Glued Sounds Are Hard

Let’s talk about one of the most misunderstood—but absolutely critical—phonics skills: glued sounds.

If you’ve ever noticed your students struggling to segment or spell words like bank, lamp, or honk, glued sounds are likely the culprit. And here’s the thing—if you don’t teach these explicitly and systematically, your students will keep guessing, keep struggling, and keep falling behind.

I’ve worked with countless students who hit a decoding wall around glued sounds, especially when they’re just starting to get confident with CVC words. So in this post, I’m going to break it all down for you.

You’ll get:

• What glued sounds are (with examples)

• Why they matter in structured literacy

• How to teach them step-by-step

• Activities and visuals to support learning

• FREE decodable readers to practice glued sounds [insert giveaway link here]

This is the post I wish I had when I first started teaching reading the right way.

What Are Glued Sounds? (With Real Examples)

Glued sounds—sometimes called welded sounds—are chunks where letters are so closely linked, they make a blended sound that’s tricky to separate.

The most common glued sounds are:

• -am, -an (e.g., ram, fan)

• -ang, -ing, -ong, -ung (e.g., bang, ring, song, sung)

• -ank, -ink, -onk, -unk (e.g., tank, pink, bonk, junk)

When you say them aloud, you’ll hear it: the vowel and consonant seem “stuck together.” That’s why kids often write reng instead of ring—they’re not hearing the parts clearly unless we teach them to.

Why Glued Sounds Matter

Glued sounds appear in hundreds of high-frequency words kids will encounter early in reading. If we skip this step, we’re leaving a hole in their phonics foundation.

Let’s look at a simple chart showing how glued sounds show up across grade levels:

Glued sounds aren't just “kindergarten skills.” They show up in real vocabulary for years to come.

How to Teach Glued Sounds Step-by-Step

Here’s exactly how I break it down in a structured literacy lesson:

Step 1: Introduce the Concept
Explain that sometimes sounds stick together so tightly, we have to treat them as a team.

• Use mouth mirrors or anchor visuals to show how your jaw and tongue don’t move much when saying -ang.

Step 2: Model and Segment Orally
Say words like sang, bank, and ring aloud.

• Have students tap or clap out the sounds: /s/ /ang/ instead of /s/ /a/ /n/ /g/

Step 3: Use Word Building
Use magnetic letters or tiles to build glued sound words. Keep the glued chunk connected (e.g., -ang tile instead of a-n-g).

Step 4: Read and Write the Words
Start with word lists:

• bang, rang, long, bunk, sunk, pink
  Move to sentences:

• “The bunk is in the long van.”
  Then write:

• Dictate 3–5 glued sound words and sentences.

Step 5: Read Connected Text
Use decodable readers targeting glued sounds. [Insert space for free download here.]

Anchor Chart: Glued Sound Chunks

Here’s an example of what I display on the wall or in notebooks:

Visual learners need this! You can also color-code the vowel part to help them notice the chunk.

Interactive Activity: Glued Sound Sort

Create a sort with categories like:

• Ends in -ing

• Ends in -unk

• Ends in -ank

Use a mix of real and nonsense words:

• Real: bunk, long, tank

• Nonsense: zank, pling, vong

Ask students to sort, read, and explain why each word fits (or doesn’t).

This builds decoding, vocabulary, and metacognition.

Use Graphs to Track Progress

I like to create a simple progress chart for glued sound mastery. Here’s an example:

Track student accuracy over five days of practice. You’ll often see major gains with daily decoding + sentence writing.

Where to Go Next: FREE Glued Sound Readers

Don’t leave your students hanging after the lesson. They need decodable practice in connected text.

I’ve created a pack of FREE decodable readers that target glued sounds in a fun and structured way.

👉 Get Your Free Glued Sound Decodable Readers

These stories use only phonics patterns your students already know—plus glued sounds. It’s the kind of meaningful practice that makes skills stick.

Want Everything in One Place?

If you want a curriculum that does all the planning for you—glued sounds, decodables, phonics, writing, fluency, and more—check out our Complete Orton-Gillingham Curriculum.

It includes:

• Explicit lessons

• Phonics sequences

• Over 2000 pages of printable OG materials

• And yes—tons of decodable books with glued sounds

Because when we teach reading the right way—phonics-first, brain-based, and joyful—we don’t just help kids read. We help them believe in themselves.