First Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 1
My Environment
Students are prompted to "briefly describe her environment" and to answer discussion questions about what each room is used for, which requires spoken responses. The materials state students should be able to "use [vocabulary] correctly in a sentence" and include an activity where the child can "write or copy a sentence" using target words. Students are asked to dictate ideas for "The Most Important Room" and then "read the paragraph aloud," providing opportunities for producing spoken sentences.
Lesson 2
What Is a Map?
Students are asked oral questions about maps and their use (e.g., "Have you ever seen a map?" and why we look at maps) which require verbal responses. Activity 1 requires students to answer questions repeatedly about their country, state, town, and address, prompting spoken recall. Activity 2 and 3 ask students specific questions about map features (e.g., "What is beside the refrigerator?" "What is in front of the couch?") and ask the child to describe the environment in which he lives. Activity 4 gives an option for students to write or copy a sentence using words (map, mom, home, house).
Lesson 3
Guide to Animal Habitats
Students are asked to describe their environment and to answer comprehension questions such as "What do you think this book is about?" and "Who do you think this man is?" during the read-aloud. The Skills list includes "Listen to and answer questions about text read orally," and Activity 5 explicitly asks students to "tell a story about what it would be like to visit the habitat." Several guided prompts (e.g., What do you see in the habitat? What would it feel like?) require spoken responses from students.
Lesson 5
Discovering Animal Habitats
Students are asked verbally to give examples and describe habitats and animals (e.g., "Ask your child to give you some examples…," and prompts to "identify and describe the animals" and "describe the animals in the pictures"). The lesson includes explicit prompts for the child to answer habitat questions (e.g., "Do you know what we call the habitat where deer, bears, and foxes live?"). The handwriting activity asks the child to use the "j" words in her own sentences or copy sentences that contain the "j" words.
Lesson 6
Exploring Animal Habitats
Students are asked questions during the habitat observation (Where are the plants? What animals do you see? What are they doing?), prompting spoken responses. In Activity 2 students are asked to tell and dictate a story about an animal's day and the teacher/parent records the child's dictated story; the lesson also instructs the adult to read the story back with the child. The Skills section lists "Make connections through the use of oral language" and "Use words that name, describe, and tell action," and the Wrapping Up and Extension prompt students to role-play and describe animal actions aloud.
Lesson 7
Tools in My Environment
The lesson asks the child to "tell" responses several times (e.g., tell what she needs to live and grow; tell what a tool is) and includes oral question prompts during activities (e.g., "What is the tool used for?" "How does the tool work?"). Activity 4 instructs the child to "write or copy sentences that contain the i words" (it and inch), providing direct practice in producing sentence-level written language. The wrapping up section asks the child to verbally review what tools were used, which creates opportunities for spoken responses.
Lesson 8
Animal Care
Students are repeatedly prompted to answer oral questions (e.g., Activity 1: "What do pets need?"; Activity 2: multiple comprehension questions about The Salamander Room). The lesson asks students to discuss and explain (Wrapping Up: "Discuss with your child how it would feel..."), and the Life Application section asks the child to describe what environment they would create for a pet. Activity 3 asks the child to state what the salamander would need and to explain choices while constructing a habitat.
Lesson 9
Animal Designs
The Stuffed Animal Sort activity prompts students to say full sentence frames aloud (e.g., "A __________ can't live in the ____________. A __________ lives in the ________________"). Activity 4 requires students to tell a creative story about an animal, record the story on a separate sheet, and read it aloud, which asks students to produce connected spoken language. The "You Can't Live There" activity asks students to explain why animals do not belong in certain habitats and to record their reasons, which provides opportunities for spoken or written explanatory sentences.
Lesson 10
Amazing Animals
The Skills list includes "Respond to critical questions about a text (LA)" and "Present dramatic interpretations of stories (LA)," which require spoken responses. Activity 2 asks the child to pretend to be an animal and "explain what he (as the animal) would do" and answers prompts such as "What would you do if you were the lizard?" Activity 3 encourages reading word problems aloud and discussing solutions, providing multiple opportunities for oral responses.
Lesson 11
Amazing Me
Students are asked to respond verbally to prompts in Activity 1 (e.g., "What do you do?" when it gets cold, and "What happens to your skin?" after swimming). Activity 2 encourages students to read words aloud on the feelings sheet and to write or label emotions in boxes, which involves spoken and written responses. Activity 3 asks students to think of a time they changed, share that example aloud while the adult records it, and then read the recorded ideas aloud during wrap-up and sharing.
Final Project
Animal Research / My Environment
The lesson includes oral prompts such as "Can you describe the environment in which you live?" and asks the child to "explain each page of his book," which require spoken responses. The "Where In The World?" activity page provides a sentence frame/lines ("The ______ is found in ______") that prompts students to write a complete sentence about an animal's location. The instructions also ask to "help your child label his pictures," which can involve writing or saying descriptive phrases or sentences.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 1
Reading the Skies
Students are asked to describe the weather aloud in the Introduction and during Life Application, which requires spoken sentence responses. Activity 1 asks students questions about the story (e.g., "What type of weather is best for playing outside?") that prompt oral answers. Activity 2 asks students to dictate a sentence using each vocabulary word and to record one dictated sentence, giving multiple opportunities to produce sentences in writing or speech. Activity 3 asks students to tell or dictate a story about their favorite weather and have it recorded and read back.
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
Students are asked oral comprehension questions after reading (e.g., describe habitats and their weather, explain what characters looked like when hot or cold) that require spoken responses. Students are asked to describe processes aloud (e.g., describe what is happening to cause the rain and what happens in the sky when it rains) and to record their prediction. Activity 6 asks students to write their own sentences or copy sentences containing target words, providing practice in forming sentences.
Lesson 3
Measuring and Charting Weather
The lesson repeatedly prompts oral responses (e.g., "Ask your child what she thinks would happen if an animal's habitat got too warm or cold," "Ask your child how she thinks she could do that," and "ask her to describe what the weather can be like in different habitats"). The wrapping up section asks the child to give examples and explain how weather helps plants and animals, which elicits spoken explanations. Activities include discussion prompts (e.g., discuss rainfall and habitat needs) that require the child to answer verbally.
Lesson 4
Simulating Weather
The lesson asks the child to name three things the wind can move and to go outside and identify things the wind is moving. It asks the child to explain what happens when you squeeze and release the bottle and to answer, "what happens in the sky to cause it to rain?" The lesson also prompts the child to read the words of the weather song aloud, sing the song, and make up his own song.
Lesson 5
Fall
Students are asked to write three sentences about the fall scene on the student activity page and to use each circled word in a sentence (Options 1 and 2). The handwriting activity directs students to write or copy sentences using the words "fun" and "fall." The wrap-up questions ask students to explain what they enjoy in the fall and to explain what happens to the weather, prompting spoken responses.
Lesson 6
Winter
Students are asked to describe the outside environment and answer questions such as what season follows fall and how winter weather is different from summer, which requires spoken responses. Students are asked to dictate a story about something they like to do in the winter and to attempt to read that story aloud. The wrap-up asks students to describe what a winter environment can be like, prompting spoken explanation.
