AI Tutor
When you say a word like sun, it feels like one quick puff of air. But hidden inside, there are actually three separate sound pieces!
Pulling a spoken word apart into each of its separate sounds is called segmenting.
How can you catch every single sound from the start of a word to the end without skipping any?

The Arm Tap Method

You can use your arm like a sound counter: tap your shoulder for the beginning sound, your elbow for the middle sound, and your wrist for the ending sound.
Let's segment the word cat: tap your shoulder for /k/, your elbow for /a/, and your wrist for /t/.
What happens when a word looks long on paper, but has only three sounds when you speak it?

Sounds Versus Letters

Letters are what you see, but phonemes are the separate sounds you hear with your ears.
In the word duck, there are four letters (dβˆ’uβˆ’cβˆ’kd-u-c-k), but the letters cc and kk join together to make just one ending sound: /k/.