Routine · Phonics and decoding
Sound-by-sound blending
Read a new word one sound at a time, joining each sound to the ones before it.
- Time
- 3 to 6 minutes
- Skill
- Phonics and decoding
- In a session plan
- Word reading
When to use it
Early in the sequence, or whenever a student guesses a word from its first letter.
Materials
- The word list or a blending board
- A card to cover letters
Steps
Shown with example words: word sat; words sat, map, tip; spelling a; sound /ă/.
Get ready
Show sat with all but the first letter covered.
I do
Uncover one letter at a time. Say each sound and join it to the sounds before, keeping your voice going. Then slide a finger beneath the whole word and say it.
Say: Watch me. I say a sound, add the next one, and keep them together. Sat.
We do
Cover the word again and uncover it letter by letter while you both say the sounds and blend.
You do
The student blends the rest of the list: sat, map, tip. Point under each letter as they go.
Student: Says each sound, joins it on, then says the whole word.
Read the list again. This time the student says the sounds in their head and reads each word whole.
Check
Point to words out of order. The student reads each one whole.
If the student...
Says the wrong sound for a.
Stop at that letter. Say the right sound, have the student say it, then go back to the first letter and blend the whole word.
Say: This says /ă/. What does it say? Start again at the beginning.
Says all the sounds right but then says a different word.
Blend it again with them, a little faster, then sweep and say it. Have them blend it once more alone.
Tips
- Keep your pace quick so the sounds stay in memory while the word builds.
- When the student blends easily, stop uncovering letters and only point to the vowel first.
- In a group, have everyone blend together, then ask one student to read the word again alone.
Example words
- Word
- sat
- Words
- sat, map, tip
- Spelling
- a
- Sound
- /ă/
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- Stretch and readHold each sound and slide into the next without a break, then say the word.2 to 5 minutes · Word reading
- Spot the vowel pattern, then readFind the vowel spelling first, decide its sound, then read the whole word.3 to 6 minutes · Word reading
- Phoneme blendingHear a word said one sound at a time and put the sounds together into the word.2 to 4 minutes · Warm-up
- Count the beats before readingSay a long word, count its beats, then match each beat to a vowel in the written word.2 to 4 minutes · Word reading
Have this routine filled in for every lesson
In Literacy Trail, the session plan picks a routine for each block and fills it with the words, sounds and sentence from your student's lesson. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.