Single Letter Graphemes
Single letter graphemes are single letters that represent individual phonemes in written language. You can hear the speech sounds the graphemes below represent by clicking or tapping on the letters next to the mouth animations.
The graphemes are presented in the order they are taught in ReadingDoctor® Online.
First, we teach the most common letter-sound relationships for the graphemes s, a, t, p, i, n, e:
s like in snake:
Also found in words such as sit, lost and bus. Represents the consonant phoneme /s/.
a like in apple:
Also found in words such as at, nap and snap. Represents the short vowel phoneme /æ/.
t like in tap:
Also found in words such as sat, tap and pot. Represents the consonant phoneme /t/. Be careful not to say an “uh” (schwa) sound when you pronounce this one! It’s an unvoiced phoneme, meaning it’s a whispered speech sound. Practice by imitating the sound you hear when you click the letter “t”, above.
p like in pan:
Also found in words such as pit, pan and nip. Represents the consonant phoneme /p/. Be careful not to say an “uh” (schwa) sound when you pronounce this one! It’s an unvoiced phoneme, meaning it’s a whispered speech sound. Practice by imitating the sound you hear when you click the letter “p”, above.
i like in insect:
Also found in words such as sit, tip and pin. Represents the short vowel phoneme /ɪ/.
n like in nose
Also found in words such as net, nap and ten. Represents the consonant phoneme /n/. This is a nasal speech sound, meaning it is made by blowing air through your nose. Try saying it while blocking your nose!
e like in egg
Also found in words such as pet, pen and ten. Represents the short vowel phoneme /e/.
After learning the above graphemes, students learn to decode short words, like:
nap, net, pan, pat, pen, pet, pin, pit, sip, sit, tap, ten, tin, tip,
nap, net, pan, pat, pen, pet, pin, pit, sip, sit, tap, ten, tin, tip,
…next, we teach the most common letter-sound relationships for the graphemes c, h, o, r, d, l, u:
c like in cat
Also found in words such as can, cot and cup. Represents the consonant phoneme /k/. Be careful not to say an “uh” (schwa) sound when you pronounce this one! It’s an unvoiced phoneme, meaning it’s a whispered speech sound. Practice by imitating the sound you hear when you click the letter “c”, above.
h like in house
Also found in words such as hat, hop and hum. Represents the consonant phoneme /h/. Be careful not to say an “uh” (schwa) sound when you pronounce this one! It’s an unvoiced phoneme, meaning it’s a whispered speech sound. Practice by imitating the sound you hear when you click the letter “h”, above.
o like in orange
Also found in words such as pot, sob and hog. Represents the short vowel phoneme /ɒ/.
r like in road
Also found in words such as rat, rug and rip. Represents the consonant phoneme /ɹ/.
d like in dog
Also found in words such as dot, dam and lid. Represents the consonant phoneme /d/.
l like in ladder
Also found in words such as leg, lap and lit. Represents the consonant phoneme /d/.
u like in umbrella
Also found in words such as mug, tub and hum. Represents the short vowel phoneme /ʌ/.
After learning all of the above graphemes, students are taught to decode short words, like: