Blending is a method used to help children learn to read by combining different sounds, also known as phonemes, to form words. It is a crucial skill that every child needs to start reading unknown words. Blending involves pushing together the sounds of the letters in the word in order to create the whole word. For example, a child trying to read the word ‘fish’, will isolate each of the letter sounds. When these three sounds are said in sequence, the word ‘fish’ is spoken. Blending is the key skill for reading, and segmenting is the crucial part of writing.

Phonics blending is a way for students to decode words. With phonics blending, students fluently join together the individual sound-spellings (also called letter-sound correspondence) in a word. For example, for a word like jam, students start by sounding out each individual sound-spelling (/j/, /ă/, /m/). Then, they slowly blend those sounds together (“jjjaamm”). Finally, they read the word (“jam”) . Research has shown that phonics blending supports students’ ability to read unfamiliar words because it provides them with a consistent strategy for approaching new words.

Blending can be taught through various methods such as oral blending, magnetic letters, and blending games. Oral blending is done with lots of fun games and activities, where children are immersed in oral blending as early as possible. Magnetic letters can be used to physically show the letters crashing into each other as you blend the word, which can often be that ‘lightbulb moment’ for a child where blending starts to make sense. Blending games such as "I Spy" and "Simon Says" can also be used to teach blending.

In summary, blending is a method used to help children learn to read by combining different sounds, also known as phonemes, to form words. It is a crucial skill that every child needs to start reading unknown words. Phonics blending is a way for students to decode words, and it supports students’ ability to read unfamiliar words because it provides them with a consistent strategy for approaching new words. Blending can be taught through various methods such as oral blending, magnetic letters, and blending games.