Consonants, Blends and Diagraphs

Lessons 1 - 32
What:
Consonants are the following single letters of the alphabet:
b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z
Blends are voiced combinations of two or three consonants. Following are examples:
Fl, bl, sl, cl, pl, bl, gr, tr, br, cr, dr, pr, fr, wh, str, sw, sp, sc, sn, sm, sk
Diagraphs are voiceless combinations of two consonants. Following are examples:
st, sh, ch, th, wh
Why:
There are only two words in our spoken and written language that have one letter. They are a
and I. All other words have at least one consonant.
Without automatic recognition of consonants, blends and diagraphs, the student will not be able
to phonetically decode words at a fluent rate. The ability to comprehend written material
decreases if analysis and/or hesitation for each sound and/or word are slow.
When:
Learning consonant sounds should be taught early in any reading program. My Breakfast
Reading Program focuses on consonants in Lessons 1 18. Blends and diagraphs are
introduced in Lessons 19 30.
How:
Repetition, repetition, repetition!

My Breakfast Reading Program presents a maximum of five consonants, blends or diagraphs in

each lesson. Each lesson consists of one 60-second exercise. This exercise provides a high
number of repetitions in a very short time frame. Each lesson is repeated five days a week.
Statistical Analysis:

Consonants/blends/diagraphs:
Analysis of the database indicates that there are sixty-six beginning consonants,
blends and diagraph combinations for the beginning sound.
Analysis of the database indicates that there are forty-six ending sound
consonants, blends and diagraph combinations.

Consonants: Lessons 1 - 18
o

Beginning sound (47%): Twelve consonants comprise 47% of the

words with the beginning sounds. That is, of the 2290 words, 1018 have
the beginning sound of one of the twelve consonants. Therefore, a
significant emphasis is placed on these twelve beginning consonant
sounds.
The twelve most frequently used beginning consonants are (in frequency
order): b, l, p, h, m, r, t, s, f, d, w, c

Ending sound (79%): Twelve consonants comprise 79% of the words

with the ending sounds. That is, of the 2290 words, 1745 have the ending
sound of the twelve consonants. Therefore, a significant emphasis is
place on these twelve ending consonant sounds.
The twelve most frequently used ending consonants are (in frequency
order): t, d, k, n, p, l, g, m, s, b, c, v

Common consonants: Note that of the 12 beginning and 12 ending

consonants, the following 8 are the same:
t; d; p; l; m; s; b; c

Blends and Diagraphs (38% of beginning sounds): Lessons 17 - 30

o

?R family (13%): Eight blends and diagraphs that have an r sound

comprise 13% of the words with the beginning sounds. That is, of the
2290 words, 280 words have a ?r blend or diagraph beginning sound.
The ?r family consists of: br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, str, tr: Lessons 17 and 18.

?L family (10%): Six blends and diagraphs that have an l sound

comprise 10% of the words with the beginning sounds. That is, of the
2290 words, 216 words have a ?l blend or diagraph beginning sound.
The ?l family consists of: bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl: Lessons 19 and 20.

S? family (9%): Seven blends and diagraphs that begin with s

comprise 9% of the words with the beginning sounds. That is, of the 2290
words, 188 words have an s? blend or diagraph beginning sound.
The S? family consists of: sc, sk, sm, sn, sp, st, sw: Lessons 21 and 22.

?H family (6%): Four blends and diagraphs that have an h sound

comprise 6% of the words with the beginning sounds. That is, of the 2290
words, 133 words have a ?h blend or diagraph beginning sound.
The ?h family consists of: ch, sh, th, wh: Lesson 23
Note: ch, sh, and th also comprise 6% of ending sounds: Lesson 24

Summary of above consonants, blends and diagraphs:

o

Beginning Sounds: The cumulative total of beginning consonants

(47%) and beginning blends and diagraphs (38%) comprise 85% of the
beginning sounds in the database of 2290 words.

Ending Sounds: The cumulative total of the ending consonants (79%)

and ending diagraphs (6%) comprise 85% of the ending sounds in the
database of 2290 words.