Identify Beginning Sounds

Listen for beginning sounds: what's the first sound?

Kindergarten - English Language Arts - Beginning, Middle and Ending Sounds

About This Skill

What sound does 'sun' start with? Kindergarteners practice listening for the very first sound in spoken words and identifying it, like the /s/ in 'sun'. At this stage, the focus is entirely on hearing sounds, not matching them to letters. Mastering beginning sounds is a foundational Phonemic Awareness skill that prepares children to connect sounds to letters for reading.

Skills & Topics

  • Phonics & Word Skills
  • Phonics
  • Phonological Awareness
  • Phonemic Awareness
  • Beginning Sounds
  • Segmenting
  • Sound
  • Reading Foundations
  • Phoneme Isolation
  • Phonemes
  • Initial Sounds

Curriculum Alignment

  • RF.K.2.d: Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words. (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
  • AC9EFLY10: segment sentences into individual words; orally blend and segment single-syllable spoken words; isolate, blend and manipulate phonemes in single-syllable words (phonological awareness)
  • RF.K.2: Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
  • KRF2

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