Lesson 7
Spring
The lesson repeatedly prompts the child to answer oral questions (e.g., "Ask your child what the weather is like in the spring," "After each poem, ask your child what the poem was about," and wrapping-up questions about what special things happen in spring and what a seed needs). Activity 3 asks the child to respond to causal questions aloud ("Does it move/fall off? Why did it move/fall off?"), which requires spoken explanation. The seed-planting activities include counting questions aloud (e.g., "How many seeds are there?" and "Is it an even or odd number of seeds?"), and the Language Arts extension invites the child to dictate a poem, providing opportunities for spoken sentence production.
Lesson 8
Summer
Students are prompted to answer oral questions (e.g., "What season follows spring?" and "What activities do you enjoy in the summer?") and to describe the picture in the Summer Fun puzzle (environment, what is happening, how the kids feel). In Activity 2 students fill words into blanks within full-sentence story passages and are asked to read the completed story aloud. In Activity 3 students complete written sentence prompts by writing the seasons into sentence blanks (e.g., "_____ is the warmest season").
Final Project
Weather Games
The Skills section lists "Make oral presentations" and activities require oral reporting. In Activity 4 students prepare and present a three-day weather forecast to the family, record answers to specific guiding questions on the Weather Forecast page, and are given an example forecast that models full sentences. Activity 3 and the Wrapping Up prompts ask students to answer observational and reflective questions aloud and to read pages aloud if able.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
Students are asked to "use vocabulary... in a sentence" and to review vocabulary daily so they can "use it correctly in a sentence." Activity 3 asks students to draw a new page and "write or dictate a sentence or two" about Charlie visiting a place. Activity 4 has students "write or copy sentences" that contain target words, and Activity 2 has fill-in-the-blank sentences that require students to complete sentence frames.
Lesson 2
My Community Environment
The Skills list includes "Ask questions that lead to understanding (LA)," and activities repeatedly instruct the child to name and describe important places (e.g., "Ask your child if she can name some important places" and "Ask your child to describe some important places in the community"). Activity 2 asks the child to "label the places on the poster and write or dictate a brief description," and Activity 4 has the child prepare and ask interview questions and take notes or record the conversation. The wrapping up and life application sections prompt the child to answer questions about the community and explain why a place is important.
Lesson 3
Jobs in the Community
Students are asked in Activity 5 to record one simple sentence about how each worker helps and to say each sentence aloud, giving direct practice producing spoken complete sentences. In Activity 4 students compose a paragraph about being a community worker, attempt to read it aloud, and share it with family, which requires forming and speaking full sentences. Activities 3 and 1 prompt students to describe what they observed and to answer questions about what a worker does and how the job helps the community, providing additional opportunities to produce sentence-level responses.
Lesson 4
Goods and Services in the Community
The lesson repeatedly prompts the child to speak: it asks the child to name important places and explain how each place helps people in the community. It asks the child to read the names of buildings, goods, and services and to read aloud how many dollars an item costs during the shopping simulation. The wrap-up asks the child to describe some goods and services and to explain why people have jobs and what they do with the money they earn.
Lesson 5
Resources
Activity 3 asks the child to find three natural and three manmade resources and then "explain how each resource is used, explain where it is found, and/or write a sentence about the resources," which requires spoken explanations or sentence writing. The Wrapping Up section directs the child to "explain the difference between resources found in nature and resources made by humans," prompting oral explanation. Several activities prompt students to describe or label items (e.g., counting sheet with N/M) that could be accompanied by short spoken or written statements.
Lesson 6
A Good Community Citizen
Students are asked to explain how they decided whether each action shows good citizenship (Activity 1) and to provide other examples of good and bad citizenship, which requires spoken explanations. In Option 2, students are asked to label each picture as they explain what is happening, and Activity 3 asks students to describe observed examples of good citizenship beneath each family member's name, either by dictating or writing. The wrap-up prompts ask students what it means to be a good citizen and to think of ways they can be a good citizen, encouraging verbal responses.
Lesson 7
A Citizen with Character
Students are asked to answer comprehension and discussion questions (e.g., after "A Lesson in Honesty" students are asked what will happen next, whether Riley did anything wrong, and what they would do). Students discuss the moral of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and may retell the beginning, middle, and end, writing, dictating, or copying a sentence to accompany drawings. Students are prompted to describe characters' actions and consequences (Activity 6), which require spoken explanations.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students are asked aloud what a rule is, whether there are rules in their home, and why they think rules exist. Students are asked to read each sentence strip by herself or with assistance and to read items aloud when sorting the "Rule or Law" page. Students listen to a story and answer multiple open-ended questions about what would happen without rules and are asked to make and discuss a list of 3–5 rules with family.
Lesson 9
Caring for Our Communities
Students are prompted to answer story-comprehension and community questions (e.g., beginning/middle/end, Where does Katy live?, What does Katy do to be a good citizen?) that invite spoken responses. In Activity 4 the role-play gives an explicit modeled response: the child answers, "I am looking for a book about dogs. I need your help," demonstrating a complete-sentence reply. Activity 3 asks students to explain why they chose three things (by speaking or making a video), and Activity 7 has students write or copy sentences, providing additional practice producing full sentences.
Final Project
I Can Make A Difference
Students are given sentence starters in the Planning Section ("I am planning to __.", "The first thing I will do is __.", "Next I will __.", "Finally I will __.") that require them to compose complete sentences about steps. The Reflection Section provides sentence starters ("I helped __ with __. The thing I enjoyed the most was __. I felt __ when doing this project.", "I made my community a better place because __.") for students to write or speak full responses. The lesson also asks students to dictate their ideas while an adult records them and to answer project reflection questions, creating opportunities to produce oral or written sentences.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 1
Describe It
Students are asked to "tell you as much as she can" about an object in the Introduction and to describe each object aloud during Activity 1 (Guess What's in the Bag). Activity 2 asks students to think of and describe two ways items are similar and two ways they are different, prompting oral comparison. A note in the introduction tells students they should be able to "use [vocabulary] correctly in a sentence," and Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence that describes something from the bag.
Lesson 2
Animal Attributes
Students are asked to "explain" how two stuffed animals are alike and different, which requires verbal description. Students are asked to "describe how he knows which objects are living" after circling living things on the activity page. Students are asked to "identify the body parts he sees" and to "discuss how the animals use their different body parts," prompting spoken responses. The handwriting page invites students to "use the words in a sentence," explicitly asking for sentence production.
Lesson 4
How Does It Feel?
Students are asked orally to describe objects during the blindfold activity and to guess items based on those descriptions, which requires spoken description. Activity 1 has students describe selected objects first using attributes and then only using feeling words, prompting oral descriptions. Activity 3 has students write or copy a full sentence template ("______ feels _________") and the wrapping-up section models full sentences ("We jumped in the lake." vs "We jumped in the icy, cold lake and got wet.").
Lesson 5
How Old?
Students are asked to write questions for pictured people in both Option 1 and Option 2, and to record those questions on a separate sheet or in boxes beneath pictures. The lesson directs students to reread the questions, practice writing question marks, and reminds them that questions start with a capital letter and end with a question mark. Activity 4 asks students to copy/write a sentence with each "o" word, providing direct practice composing written sentences.
