Reusable mats for reading printed words with known grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs). Children place tiles, blend through the complete word and read it as a whole. Use a few carefully selected words at a time.

Who the pack is for

Primarily Reception children applying teaching from their setting’s systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP). Adapt the amount of support for other learners. Preschool oral blending can continue through talk and play; these printed-word mats are appropriate only when relevant GPCs have been explicitly taught.

Build then blend then read

1. BUILD  Choose a word containing only taught GPCs. Place its tiles in order, or let the child copy a printed model. An adult may position the tiles so motor skills and spelling do not become barriers. Do not reveal the spoken word or its picture before a fresh decoding attempt.

2. BLEND  Keep the tiles in place. Point from left to right at each grapheme and blend its phoneme through the complete word, using the SSP’s approach. The arrow is a direction guide; it does not prescribe a blending technique or sound-button system.

3. READ  Reread the same word as a whole. Use the optional joined-word strip in the READ space, or reread the tiles. Then discuss meaning or reveal an object or picture. Children may say the word, or show their understanding in an accessible way.

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