Sounding Out: Saying a word slowly to hear every sound inside it

Spelling: Writing the letters in the correct order to make a word

Word Family: A group of words that share the same middle and end sounds, like cat, bat, and hat

Ways To Practice

Say a simple word out loud, clap once for each sound you hear, and then write one letter for each clap. Try this with words like "map," "pig," and "run."

Pick a word you spelled and change just one letter. See how many new words you can make by swapping the first, middle, or last sound.

Related lessons

Letter Sound Pairs and Writing