Helping Young Readers Transition from Letters and Sounds to Decoding CVC Words

Teaching children to read starts with mastering the letters and their corresponding sounds. But here is the cool thing....you DON'T need to wait until they have mastered ALL their letters and sounds to begin teaching them how to decode words!

Once students have a solid grasp of a few common sounds such as: a, m, s, t, p, they can immediately begin blending these sounds into words. That's right! They only need a handful of letters and sounds to break the reading code!

Following a systematic approach to introducing letters and practicing them in a consistent matter will help your students build automaticity. Grab this FREE ABC Scope and Sequence!

Here are two of my favorite activities to do when your students are ready to blend:

• Sound Squeeze: Write the letters of a CVC word on index cards. Have students line the letters up. Model for them how to say the sound of each card slowly, and then "squeeze" them together to read the word. For example, say "m" "a" "t" slowly, then blend it together to say "mat."
• Whisper Sound Blending: Say the sounds of a word quietly to your students and have them "catch" the word by blending the sounds together (e.g., you whisper "s" "a" "t" and they respond with "sat").

Decoding with Confidence:

As students increase their letter and sound fluency, they become more confident. Now they are ready to transition into recognizing individual sounds and connecting them to their corresponding letters. This skill prepares them for the next step in reading—blending sounds. Once students can blend a few sounds together, they are ready to move along as growing readers via reading simple decodable books.

Decodable books focus on specific phonics patterns and use controlled vocabulary that aligns with the letter-sound relationships students have already learned. These books help reinforce their decoding skills by gradually introducing more complex sounds and words while providing the practice needed to build fluency and comprehension. Decodable books are an excellent tool for helping young readers experience early success in reading, as they can apply their phonics knowledge directly to real texts.

With these resources, students get hands-on practice reading, writing, and blending sounds, all while building confidence.

Supporting your early readers doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By introducing blending and decoding as soon as students master a few letters and sounds, you set them up for early success in reading. The key is to create a fun, interactive learning environment where they can practice and explore with confidence.

No need to wait for perfection—start blending, and watch your students take off in their reading journey!

Happy reading!

TP

@Sparking Creativity