Consonant Blends (bl, cr, st, tr) — Spelling
Literacy · Grades 1–2 · 16 cards
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Say the word, then the two consonants separately, then have the child build it. The letters make the blend visible in a way the ear does not, which is the whole reason to use the spelling version with a child who is inserting a vowel. Keep asking for the production between letters — the sound is still the target and the spelling is the scaffold.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and wait 3 seconds for the student to read it.Log as correct
- Point to itPoint to the letter pattern that matters, or tap under each sound.Log as cued
- Sound it outSay the first sound together, then let the student blend the rest.Log as cued
- ModelRead it, tapping each sound; the student reads it after you.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer cards and start with the patterns the student already reads, such as 'black' and 'blue'.
Read the words in a sentence, or spell them from dictation.
Matching IEP goal
Given decodable word cards, such as 'black' and 'blue', Student will read the target pattern accurately in 8 of 10 words across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a visual cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
The sixteen blend words — black, blue, block, blanket, crab, cry, crown, cricket, star, stop, stick, stamp, tree, train, truck, tractor — as a spelling task. Derived from the flashcard deck, and it earns a place of its own because a blend is where speech and spelling most often come apart: a child who says buh-lack will frequently write balack, and seeing the two letters together helps.
What to listen for
Watch for a vowel appearing in the spelling. A child who writes balanket has written down exactly what they are saying, and that correspondence is worth pointing out — it makes the error visible rather than abstract. Notice the cr and tr words, where the second letter is easy to omit entirely: cab for crab is the written version of the reduction pattern.
Carrying it home
Spelling one blend word aloud is a ten-second task. Ask for the first two letters specifically — what two letters start black — rather than the whole word, since those two are the target.
What's in this activity
- black
- blue
- block
- blanket
- crab
- cry
- crown
- cricket
- star
- stop
- stick
- stamp
- tree
- train
- truck
- tractor
Questions
- Is this the same as the flashcard deck?
- Same sixteen words, built letter by letter instead of produced from a card. It suits students who are working on blends in both speech and spelling.
- Is it free?
- Yes, no account and no card needed.
- Does spelling actually help the speech target?
- For some students, yes — seeing two letters with nothing between them makes the inserted vowel concrete. For others it is a distraction, and the flashcards give more practice per minute.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.