The educator teaches children the relationship between sounds and letters. They help children learn:

• how the sounds we say (phonemesA phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that you can hear in a word.) are represented by letters or groups of letters (graphemesA grapheme is a letter or group of letters that represent a sound. For example, ​‘s’ in ​‘sun’ represents the sound /​s/​and ​‘sh’ in ​‘ship’ represents the sound /​sh/​.)
• how to identify and remember the correct grapheme-phoneme pairings.

This approach plays an important role in how many children learn to read and spell. It forms part of phonics teaching that is usually delivered during children’s reception year, as recommended in the Reading Framework (DfE, 2023).

This approach can have a positive impact on children’s early literacy outcomes.

Educators should:

• teach this approach alongside sound discrimination and manipulation
• consider whether to teach sound discrimination and manipulation before letter-sound correspondence. Some evidence indicates this could be beneficial.

In the studies we reviewed, these approaches were often part of a wider literacy curriculum or communication and language study. They were sometimes used during Interactive reading.

Therefore, we recommend teaching them together. This is because:

• they are more effective when combined
• they are likely to be mutually reinforcing.

Studies suggest that together, these approaches can influence children’s ability to identify rhymes and pair letters with their sounds. They can also support children with segmentingBreaking spoken words into their individual sounds. and blendingCombining individual sounds to say a whole word., spelling and reading.

In most studies we reviewed, educators used games and playful contexts to teach letter-sound correspondence.

In some studies, educators used EdTech​‘EdTech’ includes many different approaches and devices, from robots to interactive apps and games, to support children’s learning., in combination with multimedia e‑books Electronic books that include animation, music or sound effects.. It is important to note:

• these studies showed a positive impact
• educator-led activities (without EdTech​‘EdTech’ includes many different approaches and devices, from robots to interactive apps and games, to support children’s learning.) may have a stronger positive impact.

Therefore, educators should consider whether EdTech​‘EdTech’ includes many different approaches and devices, from robots to interactive apps and games, to support children’s learning. and multimedia e‑books Electronic books that include animation, music or sound effects. are likely to enhance their teaching. We also recommend that educators use their professional judgement to manage children’s screen time.

Practices educators can use during this approach include:

• Making links: enabling children to make connections between thoughts, actions, knowledge or experiences. For example, the educator engages the children with a game of sound bingo. He says the sound ​‘s’ and asks the children to point to the matching grapheme on the table.
• Providing prompts and cues: using verbal or physical cues to remind children of relevant information. For example, the educator notices a child might need help as they sound out a short word they want to write. They say, ​‘use our grapheme chart if you are finding it tricky to remember the letters’.
• Using visuals: using signs, gestures and other visual aids to support understanding. For example, the educator uses a set of cards with the grapheme and its corresponding picture to teach children new letter-sound pairings
• Encouraging practise: ensuring that children have opportunities to practise what they have learned. For example, the educator provides a set of letter cards. They encourage the children to go on a scavenger hunt around the garden to collect objects that begin with the corresponding sound
• Emphasis: highlighting key information through comments, intonation and gesture. For example, while sharing a story with a small group, the educator highlights a pattern in the text, ​“I can see the same letters at the start of these three words”. She points to each word and pronounces the first sound with emphasis, ​“chair”, ​“cheep” and ​“cheer”.