Level 1 • Lesson 41 — Understanding letter sounds

Objective

Hear and say common letter sounds and match them to the correct alphabet letters.

Materials

Alphabet chart
Small cards with letters (a, e, i, o, u, m, s, t, n, p)
Pencil ✏️
Paper for writing letters and words

Say the sound first, then point to or write the letter that matches.

Mini-lesson — Letter sounds (phonics)

Every letter has a name and a sound.

When we read, we listen for the sound and match it to the letter.

The letter m says /m/ like in mop.
The letter s says /s/ like in sun.
The letter t says /t/ like in top.

Vowels have short sounds in simple words:

a says /a/ like in cat.
e says /e/ like in bed.
i says /i/ like in sit.
o says /o/ like in hot.
u says /u/ like in sun.

Today, we will:

Hear a sound: /m/, /s/, /t/…
Point to or circle the matching letter.
Say a word that starts with that sound.

The more we match sounds and letters, the easier it is to read words.

Picture: A child on a sound walk finding letters that match sounds.

Guided Practice — Read the letter-sound mini-book

How to use this mini-book:

On each page, look for the bold word.
Say the word slowly and listen for each sound.
Find the letter on your chart that matches the sound you hear.
Say: “The letter m says /m/ in map.”

After reading, pick one bold word from each page and write the word and its middle vowel on your paper.

Focus letters

m s t n p a e i o u

Tip: Say the sound, then tap the matching letter chip.

Mini-Book: My sound walk

1

I see the sun.

The sun is on me. I say /s/ /u/ /n/.

2

I see a map.

The map is in my bag. I say /m/ /a/ /p/.

3

I see a net.

The net is on the sand. I say /n/ /e/ /t/.

4

I see a pen.

The pen is in my hand. I say /p/ /e/ /n/.

Reading Practice — Sounds and letters

Choose the letter or word that matches the sound in the question. Then press “Check answers”.

1) Which letter makes the sound at the start of man (/m/)?

2) Which letter makes the sound at the start of sun (/s/)?

3) Which letter makes the sound at the start of top (/t/)?

4) In the word cat, which letter shows the middle sound (/a/)?

5) In the word sit, which letter shows the middle sound (/i/)?

6) In the word sun, which letter shows the middle sound (/u/)?

7) Which word begins with the sound /p/?

8) Which word begins with the sound /n/?

Quick Check (10 questions)

1) What is a letter sound?

The sound a letter makes when we read The picture on the page The number of the page

2) Which one shows the short a sound?

bed cat sit

3) Which word has the short i sound?

sun map pin

4) When you hear /s/ at the start of a word, which letter should you think of?

s m t

5) In the word ten, which letter shows the short e sound?

t e n

6) Which word has the short o sound?

sun sit hot

7) What should you do when you hear a sound in a word?

Think of the letter that matches the sound Ignore the sound Only look at the picture

8) Which word begins with the same sound as sun?

man sit top

9) Which word begins with the same sound as map?

ten sun mop

10) To become a strong reader, you should…

listen for sounds and match them to letters skip all the words only look at page numbers

Assessment (parent/teacher)

Hears and repeats simple letter sounds (m, s, t, n, p) Matches common consonant sounds to the correct letters Recognizes short vowel sounds in simple words Uses letter sounds to help read or spell a simple word

Exit ticket (student)

😀 I can hear letter sounds and match them to letters 🙂 I need more practice with some sounds 😅 It still feels tricky

I will practice…

Hearing the first sound in a word Matching sounds to letters on an alphabet chart Saying simple words slowly to hear all the sounds

Lesson 41: Understanding letter sounds