A short, decodable story embedding s-blends words. Students read the passage then highlight all the target words.
Gus and the Stick
Skill: S-Blends • Sight Words: the, is, a, and, to, was, it, she, he, they
Coloring page included in PDF
Gus the dog had a big stick. He had his stick in the grass. But the stick was stuck! Gus got mad. "This is not fun," Gus said. He got a big grip on the stick. Snap! It was not stuck! Gus had his stick. He ran in the pond. Gus had a long swim with his stick.
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 S-Blends reader is a printable story + coloring page using only sounds they've learned.
S-blends, like those found in words such as "spin," "stop," and "swim," are consonant blends where the 's' sound is immediately followed by another consonant, with both sounds distinctly heard. This skill builds upon foundational single consonant and short vowel sounds, typically introduced in Phase 2 phonics. S-blends can be particularly challenging because young learners often struggle to articulate both consonant sounds clearly and quickly in sequence. For instance, "stamp" might be pronounced as "tamp," or "snack" as "nack," omitting the 's' sound entirely. Conversely, some children might over-pronounce the 's,' creating an extra syllable, like "s-t-op" instead of the smooth "stop." Mastering these blends is crucial for reading fluency and accurate decoding.
Our S-blends worksheets provide targeted practice to help students overcome these common hurdles. After introducing the blends, encourage your child to read the decodable passage "Shelly's Swing" aloud, focusing on blending each s-blend word smoothly. Use the accompanying word sort activity to help them categorize words by their initial s-blend (e.g., "sk" words like "skip," "skin" versus "st" words like "stamp," "step"). The phrasing cards are excellent for building fluency; have them read phrases like "swing and swish" or "snug in the spot" to practice blending within context. Finally, utilize the Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) chart to build automaticity and speed in recognizing and producing these important S-blend sounds.
