Let’s talk about blending French sounds a bit today with this engaging blending activity!
It’s no secret that, in order to learn to read, our students need to learn how to take a few sounds, string them together, and “say them fast” to turn them into words.
It’s also no secret that this can take a LOT of practice for some kiddos!
Even if a student knows their letter sounds well, it’s a whole new step to be able to identify them in a word, say them out loud, and then “hold them” in their brain so that they can blend them with the rest of the sounds in that word.
Toss in les sons composés, and that adds a whole new thing our students need to remember to pay attention to.
Over the years, I have tried lots of different ways to get my students to practice these skills.
Some were simple, but most were complicated, took awhile to prep, required me to work with a small group, and were otherwise inefficient (although often fun).
Blending activities like this can OF COURSE have a place in your classroom.
But, sometimes, we just need SIMPLE.
So, in today’s blog post, I will share with you my favourite simple, no-prep blending activity that will get students blending – both alphabet sounds and sons composés.
Read on to learn more!
A few years ago, one of my colleagues asked me to make her a resource.
I don’t take requests very often (my to do list is already massive haha), but I LOVED her idea.
It still took me a few months to actually sit down and put her idea on paper, but as soon as I heard it, I knew that it could be a game changer for certain students.
Her idea?
Take a bunch of words that feature one target sound, type them up in a bubble font all on one page, and have students colour the target sound within each word.
Then, they read!
Since the target sound is coloured (and they coloured it themselves), they will remember to pay attention to it and read it as one sound, even if it is composed of 2+ letters.
Sons composés blending activity sheets
Enter… my Colorie et lis les sons composés worksheets!
I love these sheets for a few reasons.
- They make the son composé SO EASY to see. Students remember that they can’t decode them letter by letter… they need to decode sound by sound
- They are SIMPLE! Students know what to do to be successful, and they can complete them on their own
- They are basically no prep! All you have to do is print and copy. That’s it!
- You can use them in different ways. During the pandemic, when we weren’t allowed to share materials, we used these as a centre. I slide them into page protectors and students filled the bubbles with play dough or coloured them with dry erase markers
Since I loved them so much, I decided to make a new version that can be used with students who are still focusing on decoding simple words that don’t have les sons composés.
Alphabet blending activity sheets
And so, this past summer, I created another version of these sheets… for the alphabet!
The alphabet version has one page for each letter, A-Z.
Students practice colouring and decoding simple syllables and words that feature the target letter.
I like these sheets even better, because I made any “lettres muettes” in gray (I have actually since writing this post gone back to the original son composé sheets and made the silent letters gray as well).
These are an awesome first step to blending. I especially love them for the beginning of grade one. As you review the alphabet, your students can complete the sheet for the letter you are working on.
Since the alphabet should be review in grade one, your students should be able to go through the sheets pretty easily, with minimal support.
And, it gets them blending right away – even if you’re not ready to start sending home books yet.
Another great thing about these blending activity sheets?
Since everyone is working on these sheets at once, and they are pretty easy for students to complete independently, I find it so easy to circulate and listen to everyone read a few words.
My students NEED to practice blending as much as possible, so I love that I can make sure everyone is both colouring AND reading.
You can also send these sheets home once completed for some extra, simple at-home blending practice.
Want to give these blending sheets a try?
If you want to try these out, I have a freebie for you!
Just click HERE, enter your name & email, hit the pink button and I’ll send you the sheet for Aa and for “on”, straight to your inbox.
You can use them with your students and make sure they are a good fit.
If they are, be sure to check out the full versions. HERE is the link to the alphabet set, and HERE is the link to the sons composés set.
And, if you know you want both, I of course have a bundle for you!
If you grab them in the bundle, you’ll save 20%.
Check it out HERE :)
Happy blending!
