TR Initial Blend Worksheet

A worksheet to help teach the initial blend 'TR', such as trip, trap and trunk etc...

Consonant Blends are often tricky to learn, especially for children with a processing difficulty, such as dyslexia. By targeting the individual blends, children can be helped over this stage of phonic learning, so crucial for further success in reading and spelling.

What is included in the pack?

One PDF sheet for the TR initial blend.

What does the worksheet involve?

Pupils are instructed to combine the two letters on the worksheet and then complete words by adding the letters 'tr'. They then read the words they have made and write them under the pictures.

They are then given six more words to make by writing 'tr' in the spaces. Once read, the child must look for the words in the grid.

Children can easily work on the sheet unaided once they have been instructed, although it is strongly suggested that an adult works with those children with special needs, for maximum benefit.

How to use

The introduction of the concept of initial blends needs to be done thoroughly. When I work with children, especially those with a special need, I first like to teach children to blend two consonant letters. Then I work on developing the children's phonemic awareness: that being the ability to hear two consonant letters blended at the beginning of a word, easily. I will use flashcards - a time-honoured, efficient method of teaching, to help them become familiar with the blends, asking them to both read and write the blends.

This is difficult for some pupils and takes a lot of practice. These worksheets can assist by first encouraging students to blend the two consonant letters and then by helping them to hear the blend at the start of a word. As often as possible, practice blending the letters in each initial blend and encourage the students to follow suit. I find that modelling is key at this stage.

Who are the initial blends Find and colour worksheets for?

Young learners

Those with a special need

Due to their non-babyish nature, they can be successfully used with older ESL/EFL pupils.