Article
Art by James Hearne
Poetry Kit,

How to Drink a Slushy

The letters s and l together make the sound sl.  Listen for the sl sound in this poem.

By Janice Behrens
From the December 2025/January 2026 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will listen for the sl- consonant blend in a poem.

Standards

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If you want to drink a slushy,

there is something you should know.

You shouldn’t slurp it quickly.

You should sl- sl- slurp it slow.

If you try to slurp it quickly,

you will sl- sl- sl- sl- slurp,

then sl- sl- sl- sl- slurp some more,

then sl- sl- sl- sl- BURP!

Add an s and an l to make new words. Say the words out loud.

____  ____ ip     

____  ____ am     

____  ____ ug     

____  ____ ed

More About the Article

English Language Arts Focus 

Phonemic awareness

Consonant Blends

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  • Whole group

Pairings and Text Connections

  • From the Storyworks 1 archive: Can You Crack the Code? (May/June 2025)
  • Suggested books: Paletero Man by Lucky Diaz; Groovy Joe Ice Cream and Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin

Suggested Reading Focus

Phonemic Awareness (15 minutes)

  • Tell students that a consonant blend is when a group of two or three consonants are next to each other in a word. If this happens with the first two or three letters of the word, they are considered beginning consonant blends. In a consonant blend, we pronounce both of the letter sounds. Explain that in this poem, they will be reading and focusing on words that have the sl- beginning consonant blend.
  • Lead students in practicing the sl- consonant blend. Then lead them through blending practice of words with consonant blends.
    • sl - ap ➞ slap
    • sl - im ➞ slim
    • sl - eep ➞ sleep
    • sl - id ➞ slid
  • Read the poem once aloud. Then have students go through and circle all the words with sl- consonant blends in the poem.
  • Next, have students join in for the second read. When you get to the sl- parts, students should make the consonant blend sounds and read the word slurp aloud.
  • Last, have students complete the activity at the bottom of the page. Practice chorally reading the words they made together out loud.

Text-to-Speech