First Grade - MATH
5: Math
Unit 1: Number Sense 1-20
Lesson 2
Numbers 1-5: Number Bonds
Students use number bonds (Activity 3 and Day 2 Activity 4) to place objects in two part circles and count the total in the large circle, answering questions such as "How many pennies are there in all?" Students use base-10 unit blocks and manipulatives to represent part-part-whole relationships (e.g., 4 and 1 make 5). In Activity 5 students make groups for the numbers 1–5, put groups in order, compare two groups, and answer which group is greater or less and "how many more" by lining rods up to see the difference.
Lesson 3
Numbers 1-5: Ordering and Comparing
Students color or write the number of objects for multiple themed rows (lions, camels, ostriches, giraffes, elephants) in Activity 1, showing they count and record how many are in each category. In Activity 3, students compare two groups using "greater than" and "less than" language and are asked to determine which set is greater or lesser. In Activities 5 and 6, students use counters, an abacus, or cubes to compare two quantities and answer "How many more?" (e.g., Kate has 5, Thomas has 3; students find the difference of 2).
Lesson 4
Numbers 6-10
Students cut out squares from the "Number Sort" sheet and glue items under the headings "Number," "Word Form," and "Picture," which requires them to organize items into three categories. The directions tell students to sort each number (1–10) by those three categories and place the numbers in the correct order, providing a concrete activity for representing data by category.
Lesson 5
Numbers 6-10: Number Bonds and Making 10
Students place objects into groups and count the number in each group (Activity 3 Part 1). Students place two groups side-by-side, answer which group is greater or less, and compute how many more one group has than the other (Activity 3 Part 2). In Fish Stories and the Story Problems activities, students represent categories with pictures (e.g., seahorses and sand dollars, spotted and striped fish), record the number in each category, and find the total.
Lesson 8
Reviewing Numbers 11-20
Students cut out coin images and glue them into small, separate groups on the "Coins I Know" sheet, organizing coin pictures, names, and values into sections for penny, nickel, and dime. The Student Activity Page is explicitly organized into three sections (1 cent, 5 cents, 10 cents) with dashed lines separating the categories. In Activity 2 the student is asked to compare two groups of coins (e.g., a dime and 4 pennies vs. 2 nickels and 4 pennies) and notice that the groups show the same amount of money.
Lesson 9
Ordering and Comparing
Students count and compare two physical groups of counters in Activity 4, writing each quantity on a sticky note and answering which group is greater or less. Students determine how many more items are in the larger set than the smaller set by comparing the two counted quantities. Students flip and compare pairs of numbered owl puppets in Activity 5 to decide which number is greater and to identify numbers that come between them.
Final Project
My Math Game
Students cut out and sort the "Do the Math!" cards into labeled groups (before and after, greater than and less than, number bonds, coin amounts, and counting by 2s and 5s). Students count how many cards are in each group and are told there should be three in each group. Students create a total of 30 cards, providing a clear total number of data points to work with.
Unit 2: Geometry
Lesson 1
What Are Attributes?
Activity 1 asks students to sort a full set of attribute blocks into groups based on what they look like (color, size, shape, thickness) and to name and explain each group. Students are prompted to sort the same set in another way (for example, first by color, then by size) and to describe how the blocks are the same and different using attribute vocabulary. The wrapping-up prompt also asks students to describe and compare attributes of people or pictures.
Lesson 2
Some Great Shapes
Students sort a handful of attribute blocks into groups based on color and are asked, "Which group has the greatest number of blocks?" and "Which group has the least number of blocks?" Students place shapes into two columns (happy/sad) to separate triangles from non-triangles and sort squares and circles into separate groups and color them differently on an activity sheet. Students also cut, sort, and glue shapes into labeled boxes (e.g., circles vs. squares; rectangles vs. triangles), practicing organization by category.
Lesson 3
More Work with Shapes
Activity 5 asks students to count specific shapes on pages (e.g., "How many _______ do you see on this page?") and to identify which shape appears most and which appears least. Activity 6 has students search their environment for shapes and implicitly collect counts of shapes they find. Day 3 prompts require students to name and count shapes and to answer comparison questions about frequency (most/least).
