I use lots of CUPS in my RtI and Guided Reading time. I got this fabulous idea from Kathy Griffin's Blog. She is so smart! You simply write letters on plastic cups (I, of course, used Red Solo Cups). I can easily switch any of the sounds out and my student can blend the new word. It works on real words and nonsense words (um... hello DIBELS practice!). Here's another one I've been doing for my student to give them the letter-sound fluency. I just use Styrofoam cups and a Sharpie marker. You can also add a "silent e" and have them say the long vowel word. It's fun...especially when you let them hold the cups and twist. :) I've been working with one of my students who is still struggling to blend simple CVC words. I honestly found that he LOVES my little word slider game that I made years ago (but just updated it with cuuute clipart for y'all). He begged to play it and it's really helped him slide those words together to blend a CVC Word. The teacher pulls out one letter at a time from the slider. The student says the name of the sound and the teacher moves on to the next letter. To make it a little easier, I have them blend the first two sounds together and then add the last sound on. The student says the word at the end. They can check to see if they got the word right by looking at the picture at the end! They LOVE it and it's so simple (the slider is made from a letter-sized envelope). Want to go beyond CVC blending? These are my Blend and Digraph Word Sliders Just added- Vowel Team Word Sliders! Or you can buy them in a bundled pack for a discount! :)