#25: Help! My Students Know Their Letters but Still Can’t Blend
If you’ve ever had students who know their letter sounds but struggle to blend them together when reading, you’re not alone. It can be frustrating to watch them sound out each letter perfectly but fail to connect them into a word. The good news? The issue isn’t necessarily with letter recognition—it’s with a phonemic awareness skill called blending.
In this episode, we’ll explore why blending is a crucial skill for early readers and share effective, research-backed activities you can use in your PreK-2nd grade classroom to build your students’ blending skills with confidence.
What Is Phonemic Awareness and Why Does It Matter?
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. It is a foundational skill that significantly impacts a child’s ability to decode words while reading.
Blending is one of the six core phonemic awareness skills. It enables students to take separate phonemes, such as /c/, /a/, and /t/, and smoothly merge them into a recognizable word: cat.
Research has consistently shown that strong phonemic awareness is one of the best predictors of future reading success. Without blending skills, students may struggle to decode words fluently, leading to reading frustration and delays.
Effective Blending Activities to Use in Your Classroom
Here are some simple, engaging activities to help your students strengthen their blending skills:
1. Stretch & Say
This activity encourages students to stretch out the sounds in a word and then snap them back together.
- Example: Say mmmmmaaaaannnn (stretching each sound) and then quickly blend it to man.
- Start with continuous consonants like /m/, /s/, and /n/ before moving to stop consonants like /b/ and /d/.
2. Sound Slide with Visuals
- Write words on index cards or display them digitally.
- As you say each phoneme, slide your finger under the word to model the blending process.
- Have students repeat and mimic the motion to reinforce the skill.
3. Blending with Hand Motions
- Assign a physical movement to each phoneme (e.g., touching the head for /s/, shoulders for /a/, and knees for /t/).
- Students say each sound while performing the movement, then blend the sounds together as they sweep their hands down their body.
4. Sing the Sounds
- Singing forces students to naturally blend sounds together.
- Have students “sing” the phonemes in a word to help them connect the sounds fluidly.
5. Phoneme Hopscotch
- Place letter cards on the floor and have students jump from one phoneme to the next while blending the word aloud.
- This kinesthetic approach engages both the body and brain, making learning more memorable.
6. Continuous Consonant Word Chains
- Start with words that begin with continuous consonants like /s/, /m/, or /l/ (e.g., sun, man, lot).
- These sounds can be stretched smoothly into the next phoneme, making blending easier for beginners.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
- The biggest misconception about struggling blenders.
- Why phonemic awareness is essential for early readers.
- Simple strategies you can use tomorrow to strengthen blending skills.
- Fun, engaging activities that make blending practice enjoyable.
Bringing It All Together
Blending is an essential skill that unlocks fluent reading. When students struggle to blend, they need more targeted phonemic awareness practice rather than just more exposure to letters and sounds.
By incorporating these fun and interactive activities into your daily routine, you can help your students become more confident, fluent readers. And the best part? These activities require minimal prep but deliver maximum impact!
Want More Support? Join The Science of Reading Formula
For ready-to-use phonemic awareness lesson plans that take just five minutes a day, check out The Science of Reading Formula. Our print-and-go resources make it easy to integrate these strategies into your classroom.
Join now and give your students the tools they need to succeed!
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