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Last updated on July 14th, 2025 at 09:21 pm
Do you have students that struggle with telling the difference between lowercase b and lowercase d? You are not alone! I have seen this from preschool all the way up to 5th grade. As a reading interventionist, this is a skill I work on correcting at the beginning of the school year because it affects accurate reading and writing and, in most cases, is an easy fix. So in this post, I am going to share with you simple strategies for b/d letter reversal actually work!
Once this issue is identified with a student or group of students, the first thing I do is hold up a card or write both of these letters on the board. I ask them, “What do you notice the same about these two letters?” We discuss the similarities: that they both have a curve, and they both have a line. Then, I ask, ” What do you notice that is different about these two letter?” We discuss the difference: the b has a curve to the right and the d has a curve to the left.
Then, I start sharing strategies with my students for how to always tell the difference between the two letters. You may have to try more than one. As we know, students have different learning styles, so what works for one student may not work for another student.
I do suggest only introducing these strategies one at a time. If you notice after 1-2 weeks that the student is still struggling, then introduce a new strategy.
Strategies for b/d Letter Reversal
Strategy 1: Show your students how holding both hands with thumbs up can make a “bed.” This “bed” forms the letters b and d. Since bed starts with b, the first fist and thumb is forming the b. Since bed ends with d, the second thumb and fist is forming the d. Use a visual of a bed to help them see this connection.
I do want to share that this is not my favorite strategy because students have to hold up their hands when reading and writing, which delays fluency more than the other strategies.
Strategy 2: You can tell your students to visualize the letters as “B has a belly,” and, “D wears a diaper.”
Strategy 3: This is another visual one, where the lowercase b can fit into the uppercase B or that you can add a curve to the lowercase b to make the uppercase B. This does not work with a lowercase d.
Strategy 4: For this strategy there is no poster needed. The best way to introduce this strategy is with small mirrors. Explain and show how our mouths move to form the sounds for b and d. With b, our lips purse together first before opening. Our lips are essentially making a line first when producing the sound for b. Thus, we see a line first on a b. With d, our mouth is slightly open with our tongue behind our teeth, then our mouth and tongue drop down to produce the sound. This is similar to the round part of the d being seen first. Model first, and, then, have students use the mirror to see it for themselves. Click the button below for a link directly to the mirrors I use with my students.
Strategy 5: This one is by far my favorite strategy! I have had much success with it this year. Part of it comes from another teacher I used to work with and part I came up with. I’m not sure if the other teacher made it up or got it from somewhere else, but she says to her students, “C the d.” This means that when you see or write a lowercase d, the letter c comes first. Then, add a line.
I love this because it makes students look from left to right when reading (another beginning reading skill students may struggle with). Also, students don’t have to hold up their hands or look at a poster to know which is correct.
The part I made up is to say, “Line, bump b.” Since there was a cute, auditory saying for the d, I wanted one for the b. Obviously, this one means the line comes before the curve when reading and writing a lowercase b. Another plus to this strategy is that it is both auditory and visual.
b/d Activities and Games
With these strategies, it can be useful to complete a few activities or play a game to help reinforce them. Here a couple of free ones I really like and have used in my classroom. The first includes p and q, too! Click the buttons below to be taken directly to them.
When does letter reversal indicate a larger issue?
Now if you have tried all of these strategies and a student still has not mastered telling the difference between b and d, you will need to do further research into why. Letter reversals are completely normal for early elementary students and students who are at the beginning stages of learning to read. Letter reversals past 2nd grade are usually a sign of a learning disability, such as dyslexia. There will most likely be other signs of a learning disability as well, such as difficulty decoding real words and nonsense words and making little to no progress when being progress monitored weekly on the amount of words read accurately in a minute. This is when you would need to follow your school’s MTSS process for getting the student evaluated by the psychologist.
Conclusion
I hope you find these strategies for b/d letter reversals useful and that your students master how to tell these letters apart in no time! Let me know in the comments which strategy worked for your students or if you have one to add! If you liked this post, be sure to check out my post on The Most Important Thing for Increasing Reading Fluency.