Common Core Standards
Reading: Foundational Skills, Kindergarten
Reading RF.K.3.D
Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
This one's similar to RF.K.2, except we're moving on up from syllable sounds to whole-word sounds. Students should use what they've learned about individual letter sounds to pick out letters that differ in phonetically similar words. After all, it's important to know that a friend is just an 'r' drop away from fiend.