Consonant Clusters (also known as Blends and Welded Sounds)

“What is the difference between back and black?”

Well, it is a fascinating question to ask our little learners, because the difference is just one tiny sound squeezed in after the b and before our vowel.

Consonant clusters occur when two consonants are side-by-side in a word. They can occur at the beginning of words, at the end of words and in the middle of words.

When a student can successfully read CVC words, beginning blends are a great next step.

Oftentimes, when I am working with students, consonant clusters can be really challenging to hear! If a child can not segment it into all of it’s sounds, it is going to be very difficult to spell.

Other times, when working with a little learner, consonant clusters can be really challenging to blend! This means that the child may be able to read each sound but when it comes time to blend the sounds together they forget one of the consonant sounds (usually the second one).

When teaching consonant clusters, we love playing bingo! Students have an opportunity to practice hearing, segmenting, and blending these phonemes together. Our tutoring partners are ready and equipped with high-interest activities that meet your child where they are at. We would love to help!