bl, br, cl, cr

Do you see a black and white mother skunk
and her three baby skunks? 

We have two categories of letters: consonants and vowels. Our ABC letters keep their own sounds in consonant blends: black, blue, bring, broom, clear, cloud, clown, crow, crisp. 

Think: consonsant - constant sound / vowel - variable sound.

As you are reading together, freely tell your child any unknown word - better to keep reading. After you are finished with your story, look back through the pages and ask your child to point to the particular consonant blend you are helping him learn. 

Then, you print the letter blend, such as bl, and ask your child to print the blend three times. Tell each other words that use the blend. Draw pictures of items using the blend, such as a black cat. Print the words below the drawn picture: black cat.

Young children have trouble saying consonant blends because their tongue muscles are still learning to perform these kinds of special twists. Even though your child may not say the sound properly, it is important for you to say it and let him repeat it. This will help him recognize the letters together as he sees the blend within words on the page.

Ask your child to point to each word below as you read. Read the list several times, letting your child take over the reading when he is ready:

black      blank          blame              bless       blink         blob        blow      blur 

blast      blanket       blazing fire       blue         blister       block      blot        blustery breeze

Bonus lesson: in 2nd Grade, use the words blew and blue, telling your child we spell the color blue differently. Print blew and blue. Let your child point to the word you are using as you say these sentences: the wind blew a leaf across the street; the wind blew the door shut; Adam blew out the candles on the cake; I blew up the red balloon, etc. The sky is blue; my shirt is blue; the boy's wagon is blue.

Notice the difference between a consonant blend and special consonant teams, called digraphs.

blends                         digraphs - letters melt together to make a special sound
black                            the               shoe         whale         chip       
branch                         thumb           ship           wheel         chin
clam                            thump           shell           what          cheese
crash                                
dress
and many others

I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

Have fun reading with your child, Mary Maisner