Lesson 6
The Measure of Things
Students complete written fill-in-the-blank sentences in Activity 1 (e.g., "The ________ is longer than the ________.") that require producing full sentences. Activity 6 asks students to write or copy a sentence using target words ("length" and "long"), providing explicit sentence-writing practice. Multiple prompts throughout the lesson ask students to describe, explain, and answer comparison questions (e.g., explain differences between length, weight, and capacity), which solicit spoken sentence responses.
Lesson 7
More Attributes
Students are prompted to explain what an attribute is and to describe ways to find similarities and differences, which requires verbal responses. Students are asked to name attributes of toys and to describe how toys are similar and different during wrap-up questioning. Students sort and discuss blocks and toys in activities, answering questions such as which toys go in each circle and describing attributes (e.g., "yellow and triangle").
Lesson 8
Amazing Attributes
Students are prompted to describe different types of measurements and to explain what a magnet is (Introduction and Activity 1), which requires verbal responses. The Activities repeatedly ask the child to "ask" and "explain" (e.g., predict and discuss magnetism; predict and compare sink/float results), encouraging spoken explanations. The Skills list includes "Use words that describe in speech and writing (LA)," and the Student Activity Page has spaces for students to write predictions and results.
Lesson 9
Solids and Liquids
The lesson repeatedly prompts the child to explain and discuss (e.g., "Ask your child to explain the difference" and "Ask what she observes" after the ice experiment), which requires verbal responses. Students are asked to brainstorm examples and to answer causal questions (e.g., what caused the ice to change), creating situations where they must speak. The activities include guided Q&A and discussion prompts that place students in task-appropriate speaking situations.
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
Students are prompted to complete sentence stems in the Prepositions activities (e.g., "The frog jumps ______ the lily pad," "The worm is _____________________" in Option 2), which requires them to produce whole sentences when filling blanks. The Reading and Questions sections ask students to answer direct comprehension questions aloud (e.g., "Can you name three solids...", "Describe the habitat of the pond"), giving opportunities for spoken responses. In Activity 7 students write properties and descriptions for the Earth Materials book (Dirt, Rocks, Water), which asks them to produce descriptive sentences on the pages.
Lesson 11
Using Earth Materials
The introduction asks the child to "describe the three Earth materials she explored in the last lesson," which requires oral description. Activity 1 asks the child to record or dictate all uses of water throughout the day, creating spoken or written reports. Activities 2 and 3 prompt the child to "think about," "discuss," and keep a list of findings, which involve speaking or producing statements about observations.
Final Project
Presenting Attributes
Students are asked to decide what they will say about each attribute and to practice giving a demonstration to an audience (Step 4 and Presentation), which requires producing spoken sentences. Students are instructed that they can use words and sentences on their poster and may dictate sentences to an adult for inclusion on the poster (Option 2, Step 3). Students practice by presenting their poster and describing each part aloud to an adult or group (Option 2, Step 5).
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 1
My Five Senses
Students are asked to dictate four sentences describing a sensing experience and are explicitly told, "Make sure she gives you her ideas in complete sentences," with teacher-led discussion of sentence parts (person/place/thing and action). Activity 4 requires students to write or copy a sentence (example: "I smell with my nose") about a sense and sense organ. The unit repeatedly instructs students to use vocabulary words correctly in a sentence and to answer oral comprehension questions about senses, prompting spoken sentence responses.
Lesson 2
Senses and Body Parts
Students are asked to name the five senses and give an example for each, which requires oral responses. In Option 2 students are asked to make up and tell a story aloud about Jackie and pause to glue a sense organ when she uses a sense, requiring sustained spoken narration. Activity 4 asks students to use the words "sense" and "see" in a sentence on the handwriting page, which has students produce written sentences.
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
Students are asked to describe experiences and ideas orally (e.g., answering questions about the Magic School Bus, describing how walking blindfolded felt, and explaining differences between blindfolded and non-blindfolded walks). Students are asked to listen to stories and then decide and describe the place being described, to describe what they hear on a listening walk, and to read their recorded descriptions aloud to others. Activity 8 asks students to write the words eyes and ears in a sentence, providing at least one explicit sentence-writing task.
Lesson 5
Touch
Students are asked to describe their Jell-O painting and give it a title, which requires spoken description (Activity 3). In the Feel It! game (Activity 4) students are blindfolded and asked to describe how each item feels and guess what it is, prompting verbal responses. The Handwriting activity (Activity 5) asks students to write the words touch and taste in a sentence, providing written sentence practice. The introduction and other activities prompt students to discuss senses and describe objects, encouraging spoken answers.
Lesson 6
Experimenting With Our Senses
Students are asked to tell a story about a time they ate or drank their favorite flavor, have that story recorded, and are encouraged to read it aloud (Activity 3). Students are asked to write or dictate and copy a sentence about something they smelled or tasted (Activity 4). Students are asked oral wrap-up questions (e.g., how senses help make decisions) that require spoken responses.
Lesson 7
Using All of Our Senses
Students are asked to answer questions aloud about the story (e.g., which senses the boy used and how) and to respond to post-walk prompts such as, "If someone asked you what you found on your walk, what would you say?". The lesson asks students to dictate their nature-walk findings to an adult and lists "Interact with reader when text is read aloud (questions, comments, and ideas)" as a skill. Activity 4 directs students to write or copy a sentence about something they observed on their nature walk, which requires sentence production in writing.
Lesson 8
Writing About Our Senses
Students are prompted to write or dictate and copy a sentence describing the popcorn (Activity 4), which requires producing a full sentence. In Activity 2 (A Sensible Report) students complete fill-in-the-blank sentences about popcorn sensations and are asked to attempt to read the report aloud. In Activity 3 (Sensing My Day) students are encouraged to produce one sensing word, phrase, or sentence for each of the five senses, giving multiple opportunities to create sentences tied to a task.
Final Project
A Sensible Party
Students are prompted to invite guests by telephone or email and to welcome guests as they arrive, which require spoken communication in real situations. Students are asked to lead games and describe activities to guests, providing opportunities to speak about plans and procedures. Students are asked wrap-up questions (e.g., "Did the party go well? Why or why not?"), prompting verbal responses about what happened and how senses were used.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 1
You're Special
Students are prompted to "use [vocabulary] correctly in a sentence" and to practice the vocabulary daily, which requires sentence production. Students are asked to fill in a paragraph on the "You Are Special" page, read their story aloud, and share it with others, which involves producing connected sentences. Activity 2 (Option 2) explicitly asks students to write a sentence with a number (example: "I am six years old.").
Lesson 2
Physical Characteristics
Students are asked to describe attribute blocks and a picture of themselves, prompting spoken descriptions of physical characteristics. Students must answer multiple oral comprehension questions and retell the "Different Friends" story in their own words, which require producing spoken responses. In Activity 3 students dictate a story with a beginning, middle, and end (recording one sentence for each), and in Activity 4 students write a sentence on handwriting paper: "I have ________."
Lesson 3
Different Personalities
The lesson includes explicit speaking and sentence tasks: Activity 4 tells students to practice the word quiet "or use the word in a sentence." Activity 1 asks the child to explain what each vocabulary word means, and Activity 2 asks the child to describe how he and a friend/sibling are alike and different. The lesson also asks the child to present the webs and "explain what they mean," which requires spoken explanatory language.
