Literacy Question of the Week: Word Blending

"What does "blending words" and "blending CVC words" mean?"- Literacy Volunteer at J. Serra Great question!Blending is essentially the same as "sounding out" a word, by pronouncing individual syllables or sounds, in order to arrive at the full the word. For example, if a student comes across the word "STOP," and did not know it already, you could model blending by pointing to the word and slowly saying each sound out loud: "Ssssss" "tttttt" "ooo" "pppp" - first very slowly, then quicker and quicker to make it eventually sound like "sss-ttt-ooo-ppp, s-t-o-p." You would emphasize the "blend" of the s-t sounds, and of the o-p sounds, and then put them all together.Blending CVC words mean sounding out words (often simple 3-letter words) that contain a Consonant-Vowel-Consonant pattern, like CAT or TOP, or RED. Usually with these types of words, you are focusing on a particular vowel or consonant sound that is reproduced in several sets of words. For example, if you were practicing a short "a" vowel sound, you might have the student sound out the following sets of words:CATBATFATPATMAT...to show that the "A-T"  blend makes the same sound in each word.Here are some additional resources that might also be interesting to you:Teaching blending: http://www.auburn.edu/~murraba/blending.htmlCVC word activities: http://bogglesworldesl.com/CVCwords.htmHope this helps!Literacy Program Team