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# Teaching of CCVC and CVCC: Is it ok to still present st, cr, bl, tr etc?

| SSP (structured synthetic phonics) is based upon the teaching of phonemes, the smallest unit of speech. This means teaching individual phonemes/sounds and not letter clusters.
**In the examples below: 
* In the word frog there are 4 phonemes: f/r/o/g. fr is not a phoneme. 
* In the word stop there are 4 phonemes: s/t/o/p. st is not a phoneme. 
* In the word tent there are 4 phonemes: t/e/n/t. nt is not a phoneme. 
![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/67ae980d1c7d2000/screenshot-2022-10-05-112014-a_1dup7a.png)
This contrasts with the trend of many years ago, in which double consonants were taught as one concept. For example: st, br, bl etc. in the context of CCVC words and ld, mp, nt etc. in the context of CVCC words. When a student has the ability to blend, teaching these double consonants no longer becomes necessary.

| Tip 1: Use the [Teaching Sequence for Year 1](https://pld-literacy.org/product/year-1-2-teaching-sequence-manual/) as it outlines exactly the programs and resources to use, to effectively teach CCVC and CVCC words.
![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/67ae980d1c7d2000/screenshot-2022-10-05-10040-pm_1pmzu1a.png)
|| Tip 2: As the Teaching Sequence for Year 1 suggests, use the fully prepared colour coded lists from [Structured Synthetic Time Savers](https://pld-literacy.org/product/structured-synthetic-phonics-time-savers-stage-1-2/?attribute_pa_book-type=ebook) In this resource, the words are presented in lists with colour coding that highlights and identifies the phonemes and how phonemes link to the letters. No letter clusters occur within SSP.
![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/67ae980d1c7d2000/screenshot-2022-10-05-123227-p_zg5ln.png)
||| Tip 3: Of all of the targets in Stage 1, Target 3 is typically the target that is the most easily achieved. Targets 1, 2 and 4 require much more attention and time. 
![Assessment highlighting strong Target 3 results prior to Target 2 acquisition.](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/67ae980d1c7d2000/screenshot-2022-10-05-125832-p_rvqo5b.png)