Lesson 4
Interests and Hobbies
In Activity 1 students are asked to dictate and then copy or write a few sentences that describe their hobby to someone who is not familiar with it, and later share that hobby with another person. In Activity 2 students dictate answers to the My Interest prompts and then teach a sibling or adult about their interest, providing opportunities for spoken explanation. In Activity 4 students are directed to use the words "you" and "yes" in a sentence as part of handwriting practice.
Lesson 5
Shapesville
Students are asked to explain ways people can be alike and different and to describe ways they are like or different from family members or friends. Students answer comprehension questions aloud after the story (e.g., "Did you enjoy the story? Why or why not?", "How are the shapes' personalities different?"). Students select a shape, explain why they chose it, dictate a short description of their personality and interests, and share their shape design and description with family. Students also write or copy a sentence on handwriting paper that describes an interest or personality trait.
Lesson 6
Different Families
The Skills section explicitly lists "Complete sentences (LA)," indicating students will produce full sentences. In Option 1 students complete written sentence prompts such as "My family is similar to a family from _______ because we both _______." Activity 3 asks students to "use the word in a sentence," and the Wrapping Up questions prompt oral responses comparing families.
Lesson 7
Different Homes
Students are asked to identify and describe different homes after reading pages 26–35, and to answer questions such as why people have homes and what they enjoy most about their house. The lesson includes speaking prompts: asking the child if he remembers what a natural resource is, asking why homes look different, and asking whether he would enjoy living in a different type of home and why. Activity 4 asks the child to write a sentence about his home, and several activities ask the child to describe or record country names and details around pictures.
Lesson 8
Different Holidays and Traditions
Students are asked to write three sentences explaining what they enjoy about their favorite holiday (Activity 3), with an option to dictate sentences while an adult records them and then copy them. The Book of Holidays activity requires each page to include "A sentence about the holiday" and provides two full-sentence example frames that students may copy or dictate. The skills list explicitly includes "Use new vocabulary in conversation and writing" and "Represent spoken language with temporary spelling," and the activities include discussion prompts (e.g., "What are the people celebrating?" "What types of activities are they engaged in?") that require verbal responses.
Lesson 9
Different Modes of Transportation
Students are asked to give examples and answer questions about transportation (Introduction), which requires spoken responses. Activity 1 asks students to talk about where they went after drawing a box around modes they have taken. Activity 3 directs students to tell a story about a trip and to read the recorded story aloud. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence about a mode of transportation.
Lesson 10
Wants and Needs
Students are prompted to describe and explain needs and wants (e.g., "Ask your child what animals need…ask her to describe what people need" and "ask her to explain her answer" after listing wants and needs). Students are asked to write or dictate reflective responses (e.g., "ask her to write about how it felt…She can dictate her ideas while you record them"). The handwriting activity explicitly asks students to "use the word in a sentence," and the Day 2 survey has students ask others to name items and report them, which requires spoken responses.
Lesson 11
Being Part of a Group
The activity 'Being Part of a Group' asks the child to complete a prompted paragraph with sentence starters (e.g., 'One group I belong to is ___.', 'The group does ___.'), and then encourages the child to read the paragraph aloud. Multiple sections pose direct questions (e.g., 'Which group would you be in?', 'Which group has the most people?') that require the child to respond. The lesson also prompts the child to dictate ideas to an adult to record, which can produce full sentence responses.
Final Project
Differences Make the World Go 'Round
Students are prompted to complete full sentence frames such as "I live in...", "I like to eat _______ from _______.", and "My hobby is _______." The materials instruct to "encourage her to write the sentences herself" and to "share it with her family," which asks students to produce sentences in a book and present them aloud. The activity pages repeatedly require students to write or draw responses in sentence form for location, food, hobbies, homes, clothing, transportation, holidays, and similarities.
3: Patterns
Unit 1: Identifying and Creating Visual Patterns
Lesson 1
What Is a Pattern?
Students are asked to write or copy three sentences on handwriting paper to describe a pattern using the sentence frames: "First, there is _____. Next there is _______. Then there is _________." Students are prompted in the "Do You See a Pattern?" activity to analyze rows and use the language "First, there is..., Next, there is..., Next, there is..." while pointing to each item. Students are also asked to explain the patterns they see (e.g., "Have you ever seen a pattern? Where?" and "Ask her to explain the patterns found on these pages"), which requires producing explanatory sentences orally.
Lesson 2
Recognizing Types of Patterns
Students are asked to explain how they decided whether objects make a pattern, prompting them to give oral explanations. Students are asked to explain the difference between an ABAB pattern and an AABB pattern and how to decide which one it is, eliciting spoken responses. Students are asked to write or copy a sentence on handwriting paper about the book Busy Bugs, producing at least one full written sentence.
Lesson 3
What Comes Next?
Students are repeatedly asked to explain and describe patterns aloud (e.g., "Ask your child to explain what it means…," "ask her what would come next," and "ask her to explain how she knows what would come next"). The teacher prompts require verbal answers to questions such as "What comes first in the pattern? Next?" and "What comes before __? What comes after __?" Activity 4 has students write or copy a full question sentence: "What do you see after the ________?" and reviews that question sentences end in question marks.
Lesson 4
Extending a Pattern
Students are asked to "copy or write a sentence on handwriting paper about a pattern he made today," giving direct practice producing a sentence in writing (Activity 4). Students are asked to "explain how he extends a pattern" during the Wrapping Up, which prompts spoken explanation. Students are asked to "answer questions about each pattern" (Activity 2) and to respond to prompts such as "what would come next" (Activity 1), which require verbal or written responses.
Lesson 5
Making Color Patterns
Students are asked to describe the patterns they create (e.g., after making caterpillar sticker patterns and necklaces). The lesson prompts the child to demonstrate her ideas and to describe patterns, which implies verbal description. Activity 3 asks the child to write or copy a sentence describing something she created today, so students practice producing at least one complete written sentence.
Lesson 6
Shapes and Patterns
Students are prompted to describe the order of shapes using full example sentences (e.g., "The first shape is a small circle. The second shape is a small square..."). Activity 3 explicitly asks students to write or copy a sentence about a pattern on handwriting paper. Multiple prompts ask students to describe patterns (e.g., describing caterpillar patterns, telling whether a set is ABAB/AABB/ABC), providing opportunities for spoken description.
Lesson 8
Creating and Writing About Patterns
Students are prompted to "describe each pattern" using sentence stems such as "First comes ___, Then comes ___, Next comes ___" on multiple activity pages. Activity 4 asks students to figure out a pattern and describe it (oral description), and Activity 7 asks students to write or copy two or three sentences that describe a pattern. Activity 5's "Describe the Pattern" page requires students to fill sequential lines (First to Eighth) and complete sentences like "________ comes before ________" and "________ comes after ________."
Final Project
Patterns Poster or Patterns Presentation
Students are prompted to write a "Script for Presentation" and "record the words she will use in her presentation," which requires composing sentences to describe each pattern. The activity pages include full-sentence stems such as "The third pattern I will show is a _____________," guiding students to produce complete sentences. Students are instructed to practice so that they "know exactly what they will say" and then present the seven patterns to an audience.
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 2
Making Word Patterns
Students complete sentences by filling blanks on the "It's Time to Rhyme" page (e.g., "The frog stood on the ___") and then read each completed sentence aloud. Students create a small book of rhyming sentences and are asked to come up with two of their own sentences that contain rhyming words, producing original sentences. Students are asked to write or copy a sentence with two rhyming words and to explain verbally how groups of words follow a pattern, prompting sentence use in different tasks.
