Coming soon

Letter sounds, one at a time

26 letter sounds, each in its own lesson, plus the letter names A to Z.

In short

Zupzi Read teaches the sound of each single letter in its own lesson: 26 of them across Level 1: First Letters and Level 2: The Alphabet, starting with sounds you can stretch, like /a/, /m/ and /s/. The letter names come first, in Sound Steps. Look-alike letters, such as b and d, come in different lessons.

  • 29 lessons
  • Level 0: Sound Steps, Level 1: First Letters and Level 2: The Alphabet
  • 26 spellings
  • 144 practice words

This page describes Zupzi Read's program: the order the app teaches in, lesson by lesson. Zupzi Read is coming soon to the App Store, and it goes there only with the whole program, ages 3 to 8.

The order of the first sounds

The first sounds are ones you can stretch: a, m and s come in lessons 1 to 3 of Level 1, and t in lesson 4. With those four, a child can already read am, at, sat and mat. Look-alike letters are kept apart: d comes in Level 2, lesson 2, and b in lesson 6.

Stretchy sounds and stop sounds

Some sounds can be held as long as you like, like “mmm” or “sss”: they are stretchy (continuous) sounds. Others come out in one quick puff, like /t/ or /p/: they are stop sounds. Say a stop sound short, with no extra “uh” after it: /t/, not “tuh”. In the app's sound slider, a stretchy sound gets a long bar and a stop sound a short one. The table below marks each sound.

How a new sound is taught

  • New sound: “Here is today's new sound.” The letter appears as a big tile; tap it to hear its sound again.
  • A friend for the sound: the first sounds each have a mascot, like Sally the Snake for /s/ and Milo the Moose for /m/, who introduces the sound in its own voice.
  • Right away, practice: “Listen. Which letter makes this sound?” and your child taps the letter. Letters are also traced with a finger, in Hear it, write it.

The teacher's voice says each sound, letter name and word in the lessons. These are voice clips made before release with voice-generation software, not recordings of a person: no speech is generated while your child uses the app.

New sound: a big letter tile p next to Pip the Pig, with Meet Pip, Watch and Next buttons, and the teacher saying “Here is today's new sound.”
A new sound, with its friend
Hear it, find it: the letter tiles t, p and s under a big ear button, and the teacher saying “Listen. Which letter makes this sound?”
Hear it, find it
Hear it, write it: a dotted letter p to trace with a green starting dot, and the teacher saying “Trace the letter with your finger. Start at the dot.”
Trace the letter

Real screens from the app, in the iPhone simulator, with a test reader.

Every single-letter sound, in teaching order

The key word is the one the app uses for the sound. “Stretchy” sounds can be held; “stop” sounds are one quick puff (the same split the app uses for the slider bars).

LetterSoundKindFriendLessonHear
aa as in applestretchyAndy the AlligatorLevel 1, lesson 1
mm as in moonstretchyMilo the MooseLevel 1, lesson 2
ss as in sunstretchySally the SnakeLevel 1, lesson 3
tt as in topstopToby the TurtleLevel 1, lesson 4
pp as in pigstopPip the PigLevel 1, lesson 6
ff as in fishstretchyFinn the FishLevel 1, lesson 7
ii as in itchstretchyIzzy the InchwormLevel 1, lesson 8
nn as in netstretchyNed the NewtLevel 1, lesson 9
oo as in octopusstretchyLevel 2, lesson 1
dd as in dogstopLevel 2, lesson 2
cc as in catstopLevel 2, lesson 3
uu as in upstretchyLevel 2, lesson 4
gg as in goatstopLevel 2, lesson 5
bb as in batstopLevel 2, lesson 6
ee as in eggstretchyLevel 2, lesson 7
kk as in catstopLevel 2, lesson 10
hh as in hatstretchyLevel 2, lesson 11
rr as in ratstretchyLevel 2, lesson 12
ll as in lipstretchyLevel 2, lesson 13
ww as in wetstretchyLevel 2, lesson 14
jj as in jamstopLevel 2, lesson 15
yy as in yesstretchyLevel 2, lesson 16
xx as in boxstopLevel 2, lesson 17
ququ as in queenstopLevel 2, lesson 18
vv as in vanstretchyLevel 2, lesson 19
zz as in zipstretchyLevel 2, lesson 20

A friend for each first sound

The first sounds each come with a mascot who introduces the sound in its own voice. Here is what each one says in the app.

