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PSPKK12355 Comments

Beginning blend clip cards

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Looking for a way to reinforce those tricky beginning blends?  Try these free clip cards!

Such a hands on beginning blends activity! Get all 64 cards FREE.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

So… are you teaching someone to read?

How’s it going with those CVC words?

By “CVC” I mean consonant-vowel-consonant.   Words like cat, sit, and hop.  We usually start reading instruction with these simple words.  After children have mastered them, it’s time for the next step: beginning blends.

For many children, substituting  a blend for that first consonant makes the reading much trickier.

Such a hands on beginning blends activity! Get all 64 cards FREE.

To help tackle those tricky blends, I’ve created a set of beginning blend clip cards that focus on the following letter combinations:

  • br, cr, dr, tr, gr, fr, pr
  • cl, gl, fl, bl, pl
  • sc, sk, tw

But I didn’t want these to be too easy.  If I made the choices for the above card, crab, a choice between three different blends – it would be almost like an exercise in beginning sounds.  For example, it wouldn’ t be hard to pick “cr” from cr, tr, and pr.

So I made them tougher.

Such a hands on beginning blends activity! Get all 64 cards FREE.

I always kept that single letter on the cards so that your child will have to determine whether or not the word begins with a blend.  Because some of the cards don’t begin with a blend.

See? Tricky.

In fact, for the first few cards my Four always went for that single letter.  I had to help him see that we needed to check if a second letter was close behind.

YOU’LL LOVE THIS PRACTICAL BOOK!

Looking for an easy-to-read guide to help you reach all readers? If you teach kindergarten through third grade, this is the book for you. Get practical ideas and lesson plan templates that you can implement tomorrow!

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

Such a hands on beginning blends activity! Get all 64 cards FREE.

My Four knows his letters sounds without even having to think about them. He breezed right through my beginning sound clip cards.  But these blend cards were quite challenging. Here are some ways I helped him determine the answer:

  • I read all the choices to him after he named the picture.

“What’s the picture?”

“Glue.”

“Okay, so we have /gr/, /gl/, and /g/.  Which sounds starts the word GLue?”  (I emphasized that beginning blend.)

*P.S.  Whenever I have letters between forward slashes (as in /gr/), I am referring to the phonetic sound of the letters, not the letter names.

  • We made words with each of the choices to see which sounded right.

“Let’s try saying glue with different beginnings.  Gr… that would make it say grue.  Gl… that makes it say glue.  And plain old g makes it say goo.  Which one is right?”

Such a hands on beginning blends activity! Get all 64 cards FREE.

I’ll be honest – this wasn’t easy!  And after doing a smallish stack, my little guy had had enough.  I think we need to take a step back and focus more on playing with those beginning blends.  I’m thinking about another printable that would be a first step… so stay tuned!

P.S. Are you looking for more phonics printables?

In addition to the freebies on this website, you’ll find hundreds more in the membership! From letter sounds to multi-syllable words, we’ve got it all! Click here to learn more.

YOU’LL LOVE THIS PRACTICAL BOOK!

Looking for an easy-to-read guide to help you reach all readers? If you teach kindergarten through third grade, this is the book for you. Get practical ideas and lesson plan templates that you can implement tomorrow!

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

Get your free beginning blend cards!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Roll & Read Phonics Games – Level 1 – CVC – Blends – Digraphs

$6.00

These are a fantastic way to help kids read words with beginning blends and digraphs!

Buy Now

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Join our email list and get this sample pack of time-saving resources from our membership site! You'll get phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading comprehension resources ... all free!

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Filed Under: Reading, Digraphs & Blends Tagged With: first grade, kindergarten, clip cards, blends

You May Also Enjoy These Episodes:

Rhyming clip cards How to incorporate guided practice into your writing lessons – with Leah Mermelstein How to use Paragraphology to teach the writing process – with Bridget Barley
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Reader Interactions

55 Comments

  1. Ayumi

    July 19, 2020 at 7:38 am

    Thank you! My daughter loves it so much. She enjoys learning to read now..