Lesson 4
Sentence Patterns
Students are asked to read and recite model sentences aloud and to extend them (Introduction and Activity 1). Students make up and speak sentences about acted-out situations using their name or given nouns and verbs, and they are prompted to describe what someone is doing (Activity 2, Activity 5). Multiple activities require students to read sentences aloud, dictate sentences for copying, and produce sentences from noun/verb combinations (Activity 1, Day 2 activities, Activity 6).
Lesson 5
Story Patterns
Students are asked orally to describe their morning routine and to answer questions such as "What happened at the beginning/middle/end of the story?", which requires speaking in sentence form. Students are prompted to dictate a sentence to describe each event in the Story Pattern Boxes activities and to dictate and then attempt to read their own short story. Students also practice writing or copying a sentence from the story on handwriting paper, reinforcing sentence production across speaking and writing tasks.
Lesson 6
Sound Patterns
Students are prompted to describe patterns and name the sounds they hear (e.g., asking whether they heard a pattern, what type it was, and to name the two sounds repeated). Students are asked to "describe each part and the order of the pattern" and to "record the number of times each sound was made," which requires spoken or written explanations. The handwriting activity gives a model sentence starter for reporting a pattern ("I heard a pattern that went..."), prompting students to produce a complete written sentence about a listening task.
Lesson 7
Making Sound and Action Patterns
Students are asked in Activity 4 to write or copy a sentence on handwriting paper that describes a pattern they made. In the Wrapping Up section, students are prompted to answer what it means to have a pattern made from sounds and actions, providing an opportunity to speak about patterns. Activity directions also ask students to perform and check patterns, which could prompt short verbal explanations.
Final Project
Patterns Video
Students write or dictate scripted lines on four Video Script pages that use full-sentence prompts such as "This is a ___ pattern," "It is made of ___," and sequenced sentences beginning "First comes..., Then...". Students practice saying what they wrote or dictated, rehearse by pretending to be videotaped, and then record themselves explaining patterns (including reading words from books or poems and explaining the pattern). The activity requires students to describe where they found or made the pattern and to explain the parts and sequence of each pattern in spoken sentences.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 1
Patterns in Nature
The lesson repeatedly prompts the child to explain and describe patterns aloud (e.g., "Ask your child if she has seen a pattern outside. If so, let her explain the pattern."). After reading, the teacher/parent is instructed to ask the child questions such as "Were there any patterns that you had seen before? Which ones?" and "Can you think of any other patterns in nature that could be added to the book?" Activity 3 and the Wrapping Up section also ask the child to share which patterns are most interesting and to give examples of patterns found in nature. Activity 4 asks the child to write or copy a sentence from the reading on handwriting paper, providing written sentence practice.
Lesson 2
Patterns of Growth
Students are asked to "write a sentence that describes each picture" on the Plant's Pattern of Growth activity page and to "draw the plant every few days and write a sentence to record its growth." Students are asked orally to "describe the growth pattern of a plant and a person," to "guess his age in each picture," and to answer questions such as "what makes these animals' life cycles unique?" during discussions in Activities 4 and 5. Several prompts ask the child to identify and label plant parts and to explain observations, which require composing sentence-level responses.
Lesson 3
Night and Day
Students are asked orally to explain and describe: e.g., they are asked how they know when it is nighttime or daytime, to describe when it is daytime and nighttime during the globe/flashlight activity, and to explain the pattern of night and day. Students are asked to produce written or dictated sentences: on the "During the Day" and "At Night" pages they draw a picture and then "record or dictate a few sentences" that explain the activity.
Lesson 4
Daily Routines
Students are asked to dictate a sentence for each of four steps on the "A Routine for ______" activity, which requires them to produce spoken or dictated sentences about routine steps. Activity 4 explicitly asks students to "write or dictate and copy a sentence" describing one of their routines, prompting them to produce a sentence form. The introduction prompts discussion about routines ("Talk about some of your child's routines"), which can require students to speak sentences aloud.
Lesson 7
Patterns at Home
Students are asked to describe each pattern they find during the Pattern Scavenger Hunt, prompting spoken description of patterns. Activity 5 asks students to write or dictate and then copy a sentence that describes a pattern found in their closet, giving explicit practice producing a written sentence. Multiple prompts (naming shapes and counting sides, discussing quilt designs, answering questions about patterns) require students to respond in sentence form to provide information and clarification.
Lesson 8
Symmetrical Patterns
Students are asked to describe a butterfly's wing pattern and to say whether the wings look the same or different, prompting verbal description. Students are asked to tell which group of shapes has more and how many more, requiring an explanatory response. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a full sentence about a symmetrical figure ("______ has _________ lines of symmetry"), providing practice composing a complete sentence in writing.
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
Students are asked to tell their own story about clowns, keeping track of numbers as they add pairs, which requires them to speak in sentences (Activity 3). Activity 4 asks students to write or dictate and then copy a sentence about the clowns and to identify the subject and verb, as well as to begin with a capital letter and end with a period. The lesson skills list also includes 'Answer questions about a story read aloud,' which requires students to respond verbally. These elements explicitly prompt students to produce complete sentences in speaking and when dictating/writing.
Lesson 10
Tracing Patterns
The lesson asks the child to write or copy a sentence about his favorite holiday (Activity 4), providing an explicit written sentence task. Multiple activities ask the child to tell a story about objects he creates and to explain how to use a traced pattern or stencil, prompting oral explanations. Activity 2 asks the child to identify the holiday associated with each pattern and to count shapes, which requires verbal responses in context.
Lesson 11
Patterns in Graphs
Students are prompted to describe patterns aloud: they are asked to "describe any patterns in the graph," to "describe the pattern in the graph," and to "describe how to find patterns in graphs and charts." Students are also asked specific oral questions (for example, "What does this chart tell us?" and "How many types of people are on the chart?") that require spoken responses. In addition, students are asked to "write a sentence on handwriting paper" describing whether an object sank or floated, giving one explicit sentence-producing task.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 1
What Causes Change?
Students complete sentence stems on the "Write About a Change" page (e.g., "Once I saw __________ change." "__________ changed because __________.") and are asked to draw before/after and then attempt to read the paragraph aloud. Students are prompted verbally to explain what change means and to identify causes and effects, encouraging them to speak about observations. The skills list includes "Express ideas through writing and conversation," which aligns with practicing sentence production.
Lesson 2
What Changed?
Students are prompted to answer questions about changes in the book (Activity 1), which requires verbal responses. Activity 2 asks students to examine pictures and "record a sentence to describe each example," providing written sentence production practice. The Wrapping Up prompt asks students to explain the different ways change can happen and give an example of each type, which requires producing complete spoken sentences.
Lesson 3
Changing Position
The reading questions prompt the child to describe the cover and answer comprehension questions aloud (QUESTION #1 expects the response "We give them a push or a pull"). Activity 1 explicitly asks the child to locate words in the index and "write the sentence from the book that contains the word" and to "copy the two sentences," which requires producing written sentences. Activity 6 and the Wrapping Up prompt ask the child to explain why objects fall and to explain ways objects change position, which require spoken explanations that can be given as complete sentences.
