Free CSET Multiple Subjects Flashcards

The teacher is right, because "ship" has three phonemes: /sh/, /i/ and /p/. The letters s and h together stand for one sound, so the number of letters does not equal the number of sounds. The same holds in reverse for "box," which has three letters but four sounds, /b/, /o/, /k/ and /s/. Counting phonemes by listening, not by looking at spelling, is the skill that phonemic awareness develops.