Activity Description

Preparation:

1. Gather toy cars for each student
2. Plan words that would be appropriate to practice with students
   1. For example, for early blending you might use CVC words such as mop, cup, sit, and hat
3. Write the first word that you will be using to model the activity on the whiteboard
   1. Write the letters in a triangle formation with the vowel at the top of the triangle and the consonants as the bottom corners of the triangle

Implementation:

1. Explain to students that they will be driving through words to practice blending
   1. First they will drive through slowly and say each letter-sound
   2. Then they will drive faster to say the word smoothly
2. Drive through the word and sound out the letters
3. Drive through the word again while encouraging students to sound out the letters
4. Drive through the word faster with the students and blend the word
5. Practice Drive Through Blending with another word
6. Hand out whiteboards to students and instruct them to write each letter on their board the same way you do
7. Write the next word on the whiteboard
   1. Use the same triangle formation
8. Ask students to write the letters on their own whiteboard
9. Drive through the word slowly with the students and then drive faster to blend the word
10. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for the remaining words

Adaptations For

English Language Learners/ESL:

- Review letter-sound correspondences prior to activity
- Provide opportunities to practice words from the activity in the context of reading (for example, assign a book that also has practiced words)
- Try to choose concrete words that students have in their vocabularies

LD/Reading & Writing Difficulties:

- Review letter-sound correspondences prior to activity
- Model several words with whole class
- Model the activity one-on-one
- Monitor students closely and assist if the student is having difficulty

Cultural Appropriateness & Diversity:

- Select and practice with words from around the world

Differentiated Instruction:

- Practice the activity with student one-on-one
- Allow student to work with a peer while blending

Related References

Evidence:
Manyak, P.C. (2008). Phonemes in use: Multiple activities for a critical process. Reading Teacher, 61, 659-662.