Lesson 4
Changes in the Environment
Students are asked to "illustrate or write two sentences about a time when weather caused him to change his activity," and to "write or copy a sentence on handwriting paper about his favorite season," which requires producing sentence-level writing. The lesson also prompts students to "describe" and "explain" changes in the environment and to answer questions about the book, which requires students to produce spoken responses.
Lesson 5
Changes in Location
Students complete sentence frames on the activity pages (for example, prompts like "The cat is ___ the door") and can fill in or write full prepositional phrases in Activity 1 Option 2. In Activity 2 Option 2 students are encouraged to write simple sentences describing the mouse's location after moving the mouse to match sentences read aloud. In Activity 3 and the Wrapping Up section students record and speak three or four sentences describing relationships and describe locations when roles are switched.
Lesson 7
Living Things Change
Students are asked open-ended questions (e.g., "Ask your child what it means for something to be living," "Ask your child how she changes," and "Ask your child to give examples of changes that occur in animals"), which requires them to produce verbal responses. Students describe and explain changes (e.g., explain how and why the lizard changed, identify whether changes are fast or slow, and describe changes in size/number/shape/place). The skills list includes "Present dramatic interpretations of ideas presented in text," and one activity asks the child to write or copy a sentence describing how something changes in size.
Lesson 8
Plants and Change
Students are asked to answer direct questions (e.g., "What are some things plants are used for?" and "How are plants similar to and different from animals?") during the Reading and Questions section. Activities prompt students to discuss and explain (e.g., ask your child what he thinks will happen in the plant experiment and record his ideas, and ask him to describe what plants need in order to grow and change). The wrapping up step asks students to list parts of a plant and describe what plants need, which involves producing spoken or written statements.
Lesson 9
Heat Causes Change
The lesson repeatedly prompts the child to answer questions and describe observations aloud (e.g., "Ask your child if she has ever seen anything burn…ask her what burned and how it looked different," "Ask her how the ice is changing," and "Ask her to describe the batter" ). Activity 4 explicitly instructs the child to write or copy a sentence about something she observed on handwriting paper. Multiple activities require the child to explain causes and changes (e.g., explain why ice melts, what will happen to water, what caused the candle to change).
Lesson 10
Chemical Changes
Students are asked to explain how they made each decision after completing the 'Chemical or Physical Change' sheet, which requires them to speak about their reasoning. The Wrapping Up step asks students to describe the difference between a physical and a chemical change and to give an example of each, prompting spoken responses. The Introduction asks to "Discuss the difference" between physical and chemical changes, creating opportunities for oral explanation.
Lesson 11
People Change the Environment
Students are asked to brainstorm positive and negative environmental changes and to dictate their ideas while an adult records them, which requires oral expression. Students are prompted to describe each illustration, explain how it is changing the environment, and decide whether the change is positive, negative, or neutral, which asks for explanations. Students are asked to share ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle and to point out examples on a walk or with family, encouraging spoken reports or descriptions.
Final Project
Mobile of Change
Students are asked to discuss prompts (e.g., "What if you stayed the same age?" and "What if the weather were always exactly the same?") and to report daily on weather changes, which require spoken responses. The skills list includes "Use new vocabulary in speech and writing" and "Express ideas through writing and conversation," indicating planned oral expression. Students are asked to explain their mobile to family members and to answer wrap-up questions about which example is their favorite and what they learned, creating opportunities for spoken explanation.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Students are asked to rewrite complete sentences with correct capitalization in the "Capitalizing Names" activity (e.g., rewriting "chrysanthemum loved her name."). Students are prompted to answer reading questions and make predictions about the story, which requires producing responses in sentence form. Students are explicitly asked to "write a few short sentences about how the character changed" on the "Characters Change" page, requiring them to compose full sentences for a specific task.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students are asked to answer comprehension questions about Wemberly (e.g., whether she needed to be worried) and discuss the story, prompting spoken responses. Students are directed to combine pairs of short sentences orally using the conjunctions "and" and "but" and to say the combined sentence aloud. Students complete written activity pages that require them to write descriptions (e.g., "At the beginning of the story Wemberly was..." and "At the end of the story Wemberly was...") and to produce sentences using conjunctions, and they are asked at the end to use "and" and "but" in a sentence.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
Students practice combining short sentences orally and in writing in Activity 3 (Using "Or"), where they turn pairs like "You can have chocolate ice cream. You can have vanilla ice cream." into a single sentence using "or." Students write responses on the Tackling a Problem page where they describe their problem, explain why it worries them, and list steps to tackle it, which requires composing short written responses. Students also complete Character Change and Beginning/Middle/End pages that prompt them to produce descriptive phrases or responses about story events.
Lesson 4
Comparing Characters
Students are asked to dictate two story summaries of three or four sentences each, with one sentence for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the end. The "I Change" page directs students to "Think Write 3 complete sentences" describing themselves before and after solving a problem. Several question prompts (e.g., "How are the characters' situations similar?" and "What can we learn from both characters?") require written responses that invite sentence-level answers.
Lesson 5
The Raft
Students are prompted to discuss memories and answer teacher questions throughout reading (Day 1–3), requiring verbal responses to comprehension and opinion questions. Activity 1 asks students to select and copy two sentences containing the word "I," which has them produce full written sentences. Activity 6 and other discussion prompts ask students to explain idioms and describe characters, which provide opportunities for students to speak in complete sentences.
Lesson 6
Positive and Negative Change
Students are prompted to answer comprehension questions aloud about the rat (e.g., "How do you think the rat feels about himself?" and "How could the rat respond…"), which requires spoken responses. Students are asked to dictate a new ending to the story and the teacher is to record that ending, giving an opportunity to produce extended spoken language. In Activity 3 students are asked to "write or dictate a sentence or two to describe the change," and are encouraged to "share with his family" examples of change, which requires producing sentences in speaking or dictation tasks.
Final Project
My Own Story
Students are asked to dictate their story while an adult records it (Part 5) and then to have that text typed into an online storybook tool (Part 6), which requires producing sentences that convey beginning, middle, and end. The instructions tell students to stay on track explaining the problem and solution and to attempt to use interesting language to show how the character changed, implying sentence-level composition. The project culminates in students arranging text and images for a published digital story, an activity that requires composing utterances that function as sentences for readers.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 1
People and Families Change
Students are asked to write a sentence about one way they have changed (Activity 3). The Student Activity Page and Activity 5 require students to fill in sentence prompts such as "My family used to...", "Then ___ changed," and "The biggest change I see is ___," which asks students to produce written statements. Activity 6 and other activities ask students to record ideas, label names/ages, and read their ideas aloud, providing multiple opportunities to speak or read sentences aloud.
Lesson 2
Understanding Time
Students are asked aloud to name something that happened in the past, talk about something happening now, and think about something for the future. The lesson directs students to explain the difference between past, present, and future and to answer a list of spoken questions (e.g., "Were you born in the past, present, or future?" and other prompt questions). Several activities prompt verbal responses and discussion (e.g., telling dates, describing changes, and answering advanced questions about decades and centuries).
