Beginning Blends: bl, cl, fl, br, cr, tr, st, sp
Home › 1st Grade › Reading & Writing
Download PDF worksheetAnswer key (PDF)Worksheet + answer key (2 pages)
Prints on one US Letter page; the answer key is a separate page. Print at 100% / "Actual size" on US Letter paper. Free for personal and classroom use.
Skill: Reading and spelling words with common beginning consonant blends
About this worksheet
Beginning blends are two consonants that work together at the start of a word, such as bl in block, tr in tree, and st in star. Unlike digraphs, each letter in a blend still keeps its own sound, but the sounds are said closely together. This first-grade phonics worksheet gives sixteen clue-and-blank items. Children read a short clue, then write the correct beginning blend (bl, cl, fl, br, cr, tr, st, or sp) to finish the word.
Blends are a common next step after short vowels and digraphs. Children who sound out only the first letter may confuse black with back, so practicing the two-letter start builds more accurate decoding and spelling.
How to use it: review the eight blends before starting. Stretch each one slowly: "b-l, bl." Read the clue aloud, then say the finished word so your child can hear the blend. If the wrong blend is written, say the word with that choice and let them hear the mismatch. After the page, hunt for blend words on food labels or in a favorite book.
The answer key shows the blend and the full word for every item. This worksheet supports Common Core standard RF.1.3.a (know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs and, by extension, decode words with consonant blends in grade 1 phonics progressions). It builds on our Digraphs sh, ch, th worksheet by moving from digraphs to blends.