Lesson 5
Dividing More Shapes
Students cut out pictures and words and glue them into two labeled columns, "Halves" and "Quarters," during Activity 3, thereby sorting items into categories. The Student Activity Page uses shaded shapes and items (like pizza) that students place into these category columns, which requires them to organize visual items by type.
Lesson 6
Shape Play
In Activity 2 (Option 1), students assign a color to each shape in the "Shapes at the Beach" picture, color all instances of each shape, then count how many of each shape they found and write those counts at the bottom of the sheet. The "Shapes at the Beach" answer key lists counts for each shape (e.g., 12 Triangles, 6 Circles), indicating that students produce counts for each category. In Activity 1, players keep matched shape/object cards and the player with the most matches wins, which requires counting and comparing numbers of matches.
Lesson 7
3D Shapes
Students cut out picture cards and sort real-world objects into groups by 3D shape (cubes, cones, prisms, cylinders, spheres) in Activity 1. Students label groups with shape names, glue the sorted cards onto labeled construction-paper sheets, and store them in an interactive notebook. Students color matching shapes the same color across a page, reinforcing categorization by shape.
Final Project
Shape of Things Museum
Students collect physical artifacts that represent shapes and make index-card labels for shape names, then sort the artifacts into groups and label those groups (Part 3, Options 1 & 2). Students record the artifacts they found on the "Museum Artifacts" sheet, and visitors are instructed to sort items into the labeled groups. Students also lay items in a row and identify ordinal positions (Getting Started), showing practice with organizing items.
Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction to 10
Lesson 2
What Are = and 0?
Students compare quantities on small plates (Activity 1) by deciding who has more pretzels and by making the two plates equal and labeling them with an = sign. In Activity 2 students place three plates with different counts (e.g., 2, 5, and 0 pretzels) and are asked to point to the plate that has zero. Students also draw number cards and represent those numbers with pretzels, counting the number on each plate.
Lesson 3
Getting on Board with Addition
Students count and represent groups of objects in multiple activities: in Activity 2 (Animals on Board) they count animals on pages, answer which group has more pandas and how many more, and combine groups to find totals (e.g., "Five plus seven equals 12"). In Activity 3 and the Animal Addition pages students create addition sentences from pictured animal groups, counting how many are in each category and writing the total. In Activity 7 (Wristband Business) students sort beads by color, make wristbands with two colors totaling 10, and write number sentences showing the counts for each color and the total.
Lesson 5
Finding Differences
Students count and compare two categories when answering questions about Hugo's red and blue balloons (identify 6 red, note red and blue are equal, and write 6+6=12). Students model and solve "how many more/left" problems by hiding objects (start with 10, hide 4 and find 6 left; hide 8 and find 2 left) using counters, abacus, fingers, and writing number sentences like 10-4=6. Students draw pictures and use manipulatives to represent the two groups and solve unknown-addend problems such as 4+?=10.
Lesson 6
Adding and Subtracting to Solve Problems
Students use the Shopping pages that present three sections (top, middle, bottom) of store items and write a Cost $_____ for each section, so they compute totals for up to three groups. In both Option 1 and Option 2 students use play one-dollar bills to count and add the prices of items in these sections and solve budget scenarios (helping an elderly neighbor, hosting a friend) that require totaling selected items. Activity 2 has students record purchases on a whiteboard and compute change, reinforcing counting and totaling amounts for chosen groups of items.
Unit 4: Data and Graphing
Lesson 1
What Is Data?
Students practice collecting and recording counts using an abacus as they sit and observe an item for a set time and then report how many they counted. The lesson asks students directly "How many of the selected item did he count?" and prompts reflection with questions like "Are you surprised by your data? Is this what you were expecting?" The text also raises category examples (e.g., "how many blue cars versus white cars" or "how many girls versus boys") and asks students how they would keep track of such grouped data.
