Whether you're a parent or a teacher, the Charge into Reading Decodable Books are the perfect tool to get your little one reading. Each stage of reading includes one copy of each title.
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Teaching children how to read happens bit by bit, not all at once. The truth is, learning how to read begins long before children start actually stringing words together.
Teaching children to read begins with mastering individual letter sounds. These sounds, called phonemes, make up all the sounds in the English language.
The first phonemes, or sounds, a child learns are those of the individual consonants. They must learn that the letter B makes a /b/ sound and that the letter S can make either a /s/ or a /z/ sound. They must understand that the letter J makes a /j/ sound, but so does the letter /g/—when it doesn't make a /g/ sound. Learning these sounds is at the heart of blending—or combining—sounds to form words.
Once a child has mastered consonant sounds, most will move on to short vowel sounds and CVC words. CVC, which stands for consonant-vowel-consonant introduces children to simple blending with words such as cat, sit, and mug.
At Charge Mommy Books, we focus on practicing CVC words one short vowel sound at a time. Breaking our books apart in this way enables children to master one sound at a time, rather than trying to master all of them at the same time.
Learning how to blending letter sounds together to form words is one of the hardest parts of reading. Practicing CVC words provides children with an opportunity to master that skill. But of course, most words in the English language aren’t CVC words. Most words are far more complex, and contain a variety of letter blends. That’s where consonant blends come in.
A consonant blend is a series of consonants that appear together before or after a vowel in a word.
In a consonant blend, each letter retains its own sound. For example in the word glue, you can hear both the /g/ and /l/ sounds. In the word flap, you can hear both the /f/ and /l/ sounds. These words are examples of L blends—words that blend the letter L with another letter.
Consonant blends can be made up of either two or three letters, and can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.
Consonant blends that appear at the beginning of a word are called beginning blends. Some examples include the consonant clusters FL, PL, and SL.
Consonant blends that appear at the end of a word are called ending blends. These include consonant blends such as LT, LD, and LF.
Pro Tip: Consonant blends are different from digraphs, in which two consonants work together to make a single sound, or phoneme. Examples of digraphs include TH, QU, and PH.
L blends are one of the few groups of consonant blends that can appear as both beginning and ending blends. Beginning L blends are consonant clusters that feature the letter L as the second letter.
Beginning L blends include:
| bl | cl | fl |
| gl | pl | sl |
L blends are often easier for children to both read and pronounce. For this reason, they are usually taught before other blends.
Below is a comprehensive list of beginning L blend words. Words that children should be able to decode when first learning L blends have been italicized for ease of use.
When practicing L blends, it is advised to start with these and work up to the more challenging words as children’s phonics skills advance.
One of the best ways to practice L blends is with a dedicated L Blend book. Plum Plot: An L Blends Decodable Reader focuses specifically on words that feature L Blends.
Pam has a plan. She is going to clip the plump plums growing on her plot of land. But what can Pam turn her plums into? And what kind of mess will she end up making in the process?
L blends in this story: blast, blends, claps, clips, clumps, flat, flips, glad, glob, plan, plants, plops, plot, plugs, plum, plump, plums, slab, slips, splits
High-frequency words in this story: she, the
Additional consonant-blend words in this story: land, pond, spots
BL words are L blend words that begin with the letter B, followed by the letter L.
Below is a list of 30 beginning BL-blend words.
| black | blackout | bladder | blade | blame | blank |
| blanket | blast | blaze | bleak | bleary | bless |
| blimp | blind | blip | blister | blizzard | boat |
| blob | block | blond | bloom | blot | blotchy |
| blow | blue | bluejay | blur | blurry | blush |
CL words are L blends that begin with the letter C, followed by the letter L.
Below is a list of 30 beginning CL-blend words.
| claim | clamp | clan | clang | clap | clash |
| clasp | clay | clean | cleat | clef | clerk |
| cliff | climax | clinch | clinic | clink | clip |
| clock | clog | clone | closed | clot | cloth |
| cloud | clover | clown | club | cluck | clue |
FL words are L blends that begin with the letter F, followed by the letter L.
Below is a list of 30 beginning FL-blend words.
| flabby | flag | flake | flame | flap | flash |
| flaw | flea | fleet | flesh | flew | flex |
| flick | flight | flimsy | flinch | float | flood |
| floor | floral | floss | flour | flourish | flub |
| flume | flush | flute | flask | fling | flow |
Charge Mommy Books is committed to getting children the resources they need to learn how to read. But we know that not every parent and teacher around the world has access to our printed books. That's why we offer free beginning reader books and resource on our site. Sample resources include:
GL words are L blends that begin with the letter G, followed by the letter L.
Below is a list of 30 beginning GL-blend words.
| glad | glade | glam | glamor | glance | gland |
| glare | glass | glaze | gleaming | glean | glib |
| glide | glimpse | glint | glitch | glitter | glob |
| global | globe | gloomy | gloss | glove | glow |
| glucose | glue | glug | glum | glyph | gory |
PL words are L blends that begin with the letter P, followed by the letter L.
Below is a list of 30 beginning PL-blend words.
| place | plague | plaid | plain | plane | planet |
| plant | plasma | plaster | plastic | platter | play |
| plead | please | pleat | pledge | perish | pliers |
| plop | plotted | plow | pluck | plume | plump |
| lunge | plural | plus | plush | plenty | plink |
SL words are L blends that begin with the letter S, followed by the letter L.
