Working on Sound – Symbol Relationships
After developing alphabetic knowledge, print awareness and phonological
awareness, students should begin working on sound-symbol relationships (also
known as phonics). A solid understanding of these relationships is necessary
before learning to decode (and encode!) words through sound blending.
Sound (Phoneme) – Symbol (Letter or Letter Combinations) Relationships
Follow these steps when introducing a new sound-symbol relationship:
1. Choose a keyword to use when introducing a new sound-symbol
relationship (e.g. sock to learn /s/).
2. Write the spelling (the letter or letter combination) on the whiteboard.
3. State the sound-spelling relationship as you point to the spelling. For
example, say “The letter s stands for /s/ as in sock.”
4. Write the keyword on the board and circle the spelling. For example,
write the word sock and circle the letter s.
5. Point to the spelling and have student state the sound it stands for. It is
important that students participate in all aspects of the lesson.
6. Write the spelling and keyword on an index card and add that card to a
growing deck of cards you will use for phonics review.
7. For students needing additional support, use the Teach-Coach-AssessReteach Model.
Teach-Coach-Assess Model
Teach: Write a lowercase s on the whiteboard with an arrow underneath.
Say, “Here’s how we spell the sound we just heard. My turn.” Point to the
tail of the arrow. Pause. Then move a finger under the letter and say its
sound—/sssss/. Since s is a continuous sound, hold your finger under the
letter and say its sound for two seconds and then slash to the right. Say,
“I’ll say it again.” Repeat the same sequence (point, pause, move finger
and hold under the letter, then move off to the right).
Coach: Say, “Let’s do it together.” Point to the tail. Pause. Say, “Sound.”
Then quickly move your finger under the letter and hold for two seconds.
Then slash right. Move your finger back to the tail. Pause. Say, “Let’s do it
again.” Move your finger and hold, etc.
Assess: Say, “Okay, now it’s your turn.” Point to tail. Pause. Say, “Sound.”
Then move your finger under letter and hold if continuous. Then slash
right. Move your finger back to the tail. Pause. Say, “Again.” Move finger,
etc. Repeat whole model if necessary.
Phonics Review:
It is important that students actually overlearn the sound-symbol relationships.
Therefore, phonics review is a critical part of the learning process. After each
sound-spelling is introduced and practiced, the spelling should be written on an
index card. Use the compiled index cards to review all sound-spellings regularly.
1. Display one card at a time. Have your student orally state the sound that
the spelling stands for. For example, when you show the s card, the
student should say /s/.
2. For spellings students struggle with, place the index card at the bottom of
the deck, and review it again.
3. Mix and vary the order of the sound-spellings reviewed from lesson to
lesson.
Why do students confuse certain sounds?
Below are eight pairs of consonants that differ only in voicing - everything else is
the same. The top sound in each pair is unvoiced. The bottom sound is voiced.
Students often confuse sounds in the same pair.
Phoneme Pairs
/b/
/p/
/d/
/t/
/g/
/k/
/v/
/f/
/TH/ /z/ /zh/
/th/ /s/ /sh/
/j/
/ch/
Sounds of Speech
The following charts can guide you in working with students to learn the correct
sounds associated with specific letters and letter combinations (e.g. “ch”).
Phoneme
Spelling
(Initial Position)
Spelling
(Final Position)
Examples
/p/
p
p
pick, hop
/b/
b
b
bid, knob
/t/
t
t, bt, ed
tap, doubt,
flipped
/d/
d
d
deck, bad
/k/
c, k, ch
k, ck
can't, kick,
crook, lock
/g/
g, gu, gh
gue, gg
give, bag,
guitar, plague,
ghost, egg
/m/
m
m, mb, mn
map, jam, limb,
hymn
/n/
n, kn, gn
n, gn
neck, pen,
knick, sign,
gnat
/ng/
--
ng
sing
/f/
f, ph
f, ff, ph, gh
fate, leaf,
photo, off,
graph, enough
/v/
v
ve
vote, give
/th/
th
the
thank, math
/TH/
th
the
this, bathe
/s/
s, c, ps
ce, se, ss, s
sick, mice,
center, base,
psychology,
bliss, bus
/z/
z
se, ze, zz, s, z
zap, please,
sneeze, buzz,
has, whiz
/sh/
sh, s
sh
shoe, rash,
sure
/zh/
si (medial
position)
s (medial
position)
z (medial
position)
--
vision,
treasure, azure
/ch/
ch
ch
chick, batch
/j/
j, g
ge, dge
juice, gauge,
giant, dodge
/y/
y
--
yell
/hw/
wh
--
what
/w/
w
--
warm
/h/
h, wh
--
house, who
/l/
l
ll
look, fell
/r/
r, wr
r
rake, far,
wrong
Phoneme
Spelling
Examples
/a-/
a_e, ai, ay, ea, ei,
ey, eigh
late, bait, say, steak, veil, they,
sleigh
/e-/
e, ee, ea, y, ie,
e_e, ey, i_e, ei
me, feet, bead, many, field,
these, key, machine, receive
/i-/
i_e, y, i, ie, igh, ye
time, try, mild, pie, high, lye
/o-/
o, o_e, oa, ow, oe,
ou, ew
so, hope, coat, low, toe, soul,
sew
/a/
a, a_e
sat, have
/e/
e, ea, ai, a
pet, head, said, many
/i/
i, y, e, i_e, ee, ui
six, gym, pretty, give, been, build
/o/
o, a
log, watch
/u/
u, o, o_e, ou
but, ton, love, young
/?/
a, e, i, o, u
alone, system, easily, gallop,
circus
/ûr/
ur, ir, er, or
turn, girl, her, work
/är/
ar
car
/ôr/
or, our, ar
or, four, war
/aw/
aw, au, a[l], a[ll], ou
saw, cause, walk, ball, cough
/oi/, /oy/
oi, oy
boil, toy
/ou/, /ow/
ou, ow
cloud, now
/o-o-/, (yoo-)
oo, u, ue, ew, u_e,
o, ou
hoot, ruby (cute), blue (fuel),
new, tube, do, soup
/o(o(/
oo, u, o, ou
book, put, wolf, would
Adapted from: Moats, L., CORE Sourcebook.