Lesson 2
Tally Sticks and Tally Marks
Students record and represent data using tally marks and a tally chart in multiple activities (Tallying Skittles, Rollin' Along, and Tallying Large Numbers). Students write the total number for each category on the Skittles chart and answer questions that ask how many of each color there are, which color occurred most/least, and whether there are more of one color than another. In the die-rolling activity students record outcomes in a tally chart and identify which numbers were rolled most and least often.
Lesson 3
Pictographs
Students create and read pictographs in multiple activities: they place Skittles into rows and draw pictures to represent counts (organize and represent data). In the bird-watching and favorite-foods activities students count how many items are in each category and answer questions about the total number of data points. In the car-count pictograph students identify which day has the most, the fewest, and which days have the same number (interpret and compare categories).
Lesson 4
Bar Graphs
Students collect and organize categorical data using tally charts, pictographs, and bar graphs (Activities: Tallying Skittles, Blank Skittles Pictograph, Ocean Bar Graph, Tallying Toys, Graphing My Toys). Students represent data by creating bar graphs (gluing colored squares, coloring boxes, or shading grid spaces) with labeled categories and numeric scales. Students answer questions about counts and comparisons, such as identifying which category has the most/least, finding totals (e.g., "How many fish are there altogether?"), and computing differences between categories (e.g., "How many more spotted fish than striped fish are there?").
Lesson 5
More Graphing Practice
Students match data cards to corresponding pictographs, bar graphs, and tally charts in Activity 1, organizing given datasets (e.g., Thomas' friends: vanilla 3, chocolate 5, peppermint 6) and labeling the graph types. Students pose and answer questions about category counts (example: "How many of Thomas' friends like vanilla or chocolate?") and discuss the answers. In Activity 2, students use counters to compare amounts, line them up to see who has more or fewer, and use addition or subtraction to find differences; they then record those counts and create a tally chart, pictograph, or bar graph to represent the data. The Wrap Up asks students to collect their own data (up to category choices) and pose questions like "Which is more? Which is less?" to interpret their graphs.
Final Project
The Animal Shelter Newsletter
Students are asked to identify and highlight numerical data in the articles (for example, "12 dogs, 6 rabbits, 10 cats, and 4 guinea pigs") and to record that data on provided sheets. They create tally charts with a 'Tally Marks' column and write the totals for each row, draw pictographs using animal icons (cutting and gluing if needed), and construct bar graphs on a grid labeled 1–12. Students also label graph axes or categories (animals or supplies) and match each article to a different representation (tally chart, pictograph, bar graph).
Unit 5: Addition and Subtraction to 20
Lesson 2
More About Addition
Students divide 10 counters into three groups, count how many are in each group, and create addition sentences such as 3 + 3 + 4 = 10. Students record the three group counts and the resulting addition sentence on the "Making 10 with Three" sheet. Students also compare totals on two plates to decide which plate is closer to 10 and count the totals for each plate.
Lesson 5
Addition Games and Crafts
Students keep score with tally marks in the Number Toss game, creating two categories (one per player) and comparing who has more tally marks at the end. In Climbing the Path, students roll dice, find sums, and color the stone that matches each sum, producing a record of outcomes by sum-value categories. In Party Paper Chains, students lay colored strips side by side and create labels that show the addition sentence for each chain (e.g., 5+5+5=15), representing counts by color.
Lesson 7
Problem Solving
Students read and interpret the provided "Zoo Animals Bar Graph," answering questions such as which animal is most/least and identifying animal categories. Students create number sentences and compute sums and differences from the graph (e.g., 10 + 5; 5 + 8 + 6) including a problem that asks for the total of three categories. Multiple problems ask comparative questions that require finding "how many more" between two categories (e.g., bears vs. lions, lions vs. hippos).
Unit 6: Time
Lesson 1
What Is Time?
Students are asked to sort time-related vocabulary into groups in Activity 1 ("Invite your child to put the words in different groups, and ask him to describe his groups"). Students divide a set of daily-activity cards into two groups (before noon / after noon) in Activity 4. The activity instructions also include cutting and placing "I Use Time" cards, which involves selecting and organizing cards that match prompts about people who use time.
