Lesson 3
English has two kinds of speech sounds- vowels and consonants. Vowels are sounds that are made with the mouth open, and can be made continuously. Consonants are sounds that are made with part of the mouth pressed together or closed.
Vowels
These are the vowel letters in English: a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. The sounds that these letters make, are made when the mouth is open. Vowels can be pronounced perfectly and fully by themselves, without a consonant before or after them. Y is special and can be both a vowel and a consonant.
a
e
i
o
u
y
Consonants
These are the consonant letters in English: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z. A consonant is a sound made when parts of the mouth are compressed or stopped. Later, in the phonics section we will practice the different sounds that these letters make.
b
c
d
f
g
h
j
k
l
m
n
p
q
r
s
t
v
w
x
y
z
Practice with Lowercase Letters
Please spend time pointing to the letters and have the student indicate if they are consonants or vowels. Start by going through the letters in alphabetical order. Then mix things up by pointing to random letters.
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
Practice with Uppercase Letters
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Next Steps
Wonderful job! Once you have mastered the idea of vowels and consonants, please continue to the next lesson!