Routine · Letters
Letter sound with a picture keyword
Link a letter to its sound through a picture word that begins with that sound.
- Time
- 4 to 7 minutes
- Skill
- Letters
- In a session plan
- New lesson
When to use it
Every time a single letter and its sound are new in the sequence.
Materials
- A card showing the letter and a keyword picture
- A mirror, if the student is unsure how the sound is made
Steps
Shown with example words: word map; spelling m; sound /m/.
Get ready
Show the card. Name the picture: map.
Say: This is a picture of map.
I do
Point to the letter, then the picture, and say the routine: letter name, keyword, sound. Show how your mouth makes the sound.
Say: m, map, /m/. Watch my mouth: /m/.
We do
Say the routine together three times, pointing to the letter, the picture, then the letter again.
Student: Says the letter, the keyword and the sound with you.
You do
Say a few spoken words. The student gives a thumb up if the word starts with /m/.
Student: Listens for the new sound at the start of each word.
Cover the picture. Point to the letter; the student says the sound alone.
Check
Mix the card into the known letter cards and show them quickly for sounds.
If the student...
Adds a vowel to a stop sound, as in tuh for /t/.
Model a short, crisp sound with no voice after it. Have the student copy it, then point back to the letter and ask again.
Gives the sound of a look-alike letter.
Uncover the keyword picture. Say the routine for the correct letter together, cover the picture and ask for the sound again.
Say: This one is m, map, /m/. What sound?
Tips
- Use the same keyword every time so it becomes a hook the student can reach for.
- If a student forgets a sound later, point to the keyword instead of telling them the sound.
- In a group, have students say the sound together, then call on two students to say it alone.
Example words
- Word
- map
- Spelling
- m
- Sound
- /m/
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- Meet the letter: name and shapeIntroduce a letter by its name and the look of its capital and small forms.3 to 5 minutes · New lesson
- Quick letter-sound drillFlash known letters for their sounds at a brisk pace, with fast fixes.2 to 3 minutes · Review
- Introduce a new sound-spellingTeach a new spelling for a sound: hear it, see it, say it, write it, then read words with it.6 to 10 minutes · New lesson
- Handwriting: talk it, trace it, write itTeach the strokes of a letter with spoken directions, tracing, copying and writing from memory.3 to 6 minutes · New lesson
Have this routine filled in for every lesson
In Literacy Trail, the session plan picks a routine for each block and fills it with the words, sounds and sentence from your student's lesson. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.