As soon as students learn a few sound-symbol correspondences, it’s important that they begin putting those letters/sounds together to form words.  Nearly all reading programs begin phonics instruction by introducing a few common consonants with a vowel so that students can quickly begin reading and writing simple words (e.g. m, a, s, d, t…).  How exciting is that for our young readers!  By learning only a few letters and sounds, they can actually read!  For example, just by learning the sounds of m, a, s, d and t, students can read and write words such as:  mad, mat, Sam, and dad.  Word building activities with known letters and sounds is a crucial component of our phonics instruction.  During a word