  • Andy the Alligator, a round green alligator with a pale yellow belly, standing and smiling.
    aAndy the Alligator“Hi! I'm Andy the Alligator. I love apples! Andy and alligator start with my sound.”
  • Milo the Moose, a friendly brown moose with soft antlers.
    mMilo the Moose“Hi! I'm Milo the Moose. I love muffins! Milo and moose start with my sound.”
  • Sally the Snake, a light green snake with lilac spots, curled up and smiling.
    sSally the Snake“Hi! I'm Sally the Snake. I love the sun! Sally and snake start with my sound.”
  • Toby the Turtle, a green turtle with a blue-green shell, standing on two feet.
    tToby the Turtle“Hi! I'm Toby the Turtle. I love to take my time! Toby and turtle start with my sound.”
  • Pip the Pig, a round pink pig standing on two feet.
    pPip the Pig“Hi! I'm Pip the Pig. I love to paint! Pip and pig start with my sound.”
  • Finn the Fish, a round blue fish with white spots and yellow fins.
    fFinn the Fish“Hi! I'm Finn the Fish. I love to swim fast! Finn and fish start with my sound.”
  • Izzy the Inchworm, a green inchworm with two antennas, standing tall.
    iIzzy the Inchworm“Hi! I'm Izzy the Inchworm. I love to inch along! Izzy and inchworm start with my sound.”
  • Ned the Newt, an orange newt with darker orange spots, standing and smiling.
    nNed the Newt“Hi! I'm Ned the Newt. I love to nap! Ned and newt start with my sound.”

Where it sits in the path: 29 lessons

In the order the app teaches them, with the new spellings, a few of the lesson words and the heart words.

Level 0: Sound Steps3 lessons here, of 10

  1. 6
    Letter names A to MLetter names: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M
  2. 7
    Letter names N to ZLetter names: N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
  3. 10
    Ready to readSkills: letter names, blending spoken sounds · how print works (not practiced as a task in the app yet)

Level 1: First Letters8 lessons here, of 9

  1. 1
    /a/ as in appleNew: a as in apple
  2. 2
    /m/ as in moonNew: m as in moon · Heart words: i
  3. 3
    /s/ as in sunNew: s as in sun · Heart words: a
  4. 4
    /t/ as in topNew: t as in top · Heart words: the
  5. 6
    /p/ as in pigNew: p as in pig · Words: map, tap, sap, pat, pam · Book: Tap, Tap!
  6. 7
    /f/ as in fishNew: f as in fish · Words: fat, map, pat, sat · Heart words: of · Book: A Fat Map
  7. 8
    /i/ as in itchNew: i as in itch · Words: it, sit, tip, pit, fit, sip · Heart words: is · Book: Pip
  8. 9
    /n/ as in netNew: n as in net · Words: an, in, tan, pan, fan, man, nap, pin · Heart words: to · Book: Nap, Pip!

