Hearing and Blending Sounds
Students listen for individual sounds and blend them to form one-syllable words.
Illustrations are auto-generated and may be placeholders. They can be refreshed to match the narration.
Sound Warm-Up
Get your ears ready to listen closely. A word is made of sounds placed in order. You will hear each sound by itself and then put the sounds together. Begin with the word cat. Say it slowly: /k/, /ă/, /t/. Touch one finger for each sound. Now say the sounds closer and closer until you hear cat. The first sound is /k/, the middle sound is /ă/, and the last sound is /t/. Listen for sounds, not letter names. If the sounds stay in the same order, they join to make the word. Try it again without stopping between the sounds.
Teacher Sound Modeling
Listen as the teacher shows how to blend /m/, /ă/, and /p/. First, the teacher says each sound clearly with a small pause: /m/ ... /ă/ ... /p/. Next, the teacher moves a finger under three sound boxes and shortens the pauses: /m/-/ă/-/p/. Finally, the teacher sweeps a finger across the boxes and says map as one whole word. The /m/ can be held briefly, but /p/ is quick and should not have an extra “uh” sound. The sounds do not change or switch places. They simply come together. When you blend, listen for a real one-syllable word. One steady beat shows that map has one syllable.
Blend Two Sounds
Some words can be made by blending only two sounds. Listen to /g/ and /ō/. Say the first sound quickly: /g/. Then stretch the second sound: /ō/. Move the sounds close together: /g/-/ō/. What word do you hear? The word is go. Keep the sounds in the order you heard them. If you reverse them, you will not make the same word. Do not add an extra vowel sound after /g/. Say /g/, not “guh.” You can push one counter for /g/ and another counter for /ō/. Then slide your finger under both counters while saying go smoothly. The two sounds blend into one word with one syllable.
Blend Three Sounds
Now blend three sounds to make a word. Listen to /s/, /ŭ/, and /n/. Say each sound in order while touching three sound boxes. Start with /s/, move to /ŭ/, and finish with /n/. Next, shorten the spaces between the sounds: /s/-/ŭ/-/n/. Sweep your finger under all three boxes and say sun. Check your answer by asking, “Did I use every sound?” You should hear /s/ at the beginning, /ŭ/ in the middle, and /n/ at the end. The word sun has three sounds but only one syllable. Remember that the number of sounds and the number of syllables are not always the same. Blend smoothly until the whole word is easy to hear.
Partner Practice
Work with a partner to practice listening and blending. One partner chooses a picture card and says its sounds without naming the word. The other partner blends the sounds and points to the matching picture. For map, say /m/, /ă/, /p/. For a word with a consonant blend, try flag: /f/, /l/, /ă/, /g/. The sounds /f/ and /l/ are next to each other, but both sounds must still be heard. Blend them smoothly to say flag. Then switch jobs so both partners have a turn listening and blending. If the word is not correct, repeat the sounds more slowly, check their order, and try again. Give your partner kind feedback, such as, “I heard every sound.”