A flagship principle of the alphabet is that each letter has a related or connected sound that is unique to it. These sounds occur in a very predictable manner. This helps students progress towards being able to say and understand words. This is first step in the process. After students understand the sounds that are produced, they learn how to arrange those letters and sounds to create their own words. In some parts of these worksheets you have multiple letters that can be used to make word, but pay attention to the pictures that are provided. There is much debate as to how many letter sounds there are. It is commonly accept that there are 40-45 distinct sounds. The fact that there is debate over this, when you spell a tough word incorrectly should make you feel better. An interesting fact is that the letters "Y" and "W" can and many times serve as vowel sounds. But there are 16 consonants that have consistent sounds they are called constant consonants.
Print Letters and Sounds Worksheets
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The Sounds of the Letter Tt
"T" is one of the most commonly used consonants in the English language. Trace the "t". Practice writing it on the line. Then write it under each picture that begins with the t sound.
Who’s Who in the Zoo?
Say the name of each picture. What will complete the word? Draw a line connecting the symbols to the name of each picture. Finish it off by filling in the blank.
Fill in the Missing Mark
Say the name of each picture aloud. Use the letters above to fill in the missing parts. This will help you transition to words.
Find the Tone of: /b/
Say the name of each picture. Circle each picture that has the /b/ sound somewhere in its name.
Find the /w/ Sound
Read and say the name of each picture aloud. Then identify each picture that has the /w/ sound somewhere in its name.
Rr - That Rascal!
This symbol appears in just over seven and a half percent of all words in the English language. Trace the r and practice writing iton the line. Then write the r under each picture that begins with the r sound.
Who Is In There?
Say the name of each picture. Write the letter whose sound you hear at the beginning of the word.
Circle the Beginnings
Circle the correct beginning sound for each picture. You may need to say each of these out loud.
Letters and the Sounds that They Make
The English language has forty-four unique sounds called phonemes, yet there are only twenty-six letters in the alphabet. This is because the English alphabet was rooted in Latin. The Latin alphabet lacked a full vowel spectrum and also lacked the sounds for Ch, Dj, Ng, Sh, and Th. We make these sounds up by chunking letters together to produce these sounds.
The traditional method of teaching letters and their sounds involves teaching children about the letter names. It is important to note that not all letters of the alphabet represent their true sounds.
The 26 letters of the English language have 44 sounds (phonemes) with many letters and spelling patterns (graphemes) to represent those sounds. Here, we have listed all 26 letters and their 44 sounds, spelling patterns, and examples.
1. Letter A, a
What You Hear: ā -ee (long a to long e, also spell "ay")
Other Acceptable Tones: æ, ā, ah, ā-uh, uh
Examples: cat, late, ball, and, around
2. Letter B, b
What You Hear: Bee
Other Acceptable Tones: buh
Examples: bike
3. Letter C, c
What You Hear: See
Other Acceptable Tones: kuh, suh
Examples: cake, city
4. Letter D, d
What You Hear: Dee
Other Acceptable Tones: duh
Examples: do
5. Letter E,e
What You Hear: Ee
Other Acceptable Tones: eh, ee, silent
Examples: bread, tree, bake
6. Letter F,f
What You Hear: Ef
Other Acceptable Tones: fuh
Examples: feed
7. Letter G,g
What You Hear: Jee
Other Acceptable Tones: guh, juh
Examples: gate, large
8. Letter H,h
What You Hear: ā-ch
Other Acceptable Tones:
huh, silent
Examples: what, hotel
9. Letter I, i
What You Hear: ah-ee
Other Acceptable Tones: ah-ee, ĭ
Examples: Ice, bit
10. Letter J,j
What You Hear: Jay
Other Acceptable Tones: juh
Examples: jacket
11. Letter K,k
What You Hear: Kay
Other Acceptable Tones: kuh
Examples: kite
12. Letter L,l
What You Hear: El
Other Acceptable Tones: luh, ul
Examples: lit, fill
13. Letter M,m
What You Hear: Em
Other Acceptable Tones: muh
Examples: monitor
14. Letter N,n
What You Hear: En
Other Acceptable Tones: nuh
Examples: night
15. Letter O,o
What You Hear: ō (oh)
Other Acceptable Tones: ah, ō, uh, oo, ů
Examples: not, grow, computer, cool, book
16. Letter P,p
What You Hear: Pee
Other Acceptable Tones: puh
Examples: put
17. Letter Q,q
What You Hear: Kyoo (kyū)
Other Acceptable Tones: kwuh
Examples: quickly
18. Letter R,r
What You Hear: Ah-r
Other Acceptable Tones: ruh, ur
Examples: rat, dirt
19. Letter S,s
What You Hear: Es
Other Acceptable Tones: suh, zuh
Examples: stick, is
20. Letter T,t
What You Hear: Tee
Other Acceptable Tones: tuh, duh, N, silent, stopped tuh
Examples: turnip, better, fountain, interview, got
21. Letter U,u
What You Hear: Yoo (yū)
Other Acceptable Tones: uh, yoo, oo, ů
Examples: up, usually, fluke, full
22. Letter V,v
What You Hear: Vee
Other Acceptable Tones: vuh
Examples: very
23. Letter W,w
What You Hear: Dubōyoo
Other Acceptable Tones: wuh, silent
Examples: well, slow
24. Letter X,x
What You Hear: Eks
Other Acceptable Tones: ks, zuh
Examples: box, xylophone
25. Letter Y,y
What You Hear: Wah-ee
Other Acceptable Tones: yuh, ee, ah-ee (i), ĭ
Examples: yes, nappy, try, cylinder
26. Letter Z,z
What You Hear: Zee (English US), Zed (English UK)
Other Acceptable Tones: zuh
Examples: zebra
Final Consideration
The letter name approach can confuse the children when they are learning to pronounce words using these letters. To counter this, educationists have developed a modern idea known as letter-sound correspondence, or a grapheme-phoneme correspondence (GPC).
This is a systematic approach that teaches children how to read using phonics. Many schools have adopted this methodology and have split it into six phases. These phases are spread over 3 to 4 years and help the students become fluent readers around the time when they start their 2nd grade.