    Reply to this comment
  2. SANDY GUERRA

    November 11, 2019 at 3:55 pm

    ME ENCANTA TODO LO DE TU PAGINA… ES SUPER SOLO QUE TODO ES EN INGLES, ayudo a mi nena reforzandole pues tiene sindrome de down y siempre busco material que le guste y aqui encontre material didactico que me parece increible, el problema es el idioma

    Reply to this comment
  3. Yolly

    February 20, 2019 at 6:28 am

    Thank you Anna i am so pleased to have found your page. I love that there are so many fun ways to help my DD learn.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      March 2, 2019 at 5:15 pm

      You’re very welcome, Yolly!

      Reply to this comment
  4. NIRVA Vernet

    November 16, 2018 at 8:49 am

    The Blending Cards you provided us are so amazing. Thank you for doing and giving us, teachers, the right tools to teach so we don’t have to look further. I feel that you always know my crying for help, and you are right there to rescue me. Thank you!

    A very grateful teacher,

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      November 17, 2018 at 8:46 am

      You’re welcome, Nirva!

      Reply to this comment
  5. Alison

    January 13, 2018 at 7:08 am

    You’re so generous, Anna, thank you for sharing all your fantastic resources! These clip cards will really help the children who are struggling with their blending. Thanks again.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      January 13, 2018 at 8:11 am

      You’re very welcome, Alison! Thank you so much for the kind words!

      Reply to this comment
  6. Carolyn Brown

    August 27, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    Your work is such a Blessing! Love it!

    C. Brown

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      September 4, 2017 at 9:17 am

      Thank you so much for the kind words, Carolyn! I hope you find many helpful resources on my site!

      Reply to this comment
  7. Lisa

    June 7, 2017 at 10:41 am

    Great site! Very helpful for younger students in a fun and hands on approach.
    I am wondering if you have sound cover sheets for beginning and ending blends? I see that you have diagraphs, but I have not been seen blends.

    Thanks so much,
    Lisa

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      June 15, 2017 at 7:49 pm

      I do not, but I will put this on my “long term to do list.” 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  8. Barbara

    May 15, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    I help with a tutoring program in my town. We tutor students who are having problems in reading and math in school. It’s a small group. The Director has decided that we do a two week tutor program with K-2 students to help them prepare for the upcoming school year. Your activities are going to be of tremendous help as we don’t have a budget to buy materials. I think the hands on activities that you have produced will keep them engaged and interested. I have also been reading the tips you’ve given to help set up the program. Thank you so much for these wonderful, colorful activities.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      May 28, 2017 at 3:30 pm

      Thanks so much for telling me about your tutoring program, Barbara! I hope you find many useful resources on my site to use this summer!

      Reply to this comment
  9. Carolyn

    March 26, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    Do you have a recording sheet to go with this activity? Maybe the same picture with a box for the beginning blend and the rest of the word already there? It would be nice to have something where the pictures match perfectly. I need something to hold my students accountable so that I can see if they are making mistakes when they are working independently in stations and I can’t be there to sit with them. Please let me know! Thanks!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      March 26, 2017 at 3:16 pm

      Hi Carolyn! No, I don’t have something like that right now. Maybe a future project – but unfortunately I don’t have time to create it at this point.

      Reply to this comment
  10. Neelam

    January 21, 2017 at 2:15 am

    Thank you Anna !!! Your freebies saved me lot of time .I can’t wait to share with my class.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      January 22, 2017 at 6:28 am

      I’m so glad you can use these, Neelam!

      Reply to this comment
  11. Despina

    July 10, 2016 at 7:49 am

    Your blog is absolutely gorgeous!!! We love it cause we always find the most inspiring, hands on and plafyul materials to accompany us on our learning journey!!!! You are a treasure!!!! Thank you sooooooooooooooooo much!!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 17, 2016 at 5:12 pm

      Thank you so much, Despina! What a wonderful comment to receive!

