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Year 1 English Phonics

Blending Sounds

Let's push sounds together to make words!

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Hi! I'm Pax the Koala!

Today we are going to blend sounds! That means we say each sound and then push them together to make a word. It's like a sound puzzle! 🧩

What is Blending?

Blending means saying each sound one at a time and then putting them all together to say the whole word. We call these words CVC words — that means Consonant, Vowel, Consonant!

C + V + C = Word!

c — a — t

= cat 🐱

You say each sound: /c/ ... /a/ ... /t/ ... then blend: cat!

How to Blend — Step by Step

1

Look at the first letter

Say its sound. For d, say /d/

2

Look at the middle letter

Say its sound. For o, say /o/

3

Look at the last letter

Say its sound. For g, say /g/

4

Push the sounds together!

/d/ /o/ /g/ = dog! 🐕

CVC Words to Blend

Can you blend these words? Say each sound, then push them together!

🐕

d-o-g

dog

🐱

c-a-t

cat

☀️

s-u-n

sun

🍳

p-a-n

pan

🛏️

b-e-d

bed

🐟

f-i-n

fin

Worked Examples

Example 1: h-o-t

Step 1: Say /h/

Step 2: Say /o/

Step 3: Say /t/

Blend: /h/ /o/ /t/ = hot 🔥

Example 2: b-i-g

Step 1: Say /b/

Step 2: Say /i/

Step 3: Say /g/

Blend: /b/ /i/ /g/ = big 🐘

Example 3: m-u-d

Step 1: Say /m/

Step 2: Say /u/

Step 3: Say /d/

Blend: /m/ /u/ /d/ = mud 🪱

Key Words to Know

Blending

Pushing sounds together to say a word

Phoneme

One single sound, like /c/ or /a/

CVC word

A short word with three sounds: Consonant, Vowel, Consonant

Vowel

The letters a, e, i, o, u — the middle sound in CVC words

Knowledge Check

Choose the correct answer for each question!

1. What word do you get when you blend c-u-p?

2. Which word is made from the sounds s-a-t?

3. What sounds make the word pin?

4. Blend these sounds: r-u-g. What is the word?

5. How many sounds are in the word hen?

What We Learned Today!

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Amazing blending, superstar! Keep practising and you'll be reading words in no time! 🌟

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