Effective Alphabet Instruction
Written by: Brianna Guild, MHSc SLP(C)
Date: September 5, 2023
Updated: August 29, 2024
What is the best way to teach the alphabet?
The truth is, there is no one “perfect” or “right” scope and sequence when it comes to alphabet and phonics instruction, but research does suggest the following:
Build from the simplest to the most complex skills
Start by introducing closed syllables. These are syllables closed off by one or more consonants, and the vowel sound is generally short.
First, teach short-vowel—consonant (VC) and consonant—short-vowel—consonant (CVC) words (e.g., at, in, cat, pin).
Then, progress to short-vowel words with consonant blends (e.g., flat, spin) and digraphs (e.g., chat, shin), and contrast these words with CVC words (e.g., pin versus spin, cat versus chat).
For information on more advanced phonics and syllable types, read the syllable types blog post.
Ensure that many words can be formed as early as possible
The goal of early phonics instruction is to give students the skills they need to read (decode) and spell (encode) words. Therefore, it is important to teach letters and letter-sounds in a sequence that allows many useful and common words to be read and spelled early on.
Rather than teaching letters in alphabetical order, teach letters in an order that allows for the formation of many words. For example, starting instruction with the letters m, a, s, p, t would allow students to read and spell many useful words, including am, at, map, sap, tap, mat, pat, sat.
Instead of teaching letters and letter-sounds in isolation, teach them in the context of real reading through activities such as word building. This allows for the integration of multiple foundational skills (e.g., concept of a word, concept of the alphabetic principle, letter-sound knowledge, early decoding, early spelling). Read more in this Reading Simplified blog post Teach the Letter-Sounds with Multiple Early Reading Skills – Build It.
Teach high-utility skills before less useful sound spellings
Some letters and sound spellings are utilized more in English than others, and should therefore be introduced earlier since they are more commonly encountered in words.
An effective early phonics sequence should start by introducing the most useful (high frequency) letters and sound spellings. When letters can represent more than one sound, the primary (most common) sound should be taught to mastery before secondary (less common) sounds are introduced. For example, teach that the letter c represents the sound /k/ (e.g., cat) before teaching that it can also represent the sound /s/ (e.g., circle), and teach that the letter g represents the sound /g/ (e.g., go) before teaching that it can also represent the sound /dʒ/ (e.g., giraffe).
For more detailed information on high frequency sound-letter (phoneme-grapheme) correspondences, and the most frequent ways of spelling those sounds, check out the article Phonics: A Large Phoneme-Grapheme Frequency Count Revised.
Separate easily confused letters and sounds to avoid potential difficulties
Separation of easily confused letters and sounds minimizes learning interference because it allows for the mastery of one letter or sound before the potentially confusing letter or sound is introduced.
Letters can be confusing because of their orientation and visual similarity to other letters (e.g., b/d, p/q, m/n/u, E/F, M/N/W, P/R). When teaching these letters, it is helpful to emphasize the features that make them different when teaching students how to write the letters.
Sounds can be confusing when they are formed similarly in the mouth (e.g., /m/ and /n/, short a and short e). When teaching these sounds, it is helpful to emphasize the differences in jaw and articulator (e.g., lips, tongue) position during sound production.
Teach information about letter names, sounds, and forms
Current research suggests that it is likely best to teach letter names, sounds and forms simultaneously.
Letter name: the name we use to refer to a letter (e.g., B/b).
Letter sound: the sound(s) a letter is used to represent (e.g., the letter B/b represents the sound /b/).
Letter form: the written strokes that make the shape of the letter (e.g., the lowercase letter b is formed by 2 strokes, a vertical line down and then a circle).
Follow an efficient and effective teaching routine
The purpose of alphabet instruction is to ensure students can automatically and accurately associate letter forms to sounds and names. Therefore, one of the most simple and effective evidence-based routines is having students write/form the letter while saying the letter name and sound (e.g., student says “b /b/” while writing the letter b).
If you use letter cards to support letter name-sound-form associations, select cards that include embedded picture clues, meaning that the object begins with the target sound and is embedded into the letter. For example, a picture of the lowercase letter b with a ball embedded in the circle.
A lot goes into alphabet instruction! Overall, students must learn:
letter names (26 in English)
letter sounds (44 spoken sounds/phonemes in English)
letter forms/writing (52 uppercase and lowercase printed letters)
and how to apply all this letter knowledge when reading and writing words regardless of different handwritings and fonts (including size and style of letters)
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References:
Blevins, W. (2016). A Fresh Look at Phonics: Common Causes of Failure and 7 Ingredients for Success. Corwin Press Inc.
Fry, E. (2004). Phonics: A Large Phoneme-Grapheme Frequency Count Revised. Journal of Literacy Research, 36 (1), 85-98. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15548430jlr3601_5
Ginsberg, M. (2016). Teach the Letter-Sounds with Multiple Early Reading Skills – Build It. https://readingsimplified.com/teaching-letter-sounds/
Lindsey, J. B. (2022). Reading Above the Fray: Reliable, Research-Based Routines for Developing Decoding Skills. Scholastic Professional.
Reading Rockets. (n.d.) Basics: Alphabet Knowledge. https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/alphabet-knowledge