SOUND CITY READING
  • A Sequential Phonics Program
    • How To Navigate This Site
    • What Happened To The Old Site
    • Can I buy physical copies of the books?
    • How Was This Program Developed?
    • Information About The Author
    • Copyright Information
    • Information About Reading Street
    • How To Use The PDF Files
    • Using A Print Shop
    • Other Recommended Sites
    • How To Get Started
    • Understanding Vowels
    • Understanding Consonants
  • Materials
    • Step Charts
    • Flow Charts
    • Program Overview
    • Overview Of All Of The Phonics Books
    • Level 1
    • Level 1. Learning The Alphabet Overview
    • Level 2. Exploring Sounds In Words Overview
    • Level 3. Short Vowels Overview
    • Level 4. Phonics Patterns Overview >
      • Phonetic Words And Stories, 1-8
      • Basic Phonics Patterns, 1-8
      • Basic Phonics Patterns Lesson Outline
      • Know The Phonetic Code, 1-3
      • Color-Coded Phonetic Lists
  • PDF Files
    • How To Work With PDF Files
    • Baseline Assessment PDF
    • Sequence Charts PDF
    • Sound Story PDF
    • Phonemic Awareness PDF
    • Manuscript Handwriting PDFs
    • Cursive Handwriting PDFs
    • Level 1 - Learning The Alphabet PDFs
    • Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words PDFs
    • Level 3 - Short Vowel PDFs
    • Level 4 - Phonics Patterns PDFs
    • Level 5 - Advanced Phonics Patterns PDFs
    • Large Picture-Word Pages PDF
    • Flashcards PDF
    • Wall Charts Newer PDF
    • Wall Charts Older PDF
    • Activities And Games PDF
    • Older PDF Files
  • Pictures
    • Sound Story Pictures
    • Keyword/Sound Chart Pictures
    • Level 1 And 2 Pictures
    • Level 3 Pictures
    • Level 4 Pictures
    • Consonant Blends
    • Level 5 Pictures
  • Audio
    • Sound Story Part 1
    • Sound Story Part 2
    • Individual Sound Pictures Part 1
    • Individual Sound Pictures Part 2
    • Individual Letter Sounds ABC Order
    • More Letter Sounds - sh, th, ch, wh, ck, tch, ng, oi, oy, ou, ow
    • Sound Pictures And Letters Part 1
    • Learning The Alphabet And Exploring Sounds In Words Charts
    • Level 3 Short Vowel Sound Charts
    • Level 3 Advanced Short Vowel Sound Charts
    • Sound Blending - Short U
    • Picture-Word Page Short U
    • Level 4, Book 1 Sound Charts
    • Level 4, Book 2 Sound Charts
  • Video
    • Sound Story Part 1 Videos
    • Robot Game a_e/safe
    • Advanced Sound Charts
  • Reading Street
    • Reading Street Stories
    • Reading Street Tests
    • Spelling Worksheets For Reading Street
    • Decoding Practice Pages To Use With Reading Street
    • Word Cards And Phonogram Cards
  • Blog
    • Contact Me
    • Share Your Experience
    • Take This Expanded Survey
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Two-Letter Sound Blending


Sound blending is the process of sliding two letter sounds together smoothly.  This exercise prepares students to read short vowel words.  It should be used with students who are working at Level 2, Exploring Sounds In Words, and Level 3, Short Vowels.  Sound blending exercises are included in the following books.
Level 2 
Exploring Sounds In Words, Book 1
Exploring Sounds In Words, Book 2
Level 3
Rhyming Short Vowel Words And Sentences
Mixed Short Vowel Words And Sentences
Two-Page Short Vowel Words And Sentences
Basic Short Vowels
Background
In the Sound City Reading program, the first words students learn to read are two- and three-sound short vowel words: an, cat, fox, off, it, will, up, sun, egg, mess.  There are several reasons that this is a good place to start.
  1. There are many common short vowel words. This provides a lot of practice for beginning readers.
  2. Almost all short vowel words can be pronounced phonetically.  This means that if you say the sound for each letter in the word, going from left to right, putting the sounds together smoothly, you will be pronouncing the word.  This process is called decoding.  
  3. The words studied at the short vowel level have only one syllable, with only two or three sounds in the word.  This makes learning how to decode words as easy as possible.
  4. The short vowel words practiced at level three do not contain any consonant patterns (sh, th, ng) or vowel patterns with other vowel sounds (ee, ai, ou, or).  This makes it possible for students to begin reading many words as soon as they have learned the sounds for the letters of the alphabet. 
  5. Once students have mastered the decoding process with short vowel words, they will be able to make rapid progress when they are introduced to words with new consonant and vowel patterns.​
Decoding
Learning to decode begins as a physical process.  Students must use their eyes to track the letters from left to right and use their lips, mouth, tongue, voice box, and lungs to pronounce them.  It is necessary to practice this skill physically in the same way that practice is important to learn to ride a bike or shoot a basketball.  With enough practice, decoding becomes automatic, and students will be able to read/decode words silently, without pronouncing them out loud.
Why Sound Blending Is Important
When students learn the letters of the alphabet they learn to recognize each letter and pronounce its sound.  However, reading words is a much more complex task because the letter sounds must be connected smoothly, without a break between the sounds.  This is relatively easy for some students, a bit of a challenge for many students, and quite difficult for some students.  The purpose of this sound blending exercise is to teach students to put the sounds together smoothly when they are reading words.  Because two sounds can be put together much more easily that three or more sounds, we start by blending just two sounds together before attempting to read three-sound words.  Separate sound blending exercises are done with the students for each short vowel sound.   When working with the students, these two-letter combinations are called "silly sounds" because they are meaningless; they are not real words.    

