How To: Identify the Grapheme

• Lesson Objective: Review grapheme-phoneme relationships in order to build automaticity.

• Grouping:  Small-group

• Methodology:  Phonemes are dictated while students highlight all related graphemes.

• Duration: 5-10 minutes (warm-up)

  
  

Ahhhh, the glorious sound of the swipe of a highlighter.

Every fellow nerd gets it. So satisfying.

Anyway, this quick small-group warm-up reinforces previously taught phoneme-to-grapheme relationships. As I've mentioned, a key component of mastery is repetition, repetition, REPETITION. We revisit letter-sound relationships at least four times per unit through activities like Marker/Sand Spelling and Word or Syllable Only?.

🖍 How the Routine Works

While working in small groups, I dictate a phoneme, and students highlight the corresponding graphemes on their chart. I encourage them to whisper or say the phoneme aloud as they write, making it a multisensory experience. I update these charts each unit as new patterns are taught.

It’s helpful to keep a Phoneme-Grapheme Chart* nearby and highlight the patterns reviewed during each lesson. That way, you can ensure all spelling patterns get some love over time.

If I need to move the group along more quickly, I’ll provide clues. For example, for /r/, I might say: “Which grapheme is representing /r/ in write?” I recommend setting a timer for up to 10 minutes and reviewing as many phonemes as possible within that time frame.

Sample of a Find the Grapheme Chart from the end of the year.

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Check out the Interactive Unit Guides to see how this lesson fits within each unit.

There you can find unit-specific Find the Grapheme Charts.

*The Phoneme-Grapheme Chart I use is copyrighted by IMSE, so I can't share it here. But a quick Google search for “Phoneme-Grapheme Chart” should get ya what ya need.