Lesson 3
Communities Change
Students are prompted to answer comprehension questions aloud (Activity 1: Where did the story happen? Who are the characters? What was your favorite part? When would you have most liked to visit Maple Street?) and to explain their answers (Activity 5: How would life have been different? What would have been hard?). Students are asked to describe communities and point out differences in transportation, clothing, homes, and activities (Activity 3). Students are asked to write a sentence about The House on Maple Street (Activity 7), and to say the phrase "chronological order" three times (Activity 2), providing spoken-language practice.
Lesson 4
Past and Present
Students are asked to tell a story about an adventure from a past time period and the teacher is to record the story as the student dictates it (Activity 2). Students are prompted to answer comprehension and comparison questions aloud about characters and time periods (Activity 3). Students are asked to dictate five clues about a time period (Activity 7) and to write a sentence describing how life in the past was different (Activity 8).
Lesson 5
Exploring the Past
The lesson asks students to "write one sentence about each element of culture" on the Cultural Presentation pages and to assemble a book to "give a presentation to the family and share what he learned," giving students opportunities to produce written and oral sentences. Activity 1 instructs students to "draw and write or dictate descriptions" of information from the book, which asks for phrasing of ideas. The timeline and presentation activities require students to organize and express information in sentence form for an audience.
Lesson 6
Predicting Future Change
Students are asked to "record a sentence" that describes one positive change and another that describes one negative change in Activity 2. Activity 4 asks students to write or copy a sentence on handwriting paper about a change in their life. Activity 3 has students dictate a description of a personal change and then attempt to read that description aloud, and the introduction asks students to provide brief descriptions of famous individuals' accomplishments.
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Activity 1 asks the child direct questions (e.g., "How would you describe this person?" and "What did this person do to make a positive change?") that require spoken responses. Activity 4 asks the child to write a sentence about a historical person, providing explicit sentence production in writing. The Wrapping Up prompts ask the child to describe what a biography is and to describe people from the past, which elicits oral sentence responses.
Final Project
My Past, Present and Future
Students are given sentence stems and prompted to write or dictate full sentences (for example, "In the past __________" and "Today __________") for each element of culture. Multiple activity pages require students to complete prompts that begin sentence frames such as "I was different because...", "My family was different in the past because ______", "In the past I did.../Now.../In the future I will...". Students are also asked to read through their book and present their pages to family, which requires producing oral sentences appropriate to the task.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Students are asked to read the Weekly Message #2 and to point to words and punctuation (periods and question marks). Students are asked to read the reader The Pig Can, read the title, describe the cover, and respond to the question "What do you think this book is about?" The teacher asks the child to explain her thinking about whether the pig and the cat can fit in the box, and models how to read a question with rising intonation.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
Students are asked to read the reader The Bug aloud and then answer comprehension questions such as "What is the bug able to do?" and "Why can't he do that?" (Activity 5.2). Students complete the "What's Missing?" page by writing missing words into sentences and then read each of the sentences aloud (Activity 5.3). Activity 1.1 directs students to identify sentences and point to punctuation marks, reinforcing sentence boundaries.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
Students use the Making Sentences card activity (Activity 5.3) to complete sentence frames and to create their own sentences from word cards. Students read and point to sentences on the "Reading Sight Word Sentences" sheet (Activity 3.1) and read the weekly message while identifying sentence end marks. Students are asked to read the reader aloud (Activity 5.2) and answer comprehension questions that invite sentence-length responses.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
Students read the Weekly Message aloud and are asked to identify sentence boundaries, punctuation, and to read the message again (Activity 1.1). Students read the reader Ducks Are Fun aloud and are asked comprehension questions that require an explanation (Activity 4.3). Students complete a sentence dictation task by writing sentences that are read aloud and then read those sentences back (Activity 5.3). The lesson also models short spoken phrases with numbers (e.g., "one dog, three dogs") when practicing plurals (Activity 3.1).
Lesson 6
Open Syllables and Digraph th
Students assemble cut-apart words into full sentences and read them aloud in Activity 5.1 (Forming Sentences). Students write sentences from dictation and read the sentences when finished in Activity 5.3 (Sentence Dictation). Students read the reader aloud and answer comprehension questions about names and pets in Activity 5.2.
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
Students practice sentence production in Activity 5.3 (Sentence Dictation) where they write full sentences that are read aloud (e.g., "The moth is on the dish.", "I chat with a fox in a hut.") and are reminded about capitalization, spacing, and ending periods. In the Sight Words and Reader activities students hear and read model sentences (e.g., "I root for the ___", "They are my favorite team") and are asked to read sentences aloud. The Life Application asks students to orally create and take turns adding words to make silly sentences that focus on initial sounds.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
Students complete a Sentence Dictation activity (Activity 5.2) in which they listen to full sentences, write them, are reminded to think about how sentences begin and end, and then read the dictated sentences aloud. In Activity 4.3 (Reader #8) students are asked comprehension questions (e.g., "Why are Meg and Dan no longer on the sled?" and "What would you want for a snack?") that prompt oral responses. The Weekly Message activity asks students to read the message aloud and read along, exposing them to full-sentence text.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
Students are asked to create sentences using the Making Sentences cards (Activity 5.1) and to read those sentences aloud to the teacher. In Activity 1.3 and the Wrapping Up section, students are prompted to use the sight words "have" and "had" orally in sentences and to explain the difference and use each word in a sentence. Activity 5.2 has students write dictated sentences and then read them when finished, and Activity 4.3 asks comprehension questions that prompt oral responses about the reader.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students read a short reader aloud (Activity 4.2 One Can) and are asked comprehension questions after reading. In Activity 5.3 students write three full dictated sentences, are reminded to think about how sentences begin and end, and then read the sentences when finished. The lesson repeatedly has students read or read-aloud phrases and sentences (reading the Weekly Message, reading dictated sentences).
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
Students complete a Sentence Dictation activity (Activity 5.2) in which they write four full sentences, think about how sentences begin and end, and then read those sentences aloud. During the reader activity (Activity 4.2) students answer comprehension questions about At Camp, which elicits spoken responses. The lesson's skills list explicitly includes recognizing the distinguishing features of a sentence.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
Students make up sentences using the sight words (Activity 1.3) and read those sentences aloud with the teacher. Students write a model sentence ("The bugs buzz.") with attention to starting with an uppercase letter and ending with a period (Activity 4.1). Students complete sentence dictation, write the sentences, and are asked to read the sentences when finished (Activity 5.2). Students are asked comprehension questions after reading the reader, which requires them to give spoken responses (Activity 4.3).
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students use the Making Sentences cards (Activity 5.2) to construct spoken sentences, with provided sentence starters and prompts to create their own sentences. In Sentence Dictation (Activity 5.3) students listen to modeled sentences, write them down, and then read them aloud. The reader comprehension questions (Activity 4.3) require students to answer prompts that invite full-sentence responses.
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) asks students to write specific sentences as the teacher reads them and then to read those sentences aloud, with a reminder to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end." The Life Application prompt explicitly invites students to "make up silly sentences" that begin with three-letter blends, asking them to produce original sentences. The Wrapping Up prompt asks students to share new words they can spell now, which prompts verbal sentence-level responses when the child is asked to explain or describe favorite new words.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
Students write full sentences from dictation (Activity 5.1) and then read those sentences aloud, attending to how sentences begin and end. Students answer comprehension questions about the reader (Activity 5.2), which elicits spoken responses. The skills list explicitly includes recognizing the distinguishing features of a sentence and several activities ask students to read the Weekly Message and other sentences aloud.