Two-Letter Sound Blending With Short U

Download this audio file.
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Sound City Reading

All Materials Copyright 2021 by Kathryn J. Davis, All Rights Reserved
Teachers, parents, tutors, and schools may download and print PDF files to use with the students they teach.  They are not to make a profit from distributing the materials.  
​Teaching videos are free to watch, and they may be downloaded for personal use, at home or in the classroom. 

In special cases I may grant written permission to individuals to use the material in other ways.  

You can contact me at kathjdavis@gmail.com.
  • A Sequential Phonics Program
    • How To Navigate This Site
    • What Happened To The Old Site
    • Can I buy physical copies of the books?
    • How Was This Program Developed?
    • Information About The Author
    • Copyright Information
    • Information About Reading Street
    • How To Use The PDF Files
    • Using A Print Shop
    • Other Recommended Sites
    • How To Get Started
    • Understanding Vowels
    • Understanding Consonants
  • Materials
    • Step Charts
    • Flow Charts
    • Program Overview
    • Overview Of All Of The Phonics Books
    • Level 1
    • Level 1. Learning The Alphabet Overview
    • Level 2. Exploring Sounds In Words Overview
    • Level 3. Short Vowels Overview
    • Level 4. Phonics Patterns Overview >
      • Phonetic Words And Stories, 1-8
      • Basic Phonics Patterns, 1-8
      • Basic Phonics Patterns Lesson Outline
      • Know The Phonetic Code, 1-3
      • Color-Coded Phonetic Lists
  • PDF Files
    • How To Work With PDF Files
    • Baseline Assessment PDF
    • Sequence Charts PDF
    • Sound Story PDF
    • Phonemic Awareness PDF
    • Manuscript Handwriting PDFs
    • Cursive Handwriting PDFs
    • Level 1 - Learning The Alphabet PDFs
    • Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words PDFs
    • Level 3 - Short Vowel PDFs
    • Level 4 - Phonics Patterns PDFs
    • Level 5 - Advanced Phonics Patterns PDFs
    • Large Picture-Word Pages PDF
    • Flashcards PDF
    • Wall Charts Newer PDF
    • Wall Charts Older PDF
    • Activities And Games PDF
    • Older PDF Files
  • Pictures
    • Sound Story Pictures
    • Keyword/Sound Chart Pictures
    • Level 1 And 2 Pictures
    • Level 3 Pictures
    • Level 4 Pictures
    • Consonant Blends
    • Level 5 Pictures
  • Audio
    • Sound Story Part 1
    • Sound Story Part 2
    • Individual Sound Pictures Part 1
    • Individual Sound Pictures Part 2
    • Individual Letter Sounds ABC Order
    • More Letter Sounds - sh, th, ch, wh, ck, tch, ng, oi, oy, ou, ow
    • Sound Pictures And Letters Part 1
    • Learning The Alphabet And Exploring Sounds In Words Charts
    • Level 3 Short Vowel Sound Charts
    • Level 3 Advanced Short Vowel Sound Charts
    • Sound Blending - Short U
    • Picture-Word Page Short U
    • Level 4, Book 1 Sound Charts
    • Level 4, Book 2 Sound Charts
  • Video
    • Sound Story Part 1 Videos
    • Robot Game a_e/safe
    • Advanced Sound Charts
  • Reading Street
    • Reading Street Stories
    • Reading Street Tests
    • Spelling Worksheets For Reading Street
    • Decoding Practice Pages To Use With Reading Street
    • Word Cards And Phonogram Cards
  • Blog
    • Contact Me
    • Share Your Experience
    • Take This Expanded Survey