Reception English and phonics: Building words from letters
Part of the Reception English and phonics segmenting and writing words chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Building words from letters
Priya has some letter boxes. She needs to make the word for the picture of a dog.
She chooses the letters d, o and g. She puts them in the order of the sounds: d - o - g.
dog
Key ideas
- Choose one letter, or group of letters, for each sound.
- Put the letters in the same order as the sounds.
- Check the word by reading the sounds back.
dog
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.dog
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.d - o - g
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.d-o-g
Check. Read the letters back: d-o-g. They spell dog. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
hat
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.hat
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.h - a - t
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.h-a-t
Check. Read the letters back: h-a-t. They spell hat. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
bus
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.bus
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.b - u - s
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.b-u-s
Check. Read the letters back: b-u-s. They spell bus. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
Watch out
Watch out: the letters can be in any box, but the word is only right when the order matches the sounds.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Give the child the letter boxes from the list. Ask them to read the word back, sound by sound.
Exercise 7C Building words from letters
dog
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.dog
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.d - o - g
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.d-o-g
Check. Read the letters back: d-o-g. They spell dog. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
hat
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.hat
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.h - a - t
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.h-a-t
Check. Read the letters back: h-a-t. They spell hat. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
sun
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.sun
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.s - u - n
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.s-u-n
Check. Read the letters back: s-u-n. They spell sun. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
duck
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.duck
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.d - u - ck
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.d-u-ck
Check. Read the letters back: d-u-ck. They spell duck. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
boat
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.boat
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.b - oa - t
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.b-oa-t
Check. Read the letters back: b-oa-t. They spell boat. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
rain
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.rain
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.r - ai - n
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.r-ai-n
Check. Read the letters back: r-ai-n. They spell rain. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
fish
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.fish
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.f - i - sh
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.f-i-sh
Check. Read the letters back: f-i-sh. They spell fish. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
car
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.car
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.c - ar
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.c-ar
Check. Read the letters back: c-ar. They spell car. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
chair
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.chair
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.ch - air
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.ch-air
Check. Read the letters back: ch-air. They spell chair. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
pear
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.pear
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.p - ear
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.p-ear
Check. Read the letters back: p-ear. They spell pear. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.
sun
Method. Put the letters in the order of the sounds.
- Say sun. The first sound is /s/.s - u - n
- Compare with Sam. Sam put u first, so the order is wrong.u - s - n
- Give your answer. Say what the right order is.Accept any answer that says no: the sounds are s - u - n, so the letters must go in that order.
Check. s - u - n is the right order. ✓
Watch out. Read the word back to check the order.
Method. Say the word, sound by sound. Then write one letter, or one group of letters, in each box.
- Say the name of the picture. A grown-up says the word slowly.top
- Say each sound in order. Each sound is written as one box.t - o - p
- Write the letters in order. The letters go in the same order as the sounds.t-o-p
Check. Read the letters back: t-o-p. They spell top. ✓
Watch out. Write the sounds from left to right, and leave no box out.