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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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 1.1.1.1 · blending and segmenting the sounds in spoken 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 Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, 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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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

    How many sounds do you hear in “pig”?

    🐷pig
    • 3
    • 4
    • 2

  2. Question 2

    Which letter makes the last sound?

    🔟te_
    • p
    • n
    • t

  3. Question 3

    Blend the sounds. Which picture is it?

    f - i - sh

    • 🐸frog
    • 🕸️web
    • 🐟fish

  4. Question 4

    Blend the sounds. Which picture is it?

    l - o - ck

    • 🧦sock
    • 🔒lock
    • 🪨rock

  5. Question 5

    Which letter makes the last sound?

    🚌bu_
    • p
    • n
    • s

  6. Question 6

    How many sounds do you hear in “map”?

    🗺️map
    • 2
    • 4
    • 3

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