# Lesson 42: Blending sounds into words

📖 READING (40 Lessons) • 🟢 A. Sounds and Words

← Back to Level 1

## Objective

Blend letter sounds together to read short CVC words and use sound blending to read a simple mini-book.

## Materials

- Pencil/Paper to write a few CVC words
- A finger or small counter to slide under the letters while blending
- The Sound Pad (bottom right corner) to hear every letter and digraph sound

## Letter & Sound Pad

Tap any button to hear its sound.

### Short vowels

### Long vowels

### Consonant sounds

### Digraphs

## Mini-lesson — Blending sounds to read words

In the last lesson, you practiced hearing letter sounds like the sounds for m, s, and a.

Now you will learn to blend those sounds together to read whole words.

Watch how we build a word from sounds:

- map →
  — tap each sound button, then say map.
- sun →
  — tap each sound button, then say sun.
- sit →
  — tap each sound button, then say sit.

Steps to blend a word:

1. Tap each sound button slowly and say the sound you hear.
2. Point to the first, middle, and last letter in the word.
3. Slide your finger under all the letters while you say the word smoothly.

Blending tip: First say the sounds slowly with the buttons. Then say the word a little faster until it sounds smooth and easy.

Picture: Sliding a finger under the word sat to blend the sounds.

## Guided Practice — Blend and read the mini-book

Step 1: Blend on the pad.

Choose a word like map or sun. Say each sound. Then slide the sounds together and read the word.

Step 2: Read the mini-book.

Read each sentence in the mini-book. Use blending when you come to a bold word.

### Blend Pad — Practice CVC words

#### Consonant sounds

#### Short vowel sounds

Try: m + a + p → map, s + u + n → sun, s + i + t → sit.

### Mini-Book: Sam and the map

1

Sam has a map.

Sam taps the map and blends “/m/ /a/ /p/ — map”.

2

Sam sits in the sun.

Sam blends “/s/ /u/ /n/” and reads sun.

3

Sam has a pin.

He blends “/p/ /i/ /n/” to read pin on the map.

4

Sam gets a cup.

Sam sips from the cup and blends net on the page.

## Reading Practice — Blend the sounds and choose the word

Tap the sound buttons in order. Blend them together with your voice. Then drag the word that matches the blended sounds into the box.

Sounds:

sit sun sat

Sounds:

son sun sit

Sounds:

map mop man

Sounds:

pan pen pin

Sounds:

tap tip top

Sounds:

map men man

Sounds:

sat sit set

Sounds:

nip nap net

Sounds:

sin sun son

Sounds:

met mat mot

## Quick Check (5 questions)

#### What does it mean to blend sounds?

Say each sound with a big pause and stop Slide the sounds together to read a word Only look at the picture on the page

#### What is the first thing you should do when blending a new word?

Point to the first letter and say its sound Skip the first letter and guess Close the book and think

#### If a word feels tricky, what is a good strategy?

Look away from the word Only read the last letter Go back to slow sounds and blend again

#### Why does blending help you become a stronger reader?

It helps you skip new words It helps you use sounds to figure out new words It only helps you remember page numbers

#### In the mini-book “Sam and the map”, how does Sam use sounds?

He blends sounds to read words like map, sun, pin, and cup He guesses the words without looking at letters He only looks at the pictures on the map

## Assessment (parent/teacher)

Blends 2–3 sounds smoothly to read simple words Uses finger or pointer to track letters while reading Can read several CVC words with little help Tries slow sounds again when a word is tricky

## Exit ticket (student)

😀 I can blend sounds and read words 🙂 I need more practice blending 😅 Blending still feels tricky

#### I will practice…

Saying each sound and then sliding Reading simple CVC words like sat, sun, map Going back to slow sounds when I get stuck
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