A short, decodable story embedding r-blends words. Students read the passage then highlight all the target words.
Pip's Frog Painting
Skill: R-Blends • Sight Words: the, is, a, and, to, was, it, she, he, they
Coloring page included in PDF
Pip the pig had a plan. His plan was to print a big green frog on a brick. But his fresh green ink was on a tall shelf. His best brush was up on the shelf. Pip could not get to it.
Pip sat and had a big think. "I will try a trick," he said.
Pip ran to his den and got his red truck. He set the truck by the shelf and got on top. From the truck, he got the brush. A drip of green ink fell on the rug. "Oh no," said Pip. He got his brick and did a print of a glad frog.
Circle or highlight all the words that start with a consonant blend. How many did you find?
Next step: once your child can sound out these words, have them read a matching decodable mini-book. Each R-Blends reader is a printable story + coloring page using only sounds they've learned.
R-blends occur when the letter 'r' follows another consonant, creating a blended sound where both letters are heard, but quickly. This skill typically appears in Phase 2 phonics, after students have mastered single consonant and short vowel sounds. For young learners, distinguishing between the two sounds in an R-blend can be challenging. They might omit the 'r' sound entirely, saying "bick" instead of "brick," or "fog" instead of "frog." Another common error is inserting a vowel sound between the two consonants, pronouncing "drum" as "duh-rum." The rapid articulation required for blends like "crash" or "trap" can also trip up students, leading to distorted sounds or slowed reading. Explicitly practicing these blends helps children hear and produce both sounds accurately.
Our R-blend worksheets provide targeted practice to overcome these common hurdles. After introducing the 'br,' 'cr,' 'dr,' 'fr,' 'gr,' 'pr,' and 'tr' blends, use the decodable passage from "Pip's Frog Painting" to help students apply their new knowledge in context. Encourage them to find and highlight the R-blend words. The word sort activity reinforces recognition by having students categorize words like "brag," "crab," and "grab" based on their initial blend. For fluency, use the phrasing cards to practice reading phrases like "fresh fruit" or "trick or treat," focusing on smooth transitions within the blends. Finally, the Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) chart for R-blends builds speed and automaticity, helping students quickly identify and pronounce these tricky blends without hesitation.