Level 2: The Alphabet18 lessons here, of 21

  1. 1
    /o/ as in octopusNew: o as in octopus · Words: on, not, top, pot, mop · Heart words: so
  2. 2
    /d/ as in dogNew: d as in dog · Words: dad, did, dot, dip, sad, mad, pad, nod · Heart words: said, do
  3. 3
    /k/ as in catNew: c as in cat · Words: cat, cap, can, cot, cod, cop
  4. 4
    /u/ as in upNew: u as in up · Words: up, cup, sun, mud, nut, fun, cut · Heart words: put
  5. 5
    /g/ as in goatNew: g as in goat · Words: gap, gas, dig, dog, pig, tag, fog, gum · Heart words: go
  6. 6
    /b/ as in batNew: b as in bat · Words: bat, bad, bag, big, bug, bus, tub, cab
  7. 7
    /e/ as in eggNew: e as in egg · Words: bed, get, net, pen, ten, men, pet, fed · Heart words: be, me, come, some, one
  8. 10
    /k/ as in kitNew: k as in cat · Words: kid, kit, kin
  9. 11
    /h/ as in hatNew: h as in hat · Words: hat, hot, hit, hop, hug, hum, hen, him · Heart words: he, has, his
  10. 12
    /r/ as in ratNew: r as in rat · Words: rat, red, rug, run, rip, rod, ram, rim · Heart words: are, for, or, her
  11. 13
    /l/ as in lipNew: l as in lip · Words: lap, let, lip, log, leg, lid, lot, lit
  12. 14
    /w/ as in wetNew: w as in wet · Words: wet, wig, win, web, wag · Heart words: we, was, want, were, two
  13. 15
    /j/ as in jamNew: j as in jam · Words: jam, jet, jog, jug, jab, jot, jig
  14. 16
    /y/ as in yesNew: y as in yes · Words: yes, yet, yam, yak, yap, yum · Heart words: you, your, my, by
  15. 17
    /ks/ as in boxNew: x as in box · Words: box, fox, six, wax, fix, mix, ox, tax
  16. 18
    /kw/ as in queenNew: qu as in queen · Words: quit, quip, quid
  17. 19
    /v/ as in vanNew: v as in van · Words: van, vet, vat · Heart words: have
  18. 20
    /z/ as in zipNew: z as in zip · Words: zip, zap

Practice words from these lessons

All 144 words from the word lists of these lessons, in the order they come up.

  • map
  • tap
  • sap
  • pat
  • pam
  • fat
  • sat
  • it
  • sit
  • tip
  • pit
  • fit
  • sip
  • an
  • in
  • tan
  • pan
  • fan
  • man
  • nap
  • pin
  • tin
  • fin
  • nip
  • on
  • not
  • top
  • pot
  • mop
  • dad
  • did
  • dot
  • dip
  • sad
  • mad
  • pad
  • nod
  • cat
  • cap
  • can
  • cot
  • cod
  • cop
  • up
  • cup
  • sun
  • mud
  • nut
  • fun
  • cut
  • gap
  • gas
  • dig
  • dog
  • pig
  • tag
  • fog
  • gum
  • bat
  • bad
  • bag
  • big
  • bug
  • bus
  • tub
  • cab
  • sob
  • bib
  • bed
  • get
  • net
  • pen
  • ten
  • men
  • pet
  • fed
  • set
  • peg
  • kid
  • kit
  • kin
  • hat
  • hot
  • hit
  • hop
  • hug
  • hum
  • hen
  • him
  • hid
  • hut
  • rat
  • red
  • rug
  • run
  • rip
  • rod
  • ram
  • rim
  • rot
  • rub
  • lap
  • let
  • lip
  • log
  • leg
  • lid
  • lot
  • lit
  • lab
  • wet
  • wig
  • win
  • web
  • wag
  • jam
  • jet
  • jog
  • jug
  • jab
  • jot
  • jig
  • yes
  • yet
  • yam
  • yak
  • yap
  • yum
  • box
  • fox
  • six
  • wax
  • fix
  • mix
  • ox
  • tax
  • quit
  • quip
  • quid
  • van
  • vet
  • vat
  • zip
  • zap

Word pronunciations come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, Copyright (C) 1993-2015 Carnegie Mellon University. All rights reserved.

Questions about letter sounds

Does Zupzi Read teach letter names or letter sounds first?

Both, in order: the letter names A to Z come in Sound Steps (Level 0), and then each letter sound gets its own lesson, starting in Level 1 with a, m, s and t.

What is the difference between a stretchy sound and a stop sound?

A stretchy (continuous) sound can be held, like “mmm” or “sss”. A stop sound comes out in one quick puff, like /t/ or /p/, and is said short, without an extra “uh”.

Why do a, m and s come first?

Zupzi Read starts with sounds you can stretch, like “mmm” and “sss”. With a, m, s and t a child can already read words like am, at, sat and mat.

Are b and d taught together?

No. Look-alike letters come in different lessons: d is in Level 2, lesson 2, and b in lesson 6.

More of the path

Phonics, step by step:

By age and grade:

Or jump to a level of the scope and sequence:

One sound at a time.
One book at a time.

Zupzi Read is coming soon to the App Store, for iPhone and iPad. No ads and nothing to buy inside.

Coming soon on the App Store