📖 ReadingLevel 1Lesson 4
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Consonant Blends — bl, cr, st, tr, and pl

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Learning Objectives

  • 1Understand that a consonant blend keeps both individual sounds while blending them smoothly
  • 2Distinguish consonant blends from consonant digraphs and read
  • 3Sort words beginning with bl, cr, st, tr, and pl correctly
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Mini Lesson

Last lesson you learned about digraphs — two letters that make ONE sound. Today is different! A consonant blend is two consonants where you keep BOTH sounds — but you say them quickly together, smooth like a slide.

Blend vs Digraph — the key difference

  • Digraph: ch → one sound /ch/ (the c and h disappear into something new)
  • Blend: bl → two sounds /b/ + /l/ (you still hear both — bllll)

The five blends in this lesson

  • bl — /b/ + /l/: black, blob, bled
  • cr — /c/ + /r/: crab, crop, crib
  • st — /s/ + /t/: step, stop, sting
  • tr — /t/ + /r/: trip, trim, trot
  • pl — /p/ + /l/: plop, plan, plug

How to read a blend word

  • Look at the first two letters — is it a blend pair?
  • Say both sounds quickly together: /st/ … op → stop
  • Then read the rest of the word normally.
  • Do NOT put a vowel between the sounds — it is stop, not s-uh-top.
The five consonant blendsFive colored tiles showing bl, cr, st, tr, and pl, each with an example word and simple picture: blue crayon, crab, star, tree, plum.Two sounds — both keptblbluecrcrabststartrtreeplplum
Five blends — say both letter sounds quickly together.
In a blend you hear BOTH lettersTwo panels: left shows a digraph ch giving ONE sound; right shows a blend bl giving TWO sounds you still hear separately.Blend vs DigraphDigraph (L03)ch= ONE sound/ch/c and h blur intoone brand-new soundBlend (L04)bl= TWO sounds/b/ + /l/Both sounds stay —said quickly together
A digraph makes one new sound; a blend keeps both.
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Ask yourself: "Do I see a blend at the start? Can I hear both sounds when I say it?"

Vocabulary
Blend
Two consonants said quickly together — BOTH sounds are still hearde.g. bl, cr, st, tr, pl
Digraph
Two letters that make ONE new sound (contrast with a blend)e.g. ch, sh, th, wh
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← Lesson 3: Consonant Digraphs — ch, sh, th, and whLesson 5: Long Vowel Patterns — Silent-e Words →