Instruct student to say the word slowly and try to hear all of the sounds in the word.
Draw a box for each sound (not letter) in the word. For example, for the word "play" draw three boxes side by side.
Demonstrate pushing a sound by pushing a small object, such as a dried bean, into each box as you say the sound. For the word "play," push a bean into the first box for "p," a bean into the second box for "l" and a bean into the last box for "a." Ask the student to try.
Remove the beans and instruct the student to write a sound in each box. Add any letters that are missing.
Teach students to spell the sounds of patterns. Teach the common rimes or word families, such as -ick, -ame and -all. Show students how to use one rime to spell many words by changing the onset, or beginning sound.