Mix it up with word blends! Turn learning grammar into a game with a twist of your wrist.

• 1.

  English words are a little like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. The English language is constructed by combining units of sounds and letters to form words. Word blends are a special type of unit where two or more consonant sounds are combined without any vowel sounds to form new sounds. Some popular word blends are bl-, br-, gr-, -rd, -tch, sm-, and wr-. What other word blends do you know?

• 2.

  It’s great to know what a word blend is, but knowing the words that you can make with them is even more valuable. Make and play this game to challenge your knowledge of word blends and the words they make.

• 3.

  With Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils and a straight edge, mark a small, thick paper plate into eight even, pie-shaped sections.

• 4.

  With Crayola Scissors, square off the rounded edges of the plate to make an octagon.

• 5.

  Write a word blend in each sector with Crayola Washable Markers. Decorate your plate with colorful designs.

• 6.

  <STRONG>Ask an adult</STRONG> to poke a colored pencil through the center of the plate with the eraser down.

• 7.

  To play, twirl the spinner. When the plate stops on one of its octagonal sides, say a word that contains that word blend. Write down each word so players always think up new words.

Standards

• LA: Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
• LA: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• LA: Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
• LA: Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
• MATH: Measure and estimate lengths in standard units.
• MATH: Reason with shapes and their attributes.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resource includes: Stop, Drop, and Flop in the Slop: A Short Vowel Sounds Book with Consonant Blends (Sounds Like Reading) by Brian P. Cleary.
• Working in small groups, assign students a "consonant blend of the day." Students generate a list of as many words as possible that contain that blend. Write the list using Crayola Crayons or colored pencils. Post the list for ease of viewing in the classroom.
• Students use identified blend words to create original sentences using as many words containing the same blend as is possible, while still creating a sensible sentence. For example, "Charlie chose to chew his chowder." Students write their sentences on large sheets of construction paper and illustrate them. Use a digital camera to photograph the image and upload to a class computer. Students will audio record a personal reading of the sentence. Attach the audio file to the digital photo file.
• Encourage students to create similar learning games for rhyming words, word endings, and other language arts skills.