Literacy programs for young learners focus on developing reading and writing skills. Once children gain phonemic awareness and the ability to read closed syllables, you can introduce them to words with blends. Blends consist of a group of consonants in a word or syllable, each having a distinct sound. For example, consider a word starting with ‘st,’ where both the /s/ and /t/ sounds are pronounced. Blends can be composed of two and even three consonants. Some can also feature two phonemes and three letters.
Likewise, some blends can be found at the start of a syllable or word before a vowel. These are referred to as initial or beginning blends. Think of words like twin, grab, etc. Then, some appear at the end of a syllable or word. You refer to them as ‘final’ or ‘ending’ blends. Words like tent and milk are good examples of this.
Best time to teach blends to young students
As mentioned earlier, these language concepts should be introduced only after children have mastered other fundamentals, such as phonemic awareness, short vowels, and digraphs. Once they pick up blends, you can teach them long vowels. At kindergarten, you can start with beginning blends like s, I, and r. When they reach first grade, you can reinforce these lessons and add more complex ones. For help, you can rely on 1st grade reading worksheets. These worksheets can be used even when they start learning long vowels and other spelling patterns.
More insight into blends
Teaching blends may seem challenging, but it doesn’t have to be, especially if you choose the proper methods or tools, such as worksheets. The sounds in blends aren’t new, as each consonant is pronounced using its usual sound. To be precise, your students will be familiar with many sounds. You just need to show your children how to blend those sounds when reading a word, or separate them when spelling it out. In the English language, there are 75 consonant blends.
- Common initial two-letter blends: bl-, cl-, gl-, fl-, br-, cr-, dr-, tr-, sm-, sn-, sp-, tw-, etc.
- Common initial three-letter blends: str-, spl-, spr-, and so on.
- Common final two-letter blends: -lk, -nd, -mp, -nt, -st, -ld, -ct, -lf, -sk, and others.
Typically, R-blends are considered the trickiest, especially when working with ‘dr’ and ‘tr.’ These can sound different. Hence, first graders may not master them so easily. Nevertheless, most of these concepts should be taught innovatively. Decodable readers can be one of the media used. These types of workbooks help children practice a specific lesson in a highly targeted way through repetition. However, they never appear dull. Just make sure to select the right teaching materials. Since children learn faster through stories, this can be a practical approach.
Some platforms offer a host of workbooks for 1st graders. These are especially designed to improve their reading skills. They feature easy texts and questions on every page to make your child’s learning both engaging and meaningful. The questions are specifically crafted to help kids recognize key points and understand the core idea. They also encourage them to infer their answers.
