What Sounds Should Kindergarten and First Graders know?

In addition to learning consonant sounds, kindergarten and grade one students should also learn vowel sounds and consonant blends.

Here's a breakdown of what pre-reading/early reading sounds to teach are:

Vowel Sounds:

Short vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u)

Long vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u)

Vowel digraphs (two vowels that make one sound, such as ai in "rain" or oa in "boat")

R-controlled vowels (vowels followed by the letter r, such as ar in "car" or er in "her")

All vowel activities and worksheets are free at worksheetplace.com

Diphthongs (complex vowel sounds made by gliding from one vowel sound to another within the same syllable, such as oi in "coin" or ou in "house")

Consonant Blends:

Beginning blends (two or three consonants at the beginning of a word that are pronounced together, such as br in "brush" or spl in "splash")

Ending blends (two or three consonants at the end of a word that are pronounced together, such as nd in "hand" or st in "fast")

All consonant blend free activities, printables and digital resources.

By mastering these sounds and blends, kindergarten and grade one students develop the foundational phonemic awareness skills necessary for reading and spelling success.