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1st grade · English Language Arts · Unit 1 of 13

Blend It

Put sounds together

What your child practices

Blending sounds into words (s-u-n makes sun), counting the sounds in a word and hearing the last sound. These listening skills are the base of reading and spelling.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 2 · blending and counting the sounds in words

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Say each sound in the word.
  2. Push the sounds together to read it: p – i – g, pig.
  3. To find the last sound, listen to the end of the word.

Example: Which letter makes the last sound in “cat”? Say it slowly: c – a – t. The last sound is /t/. Answer: t

Blend It in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 1 of 13 in 1st grade English Language Arts, before Short Vowels.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Blend the sounds. Which picture is it?

    b - e - ll

    • 🔔bell
    • 🛏️bed
    • 🚌bus

  2. Question 2

    Blend the sounds. Which picture is it?

    b - u - g

    • 🐛bug
    • 🔔bell
    • 🛏️bed

  3. Question 3

    Blend the sounds. Which picture is it?

    b - u - s

    • 🛏️bed
    • 🐛bug
    • 🚌bus

  4. Question 4

    Which letter makes the last sound?

    ☀️su_
    • t
    • b
    • n

  5. Question 5

    How many sounds do you hear in “pig”?

    🐷pig
    • 2
    • 4
    • 3

  6. Question 6

    Blend the sounds. Which picture is it?

    f - i - sh

    • 🐸frog
    • 🐟fish
    • 🐶dog

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