Lesson 3
Half Hours
Students are instructed to make two stacks of addition flashcards to show which facts they know quickly and which they need to work on, which has them sort items into two categories. In Activity 4 students cut out analog and digital time cards and place matched pairs to the side as they find them, which has them group cards by matching times. Sequencing and concentration activities require students to handle and organize sets of time cards (cutting, ordering, and matching).
Lesson 5
More Work With Time
Students create three columns labeled "morning," "midday," and "evening" and cut out nine images to place under the appropriate column, explaining their thinking as they sort. Students also place activities into labeled boxes for lengths of time (seconds, minutes, hours, days) on the "It Takes This Long" page, organizing activities by category. These tasks require students to group items and represent them visually in category columns or boxes.
Unit 7: Place Value
Lesson 3
Tens
During reading, students count the nuts, berries, and seeds that the bears collect, explicitly identifying three categories of items to count. In Activity 1, students make tally marks for objects they choose, group tally marks into tens, circle groups of ten, and answer "How many groups of ten?", "How many are left over?", and "How many of the object did you count in all?". Students also represent counts using base-10 blocks and the abacus to show groups of tens and ones.
Lesson 6
More Work With Tens and Ones
Students cut out two-digit numbers and glue them into boxes on Sorting Numbers sheets labeled by place-value criteria (for example, "5 in ones place" and "3 in tens place"), which requires them to sort numbers into categories. Students color squares on the Place Value Quilt according to place-value clues (e.g., color squares blue if there is a 5 in the ones place, yellow if there is a 3 in the tens place), which requires them to organize and visually represent numbers by category. Students fill empty squares in gumball-machine style templates to show specified counts for ones or tens, representing numbers within categories.
Lesson 12
Comparing Numbers
Activity 1 (Option 1 and Option 2) directs students to sort a set of number cards into two groups ("Greater than 50" vs "Less than or equal to 50") or three groups ("Less than or equal to 30," "Between 30 and 60," "Greater than or equal to 60"). The activities explicitly have students place number cards under the category headers and leave the groups in place for later use.
Unit 8: Measurement
Lesson 2
Getting Started With Length
Students sort and record objects into three explicit categories labeled "shorter," "about the same size," and "longer" on the "Measuring With My Foot" activity page, writing or drawing items they find in each column. Activity instructions ask students to trace a shoe, cut it out, and then find and place objects into those three categories, and then answer questions about the shortest and longest objects they found. The student activity page layout provides spaces for organizing items under the three category headings.
Lesson 4
Working With Height
Students draw and place family members in order by height and write their names, then answer questions such as "Who is the tallest?" and "Who is the shortest?" Students are asked to count and report "How many people are taller than you are?" and "How many people are shorter than you are?" Students measure multiple family members' long and high jumps and compare who has the longest and highest jumps.
Lesson 6
Temperature
Students sort items into 'hot' and 'cold' categories by placing sticky notes on objects around the house (Activity 2). Students match six clothing items to thermometers by circling the thermometer that corresponds to hot or cold on the "Hot or Cold?" activity page. These activities require students to distinguish and classify items based on temperature, giving explicit practice with categorization into two groups.
Lesson 8
Thinking More About Measurement
Students cut out words and pictures from the "Measurement Words" and "Measurement Tools" sheets and place them onto four labeled construction-paper categories (length, weight, time, temperature). Students glue the sorted words and pictures onto the papers and store them in an Interactive Notebook, creating a visual representation of items grouped by measurement type. The activity asks students to decide which pictures and words "go best" with each category, requiring them to organize examples into groups.
Unit 10: Skills Review
Lesson 1
Reviewing Addition and Subtraction
Students cut out and sort number sentences into labeled boxes (for example, three-box pages labeled 4, 5, and 6 and another with 8, 9, and 10), organizing equations by their results. Students solve each sentence and place them into the correct category and are told that each box should contain 4 number sentences, which requires counting how many items are in each category. An answer-key image groups multiple equations under headers representing the same result, reinforcing grouping by category.
