There are a number of ways to blend, and many instructors use the onset-rime break. The onset of a word is the sound or sounds that come before the vowel, and the rime is the vowel and all sounds that come after it. An example of this blending would be /k/ + /at/. This makes it easy to compare with other rhyming words, like bat or mat. However, it is very difficult to pronounce the onset consonant by itself, and often children end up saying /kuh/+/at/ instead of /k/+/at/. The addition of a false schwa is caused by the vocal cords being turned on to say the rest of the word. This is confusing for children with dyslexia, ESL students and students with phonological disorders.
A better way to blend is called body-coda blending. The body of the word is the onset and vowel, and the coda is the final consonant sound. This technique teaches students to divide syllables after the vowel, instead of before. Have your students blend /ka/+/t/ and they will produce /kat/ instead of /kuh-at/, because the vocal cords are turning off at the end of the word.
Blending sounds can be a fun, multisensory game if you use manipulatives or a smartboard. Children should be able to see it, say it, and touch it to get the maximum reinforcement from the lesson. If you have a smartboard, you can make activities where the children pick letters and blend them together. Choose rhyming word families or commonly used sight words from separate columns on the smartboard and have the children pick and put them together. If you don't have a smartboard, the same thing can be done on an overhead or with tactile manipulatives.
If you don't have a set of manipulatives, you can have students make their own by using note cards, glue, and glitter or macaroni noodles. Make the letter in glue and sprinkle glitter over it, or add noodles to the letter shape so that students feel the letter, say the sound and touch the shape. This can be a messy activity, so you may want to play to do it outside on a picnic table, or put down old newspaper for faster clean up. Another tactile reinforcement activity for blending can be done with shaving cream on a tray. The students will trace the blends into the shaving cream with a finger as they say the blend, wipe it away and repeat.