Teaching Blends in Kindergarten

Are you teaching blends in kindergarten and need some lesson ideas and support? Then keep reading for information on what are blends, how to introduce them to students, and some fun activities to support your instruction. Grab a FREE Decodable Readers & Word Work Activities set too!

Check out these related posts:

• Teaching sounds & letters
• Decodable Books in Kindergarten
• Sound Wall Tips & Suggestions
• Digraphs Activities

This Activity Goes Well With These Simply Kinder Resources:

What is a Blend?

Let’s start with what a consonant blend is:

A consonant blend is where two or more consonant sounds appear in a word with no intervening vowels.

What’s important to note is that each letter sound is pronounced. This is different than a digraph which is when two letters come together to make one sound.

Examples of blends:

Bl: Blue, Blow

Fl: Flap, Flip

Sl: Slap, Slick

Pl: Plan, Play

Cr: Crab, Crib

Tr: Tree, Try

Sw: Sweet, Wipe

Mp: Camp, Bump

and so on!

As you see there are l-blends, r-blends, misc. blends, and even blends that go at the end of words!

When are blends taught?

It’s best to follow your curriculum’s scope and sequence for when to teach blends to your students but many Science of Reading research supports teaching blends after CVC words.

It’s important that students have a strong understanding of letters & sounds first and can identify phonemes in a word. Make sure to use a Sound Wall to teach all 44 Phonemes so students can make the connection from speech to print. Check out the Sound Wall & Activities Bundle Here.

How to teach blends?

There are many blends but students do not need to memorize them, just work on word mapping and how to blend sounds with students.

Students should work on identifying the sounds in works in multi-sensory ways such as:

• Say the word
• Tap the sounds
• Write the sounds in sound boxes
• Write the word
• Read the word
• Practice the blend in a decodable book

By providing students with consistent routines and expectations for learning new phonics patterns, they can focus on creating neurological pathways for connecting sounds and words to memory!

Blends Decodable Readers

The best-selling decodable readers & word work activities bundle includes blends! Check out the bundle here!

Free Decodable Readers & Word Work Set

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