Hey there! I was just working with a first-grade teacher last week who asked me, “Am I supposed to keep letters completely separate when I teach phonemic awareness? I feel like my kids are ready for more, but my curriculum guide says to wait.” Maybe you’ve wondered about teaching letters and sounds too?

Let me tell you, this question comes up in almost every coaching session I have with K-1 teachers. And I get it – we’ve all heard different advice about teaching letters and sounds. Some of us were taught to keep phonemic awareness completely separate from phonics, while others were encouraged to blend them from day one. No wonder we’re confused!

Teaching Letters and Sounds

What Research Really Says (Without the Academic Jargon)

Here’s something that might surprise you: Research actually suggests introducing letters sooner rather than later when teaching letters and sounds. When I first learned this, it was a bit of an “oh!” moment for me too.

The National Reading Panel found that when teachers connected sounds to letters during phonemic awareness instruction, students picked up these skills faster than when the letters were kept out of the picture. Even better? This approach led to stronger reading outcomes down the road.

I think about it like teaching a child to ride a bike. Sure, we could spend weeks practicing just the pedaling motion while sitting on the grass. But at some point, we need to put it all together – the pedaling, the balancing, the steering – for real biking to happen. Teaching letters and sounds works similarly. There’s value in some isolated practice, but the real magic happens when we help kids connect what they hear with what they see on the page.

Monday Morning Practical: Where Do I Start?

So what does this mean for your phonemic awareness lesson tomorrow morning? Here’s how I’d approach teaching letters and sounds with your students:

Start by making sure they have a solid awareness of at least a few phonemes. Researcher Susan Brady suggests this is your green light to begin introducing letters. For example, once your students can reliably identify the /m/ sound in words like “mom” and “mug,” it’s time to show them what that /m/ looks like on paper.

Try this simple routine I’ve seen work in dozens of classrooms:

  1. Practice hearing and saying the target sound in isolation
  2. Introduce the letter that represents that sound (show it, name it)
  3. Practice blending words with that sound (e.g., /m/ /a/ /p/ = map)
  4. Write the word together, connecting each sound to its letter
  5. Read a decodable text that highlights this sound-letter connection

Phonemic awareness and phonics are still two separate skills, but this routine shows how they can work together within the same lesson. When I’m working with my intervention students, we usually start our lesson with about 5-6 words that we orally blend and 5-6 words that we orally segment. For the kids, this feels kind of like a warm-up. This helps them to still build oral skills blending and segmenting which is especially important for spelling when they don’t necessarily have the word in front of them.

As soon as we start showing letters, we are technically practicing phonics. But, when we make teaching letters and sounds all part of the same lesson, our students get to see how these skills overlap and work together. When we fluidly move between phonemic awareness and phonics, our students learn to be flexible as well.

Helping Our Struggling Readers

If you’re thinking, “But what about my students who are still struggling with basic sound awareness?” – that’s a valid concern. When teaching letters and sounds to our struggling readers, we might need to provide more support and practice, but surprisingly, these are often the very students who benefit most from seeing the letters alongside the sounds.

I remember working with a small intervention group where we used colored blocks for sound segmentation. Once students could segment words like “cat” into /c/ /a/ /t/ using the blocks, we immediately began placing letter cards under each block. For two of my most struggling readers, this visual connection was what finally helped them understand that words are made up of individual sounds.

Finding Your Rhythm

The key to successful teaching of letters and sounds isn’t about following a rigid timeline—it’s about watching your students for signs of readiness and responsiveness. You know your students better than anyone. Trust those teacher instincts!

Here’s a practical way to ease into teaching letters and sounds together:

  • Start with just one or two high-utility sound-letter pairs (like /m/ and the letter m)
  • Use them consistently throughout your literacy block, not just in isolated phonemic awareness time
  • Pay attention to which students seem to benefit from seeing the letters and which might need more pure sound work
  • Gradually increase the number of sound-letter connections you introduce
  • Keep it playful and engaging—this shouldn’t feel like a pressure cooker for you or your kids

Real Talk: When Things Get Tricky

Sometimes teaching letters and sounds together does present challenges. When I work with teachers implementing this approach, we often find that certain letter patterns (like digraphs or vowel teams) require more scaffolding. That’s completely normal!

For instance, when teaching letters and sounds like /sh/ and the letters ‘sh’, you might need to spend extra time helping students understand that two letters can represent one sound. Visual cues can be incredibly helpful here—I’ve seen teachers use color-coding or boxes to show when multiple letters work as a team.

Moving Forward, One Sound (and Letter) at a Time

The bottom line? While students benefit from some pure phonemic awareness practice, the most powerful learning happens when we help them connect these sounds to the letters they’ll use in reading and writing. Teaching letters and sounds in tandem isn’t just efficient—it’s what makes reading instruction come alive for our students.

Next time you’re planning your phonemic awareness instruction, look for those natural opportunities to bring in letters. Start small, watch how your students respond, and adjust as needed. This isn’t about rushing through foundational skills—it’s about building meaningful connections that will support your students on their reading journey.

Remember, teaching letters and sounds is both an art and a science. Trust your expertise, keep an eye on the research, and most importantly, keep watching your students. They’ll show you when they’re ready for that next step.

And hey, I’d love to hear how teaching letters and sounds together works in your classroom! Every group of students is different, and we all learn from sharing our experiences.

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Additional Resources

I’ve gathered some of my most-thumbed resources below—the ones that have truly transformed how I support young readers in my classroom.

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