Phoneme segmentation IEP goals: 24 examples, with blending goals

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

A phoneme segmentation IEP goal names the word type, how the student shows each sound and a criterion with a denominator. Example: given 10 spoken words with 4 sounds, Jonah will tap and say each sound in order for 8 of 10 words on 3 consecutive weekly probes, up from 3 of 10. Pair segmentation goals with blending, and add letters as soon as possible.

Segmenting is splitting a spoken word into its single sounds: "frog" into /f/ /r/ /o/ /g/. Blending is the reverse. Together they are the core of phonemic awareness for reading and spelling. A student who can segment a word can begin to spell it; a student who can blend can begin to sound out print.

This page goes deeper than the general phonemic awareness IEP goals, with 24 goals on segmentation and blending alone. Each shows the condition, a baseline, the criterion and the measure, and links to the closest template. Numbers are illustrations. For teaching, see Elkonin boxes and blending sounds activities.

How to choose a segmentation or blending goal

What you see	Sub-skill to target	How to measure
Says the whole word or only the first sound	Segmenting CVC words with tokens	Words fully correct out of 10
Splits "sun" as "s ... un"	Segmenting CVC words into all sounds	Words fully correct out of 10
Segments CVC words, treats "st" as one sound	Segmenting words with blends	Words fully correct out of 10
Segments well but spells "sap" for snap	Segmenting and mapping to letters	Words spelled with one letter or pair per sound
Accurate but slow and effortful	Timed segmentation	Correct sounds in 1 minute
Hears sounds but says the wrong word	Blending	Words correct out of 10
Limited speech or AAC	Tapping, pointing or device response	Items correct out of 10
Grade 4 and up, weak decoding of long words	Segmenting syllables and sounds with letters	Words correct out of 10

The What Works Clearinghouse guide for kindergarten to grade 3 recommends developing awareness of speech sounds and how they link to letters.^[1] Most students on this table should be using letters within a few months.

Segmenting CVC words

Goal 1. Given 10 spoken CVC words and 3 tokens, Ava will push one token per sound while saying each sound for 9 of 10 words on 3 consecutive weekly probes. Baseline: 2 of 10. Template.
Goal 2. Given 10 spoken CVC words, Ava will say each sound in order with no props for 8 of 10 words across 3 probes. Baseline: 1 of 10, splits as onset and rime. Template.
Goal 3. Given 10 picture cards, Kofi will sort them by number of sounds (2 or 3) and say the sounds for 9 of 10 cards on 2 consecutive probes. Baseline: 4 of 10. Template.
Goal 4. Given 10 spoken CVC words, Kofi will say the sound in a named position (first, middle or last) for 8 of 10 items across 3 probes. Baseline: 3 of 10, middle sound weakest. Template.

Weak: "Ava will segment words." Measurable: Goal 1 above. It names the word type, the response and the denominator.

Segmenting words with blends and more sounds

Goal 5. Given 10 spoken words with a beginning blend (such as "frog," "slip"), Jonah will tap and say each sound in order for 8 of 10 words on 3 consecutive weekly probes. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.
Goal 6. Given 10 spoken words with an ending blend (such as "milk," "best"), Jonah will say each sound in order for 8 of 10 words across 3 probes. Baseline: 2 of 10, drops the second-to-last sound. Template.
Goal 7. Given 10 spoken words with 5 sounds (such as "stamp," "crust"), Lena will push a token per sound for 7 of 10 words on 2 consecutive probes. Baseline: 1 of 10. Template.
Goal 8. Given 10 spoken 4-sound words, Lena will say the second or third sound when asked for 8 of 10 items across 3 probes. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.

Weak: "Jonah will segment blends with 80% accuracy." Measurable: Goal 5 above. It names the blend position, the response and 8 of 10 words.

Segmenting and mapping to letters

Goal 9. Given 10 spoken CVC words, Grace will say each sound and place a matching letter tile for each sound in order for 9 of 10 words on 3 consecutive probes. Baseline: 4 of 10. Template.
Goal 10. Given 10 spoken words with digraphs (such as "ship," "chop," "thin"), Grace will segment each word and write one letter or digraph per sound box for 8 of 10 words across 3 probes. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.
Goal 11. Given 20 dictated words with blends, Miguel will spell 16 of 20 with a letter for every sound, on 2 consecutive biweekly dictations. Baseline: 7 of 20. Template.
Goal 12. Given 10 spoken words with vowel teams or r-controlled vowels, Miguel will segment each word and map each sound to its letters for 8 of 10 words across 3 probes. Baseline: 4 of 10. Template.

Weak: "Grace will use sound boxes." Measurable: Goal 10 above. Using boxes is a method; mapping sounds to letters is the skill.

Timed segmentation goals

Goal 13. On a 1-minute oral segmentation probe of 3- and 4-sound words, Rosa will say 35 correct sounds per minute on 2 of 3 weekly probes. Baseline: 14 correct sounds per minute. Template.
Goal 14. On a 1-minute segmentation probe, Rosa will segment at least 12 words with every sound correct on 2 consecutive probes. Baseline: 4 words. Template.
Goal 15. On a 1-minute probe of 4- and 5-sound words, Ethan will say 40 correct sounds per minute with no more than 2 onset-rime splits, on 3 of 4 weekly probes. Baseline: 22 correct sounds, 7 splits. Template.
Goal 16. On a 1-minute probe of words said aloud, Ethan will tap a dot for each sound while saying it, reaching 30 correct sounds per minute on 2 consecutive probes. Baseline: 12 correct sounds per minute. Template.

