Blending Sounds

Phonological Awareness Spotlight on

Blending Sounds

What is BLENDING?

BLENDING is your child’s ability to hear parts of a word and put those parts together to form a word. These parts can be words (rain+bow=rainbow), syllables (ca+mel=camel) or sounds (l+o+g= log). REMEMBER: When you talk about these skills, we are always using SOUNDS and not LETTERs- teach your child that sounds and letters are not the same.

What does BLENDING have to do with READING?

Learning how to blend words is important while students are sounding out words during reading. They will need to “squish” those words back together. Learning that words are made up of smaller parts is also important when spelling.

What can I do at home?

You’ve already spent some time blending while you worked on syllables!
Using “Robot Talk” is a fun way to say words s-ou-n-d-b-y-s-ou-n-d
Using bead, blocks, Play-Doh or any other markers to represent can help you visualize “squishing” the parts back together.
Follow activities on your PA Blending Calendar

Arrow from left to right, with beginning skills on the left and trickier on the right

🔻Picking Out the Word

Look at this picture.

I see a ti-ger (syllable)

I see a d-o-g (sound)

(shorter to longer words and pauses)

❓Guessing the Word

What word am I saying?

hair - cut

f - r - o - g

Here are some words to get started! You can find target words everywhere! Going for walks, looking around the house, reading a book...

2 Sounds

add

bay

key

two

see

off

3 Sounds

dad

mom

cat

foot

book

bug

gum

4 Sounds

crab

black

lamp

dust

frog

skip

dream

*FUN TIP* An I-Spy Game with a twist! You can play I-Spy using word blends. “I Spy with my little eye, a s-o-ck.”

IN A SONG

Sing the following verse to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus.”

The sounds in the word go c-a-t; c-a-t;

c-a-t The sounds in the word go c-a-t, Can you guess the word?

IN A BOOK

Books are a great source for all kinds of words (long and short). Breakup words into sounds, and find pictures in the book as you read. Even use the pages for i-Spy.

“I spy with my little eye, a t-r-ee on this page!”