Oral blending is…
‘Oral blending’ is the spoken version of ‘blending for reading’. Learners are encouraged to orally blend phonemes (sounds) together to form a full word.
In schools, children will listen out for sounds and try to make a word from them. For example, the child will hear the sounds /d/ – /o/ – /g/, they will repeat the sounds back as they hear the word spelled separately. They will then squash these sounds together to form the full word ‘dog’.
Why is oral blending important?
Oral blending helps children develop their phonemic awareness. This is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual phonemes (sounds) in spoken words.
The skill is crucial for reading and spelling. Children are able to confidently segment words by hearing and recognising different phonemes (sounds).
How can I help my child with oral blending at home?
There are many oral blending games you could play at home with your child!
1. “Find the item I’m saying”: You can segment the word of an item around your house and ask your child to try and find it. For example, you say “Find me a /c/ – /u/ – /p/” and hopefully your child comes back to you with a cup in hand!.
2. Find the card: You write full words on pieces of card (maybe include some images if you like!). Place these cards on a table in front of your child. Ask them to point out the one which has /d/ – /o/ – /g/ written on it, for example. You can use any words you like on these cards, depending on how advanced your child is on their phonics learning journey!
3. I Spy: This is a classic game that can be played anywhere at any time! This helps children with oral blending as the game starts by segmenting a word – “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with /b/”. Your child should then guess with objects around them that begin with a /b/, helping further understand letter-sound relationship.
You can also do simple things. For example, when reading a book with your child, encourage them to repeat back the sounds they hear in certain words you read. For example, you say the word “cat” and encourage your child to repeat back to you the segmented version of “/c/ – /a/ – /t/”.