Why does my child leave off the last letter of words like hand?

Because the second consonant of a final blend is the quietest sound in the word, and young ears glide past it. It's a completely normal stage. Slow the word down, tap each sound, and have your child repeat it back before writing; the d shows up once the ear finds it.

What's the difference between an ending blend and an ending digraph?

In a blend both letters keep their sounds: the n and d in hand, the m and p in lamp. In a digraph two letters make one new sound, like the ck in duck or the sh in fish. Kids who can say that difference out loud almost never confuse the spellings.

1st grade ending blends (st, nd, mp)

1st grade ending blends (st, nd, mp) worksheets

Ending blends are two-consonant teams at the end of a word where both sounds survive: st, nd, mp. First graders sort words by their final blend, training their ears to catch the second sound instead of dropping it, which is the classic early reading and spelling slip.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RF.1.3.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of words you'll sort

Say each word. Listen to its ending, then write it under its blend.

bendtwistmastclumpfrostchimpsoundendlastdamplumpsand

Columns: -st and -nd and -mp. "last" belongs under -st; "bend" belongs under -nd; "chimp" belongs under -mp.

Every print pulls a new set of words at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 1st grade sheet

1st grade sheets draw from 90 words, 15 to a page. 60 of the 90 aren't on 2nd grade sheets. The other 30 are. 2nd grade sheets print 21 to a page.

Some of the words:

mustjustdustlandkindbondplumpchomprompswamp

Sorting. Say each word. Listen to its ending, then write it under its blend. 15 words per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

The classic error is dropping the second sound: han for hand, jum for jump. Say the word in slow motion and tap once per sound; when the final tap lands, the missing letter usually appears in the very next try. Sort out loud, and let your child be the judge of your deliberately wrong answers.

Watch for: An ending blend is not a digraph: in hand you hear both the n and the d, but in duck the ck makes a single sound. The sort goes by what you hear at the end, not by the vowel: lamp and jump land in the same column even though their middles sound nothing alike.

Common questions about 1st grade ending blends (st, nd, mp)

Why does my child leave off the last letter of words like hand?: Because the second consonant of a final blend is the quietest sound in the word, and young ears glide past it. It's a completely normal stage. Slow the word down, tap each sound, and have your child repeat it back before writing; the d shows up once the ear finds it.
What's the difference between an ending blend and an ending digraph?: In a blend both letters keep their sounds: the n and d in hand, the m and p in lamp. In a digraph two letters make one new sound, like the ck in duck or the sh in fish. Kids who can say that difference out loud almost never confuse the spellings.

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Aligned to Common Core RF.1.3. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 240, updated October 2026.

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