Sounds make words
English · Key Stage 1 · The School
Letters have sounds
Every letter has a name and a sound. The name of b is bee. The sound of b is the b in ball. Reading uses the SOUNDS. When you meet a new word, say each sound slowly. Then say them faster and faster, until they join into one word. That joining is called blending, and it is the whole of early reading.
Blending practice
Try it. S-u-n. Say the three sounds slowly. Now say them faster: sss-uuu-nnn. Faster again, and they join: sun. Words like dog, map, pin and bed all work the same way. Three sounds, blended into one word. Do five of them a day and blending stops feeling like work.
Tricky words
Some words break the rules. The. Said. Was. You cannot sound those out, so you learn them by sight instead. Grown-ups call them common exception words. There are not very many, and they turn up constantly, which is exactly why meeting them often is how they stick. Keep a list on the wall and read it aloud once a day.
When two letters make one sound
Some sounds need two letters standing together: sh, ch, th, ck, ng. In ship there are four letters but only THREE sounds — sh-i-p — because sh is one sound made by two letters. Blend it the same way: sh, i, p, faster, ship. Try chip, which is ch-i-p. Try bath, which is b-a-th. Try sock, which is s-o-ck. Now go backwards, which is what spelling is. Say shop slowly and count the sounds on your fingers: sh, o, p, three fingers. Then write one sound at a time. Counting the sounds before you write is what stops letters going missing.