Lesson 6
Reviewing Geometry
Students divide and color shapes on the activity sheet and are asked which figures they divided into halves versus fourths, providing practice classifying shapes by fraction categories. Students are asked to count shapes in images they create (for example, how many squares and how many triangles), which gives practice counting items in different categories. Students use coloring to distinguish parts and categories after dividing shapes, which supports identification of category membership.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 1
Letter Sounds Review I
Students are asked to find and count specific letters in the Weekly Message (Activity 1.2: point to letters s, m, f, and a and report counts: s=6, m=1, f=0, a=10). In Activity 3.1 students are asked to locate sight words in the message and answer how many times 'and' (3) and 'a' (1) appear. Multiple activities require students to point to items in a text and state how many of each category they find.
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Students are asked to find and count letters in the Weekly Message (Activity 1.2 asks "How many can she find of each letter?" and provides counts r=8, b=1, l=6, i=5). Students sort word cards into word-family categories (Activity 3.3 and Day 4 require cutting out words and placing them under the correct family such as at vs. ap or it/in/ig/ip). Multiple student activity pages require students to group words into labeled columns (e.g., word-family columns) and to write the initial or ending letter for pictured items.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
Students sort pictures by vowel sound in Activity 2.2, cutting out images and placing them in the correct box for short /o/ or short /u/. Students sort word-list cards into word-family columns (ut, un, ub, ug and ot, op, og, ob) in Activities 3.3 and 4.2, placing words under the correct family headings. Students count all of the words they created on the laminated writing page in Activity 3.2 and place letter/sight-word cards into two stacks (known vs. needs practice) in Wrapping Up.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
Students identify pictures on the Short Vowel Sort pages, cut them out, and place each picture in the correct vowel box (short a, e, i, o, u), which has them organize and represent items by category. Students glue the pictures into the boxes after checking their work, producing a physical representation of categorized items. In Building Words, students are prompted to count all of the words on the laminated writing sheet, showing they can determine a total number of items in a set.
Lesson 6
Open Syllables and Digraph th
Students sort words into two columns labeled open and closed syllables (Activity 2.1), placing words like he/hen, so/sob, no/not, hi/hit into the appropriate column. Students sort pictures into three columns for the initial/ending sounds t, h, and th by naming each picture and gluing it into the correct column (Activity 4.1). Students also build and read word lists that are grouped by the targeted phonetic categories (Activity 4.2).
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
Students sort pictures and words into columns labeled by digraphs (Activity 2.2 Picture Sorting and Activity 4.1 Consonant Digraph Sorting), cutting and gluing pictures under ch, sh, wh, and ph. Student activity pages and word lists require students to name each picture or read words and place them in the correct digraph column. Students read each column aloud after placing items, showing they organize and label categorical groupings of items.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
Students cut out pictures and place them into columns labeled with specific s blends (e.g., st, sm, sn; sk vs sp; sl vs sw), organizing words by their beginning sounds. Several Student Activity Pages provide blank columns or balloon-headed columns for students to sort images into the appropriate blend category. Students are asked to say the words in each column and glue the pictures when their sorting is correct.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
Students cut out pictures and place them in labeled columns to show their beginning blends, explicitly sorting items by initial blend. Several Student Activity Pages present three-column graphic organizers headed with blends (gl, pl, cl and bl, sl, fl) and ask students to put pictures into the correct columns and say the words in each column. The activity directions state students will organize pictures across those columns to show beginning blends.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students cut out pictures and place them in columns labeled with beginning r blends (Activity 1.2: "cut out the pictures and place them in the correct columns" and the Student Activity Pages showing three-column organizers labeled cr/br/dr, fr/gr, pr/tr). In Activity 4.1 students decide where to write each dictated word based on its beginning blend, creating lists under blend headings. The materials include multiple graphic organizers with three columns for sorting words or pictures by blend.
