Beginning Sounds Worksheets

Welcome to our beginning sounds worksheets section! Identifying the beginning sound in a word is a reader’s first step towards reading words. The beginning sound of a word is the first phoneme in the word and does not necessarily match the first letter of the word. Phonemes are the smallest units of sound heard in a language.

To be a master of identifying and manipulating beginning sounds in words, students need to be able to listen for and match the sound they hear with its spoken or written letter. For example, a learner should be able to hear that in the word chat, the beginning sound is “ch” as spelled by the letters C and H. Notice that in this word there are two written letters making one single phoneme.

Once students are able to identify beginning sounds, they can practice changing the phonemes they hear in the beginning of words to make other words. For example, they can change the C and H at the beginning of the word “chat” to just an h, making the word “hat”.

Beginning sound manipulation skills are crucial in early reading. Learners use the skill of identifying beginning sounds to recognize patterns in words and understand that words can be put into categories. When students understand that words are made up of sounds, they are able to transfer this knowledge to their reading and writing. The more patterns recognized, the easier reading becomes.