Below is a list of 30 beginning SL-blend words.
| slate | slaw | slay | sleek | sleeve | slept |
| sleuth | slew | slice | slick | slid | slide |
| slight | slime | slimy | sling | slink | slop |
| slob | slope | sloth | slouch | slow | sludge |
| slug | slump | slurp | slushy | sly | slim |
LD words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter D.
Below is a list of 15 ending LD-blend words.
| bold | build | child | field | fold |
| gold | held | herald | meld | old |
| scaffold | scald | scold | sold | world |
LF words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter F.
Below is a list of 10 ending LF-blend words.
| calf | elf | engulf | golf | gulf |
| half | itself | self | shelf | wolf |
LK words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter K.
Below is a list of 10 ending LK-blend words.
| chalk | folk | hulk | ilk | milk |
| silk | stalk | sulk | whelk | walk |
Pro Tip: While some LK words are easy to read, others can be quite challenging as the L is almost silent. Preread LK words before giving them to your children to ensure both sounds can be heard.
LP words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter P.
Below is a list of 6 ending LP-blend words.
| scalp | pulp | whelp |
| help | kelp | gulp |
LT words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter T.
Below is a list of 15 ending LT-blend words.
| adult | belt | built | catapult | dwelt |
| guilt | halt | insult | knelt | pelt |
| salt | silt | stilt | tilt | vault |
One of the best ways to practice consonant blends is by reading consonant blend specific books. While printed passages are good start, the sense of accomplishment a child feels from completing a physical book cannot be rivaled. This achievement can make a child feel like a "big kid."
Grounded in the Science of Reading and designed in consultation with Orton-Gillingham trained literacy specialist Marisa Ware, the Charge into Reading Decodable Readers take the guesswork out of learning to read!
The Consonant Blend Beginning Reader Set is perfect for children who know their letter sounds, have mastered reading (blending) CVC words, and are ready to begin decoding or "sounding out" consonant blends. Each book in the set focuses on a single type of consonant blend, building reading confidence one sound at a time. Compelling storylines paired with a strict scope and sequence make for a series that children won't just be ABLE to read, but that they will actually WANT to read.
Building on the short vowel sounds introduced in Stage 1: Short Vowel Sounds, each volume in this 5-book set focuses on a specific kind of consonant blend: L Blends, R Blends, S Blends, T Blends, and Word-Ending blends.
Keep in mind when working on consonant blends where a reader is in their ability. L blend words will be easier than R blend or T blend words, and will certainly be easier than digraphs, but will still be challenging for children who have not yet mastered blending CVC words. When first learning L blends, try to offer only words that include short vowel sounds. This will allow the reader to focus on the blend, rather than on the other sounds in the word. Text that contains only spelling patterns a child has already learned is known as decodable text.
Below is a sample of an L Blends decodable passage:
The Golf Club
Slim clasps his golf club.
Slim spots the flag.
The flag flaps in the wind.
Slim lifts the golf club.
The club slams into a clod of sod.
Slim slumps.
Slim is bad at golf!
Encourage children to find L blends within written words BEFORE trying to read the words. One way to do this is by practicing scooping. Ask your children to look at a list of written words. Then encourage them to draw a scoop mark under the L blends, as in the image below. Encourage your child to identify whether the L blend is a beginning blend or an ending blend. Often words featuring L blends will be paired with other consonant blends, such as in slump or stalk. Ask your child whether there any other consonant blends in the word.
Another way to find blends is by highlighting them. Rather than giving children individual words, provide them with full sentences or paragraphs. Moving one word at a time, encourage them to highlight the L blends they see. Reading words in this way forces children to look at the component letters of a word before reading it, which will help them to identify where the L blends sit.
Create sight cards with pictures that children can identify. Rather than writing out the full word on the card, only include the letter blend. Then encourage the child to say the word aloud, listening for the two sounds the letter blend makes.
Encourage children to read through charts featuring each consonant blend separately, like the L blends fluency grid below:
| blab | clap | fling | blubber |
| fly | cling | glide | help |
| hulk | flap | hold | slang |
Reading several of the same consonant cluster in a row helps build familiarity and will help readers to understand how the blend is formed and how it sounds in familiar words.
Remember, children do not need to memorize these consonant blends. They just need to recognize HOW to sound them out in order to be successful in reading them! And the more they practice, the more reading L blends will become second nature.
Sounding out words (and ultimately reading) begins with understanding letter sounds. This L blend activity encourages children to identify picture words that include a L blends.
Writing letters means understanding how they are formed. Build L blend words with this L blend word formation activity.
Being able to locate consonant blends is an important first step in being able to read more complex words. This consonant blend scooping activity encourages children to find the letter blends within a word, whether the blend appears at the beginning or end of the word.
Being able to figure out what letters are missing from a word is important for building word recognition and fluency. This L blends activity provides the end of each word, but asks the child to identify the beginning letter blend (also called the “onset”).
The ability to sound out words and figure out what letters they include is one of the first steps in reading and spelling. Ask your child to say each picture word. Then work with them to figure out what consonant blend the word uses and match it to the words in the word bank. This consonant blend activity focuses on the L blends.
Practice letter formation with this L blend worksheet. Writing letters means understanding how they are formed. And that means understanding how big or small a letter should be, and how high or low a letter should extend. Try drawing the sky, plane, grass, and worm lines for your child. Then teach them what lines each letter should touch!
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