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
Students cut out pictures and place them in columns labeled for ending blends (nd, mp, lf, nt) during Activity 3.2, showing they can sort items into categories. Multiple Student Activity Pages provide organizers with separate columns or balloons headed nd/mp and lf/nt for students to put pictures or write words under each blend. Day 4 asks students to read all the words on the nd, mp, lf, and nt pages, reinforcing that students group words by category.
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students cut out word cards and place each word into labeled columns for word families (e.g., ang, ing, ong, ung and ank, ink, onk, unk) in Activities 2.2 and 3.2. Student activity pages show explicit sorting tasks with two-column and four-column charts (ang | ing, ong | ung, ank | ink, onk | unk). In Activity 5.1 students listen to words and point to the ending they hear (ng or nk), effectively assigning items to categorical bins.
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Students cut out and place words into columns headed by three-letter blends (scr, str, spr, spl, squ, shr, thr) in the Word Sort activities, and they read the words after sorting. Several activity pages explicitly direct students to categorize words by their beginning sounds (multiple pages show columns with blend headings and lists of words to sort). The Fill in the Blanks and word-building tasks also require students to match words to specific beginning-blend categories.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
Students cut out word cards and place them in columns labeled by ending blends (Activity 3.2: Word Sorting More Ending Blends), organizing words such as pact, left, milk, and felt into columns for ct, ft, lk, lt, etc. Several student activity pages provide three-column sorts explicitly labeled ct, ft, pt and other two-column sorts (ld/lk, lp/lt), requiring students to group words by ending sound. Students also read the sorted words aloud after they glue them into the correct columns.
Lesson 16
R-Controlled Vowels (ar)
Students cut out and place words into labeled columns in the Word Sort activities (e.g., columns headed r, rm, rn and other columns for rd, rk, rp, rt, rf), organizing words by their ending sounds. Students read the sorted words aloud and glue them to the pages, thereby representing word-group data in columned categories. The student activity pages explicitly present three-column layouts for sorting, so students practice grouping items into up to three categories.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
Students sort pictured words into columns labeled short vs. long vowel (Activity 2.1 and Activity 3.1), cutting and gluing images onto the correct column on the "Short and Long a" and "Short and Long i" pages. Students also respond to spoken words by raising a hand or standing when they hear the long vowel sound, indicating classification of items by sound. The instructions repeatedly ask students to place images in the correct category (short a/long a, short i/long i).
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
Students sort pictured words into columns labeled short vs. long vowel sounds (for e, o, and u) by cutting, placing, and gluing images into the correct column (Activities 1.2, 2.1, 3.1). Students write and place words into columns for vowel categories (two-column laminated sheet and a four-column long-vowel writing page in Activity 3.3). Students use labeled sections to represent categories (e.g., Short and Long e/o/u pages and the four long-vowel columns).
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
Students sort words and pictures into labeled columns (e.g., Hard/Soft c, Hard/Soft g, long vowel columns) by cutting, placing, and gluing items on student activity pages. Students write words into category boxes (the "Writing c and g Words" page) and use column headers to organize items by sound. Several activities require students to place images or words into the correct columns, providing a visual representation of categorized items.
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
Students cut out and place words into three labeled columns (er, ir, ur) in Activity 3.1, organizing words by r-controlled vowel spelling. The Student Activity Pages include a three-column sorting grid labeled er, ir, and ur, and other activities ask students to sort or fill blanks using given vowel combinations (ar, er, ir, or, ur).
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
Students sort words into columns on multiple activity pages (for example, the "ai Word Sorting" pages and the three-column page labeled aid/ail/ain), cutting and placing or listing words under category headings. Students also group words by endings on the Long a Silent e activity pages (ake, ate, ace, ape, ame, age, ane, ale). These tasks require students to organize word items into labeled categories.
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
Students cut out word cards and place them on separate "Short e" and "Long e" pages (Activity 1.2), grouping words by vowel sound and gluing them in place. In Activity 2.1 students use three different highlighter colors to mark ee, ea, and ey spellings on the Long e page, effectively sorting words into three categories. The teacher asks students questions such as "Which long e spellings appear most?" and has students read words after grouping them.
