Hello! Last time, you met the capital and small letters from A a to Z z. You practised their names. Today you will use your eyes, ears, mouth, and pencil to learn their sounds.
A letter’s name and its sound are not always the same. The letter P is named “pee,” but at the start of pig you hear a quick /p/ sound. By the end of this lesson, you will try the common sounds for all 26 letters, listen carefully to p and b and f and v, and write letters while saying their sounds. Your teacher can explain a direction in Arabic whenever that helps; keep trying the English sounds aloud.
Listen to the alphabet sound parade
Watch ABC Phonics Chant for Children | Sounds and Actions from A to Z by Tora the Teacher. The chant gives you a first chance to hear and copy the sounds. On the first viewing, join in when you can. On the second, your teacher can pause so you can say each sound yourself.
ABC Phonics Chant for Children | Sounds and Actions from A to Z
Watch Tora the Teacher’s alphabet chant to hear letter sounds alongside words and actions.
Watch the A–Z chant from the opening apple example through the final zoo example. Copy a sound, not just the letter’s name. Notice that the example for x is box: you hear its sound at the end of that word.
Some sounds are so quick that it is tempting to add an “uh” after them. Try to say /p/ as one little pop, rather than “puh.” A sound like /ffff/ can last longer. Your teacher can say a sound first, and you can echo it.
Five little vowel sounds
A, E, I, O, U are vowel letters. Each has a short sound to learn today. Look at the five letters and mouth pictures below. They remind you to watch and move your mouth; your teacher’s voice will help you hear each sound clearly.
Say the letter, then the beginning of its example word:
A a — apple
E e — egg
I i — igloo
O o — octopus
U u — umbrella
Listen to how e in egg and i in igloo are different, even though both are short sounds. English speakers may pronounce the vowel in octopus a little differently; copy your teacher’s model.
Now watch These Are the Short Vowel Sounds from Jack Hartmann Kids Music Channel. Point to the matching card each time you hear a vowel.
These Are the Short Vowel Sounds | Jack Hartmann
Watch Jack Hartmann’s short-vowel song to hear the five vowels introduced and repeated with examples.
Begin with the vowel song. In the examples, pause after each short sound and echo it while pointing to its letter. Use the repeat if you want another turn at any sound.
On paper, write a e i o u, leaving a finger-width space between letters. Touch each letter and say its sound as your pencil moves. You already know the letter names; this time, let the sounds do the work.
Give the consonants a voice
The other 21 letters are consonants. Say each example word with your teacher and listen for the sound made by the bold letter. Most are at the start of their word.
B b — bag · C c — cat · D d — dog
F f — fish · G g — goat · H h — hat
J j — jam · K k — kite · L l — lion
M m — mug · N n — net · P p — pig
Q q — queen · R r — rat · S s — sun
T t — top · V v — van · W w — wet
X x — box · Y y — yes · Z z — zebra
There are three useful surprises in that parade. C in cat and K in kite make the same /k/ sound. Q usually has a partner, u: together qu says /kw/ at the start of queen. X in box says /ks/ at the end. You do not need to find an x word that starts with that sound.
Look at this picture chart for another way to remember some consonants. It is a picture helper, not a list of every letter or every way to spell a sound.
Point to the bag, dog, fish, pig, and van in the chart. For each one, say the word and then its first sound. For fish, for example, say “fish, /f/.” You can leave the other small printed words on the chart for another day; some use different spellings of the same sound.
Two pairs that need careful listening
Put one hand gently in front of your mouth. Say /p/ as in pig: close your lips, then let out a small puff of air. Say /b/ as in bag: your lips begin together again, but this time your voice is on. You can touch your throat gently to feel it vibrate for /b/. Your teacher can alternate pig, bag, pig, bag while you listen and copy.
Now place your top teeth lightly against your lower lip. Let air pass for /ffff/ as in fish. Keep the teeth and lip in almost the same place, but turn your voice on for /vvvv/ as in van. Feel for a gentle buzz at your throat. Do not bite your lip or push hard.
The difference matters when you speak: /p/ is not /b/, and /f/ is not /v/. To connect your mouth to your pencil, write these small letters in a row:
p b f v
Point, say the sound, and write each letter once more. If p and b look similar, check the tall part carefully: in lowercase b, the tall line goes up; in lowercase p, the line goes down.
Your sound-and-letter finish line
Ask your teacher to point to letters in the consonant parade and the five vowels in a mixed-up order. For each one, look at the letter, say its common sound, and then say its example word. A helpful reply might be “m, /m/, mug.” If you hear a letter name instead of its sound, simply listen to the model and try again.
Give qu and x their special turns: say “qu, /kw/, queen” and “x, /ks/, box.” Then revisit p, b, f, v without the example words. Can your mouth and voice make four clearly different sounds?
Finish by choosing five letters from today’s parade to write on paper. As you write each one, say its sound aloud. Your writing and speaking are working together.
What to remember
Letters have names and sounds. You have practised a common sound for every letter from A to Z, including the five short vowels. You have also felt how your voice helps separate p from b and f from v. Keep using queen to remember qu, and box to remember x.
Next lesson, you will put sounds together to read and spell short words.