Level 1 • Lesson 42 — Blending sounds into words

Objective

Blend letter sounds together to read simple words like sat, map, and pin.

Materials

Letter cards (s, a, t, m, p, n, i, o, u)
Pencil ✏️
Paper for writing words
Finger or small counter to slide under letters

Mini-lesson — Stretch, slide, read

To read a word, we put sounds together. This is called blending.

Example with the word sat:

Say each sound: /s/ /a/ /t/.
Say them a little faster: /s/…/a/…/t/.
Slide them together: sat.

Try another word: map.

/m/ /a/ /p/ → map

Steps to blend a word:

Point to the first letter and say the sound.
Point to the middle letter and say the sound.
Point to the last letter and say the sound.
Slide your finger under all the letters and say the whole word.

The more you blend sounds, the faster and smoother you will read.

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

Guided Practice — Read the blending mini-book

How to read this mini-book:

For each bold word, say each sound: /s/ /a/ /t/.
Say the sounds a little faster.
Slide them together and read the whole word.

After you read the page, pick one bold word and write it on your paper. Underline the vowel in the middle.

Blend these CVC words

sat sun map pin hot ten cup net

Tip: Tap under each letter as you say its sound.

Mini-Book: Sam and the map

1

Sam has a map.

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

2

Sam sits in the sun.

Sam can read sat and sun on the map.

3

Sam has a pin.

He puts the pin on a spot. “/p/ /i/ /n/ — pin!”

4

Sam gets a cup.

Sam sips from the cup and reads net on the map.

Reading Practice — Blend the sounds

Use the sounds to choose the correct word. Then press “Check answers”.

1) /s/ /a/ /t/ →

2) /s/ /u/ /n/ →

3) /m/ /a/ /p/ →

4) /p/ /i/ /n/ →

5) /h/ /o/ /t/ →

6) /c/ /u/ /p/ →

7) /t/ /e/ /n/ →

8) /n/ /e/ /t/ →

Quick Check (10 questions)

1) What does it mean to blend sounds?

Put sounds together to read a word Say the alphabet in order Only look at pictures

2) /m/ /a/ /p/ makes which word?

mop map man

3) /s/ /i/ /t/ makes which word?

sat sun sit

4) When you blend sounds, what should your finger do?

Slide under the letters as you read Cover the word Tap in the corner of the page

5) /p/ /e/ /n/ makes which word?

pan pen pin

6) /c/ /a/ /t/ makes which word?

cut cot cat

7) If a word feels hard to read, what should you do?

Go back to slow sounds, then blend again Close the book Skip all the words

8) /h/ /a/ /t/ makes which word?

hit hat hot

9) /c/ /u/ /p/ makes which word?

cap cop cup

10) To become a strong decoder, you should…

use sounds to figure out words guess without looking at letters only look at pictures

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

Lesson 42: Blending sounds into words