Glossary · Letters, phonics and word reading
What is letter-sound correspondence?
Definition
Letter-sound correspondence is the link between a letter or letter group and the sound it spells, such as m with /m/ or sh with /sh/.
It's also called grapheme-phoneme correspondence, and it is the raw material of phonics. A student needs these links fast and accurate before blending can work, because blending juggles several of them at once.
Start with the most useful ones: a handful of consonants and a short vowel, enough to build words in the first week. A common opening set is m, s, a, t, p, f, i and n. Letters that look alike (b and d) or sound alike (e and i) are best taught some distance apart.
Speed matters here as much as accuracy. A student who knows every sound but takes three seconds to recall each one will struggle to blend a four-sound word.
In a lesson
Flash letter cards for one minute and count correct sounds. A student who gives 40 correct sounds in a minute is ready for blending; one who gives 12 needs more drill first.
Examples
Each word with its spelling units, one per sound.
- manm·a·n
- sats·a·t
- pinp·i·n
Words come from our lexicon, checked against a pronouncing dictionary. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out.
Why does this matter for the record?
A one-minute letter-sound check is quick to repeat. Record the count and the letters missed, and the trend tells you more than any single score.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.