Are you preparing to work with students on identifying and accurately representing beginning consonant sounds in CVC words? In this post you will find information about teaching beginning consonants including why they are important, which beginning sounds should be taught first, what common spelling mistakes to expect from students, and ideas for how to make learning about beginning consonants more fun!

WHY IS TEACHING STUDENTS BEGINNING CONSONANTS SOUNDS IMPORTANT?

Students working at this stage are learning that the sounds in the words we speak (aka phonemes) are represented by letters and sequences of letters (aka graphemes). Students' literacy and vocabulary skills begin to expand rapidly when they understand that words follow patterns and those patterns can be used (or transferred) to read and write new words.

Being able to accurately connect the initial sound that is heard in a word with its corresponding letter is the first, and arguably the most crucial, step in developing phonemic awareness.

WHAT BEGINNING CONSONANT SOUNDS SHOULD BE TAUGHT FIRST?

There are a few general rules of thumb to follow when deciding the order to introduce beginning sounds to students.

1) Introduce continuous sounds before stop sounds.

Continuous sounds are sounds that can go on without stopping when they are pronounced. These are easier for students to learn first because the pronunciation is clear and straightforward. For example, f, l, m, n, r, s, v, and z are all continuous sounds.  

Stop sounds, however, are formed when airflow stops. For example, if you hold your hand in front of your mouth you can often feel the small push of air when you pronounce one of the stop sounds. The sound stops when you feel the air. Stop sounds include b, c, d, g, p, t, k, and j. 

2) Introduce more commonly used letters first.

Letters like m, s, f, p, and t are more commonly used than q, v, x, and z. Starting with more commonly used letters ensures students will see these letters and be able to apply what they are learning more often throughout the day.

3) Don’t introduce letters that are visually similar at the same time.

It is extremely common for students to confuse the q and p, b and d, f and t because they look and are formed so similarly. It is best to separate these pairings when first introducing beginning sounds to students to avoid confusion.

4) Use assessments to guide you.

If you are working with an individual or a small group of students, let assessments guide you on which beginning sounds need to be quickly reviewed and which ones need more time spent in order for students to master them.

When reviewing or introducing beginning consonant sounds, the following order and groupings are suggested by Words Their Way:

• B, M, R, and S Beginning Sounds - bug, map, ring, sun

• T, G, N, and P Beginning Sounds - tent, gum, net, pan

• C, H, F, and D Beginning Sounds - cat, horn, fan, dog

• L, K, J, and W Beginning Sounds - leg, king, jug, web

• Y, Z, and V Beginning Sounds - yarn, zipper, van

* Note: I've linked each of these beginning sounds to resources that can be used to teach these skills. You can find the bundle for teaching Beginning Consonant Sounds here.

HOW DO YOU TEACH BEGINNING CONSONANT SOUNDS? 

In order to ensure students are connecting the sound they hear (whether listening or saying a word themselves) with the letter that represents that particular sound, teachers must make sure that both direct instruction and independent practice with beginning consonants includes letter-sound correspondence.

• Corresponding Sounds to Letters

  • Using letter tiles, providing opportunities for students to write and/or create the corresponding letter with tactile materials, and challenging students to sort words under headers labeled with letters are great ways to ensure students are solidifying their connection between the particular letter and the sound it makes.

• Repetition & Varied Exposure

  • Students need to work with connecting letter sounds to their accurate representations over and over and over and over and…well, you get it. The more varied opportunities (think letter/word sorts, games, activities, worksheets, direct instruction, partner work, etc) students have to work with a word study concept, the better the chance students will successfully be able to apply the concepts to their reading and writing.

• Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

  • Because students who are learning about beginning consonant sounds cannot yet accurately spell most words and may even struggle to read them, the use of pictures to help teach this skill is essential. If we only utilize printed words to develop this skill, students may not be absorbing true understanding of letter-sound correspondence. When students are challenged to build or write words that are depicted by images, they must practice their phoneme segmentation skills, or what they hear in a word rather than what they see, in order to accurately spell the word. 

WHAT ARE SOME COMMON MISTAKES STUDENTS MAKE WHEN TRYING TO REPRESENT BEGINNING CONSONANT SOUNDS IN WORDS?

#1: Because some letters represent a sound that doesn’t sound like its “name,” students can easily confuse these beginning consonant sounds. 

