Teaching page · Grade 1 · Lesson 16

Words with a blend

Some nouns name things you can touch. Others name ideas — and those are the ones writers need.

What it is

A blend is two consonants side by side where you can still hear both. In stop, /s/ and /t/ are both there — they are just fast. Children lose the first letter of a blend more than any other spelling mistake, and the cure is to say it slowly enough to hear both.

Watch it built

1
Say the word slowly, stretching the beginning.
stop — sssstop
2
Count the sounds. There are four, not three.
/s/ /t/ /o/ /p/
3
Write all four. Check the blend has both its letters.
s t o p

One more

flag
↓
/f/ /l/ /a/ /g/ → f l a g
Remember
Stretch the beginning. A blend has TWO letters — write both.
Ask yourself: “Can I point at it?”

Remember

Shape, size, kind — words that measure the world.

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