CVC Words

Blending is such a difficult concept for some students to master.   I have found that many students are lacking in the phonological skill so before blending CVC words, I always make sure students have mastered that concept first.  We begin our year with a lot of blending practice without letters, just so students are hearing the sounds that make the word. During this time, we use sound boxes as move the chips or other objects for each of the sounds that we hear.  Once this is mastered, we move on to blending letters to make words.  I try and use many different approaches to teach this skill to try and reach all learners.

When we first start blending in my classroom, we begin with picture flashcards.  The picture gives the students a bit of a support to help with the sounds.  When I teach blending I teach the students to slide one sound into another.... They hold on to the first sound until they get to the second sound making it sound more like a word instead of sounds in isolation.  I found that this makes it so much easier for them to hear the word that they are blending.

We begin whole group blending once we have learned our first 5 letters (m, a, p, s and t). Usually most students are confident with these letter sounds within a couple so we begin blending without the support of pictures, using only these letters at first.  We use those letters to start making simple short a words (map, tap, sat, Sam, Pam, etc) As a whole group activity, we use large letter cards and make CVC words as a group.

We practice making words whole group for several weeks, giving students time with this new concepts.   I assess my students to see who "gets it" and who needs additional support.  Usually after the word week or so I will as a quick assessment I will give the students an exit ticket where they read the word and circle the picture to match.   They are still reading to word but have a bit of picture support to help.

I am then given quick information of students who are catching on to the concept and those who may need more support.  (You can find these CVC Word Exit Tickets Here:  CVC Word Exit Tickets

Although I know at this point that most students are not fluently decoding words, I know they have the knowledge and skills to read CVC words and at this point, only need practice.
For students who are still unable to blending sounds to read CVC words, we then move into small group blending.  I begin with the letters apart and students are able physically move the letters, moving one sound to the next, while holding onto that sound.

We do the same thing with pool noodle letters, which are such a fun way in the classroom to practice blending sounds that my students love.  
They work really well on the table. I start with the sounds spread apart.

 They slide the first sound into the second, holding the sound until they get to the new one.

And then slide those sounds into the last sound.

I will usually do this activity with a small group and then let the students practice blending the sounds individually.  My students love it since it is so hands on and fun for them and it has helped them so much blending CVC words since they are so engaged!

Individually, I have my students work with magnetic letters in small group to practice blending.  I give my students several letters, they make the word and slide their finger on the arrow as they blend the sounds.   I begin focusing on one vowel at a time and we make words with that vowel and a few consonants.  It is so easy for them to swap out a sound to make a new work. 

Another fun (and literally hands on) practice that we did was with these gloves.  I made them by cutting the fingers off a glove.  We then line the letters up in alphabetical order so we can find them quickly.  Students can slip the letters on their fingers and blend the word. 

Once they become more proficient, I love using these simple notecard books to flip through different CVC words.  I made it by cutting a notecard book into 3 sections.  I wrote consonants in the first space, vowels in the middle and a consonant at the end.  It is so easy flipping through the book, making new words and giving students the opportunity to decode words. This works as a great reading or skill group warm up, exposing students to so many different real and nonsense words.

Blending is such a skill that takes so much practice.  I also made these CVC word mats, for my students to practice this skill individually in a center or as a quick warm up with me. Depending on my child's abilities, for some students, I will give them the cards and have them turn the mat over first.  This way, they do not have the visual support of the pictures when reading.  They read through the cards one by one.  This is a great activity to have them do with partners.  They then turn the mat over and read the cards and match them to the picture.  If I know that a students may need more support, I allow them to have the picture mat showing when initially reading the CVC word cards. 

These CVC mats are available in my TPT store.  Since many teachers teach blending words focusing on one vowel at a time, included are 2 different mats for each of the vowels in isolation and then 5 mats with a mix of all vowels.  This provides students plenty of opportunities to practice blending words.  I will often assess a students and see that they may need practice with only one vowel, and then I can quickly pull out a CVC mat focusing on that vowel to provide that student with practice. 

I will often just pull the cards and have my students play a game of quiz quiz trade using the words only.  To play this game, each students is given a card.  They find a partner, "quiz them," asking them to read the word, read their partner's word and then trade cards.  It is a great game because it gets your students moving and they are able to offer each other support if needed.  

You can check out these CVC words mats in my TPT store here: CVC Word Match Mats

As the year progresses, my students continue practicing this skill and applying this knowledge in their reading.

What other ways do you use to teach students to decode and encode words in your classroom?