What is blending?
A short captioned lesson on how children join sounds into words, for children and grown-ups. Free, with a full transcript and teaching notes.
Read the whole lesson
Blending Hello! Today we are learning to blend. Blending means pushing sounds together to make a word. It is the secret of reading.
Three letters, three sounds Look at this word. It has three letters, and each letter makes a sound. We say them one at a time, with a tiny gap between each one.
Slide them together Now we slide the sounds closer and closer together, like a little train pulling its carriages. The sounds blend into one word. Cat!
Try another word Let us try another word. Point to each letter, say its sound, and then blend the sounds together. The word is sun!
Four sounds, one word Some words start with two sounds side by side, like frog. Say each sound, then blend them all the way through. Frog!
Tip for grown-ups A tip for grown-ups. Say the sounds out loud first, then let your child say the whole word. Keep each sound short and clean.
Slower, then faster If a word is tricky, go back to the start. Say the sounds slowly, then a little faster, until the word pops out. It gets easier every time.
Your turn! Now it is your turn. Find a book or a card, point to the letters, say the sounds, and blend. Well done, you are reading!
For grown-ups Teaching notes
- Blending is the skill of pushing single sounds together to say a whole word. It is the first step of decoding and the one most children need most practice with.
- Pause after each worked word and ask the child to say the sounds, then the word. Keep your own sounds short and clean.
- Start with two or three letter words (cat, sun, frog). Add a longer word only when the short ones are easy.
- If a child says the sounds but cannot hear the word, say the sounds a little faster and run them together without a gap.
Tip: pause the video after each picture, ask the child to say the answer, then press play.