Grade by Grade
B. Foundations of Language · Reading Words: Sounds, Patterns and Meaning

Sound Chains, Blends and Consonant Teams

B2.1 B2.2About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can blend sounds to read words with up to 6 sounds, like splash and street.
  • I can change one sound to make a new word in a word chain.
  • I can read three-letter blends like str, spl, scr and thr.
  • I can read consonant teams like wh, ph, ng, nk, tch and dge.
  • I can read words with silent letters: kn, wr and mb.

Words to know

blend
Two or three consonants side by side where you can still hear each sound, like s-t-r in street.
digraph
Two letters that make one sound, like sh in ship or ph in phone.
trigraph
Three letters that make one sound, like tch in catch.
silent letter
A letter you can see but cannot hear, like the k in knee.
word chain
A list of words where you change just one sound each time, like ship, shop, chop.

Remember from Grade 1

In Grade 1 you learned to blend sounds to read (/f/ /r/ /o/ /g/ → frog) and to read letter teams like sh, ch, th and ck.

In Grade 2, your reading muscles get stronger! You will read longer words with more sounds and learn new letter teams.

Sound chains

A word chain is a game. You change one sound at a time to make a new word. Watch:

ship → shop → chop → chip → chin

Each time, only one sound changed. Word chains make your brain look at every letter, not just the first one.

shipshopi → ochopsh → chchipo → ichinp → nEach new link changes just ONE sound.
Follow the chain from ship to chin. The tag under each link shows the one sound that changed.
Worked example

Let's follow a chain

Read each word in this chain: cat → cast → past → paste

  1. cat: /k/ /a/ /t/. Three sounds.
  2. cast: we added /s/ in the middle: /k/ /a/ /s/ /t/.
  3. past: we changed /k/ to /p/: /p/ /a/ /s/ /t/.
  4. paste: we added a silent e, so a says its name: /p/ /ā/ /s/ /t/.

cat, cast, past, paste. Look at all the letters every time!

Three-letter blends

Some words start with three consonants. Say each sound, but say them quickly together.

  • str: street, string, stripe
  • spl: splash, split
  • spr: spring, spray
  • scr: scrub, scream, scrap
  • thr: three, throw, thread (th + r)
  • shr: shrimp, shrink (sh + r)
  • squ: squash, squirrel, square (qu says /kw/)
splashsplash: 6 letters, 5 sounds
splash has 5 sounds: /s/ /p/ /l/ /a/ /sh/. The sh team is one sound, so it goes in one box.
TeamSoundWords
wh/w/when, white, whale 🐋, wheel
ph/f/phone 📱, photo, graph
ng/ng/ring 💍, sing, long, king
nk/ngk/sink, pink, bank, skunk 🦨
ck/k/ after a short vowelduck, sock, truck
tch/ch/ after a short vowelcatch, match, kitchen, stretch
dge/j/ after a short vowelbadge, fudge, bridge, edge
Consonant teams

Where does it go?

Some spellings live in special places in a word:

  • ck, tch and dge come right after a short vowel: duck, catch, badge.
  • After a long vowel or after another consonant, you usually see ke, ch or ge instead: make, lunch, huge.
  • ff, ll, ss and zz often come at the end of a short word with a short vowel: off, bell, grass, buzz.

Knowing where a spelling lives helps you read it fast.

Silent letters

Some letters are quiet. You see them, but you don't say them.

  • kn says /n/: knee, knot, knife, knock, know
  • wr says /r/: write, wrap, wrist, wrong
  • mb says /m/: lamb, thumb, climb, comb
Worked example

Let's read a word with a silent letter

Read: knock

  1. Look at the start: kn. The k is silent, so kn says /n/.
  2. Look at the end: ck says /k/ after the short vowel o.
  3. Blend: /n/ /o/ /k/.

knock. 5 letters, but only 3 sounds!

Just for fun

The word knock starts with a silent k. So when the k knocks on a door… nobody hears it! 🚪

Hands-on activity

Magnetic word chains

You need: fridge magnets, letter tiles, or letters written on small squares of paper (include sh, ch, th, ck, tch on their own cards).

  1. Build ship. Read it.
  2. A grown-up says the next word. You change or add one card to make it: ship → shop → chop → chip → chin → thin → think.
  3. Second chain: cat → catch → match → patch → pitch → itch.
  4. Third chain: rap → wrap → trap → strap → strip → string. (Funny one: rap and wrap sound the same! The silent w changes the spelling and the meaning, not the sound.)

Tip: say the new word slowly first, and find which sound changed.

Your turn

1

Read: street

2

Read: whale

3

Read: phone

4

Read: catch. How many sounds?

5

Read: knee. Which letter is silent?

6

Change one sound: ring → ___ (make it a word that means a bird's body part used to fly).

7

Read: The squirrel ran up the bridge.

More practice: warm-up

1

Read: shrimp

2

Read: write

3

Read: lamb

4

What sound does ph make?

5

Read: sink and sing

More practice: on your own

1

Read: scratch. How many sounds?

2

Make the chain: thin → thing → think. What changed each time?

3

Which word is spelled the usual way after a short vowel: badge or baj?

4

Read: wrist, knot, thumb. Name the silent letter in each.

5

Read: The white whale splashed in the water.

Challenge

1

Read: stretch. Count the letters and the sounds.

2

Go from wrap to trap to strap. Does each step change a sound or add a sound? (Hint: the w in wrap is silent.)

3

Why does knife have more letters than sounds?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What sound does wh make in when?

2.

How many sounds are in splash?

3.

Which word has a silent letter?

4.

Which word says /f/ at the start?

5.

Which ending usually comes right after a short vowel?

6.

Change one sound in chop to make chip. Which sound changed?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 2 students make their Grade 1 phonics automatic and use it on longer words: blending and segmenting words with more sounds (B2.1), and using position-based patterns such as ck, tch and dge after short vowels (B2.2). Phonemic awareness is now practised with letters, through word chains, rather than as a separate oral skill.

How to help at home:

  • Do a 5-minute word chain most days with magnets or paper letters.
  • When your child misreads a word, point to the part they missed: "Look at the end again."
  • Keep a "silent letter" list on the fridge (knee, write, lamb...).

Common difficulties:

  • Guessing from the first letter (reading strap as stop). Word chains are the cure: they force attention to every letter.
  • Dropping a sound in blends (reading string as sting). Have your child tap one finger per sound.
  • Saying the silent letter ("k-nee"). Teach the team: kn says /n/.

A child who still struggles to blend simple 3-sound words may need extra support; mention it to the teacher early.