1st Grade spelling
1st Grade S Blend Words
First grade s blend words: stop, small, snow, sweet, speak, store, strong, street. Play hangman with the list, read it, or print a worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Words that start with sc, sk, sm, sn, sp, st or sw, where both consonant sounds are heard.
An s blend starts with s followed by another consonant, and both sounds are heard: sk in sky, sm in small, sn in snow, sp in space, st in star, sw in sweet. Some words begin with three consonants, such as str in street and strong, scr in screen, and spr in spread. This list gathers one-syllable words that open that way.
The words were chosen by their opening letters and checked against a pronunciation dictionary, with frequency data used to find first grade vocabulary. As with the other blend lists, the vowels vary: long a (state, space, stage), long e (street, speak, steel), long o (store, stone, snow) and short vowels (still, spread). That variety makes it a good review list, and also a way to spot which vowel spellings a child has not met yet.
30 entries. Our solver needed 2.7 wrong guesses on average: 11 easy, 14 medium and 5 hard. The toughest is sky (8 misses), the quickest state (0).
- still Medium · 4
- state Easy · 0
- start Easy · 1
- small Hard · 5
- stay Hard · 6
- street Easy · 1
- space Hard · 5
- strong Medium · 3
- star Easy · 1
- style Medium · 4
- stage Medium · 2
- speak Medium · 3
- store Easy · 1
- speed Easy · 1
- sweet Easy · 1
- screen Easy · 0
- scale Medium · 3
- score Medium · 3
- smart Medium · 3
- spread Easy · 1
- stone Medium · 2
- sport Medium · 4
- sky Hard · 8
- steel Easy · 1
- snow Hard · 5
- storm Medium · 2
- strike Medium · 4
- smile Medium · 3
- stream Easy · 0
- spoke Medium · 3
Words worth a closer look
- spreadThe ea here sounds like short e, not long e. A good word to explain why vowel pairs cannot always be trusted.
- strongThree consonants at the start, then o and ng. Say it slowly and have children count the sounds.
- styleThe y makes the long i sound, with a silent e at the end. A good contrast with still.
- skyThe y works as a vowel at the end, saying long i.
- screenStarts with scr, three letters and three sounds, and ee spells long e.
- stageSilent e makes the a long, and also makes the g sound like j.
Teaching it
Start with the common blends, st, sp and sm, and add sk, sn, sw and the three-letter blends later. Say each word and have children hold up a finger for each sound. Words with str, spr or scr have more sounds than they look, so stretch them slowly: s-t-r-ong.
Common errors are dropping the s (tar for star), and mixing the order of the letters (sp written as ps). The three-letter blends cause the most trouble, so treat them as a separate step. In hangman, tell the group the blend and let them find the vowel and ending. Add the printable for a short written check, with the answer key for fast marking.
Print a 1st Grade S Blend Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 1st Grade Short A WordsFirst grade short a words with blends and digraphs: that, back, last, hand, class, match. Play hangman with the list, or print a worksheet.
- 1st Grade Short E WordsFirst grade short e words with blends and digraphs: when, best, next, check, dress, fresh. Play the hangman game, read the list, or print a sheet.
- 1st Grade Short I WordsFirst grade short i words with blends and digraphs: with, this, think, list, ship, fish, stick. Play hangman, read the list, or print a worksheet.
- 1st Grade Short O WordsFirst grade short o words with blends and digraphs: stop, rock, drop, shop, block, clock, frog. Play hangman, read the list, or print a sheet.
- 1st Grade Short U WordsFirst grade short u words with blends and digraphs: just, much, club, luck, jump, lunch, brush. Play hangman, read the list, or print a sheet.
- 1st Grade SH WordsFirst grade sh words: she, shop, ship, fish, dish, wash, sheep, shell. Play hangman with the list, read it with difficulty scores, or print a sheet.