      Reply to this comment
  12. Bridgette

    May 4, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    Hi Anna,

    I am teaching a new reader with Apraxia to “read.” The learner has identified to sound out the phonetic sounds of each individual letter in the alphabet and I would like to see what should be next? I was thinking on moving him on to blending initial consonants (i.e., br, bl, cl, etc) THEN moving onto teaching CVC words. I would like to ensure I start with easy and move on to more difficult reading/decoding. What do you recommend?
    Thank you

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      May 9, 2016 at 6:06 pm

      Hello, Bridgette! I think you should first focus on HEARING the difference between words that begin with blends and those that don’t. Sometimes that’s tricky. You can use these games: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/6-free-games-for-teaching-beginning-blends/. You can also use my blend clip cards, which require kids to differentiate between words that start with blends and those that don’t: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-clip-cards-beginning-blends/

      If you find that blends are too hard for your reader, then try CVC words first. You can go back to the blends.

      Reply to this comment
  13. Brandy

    January 27, 2016 at 11:32 pm

    This is a great idea. Thank you.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      January 31, 2016 at 7:31 pm

      You’re welcome, Brandy!

      Reply to this comment
  14. Joan Schoppe

    January 16, 2016 at 1:39 pm

    Hi Anna,
    I am a retired teacher who tutors because I just love working with kids! I was wondering why the sl blend was not in the l group of blends? Thanks so much for all your hard work!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      January 18, 2016 at 4:46 pm

      Hi Joan!

      Sorry – that was just an oversight. I’d add it except we have a newborn and my work time is quite limited! 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  15. Leslie Thurston

    October 23, 2015 at 8:52 am

    I am a speech pathologist and these resources are great!!! Thank you so much for the time you put into making and sharing these for free! Wow!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 24, 2015 at 6:37 am

      You’re very welcome, Leslie – so glad you can use them!

      Reply to this comment
  16. Libby

    October 20, 2015 at 3:25 am

    My son turns NINE this week and I think I finally figured out that blending is at the root of his difficulty with reading. I am excited to try these cards with him. Thanks so much!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 24, 2015 at 6:37 am

      You’re very welcome, Libby! Be sure to search for “blends” in my search bar to find other blends activities.

      Reply to this comment
  17. Britni Bradford

    September 8, 2015 at 1:26 pm

    These look perfect! I made some similar cards a while back when my 3 yr old was struggling with them in reading a little bit – but I made ours go the reverse way (3 pictures to choose from) to match to the blend. But I still think she looked to just match the beginning letter even though we would review the blend sound every time. Now that she’s almost 4 and her reading has just advanced to a point where we just practice reading by whatever interests her, I’ve tried to shift a little more toward helping her understand the phonics better (in preparation for future spelling activities). These should challenge her just the right amount I think.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      September 11, 2015 at 4:26 pm

      I’m so glad you can use them, Britni!

      Reply to this comment
  18. Lorene Sexton

    August 18, 2015 at 6:09 pm

    You do such a great job! I hope your endorsers pay you what you’re worth. These blended clip cards are perfect. The thought of not putting just blended possibilities as options was brilliant!
    Thanks for all your resources, it’s a tremendous help!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      September 2, 2015 at 5:27 pm

      Thank you so much for your kind words, Lorene! I’m so glad you like this. Advertisers in the sidebar pay per pageview, so your visits help – thank you. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
      • Erin

        February 7, 2016 at 9:38 am

        Hi, Anna. I just keep finding more and more activities for my first graders! Is there no end to all of the wonderful resources you so generously share with the rest of us? (I certainly hope not!)

        Thank you for this new addition to my supply of ELA activities.

        Oh, and I figured out how to make the fold-and-read word cards! (Duh! – on my part!)

