This document provides guidance on teaching students to blend and segment sounds in words. It discusses blending as combining individual sounds smoothly to form a word. Segmenting is breaking a word down into its individual sounds. The document recommends practicing blending and segmenting skills whole group and individually while emphasizing connecting sounds. It suggests starting with continuous sounds like s, m, a and adding stop sounds like t gradually. Teachers should elongate continuous sounds slightly but not too long and make stop sounds distinct. Using hands to count sounds can help students. Regular practice is important for students to master blending and segmenting skills.

1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BLEND
SOUNDS TOGETHER?
Once students know several common sounds, such as s, m, a, t, n, it is time to help students blend those sounds
together into simple words. Blending means that students are connecting the sounds together without stopping
in between each sound. This can be a difficult skill for students to grasp. As a teacher it is helpful to teach this
skill in both whole group and during small group instruction so that you can listen to each individual student.
Some students will also need you right next to them helping them blend the sounds continuously until they
understand that it has to be smooth.
A COUPLE KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN
TEACHING STUDENTS TO BLEND SOUNDS
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
As much as you can. Really. It’s all about the practice. Practice whole group. Practice in small groups. Give
parents some ways to practice at home. Don’t go overboard, but if you can blending and segment sounds
several times throughout the day, students will find success with the process.
START WITH CONTINUOUS SOUNDS
Students will find more success if you start with continuous sounds. Common sounds to start with include s, m,
a, n. There are more, but those sounds tend to be the first ones students learn. As students find success with
those sounds add one more sound to the mix and continue practicing.
CONNECT A STOP SOUND TO THE CONTINUOUS SOUND AFTER IT
When blending with stop sounds, start by using the stop sounds at the end of a word, like mat. Students can
quickly stop blending at that final sound. As students become proficient with blending continuous sounds,
move onto blending stop sounds at the beginning of words, like cat. When blending with stop sounds at the
beginning of the word, it is often helpful to prompt students to blend the stop sound with the continuous sound
next to it. For instance in cat, the ca would be blended together.
ELONGATE THE SOUNDS
Be sure that when you (or the students) are saying the continuous sounds that you elongate the continuous
sounds. Really. Overemphasize them. You want students to hear all the sounds in the word.

2. CONNECT THE SOUNDS
As students are blending the sounds in the word, be sure that they’re connecting each sound together. Often, I
will hear students elongate the first sound, pause slightly and then start the second sound. Listen carefully and
be sure that students are connecting all the sounds together throughout the word.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SEGMENT
SOUNDS?
Segmenting sounds is the opposite of blending sounds. While segmenting sounds is an important reading skill,
I find that the best application for it is for writing. If students can hear and say each sound in a word and match
it to a symbol, they can write words!
SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN TEACHING
STUDENTS TO SEGMENT SOUNDS
HAVE STUDENTS USE THEIR HANDS AND FINGERS
Little kids are tactile creatures. They love using their hands. Teach students to use their hands to count the
sounds in a word.
I have students hold up a fist on their right hand. It’s important that they use their right hand because when
counting, they start with their index finger and move to the right. It’s the same way we read, from left to right.
Have students say each sound and raise a finger for each sound that they say. So for cat, they would say, /c/, /a/,
/t/ and each sound would be a different finger. Do that over and over again with different words.
Keep in mind that developing this skill orally through phonemic awareness activities is best. Then move onto
phonics activities that include print.
MAKE STOP SOUNDS QUICK
When counting sounds, be sure that the stop sound have a distinct, quick stop sound. Be sure that the stop
sounds don’t have a schwa sound attached to the end of it. The schwa sound is that -uh sound that you
sometimes here people put at the end of a sound, like buh, duh, etc. Don’t elongate stop sounds. We don’t
say buh-a-t. It’s b-a-t.
Often, when teaching students about stop sounds, I’ll have them hold their hand in front of their mount and feel
their breath. When a stop sound stops, there’s a little puff of breath. Try it. Do you get that puff of air at the
end of /p/? Now, try putting a schwa sound at the end and say puh. Do you feel the air at the end of the sound?