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students sort words into labeled columns (ide, ice, ike, ime, ipe, etc.) on multiple "Long i Word Sorting" and "Long i with Silent e Word Sorting" activity pages, cutting and gluing words into the correct category. Students pick up sight-word cards with long vowels and place them into groups by vowel sound (/ā/, /ē/, /ī/, /ō/, /ū/) in Activity 2.1. Students also use three-column graphic organizers (e.g., ide/ice/ike and ime/ipe/ine and ire/ite/ive) to organize words by spelling pattern.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
Students sort words by vowel sound (Activity 1.2) into 'Short o' and 'Long o' pages and glue them, demonstrating organization into categories. In Activity 2.1 students use three highlighter colors to mark ow, oa, and oe spellings and are asked, "Which long o spellings appear most?" with the teacher noting that oe appears less often. In Activity 4.2 students cut out long-o words and place them into multiple titled groups based on ending sounds (ope, oke, ote, oat, etc.), explicitly organizing words by category.
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
Students cut out word cards and place them into labeled columns (u_e, ue, ew, ou) in Activity 4.1, physically sorting long u words into spelling categories. Multiple student activity pages show blank column sections for u_e, ue, ew, and ou where students write or glue words. Students also manipulate letter cards to form words in the Word Scramble, reinforcing categorical spelling patterns.
Lesson 11
Long Vowel Sounds Review
Students sort words into labeled columns (e.g., Activity 2.2: Long a Word Sorting has three columns a_e, ai, ay and asks students to place and glue words into the correct columns). Activity 1.2 has students match spellings with example words and place each pair into vowel sound columns (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). The Student Activity Pages include multi-column sorting pages (including a three-column page labeled a_e, ai, ay) that require students to organize items by category.
Lesson 12
Other Vowel Sounds oi, oy
Students sort words into labeled columns (ō, oi, oy) in Activity 2.2 and place cut-out words into the correct three-column chart. In Activity 2.1 students write lists of oi and oy words under separate headers and place words in middle/end columns, and in Activity 1.2 students write words into two columns labeled "short o" and "long o." These activities require students to organize and represent words by category (up to three categories) on a page.
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Students cut out and sort words into groups in Activity 2.1, choosing categories and explaining their reasoning. Activity 2.2 has a three-column graphic organizer (OW = ō, OW, OU) where students read words and place or glue them into the correct column. Activity 3.1 has students highlight words in different colors to mark ou versus ow, representing categories visually.
Lesson 14
Other Vowel Sounds aw, au
Students sort word cards into groups and explain their groupings (Activity 2.1). Students place words into a three-column graphic organizer labeled aw, au, and o and glue them into the correct column (Activity 2.2). Students also highlight aw and au in words using two colors (Activity 3.1) and use the sorted page for subsequent spelling and reading activities.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
Students cut out and sort pictures and words into two groups for oo (Activity 1.2 and Day 2 Word Sorting) and into three groups for ea (Activity 3.1 and Activity 3.2). Students label columns (e.g., 'book' vs 'moon', 'eat' vs 'bread' vs 'steak'), place words/pictures into those categories, and glue or record their sorted items on activity pages. Students answer identification questions about which group shows a particular sound (e.g., "Which group has the long e sound?").
Lesson 16
Silent Starts: kn, wr, gn
Students cut out word cards and place words into groups based on vowel sounds (Activity 4.1). Students sort the same word set into three vertical columns labeled gn, kn, and wr, reading the words aloud as they place them and gluing them when finished. The Student Activity Page explicitly provides three columns for gn/kn/wr, so students organize words into those three categories.
Lesson 17
Year-End Review
Students sort words into labeled columns on the "Long Vowel Sounds Sorting" pages, placing each word in the correct vowel-sound category and gluing them down. In the "Which Words?" activity students search the word list to identify words that fit specific categories (e.g., FLOSS rule, long o, glued sounds, consonant blends, silent starts). These tasks require students to organize and represent words by categorical features.