Lesson 16
R-Controlled Vowels (ar)
Students are asked to write specific sentences during Activity 5.3 (Sentence Dictation) and then read those sentences aloud, with an explicit reminder to pay attention to how sentences begin and end and that questions end with a question mark. In Activity 1.3 and Day 4, students are prompted to produce questions using sight words (which, what, when) and to answer comprehension questions (e.g., "What else might you find in a barn on a farm?"), requiring them to form oral question/answer sentences. Activity 5.2 (Guess My Word) and various reader activities require students to say and answer prompts, encouraging spoken sentence production in response to tasks.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Students write and then read aloud full sentences in Activity 3.2 (Sentence Dictation) — e.g., "The dogs slept in the yard." Students are asked to answer open-ended questions in Activity 4.1 (Which of these readers is your favorite? Why?) and to talk about what characters do, which requires spoken responses. Students are invited to share the reader they create in Activity 4.2, which asks them to present their own writing to others.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
Students write and read full sentences in Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) where they copy and then read sentences such as "Will you bake a cake?" and "The kids bike on the path." Students are asked to read the Weekly Message aloud and point to words, and to read the reader text (In the Fall) aloud to the teacher. Students are asked comprehension questions in Activity 5.1 (e.g., "What are some of the things that Lin and Dev like to do in the fall?") that prompt spoken responses.
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
In Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) students write two full sentences as the teacher reads them aloud and are reminded to pay attention to how sentences begin and end; then students read the sentences back. In Activity 5.1 students read a short reader aloud and answer comprehension questions about the story, which prompts them to produce spoken responses. The weekly message and reader rereading activities require students to read and follow multi-word sentences aloud.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
Students complete a Sentence Dictation activity in which they write two full sentences ("The red gem is huge." and "Many mice are in the cage."), pay attention to how sentences begin and end, and then read the sentences aloud. During the reader activity (These Mice) students are asked comprehension questions (e.g., "Why do you think the mice like their home?") that prompt spoken responses. The Weekly Message and other prompts (e.g., "What sounds do you know they make? Can you list some words…?") ask students to answer questions about the content.
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," indicating students practice sentence structure. Activity 5.3 (Sentence Dictation) has students write dictated sentences and reminds them to pay attention to how sentences begin and end; students then read the sentences aloud. The Wrapping Up section asks students to use each sight word in a sentence, requiring students to produce sentences for those words.
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
Students write words from a word bank into sentences on the Fill in the Blanks page and then read those completed sentences aloud (Activity 2.3). Students perform Sentence Dictation by writing given sentences and are reminded to pay attention to how sentences begin and end; they then read the sentences back (Activity 5.2). The Weekly Message and reader activities have students read sentences aloud and answer comprehension questions, providing additional opportunities to work with sentence-level text (Activities 1.1 and 5.1).
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
Students use Making Sentences cards (Activity 4.2) to assemble words into sentences and read them aloud, with sentence starters provided to support sentence construction. Students perform Sentence Dictation (Activity 5.2), writing full sentences as they listen and then reading those sentences back, with attention called to how sentences begin and end. The Spelling Test prompts include asking the student to use the word 'see' in a sentence, and students are reminded that words that begin with an uppercase letter should come at the beginning of a sentence.
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students write and then read aloud full sentences in Activity 5.3 (Sentence Dictation), where they copy sentences the teacher reads and then read them back. Students are asked to explain what they know about long i spellings to a family member in the Life Application, which requires producing oral sentences. Students answer comprehension questions after reading The Dark Night (Activity 5.1), providing opportunities for spoken responses to prompts.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
Students write and then read aloud two dictated sentences in Activity 5.2, with an explicit reminder to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end." Students read the Weekly Message (Activity 1.1) and read the reader The Slow Boat aloud (Activity 5.1), and are asked comprehension questions after reading. The lesson also prompts students to read the dictated sentences back to the teacher and to reread weekly message long o words.
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," showing students are directed to attend to sentence form. Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) has students write two full sentences as the teacher reads them, attend to how sentences begin and end, and then read the sentences aloud. Activity 1.3 models sight words in sentences (e.g., "Who has been to camp?"), and Day 5 (Activity 5.1) asks students to read a short reader and answer comprehension questions aloud.
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
Students write complete sentences during Activity 3.1 (The colts bolt. The snakes molt.) and Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation: The child is kind. The colt is blind.), with explicit instructions to attend to how sentences begin and end. Students are prompted to use sight words in sentences (Activity 1.3: take turns using each word in a sentence; Activity 3.1: use "most" in a sentence) and to read their dictated or written sentences aloud. The Skills list explicitly includes recognizing distinguishing features of a sentence, reinforcing sentence-level work.
Lesson 11
Long Vowel Sounds Review
Students complete Fill-in-the-Blanks pages by writing words into sentences so each sentence makes sense and then read those completed sentences aloud (Activity 3.1 and Day 5 Activity 5.3). Students read the Weekly Message aloud and point to words and sentence-level items (Activity 1.1). The Skills list explicitly includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and students are asked to talk about what they know about long-vowel spellings, which prompts spoken sentence-level responses.
Lesson 12
Other Vowel Sounds oi, oy
Students are asked to use word cards (including Set 5) to make sentences and read them aloud (Day 4, Activity 4.1). Students write sentences as the teacher dictates and are prompted to pay attention to how sentences begin and end (Day 5, Activity 5.2). Students answer comprehension questions about the reader and are asked to make up silly sentences using learned words (Reader #12 questions and Life Application).
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Students read aloud Weekly Message #13 and Reader #13 and are asked comprehension questions (Activity 5.1) that require oral response. Students are asked to explain sorting choices (Activity 2.1) and to answer questions such as "Where do you find ou and ow in words?" (Activity 2.2), prompting spoken explanations. In Activity 5.2 students write full sentences from dictation and then read those sentences aloud to the adult.
Lesson 14
Other Vowel Sounds aw, au
Students write and then read aloud complete sentences during Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation), where they copy and then read sentences such as "The kids draw." and "They haul rocks.". The lesson's Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and Day 5 Reader questions ask students to answer questions about the story, prompting spoken responses. Activity 1.1 (Weekly Message) also has students read whole sentences aloud as they follow along.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
Students are asked to "use each [sight] word in a sentence" after reading the sight words (Activity 1.3). Students complete the "Question Words" page by placing question words into blanks and are expected to create full questions such as "Where is the beach?" and "How do you bake bread?" (Activity 4.2). Students write sentences from dictation ("She took the hat off the hook." "The bread is good.") and then read them aloud (Activity 5.2).
Lesson 16
Silent Starts: kn, wr, gn
Students write and read dictated sentences in Activity 5.3, with instructions to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end" and then read them aloud to the adult. The Skills list explicitly includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence." After reading the reader (Activity 5.2), students are asked comprehension questions (e.g., "What do the gnats do to the kids at the playground?") that require spoken responses.
Lesson 17
Year-End Review
Students are asked to write one or two sentences about pictures in Activity 2.2 and then read those sentences aloud. The Skills section lists "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence" and the Introduction notes "Beginning and ending sentences," prompting students to think about how sentences begin and end. Several activities ask students to read sentences or their own written sentences aloud (for example, reading the Weekly Message and reading their written sentences).