Notes from Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom
Shift 3: A Common Practice to Reconsider
What is letter blending?
Blending is the key to the application of phonemic awareness.
It takes children from “I know the sounds of individual letters.” to “ I can read words with those letters.”
The two types of blending…
Continuous Blending moves across a word in a linear fashion.
M – a – t —> Mat
Cumulative Blending slows the process down, breaking it into smaller chunks.
M – a – t —> Ma – t —> Mat
This helps students who may be struggling to hold onto all the letter sounds during continuous blending exercises.
