Searching for an easy and engaging strategy to teach the short vowel sound of the letter i?
There’s no one agreed-upon best sequence to introduce letters. Personally, I don’t go in order from a-z. I start with the most common letters (such as s, a, t, p, i, n, and m) that young readers will find in simple words. You may have a different sequence that you prefer. While I don’t have strong feelings about the particular order in which letters and sounds are introduced, I do have an enthusiastic preference for HOW to introduce each sound and its related letter.
Many programs will have you say something like:
“This is the letter i (showing the printed letter). I says /ĭ/, as in itch (showing a picture of a kid scratching an itch). Repeat after me, I, itch, /ĭ/”.
That’s one way to do it. It’s how I did it for about a decade.
However, after years of diving into research studies and professional books, as well as attending many trainings in structured literacy, I’ve made simple changes to my instructional routine of teaching letter sounds and have seen wonderful results.
I’m sharing what I do and why I do it below. I hope you get some inspiration for something new and easy to try with your own students!
Routine for Introducing the Letter I and Its Short Sound
Start with speech.
Why?
Children have a natural ability to process spoken language, so this is the most meaningful place to begin instruction. Focusing on the sound before introducing the letter that corresponds to that sound makes the most sense and gives students the greatest chance of success.
It’s also more fun for kids, especially when the speech is paired with photographs of iguanas and inchworms.
How?
Say 3-6 words that begin with the short sound of the letter i, such as insects, inch, iguana, and itch. Really stretch out the initial sound for emphasis on the vowel. Ask children to repeat each word after you say it. Projecting a visual of each word helps add interest and can be especially helpful for students with limited English vocabulary and kids who struggle with attention. Tell students that all of these words begin with the short vowel sound /ĭ/.
Draw attention to what your mouth does when you make the short i sound.
Why?
Helping our students observe how their mouths look and feel while producing a sound helps make an abstract concept more concrete. This also adds an extra multisensory component to our instruction, which is beneficial for many of our kids.
How?
Ask students to notice what their mouth is doing to make the sound /ĭ/. Draw attention to the fact that our lips are apart but our mouth doesn’t need to open much (in contrast to the short o or short a sounds). If you teach a small group, hold up a mirror to let students look at their face while they make the short i sound. If you teach a larger group, just model the articulatory features and/or display a sound articulation card.
Introduce the printed letter with an EMBEDDED mnemonic.
Why?
The research on this is very convincing. Studies going back decades showed that using embedded keyword images to teach letter-sound relationships was more effective for student acquisition AND retention of taught letter sounds than other methods. The other methods include what you’ll find in many reading programs today – a keyword pictured above, below, or beside the printed letter. One study even found that using no picture (just a keyword) was more effective than having a picture next to (not embedded within) the letter! Having an embedded picture in the letter was the most effective method.
How?
Now it’s time to introduce the printed letter. But not just a plain letter, an embedded letter. The image of a keyword such as “itch” embedded in the letter i helps solidify the connection between letter and sound.
I tell my students to stretch out or sing the vowel sounds while making a gesture. The gesture helps cement the letter-sound relationship but should be faded out after students master the sound (so as not to impede fluency). For the short i, we pretend to scratch itchy mosquito bites on our arm while stretching out the short i sound.
Model and practice proper letter formation.
Why?
Reading and writing are the essential building blocks for strong communication and literacy skills. While our young students are far away from reading life-changing novels or writing powerful persuasive essays, it’s important for them to see early on how closely linked reading and writing are, even just at the letter-sound level. Plus, it’s easier to prevent inefficient letter formation now than to change ingrained habits later!
How?
I try to make my letter formation language easy to understand. You may have different wording from a program you’ve used, or you may wish to change up how you say this, but here’s what I say as I model how to write the lowercase letter i:
“Start at the middle. Make a little line down. Jump up and make a dot.” I say, “boop” as I make my dot just for extra fun and emphasis.
I also like to show an animated slide on my computer (in small group) or smart TV (in whole group). I tell students to follow along with their fingers in the air. If children are seated at desks, I ask them to finger-write it on the desk.
If you are tutoring or have one-on-one instruction, you can also do this in a tray of sand or beads. Shaving cream is also an option if you have a thick towel nearby to clean up the mess! None of those options are necessary though.
I usually have students practice without a writing utensil a few times before I ask them to write with a dry-erase marker or pencil.
Research-Aligned Alphabet Resources
Do you need engaging and effective resources to implement the steps above?
Here are my recommendations:
Initial Sound Slides: These no-prep slides introduce each letter sound in the most effective and efficient way. With each click, you will show images of interesting photographs containing the beginning sound, a photo of a real kid making the sound along with a keyword image, the letter with an embedded mnemonic image, and lastly, an animated letter formation slide (one for uppercase and one for lowercase letters).
Mnemonic Alphabet Articulation Mouth Cards | Alphabet Posters with Real Pictures: If you prefer a paper option or don’t have access to digital resources, you may like these printable, 1-page posters of mouth pics along with the embedded mnemonic letters. It’s also a nice way to display the alphabet if you have classroom wall space.
Alphabet Picture Cards with Embedded Mnemonics: This set of printable pages comes with embedded letter cards in two sizes. Teach phonemes for 21 consonants, 5 short vowels, AND consonant digraphs WH, TH, SH, CH, and CK.
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Looking for an “everything bundle” of embedded letter resources, including digital slides, letter cards, worksheets, games, and more? Save nearly 50% and get all 12 resources. Get your students quickly and effectively mastering letter sounds so they can begin the even more exciting discovery of how to read and write words!
Sources:
Ehri, L. C., Deffner, N. D., & Wilce, L. S. (1984). Pictorial mnemonics for phonics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(5), 880–893. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.76.5.880
Ehri, L. C. (2013). Orthographic Mapping in the Acquisition of Sight Word Reading, Spelling Memory, and Vocabulary Learning. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2013.819356
Ehri, L.C. (2022). What Teachers Need to Know and Do to Teach Letter–Sounds, Phonemic Awareness, Word Reading, and Phonics. The Reading Teacher, 76(1), 53-61. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2095
McNamara, G. (2012). The effectiveness of embedded picture mnemonic alphabet cards on letter recognition and letter sound knowledge. Theses and Dissertations. 302. https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/302
Shmidman, A., & Ehri, L. (2010). Embedded Picture Mnemonics to Learn Letters. Scientific Studies of Reading, 14(2), 159–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888430903117492