Use this teaching resource in the classroom when working on phonemic awareness.

This set of cards includes 29 of the most commonly used blends and digraphs as well as three blank cards for others you may like to add. The digraphs are a different colour, making it easy for students to differentiate the two.

Print out the blend and digraph cards on thick paper. Then laminate and cut so they can be used again and again.

Ideas of how to use this resource:

• Use as sorting labels on a word wall. With student assistance, sort the words based on the blend or digraph it begins with.
• Show a blend/digraph to the students and have them say the sound using choral response.
• During small group instruction, show each student a blend/digraph and have them give a word that begins, ends or contains (depending on student level) that group of letters. This can also be done whole group using individual dry erase boards.
• Play a game of ‘Write the Room’. Hang sheets of chart paper around the room and post a blend or digraph above each one. Individually, or with a partner, have students rotate around the room adding one word that begins, ends or contains (depending on student level) that blend/digraph. Words may be used only once.
• Make a path with the cards creating a giant game board. Students roll a number cube and move that many spaces. Then they say the sound and a word that begins with the blend/digraph they landed on. The first child to make it to the finish line wins!
• Play a game of ‘Musical Chairs’. Arrange student chairs in a circle, placing a blend or digraph card on each one. When the music begins the students walk around the circle. When it stops, students pick up a blend card, say it out loud, and sit in a chair. The last student to sit down is out.
• During small group instruction, create a grid with the cards on top of a table. Give each student a fly swat. Say a word and have the students swat the blend or digraph it begins with. The first student to swat it correctly wins!
• During small group, give each student five cards that only they may see. Say a word beginning with one of the blends. If a student is holding that blend card, they lay it down face up. The first person to have all five cards face up wins.

For more ideas on how to use this resource read our blog Phonics Games Part 1 | Blend and Digraph Resources.