Phonic Sound for Letter L /l/

Letter L and its /l/ sound can be a bit difficult to teach. There are actually two slightly different sounds of L and they are known as the light and dark L sounds. So how do you know when the letter L sound is light or dark?

Generally, when L comes before the vowel, it is light, and if it comes after the vowel, it is dark. The dark L sound is a stronger sound compared to the light L sound.

With letter L it's really easiest to just teach the light L sound to a child first, and that is what we'll focus on here. It's going to be a bit tough if you get too technical and begin teaching a child all these little nuances of sounds. So again, when teaching reading, stick with the simple, basic code.

Here, we will just teach the light L sound, and all the words will have the L before the vowel. For example:

LET - /l/ /e/ /t/

LAP - /l/ /a/ /p/

CLUB - /c/ /l/ /u/ /b/

Try saying the above words out loud, and to really isolate and clearly hear the /l/ sound, try stretching out the /l/ sound while you say it. For example: LLLLLLET, LLLLLLAP.

Learning Activity for /l/

• Print the letter L and lower-case "l" on a piece of paper.

1. Show your child the letter L and demonstrate the proper sound of L (/l/)
2. Have your child repeat the /l/ sound several times.
3. Practice the /l/ sound with the following words:
• LEG
• LID
• LOG
• CLIP
• FLAG
• CLOCK
4. With the above words, ask your child to identify the /l/ sounds in each of the words.
5. Practice stretching out the /l/ sound: /lllllllll/
6. Point to letter L and ask what sound does this make?
7. Work on the worksheet provided below for letter L and its sound.

Letter L Worksheets

 

   

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