        Reply to this comment
        • Anna Geiger

          February 11, 2016 at 5:35 pm

          You’re very welcome, Erin! I hope you keep finding lots more to use in your classroom. 🙂

          Reply to this comment
  19. Liz

    May 3, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    Hi, these are fantastic but I have a couple of questions about what you might be calling some of the pictures. There are the a few I just can’t work out, this could be because we call things different names in New Zealand, but here are the ones I was not sure of. Would really appreciate your help. The cat (is that ‘clever’) carrot, beach ball, the bear (is that ‘brown’) the saw, the door, the feather, the gate, the pillow or cushion, the turtle, the sandwich,

    Thanks.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      May 3, 2015 at 2:58 pm

      Hi Liz, I think you have all the names right (it’s a pillow, not cushion). As you can see, some of the pictures do NOT start with blends. (cat, carrot, bear, etc.) This is because I want children to listen closely to hear if another consonant follows the initial one, or if the word begins with a single consonant. I just made these, which you might also find useful: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/6-free-games-for-teaching-beginning-blends/

      Reply to this comment
  20. Leisha

    March 15, 2015 at 3:45 am

    Hi, I love your blend clip cards, i can’t download them as everytime it takes me to a new page and doesn’t load- any tips??

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      March 25, 2015 at 6:43 pm

      I’m so sorry I forgot to respond to your comment about your difficulty downloading my clip cards, Leisha! I always direct people to this post, where they find a solution 99% of the time. Please let me know if you still run into trouble! https://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-to-download-free-files/

      Reply to this comment
  21. Felicia

    March 10, 2015 at 3:08 am

    You have really great ideas. I love your work. They are very helpful.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      March 10, 2015 at 6:26 am

      Thank you, Felicia!

      Reply to this comment
  22. Kay

    February 23, 2015 at 5:40 am

    More, more, more of these, please! 🙂 Kay

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      March 10, 2015 at 6:26 am

      That’s what I think too, Kay! 🙂 Just trying to stay one step ahead of meal planning and laundry at the same time, agh!

      Reply to this comment
  23. alison

    January 3, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    Also, I noticed that the heading page says Rhyming not Beginning Blends! =) alewis725@msn.com

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      January 14, 2015 at 11:40 am

      Thanks, Alison, fixed it!

      Reply to this comment
  24. Susan Ferguson

    December 29, 2014 at 10:08 am

    Thanks for the clip cards. However, I got ready to print the cards and noticed a mistake on a couple of the cards where the blends don’t match the pictures. These are the cards with the picture of the clock and the skis..

    Reply to this comment
    • lyn

      December 29, 2014 at 10:39 am

      could it be “crosscountry” instead of ski ?

      for the clock picture I couldn’t think of any other word that might work with the letters given…

      Reply to this comment
      • Anna Geiger

        December 29, 2014 at 11:39 am

        I fixed them both. “Cross country” was a good guess, but it was just a mistake on my part. 🙂

        Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      December 29, 2014 at 11:40 am

      Thanks for catching that, Susan! They’re fixed now.

      Reply to this comment
    • jane

      January 10, 2016 at 2:51 am

      I can’t download the file. Please help me.

      Reply to this comment
      • Anna Geiger

        January 10, 2016 at 8:28 pm

        This link has the solution most of the time: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-to-download-free-files/

        Reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. Beginning blends game - The Measured Mom says:
    September 23, 2020 at 2:03 pm

    […] done a lot of work on hearing beginning sounds.  He’s done my beginning blends clip cards, my Roll a Blend board games, and my Beginning Blend bingo.  Hearing the blends isn’t […]

    Reply to this comment
  2. Four-in-a-row games for beginning blends - The Measured Mom says:
    September 19, 2020 at 3:13 pm

    […] blends can be tricky for new readers.  I’ve already shared beginning blend clip cards, a follow the path game for beginning blends, and more.  Today it’s time for another set of […]

    Reply to this comment
  3. Count and Clip | says:
    December 29, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    […] Link: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-clip-cards-beginning-blends/ […]

    Reply to this comment

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