3.1 Prepare for Letter Names and Sounds Instruction

We aren’t going to teach the whole alphabet at once! We need to intentionally choose letters with the goal of being able to get students reading and writing as soon as possible. 

There's no settled-on best sequence for introducing the letters. This chart below has a sample sequence that starts with 'a', 't', 'c', and 'd'. You'll introduce two new letters per week.

Here are some other options:

• Introduce a new letter with its “cousin.” There are nine pairs of sound cousins. For each pair, the mouth looks the same as you make the sounds. And the sound is formed in the same place in the mouth. This approach is particularly helpful for students who struggle with articulation.

• Choose the letters to introduce based on letter formation when writing. For example, we start by writing the letter ‘c,’ a shape that’s also in the letters ‘a’, ‘d’, ‘o’, and ‘g’.

In order to introduce a new letter, you will need flash cards that show your students the letter and a keyword that will help them produce the letter sound. Once students become automatic with naming certain letter sounds, start using flashcards with just the lowercase letters (and no pictures).

Download the Reading Universe flash card decks below to get started.

These letter flash cards have pictures to help students remember the sounds. For example, you'll see a bat for letter 'b'. As soon as students master the sound with the keyword, switch over to flash cards without pictures.

This flash card set includes all the lowercase letters. Use the cards to practice sounds students haven't yet mastered or to build words during independent practice.

You can find other variations of these flash cards in our resource hub, including a full set with letters, consonant digraphs, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, diphthongs, and some prefixes and suffixes.