Example → When students are trying to write gem or gel, they may spell it with a / j/ instead of /g/ because the letter g is named  "jee" and what we call it has a /j/ sound. This is also true for the letter y, whose letter name is said with a /w/ sound.

If you want to hear it for yourself, say the names of Gg and Jj a few times! Although it may drive you bonkers, it explains the rightful "confusion" some students may have when commonly misusing these letters.

#2: In the English language, several letters are produced by our mouths (or articulated) in similar ways, which can cause confusion when students are trying to accurately spell a word.

Example → /b/ and /p/ are formed in the same part of the mouth and only have minor differences in how one makes these sounds. The vocal chords vibrate for /b/, but not for /p/, making it sometimes difficult for students to distinguish between the two. (Again, try it for yourself by saying these sounds aloud!)

Letters that are commonly confused:

• V or F - vase, fence, vine, fan

• T or D - ten, dig, tiem dive

• B or P - bag, page, boat, pan

• G or K - gate, king, gum, kiss

• S or Z - sock, zoo, sick, zero   

• W or Y - web, yell, wing, yawn

* Note: I've linked each of these commonly confused letters to resources that can be used to teach these skills. You can find the bundle for teaching Beginning Consonant Sounds here.

WHAT ARE SOME ACTIVITIES THAT MAKE LEARNING A BEGINNING CONSONANT SOUND FUN?

Games are an excellent way to promote student engagement and provide a valuable and varied opportunity for students to practice and apply what they are learning. In the examples below, I've linked the games and activities I've created for teaching and practicing beginning sound and beginning letter skills.

In the partner game, Bear vs. Pig, players take turns drawing a picture or word cards and moving their game pieces to the corresponding space on the game path. After each move, players record the beginning sound of the picture they landed on. The first player to reach the end of the game path, wins the game.

This game requires students to practice differentiating between two commonly mistaken letters and sounds, b and p. The heavy use of pictures to depict words beginning with b and p helps students use their phonemic awareness skills to hear the difference in sound and pronunciation rather than rely on what they see at the beginning of a word.

Not working on B and P? No worries! Students can also play the board games Seal vs Zebra (S and Z), Goat vs Kitten (G and K), Vulture vs Fox (V and F), Wolf vs Yak (W and Y), or Turtle vs Duck(T and D). 

Say, Listen, Match is another favorite activity to use with students in the Early Letter Name-Alphabetic stage.

Played much like the game Memory, students take turns flipping over any two cards, laid out in several rows and columns. To make a match, the cards must depict words beginning with the same consonant sound. At the end of the game when all matches have been made, the player with the most matches wins.

This activity also restricts students’ tendencies to rely on the letter they see at the beginning of the word in order to categorize the beginning sound. Rather they must first identify the word being shown in the picture, audibly say the word, and listen carefully to hear the difference in sound and pronunciation in order to successfully match the cards.

You can find all the games and activities I suggest using in the Beginning Consonant Sounds Games and Activities Bundle.

ROOTING FOR YOU AND THE SUCCESS OF YOUR STUDENTS LEARNING THIS SKILL!

When it comes to introducing or reviewing beginning consonant sounds, I believe that the more fun, age-appropriate practice we can give our students, the stronger readers and spellers they can become. 

By allowing students who need to practice these skills the time to do so, rather than pushing them to develop their letter-naming skills more quickly, we can achieve more success and less frustration. We also have the opportunity to discover and clear up any confusion they may have internalized about these letters and sounds. As you help your students successfully master these skills, be sure to plan opportunities to circle back to previously taught word study concepts as well as allow students more time with familiar and previously used activities. 

Have students in the Letter Name-Alphabetic Stage that are ready to work on other concepts? Check out these helpful posts:

Supporting Students in the Letter Name-Alphabetic Stage

Teaching Phonics Word Families

Teaching Beginning Digraphs and Blends in CVC Words

Teaching Short Vowels in CVC Words

Teaching Preconsonantal Nasals in CVC Words

LOOKING FOR MORE LETTER-NAME ALPHABETIC RESOURCES?

You can get all of the Letter Name-Alphabetic Stage games in a time-saving, money saving bundle!

NOTE: The Letter Name word searches and word study notebook are also included in bundles for all 4 levels of Words Their Way if you need those!