Weak: "Rosa will segment fluently." Measurable: Goal 13 above. It names the probe length, the word type and the rate.

Record timed goals on the rate per minute page. Decide the scoring rule before the baseline: count each correct individual sound as 1 point, and give an onset-rime split ("m ... ug") 1 point for the onset only. Use the same rule all year.

Blending goals

Goal 17. Given 10 CVC words said one sound at a time, Priya will blend the sounds and say the word for 9 of 10 words on 3 consecutive weekly probes. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.
Goal 18. Given 10 words with 4 or 5 sounds said one sound at a time, Priya will blend and say the word for 8 of 10 words across 3 probes. Baseline: 2 of 10. Template.
Goal 19. Given 10 made-up words said one sound at a time (such as /v/ /i/ /p/), Owen will blend and say the made-up word for 8 of 10 items on 2 consecutive probes. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.
Goal 20. On a 1-minute oral blending probe, Owen will blend 15 words correctly on 2 of 3 weekly probes. Baseline: 6 words. Template.

Weak: "Priya will blend sounds to make words." Measurable: Goal 18 above. It says how many sounds and how many words.

Goal 19 uses made-up words so the student cannot guess from a familiar word. That makes it a cleaner check of blending.

Goals for AAC users and older students

Goal 21. Given 10 words said one sound at a time and 3 picture choices on a device, Sam will select the blended word for 8 of 10 items on 3 consecutive probes. Baseline: 3 of 10. Template.
Goal 22. Given 10 spoken CVC words, Sam will touch one dot per sound on a 4-dot strip for 8 of 10 words across 3 probes. Baseline: 2 of 10. Template.
Goal 23. Given 10 spoken 3- and 4-syllable content words, Darius will say the syllables, then the sounds in each syllable, then spell the word for 7 of 10 words on 2 consecutive probes. Baseline: 2 of 10. Template.
Goal 24. Given 10 multisyllabic words said one syllable at a time, Darius will blend them into the word and match it to its written form from 3 choices for 9 of 10 items across 3 probes. Baseline: 5 of 10. Template.

Weak: "Darius will improve phonemic awareness." Measurable: Goal 23 above. It ties sound work to the long words he needs to read and spell.

For students in grades 4 and up, keep sound goals tied to letters; see phonemic awareness for older students.

How to measure segmentation and blending goals

Score whole words or sounds, not both at once. Untimed goals usually score words fully correct out of 10. Timed goals score correct sounds.
Say each item once. Speak at a normal pace with no stretching unless the goal says so.
New words every probe. Draw from a pool of at least 40 words at the same level.
Score intent for speech errors. If the student says /t/ for /k/ because of a speech sound error, credit the sound and note it.
Write the response mode into the goal. Speech, tapping, tokens, tiles and devices all count.

Use the opportunity trial data sheet for untimed probes. Short, repeated probes graphed weekly give the team a trend to act on.^[2] The IEP must say how progress will be measured,^[3] so name the probe in the goal.

Short-term objectives

Step up the word type. For goal 5: by the first report, 8 of 10 CVC words; by the second, 8 of 10 words with beginning blends using tokens; by the third, 8 of 10 with no tokens. For goal 13: raise the rate in steps of about 7 correct sounds per reporting period from the baseline. The short-term objectives guide has the format.

Adapting by grade and need

Grade or need	Typical focus	Example goals
Kindergarten	CVC segmenting with tokens; CVC blending	1, 3, 17
Grade 1	Blends, 4-sound words, mapping to letters	5, 9, 13, 18
Grade 2	Digraphs, 5-sound words, timed probes	7, 10, 15
Grades 3 to 5	Mapping vowel patterns; made-up words	12, 19
Middle and high school	Syllables, then sounds, then spelling	23, 24
AAC users	Picture choices, dot strips	21, 22

Grade-band templates are on the phonological awareness goals page, including K to 2. The phonemic awareness glossary entry has a short definition for families. Paste any draft into the goal checker before the meeting.

Frequently asked questions

What is a phoneme segmentation IEP goal?

A goal for splitting spoken words into single sounds. For example: given 10 spoken words with 4 sounds, the student will tap and say each sound in order for 8 of 10 words on 3 consecutive weekly probes.

Should segmentation goals be timed?

Only for students who segment accurately but slowly. For students who are still inaccurate, an untimed goal scored as words correct out of 10 shows growth more clearly. Switch to a timed goal once accuracy is high.

Should I write separate goals for segmenting and blending?

Often one goal is enough, since the two are taught together. Write a separate blending goal when blending is clearly weaker, such as a student who segments well but cannot say the word when given its sounds.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences
Progress Monitoring: Data & Goal Setting, National Center on Intensive Intervention
34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.