3. No, because you tacked on that schwa. That’s one way to tell if you (or the students) are saying the word
correctly.
MAKE CONTINUOUS SOUNDS A LITTLE BUT LONGER, BUT NOT TOO
LONG
When students say a continuous sound, don’t make it too long. You don’t want students to blend the sounds, but
count them quickly. There will be a difference between how a stop and continuous sound is heard. Try it.
Segment cat, rat, man, can. Can you hear the difference between the /r/ in rat and the /c/ in cat?
Blending and Segmenting
What is Blending and Segmenting, and How Will it Help Children to Read?
Blending:
This means combining sounds to make a word. Divide the word into the individual sounds. For
example /s/ /i/ /t/, as you have taught individual sounds in your daily phonics sessions. Then you say the
individual sounds one after another, getting faster and faster. If the letters are blended quickly, the child will
hear the whole word. It may help to put most emphasis on the first sound.
Teaching blending to the class:
Write ‘cat’ on the board. Or better still, write on separate pieces of card the three sounds that make up the
word. Ask the children to say the sounds. Point to the sounds in the word and children say them. (In the
example lesson given by Dora, she suggests that each card is held up by a child at the front of the class, and
each time the children read the sounds the children with the cards move closer together to indicate that the
sounds should be said in more rapid succession.) As they repeat the sounds faster and faster they should be able
to hear the word cat.
Once they have read cat, write a rhyming word on the board such as pat, mat or sat. Go through the same
process of blending these words. Point out to the children that the words have the same –at ending. If the
children know their letter sounds and can read cat, they should also be able to figure out mat, sat, fat, bat and
hat.
Segmenting: Once children can read pin, they need also to use their knowledge of sounds to break it down
to /p/ /i/ /n/ in order to write the word.
Teaching segmenting to the class:
The example lesson by Dora also illustrates how to teach segmenting. Start by saying the word, for example
/ten/, to the class. Ask the children to say the word. What sound can they hear at the beginning of the word?

4. Emphasise the first sound. Can anyone remember how to write this sound? Write it on the board. Then refer to
the middle sound (this is the hardest to hear). Can the children hear the sound in the middle of the word?
Emphasise the middle sound as you say the word. Can anyone write it? Can the children hear the final sound of
the word? This time emphasise the last sound as you say the word. Can anyone write it? Once the / t/ /e/ /n/ are
written on the board, blend the word with the class to check it’s correct.
If the children know their letter sounds and can segment ten, they should be able to work out pen, hen, den and
men, as these are rhyming words with only the initial sound changed. When segmenting, it can help children to
count the number of sounds on their fingers as they break down the word, so that they know how many sounds
they will need to write.
Once the first 5 – 6 sounds have been taught you can start train the children to read and write simple CVC
words. A CVC word is a word that is made up of a vowel between two consonants such as cat, sat, pin, pan.
They are phonologically simple and should be among the first words a child learns to read. The children need
to be able to segment and blend words in order to read and write independently.
If some in your class don’t seem to understand the concept of blending and can’t hear the word when blended,
they may need practice in listening well and hearing the rhyme. If this is the case, go back to the KG1 section
and follow the activities. Once this skill is developed they will be able to hear individual sounds in words, and
blend or segment them accordingly.
Word Families - an, ap, at
The word families an, ap & at are a good phonics group to start with. They all have the short vowel a sound.
There are a good variety of words in the families that have familiar picture clues (like cat, van, cap, etc).
List of Words
an ap at
an
ban
can
fan
man
pan
ran
tan
van
cap
gap
lap
map
nap
rap
sap
tap
at
bat
cat
fat
hat
mat
pat
rat
sat
tat
vat
bran
clan
flan
Dan
Fran
Jan
chap
clap
flap
brat
chat
drat

5. span
than
Nan
Stan
slap
flat
gnat
that

6. span
than
Nan
Stan
slap
flat
gnat
that