First Grade - ELA
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 3
Guide to Animal Habitats
The lesson explicitly tells the adult to "Review the definition of the word 'environment'" and asks the child to describe the environment in which she lives, which has students practice clarifying a word's meaning. The introduction also includes oral questioning prompts (e.g., "What do you think this book is about?", "Who do you think this man is?"), and the skills list includes "Listen to and answer questions about text read orally," which requires students to answer questions about the text.
Lesson 4
Animals Live and Grow
The Day 2 reading includes a specific question asking "What is 'Nana's rain'?" and expects the student to answer that the phrase refers to the garden hose Nana is spraying, which requires clarifying meaning of a phrase in the text. Activity 2 introduces and defines vocabulary terms ("consumer" and "energy source"), asks students to identify examples from habitats, and has students label/cut-and-paste consumers and energy sources on activity pages, which engages them in answering questions about word meanings. The reading questions (e.g., Why did they wait to plant? Why give plants a drink?) prompt students to explain phrases and actions from the text in their own words.
Lesson 5
Discovering Animal Habitats
Students are asked to read habitat names from a word box and label pictures (Activity 1 Option 2) and to add first and last letters and attempt to sound out scrambled habitat words (Activity 1 Option 1). In Activity 2 adults ask students questions about habitat names and explicitly explain the meaning of the word "aquatic" as "habitats under the water." The lesson also directs students to read captions on National Geographic slideshow pictures to identify animals, which requires reading words in a text.
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 1
Reading the Skies
Students match weather vocabulary to pictures (Activity 2) and are asked to dictate or write sentences using each vocabulary word, which asks them to connect words to meanings. The unit requires daily review of vocabulary and directs students to describe each vocabulary word and use it correctly in a sentence. Students are asked to describe sky conditions and label weather on a calendar, reinforcing word-to-referent connections and usage in oral and written responses.
Lesson 2
Types of Precipitation
Students are asked to read the words for types of precipitation and label or match them to pictures (Activity 2, Options 1 and 2), which has them use text labels and picture context to connect word forms to meanings. The Facts and Definitions section explicitly defines key vocabulary (precipitation, rain, prediction, symmetry), and students are prompted with comprehension questions after reading (e.g., "What habitats did you see…?"; "Did you learn anything new?"). In Activity 4 students are asked to describe what is happening and to record a prediction, linking a description of rain formation to the term 'condense' through guided questioning.
Lesson 4
Simulating Weather
The Weather Song activity asks students to read the words aloud and to follow along by pointing to each word, and the teacher prompts include specific questions such as "Can you find the word clouds?" "How many letters are in the word clouds?" and "Can you find the word rain?" The directions tell the adult to ask these questions and provide hints if the child needs them, and to have the child point to words while singing.
Lesson 8
Summer
The lesson lists the skill "Use new vocabulary in speech and writing" and provides picture-word prompts (pool, hot, trip, beach, swim) that students must use to fill blanks in a short passage, requiring them to choose words that fit the context. Option 2 asks students to read the completed story aloud and to copy or write the first letter of words, and Activity 3 requires students to place season names beneath temperature labels, which involves matching words to contextual cues. The teacher prompts (e.g., "When there is a blank in the story, he can decide which word fits best") direct students to use context to select appropriate vocabulary.
Final Project
Weather Games
Students match written weather and season words with pictures in the Weather Memory activity, directly connecting word forms to meanings. The lesson lists a skill to "Use new vocabulary in speech and writing," and asks the child to read Whatever the Weather aloud and to reread pages of Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today?, providing opportunities to encounter vocabulary in text. The Weather Forecast organizer asks questions that require children to name sky conditions, precipitation, temperature, and clothing, prompting use of weather-related terms in speaking.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 1
On the Town
In Activity 2 (Options 1 and 2), students read sentences and select or fill in community vocabulary words, using sentence context to choose the correct word. The lesson requires daily vocabulary review and asks students to describe each vocabulary word and use it correctly in a sentence. After reading the story, students answer questions such as "What is a community?" and "Why did Charlie write down the places...," which prompt them to explain word meanings like "community."
Lesson 4
Goods and Services in the Community
Students are prompted to read the names of buildings, goods, and services and to sound out words and circle beginning letters, providing practice with word recognition. Students cut out and match building labels to corresponding goods or services, linking words to pictured meanings. Students are asked to describe goods and services, explain why people have jobs, and participate in discussions (e.g., bartering), which involves responding to questions about concepts and vocabulary like "goods" and "services."
Lesson 7
A Citizen with Character
The lesson provides explicit definitions of key vocabulary (respect, responsibility, kindness, honesty) and prompts students to explain what those words mean. In the Respect activity, students read short scenarios in text and decide whether each is "respectful" or "disrespectful," applying word meaning to context. The Kindness Award activity requires students to judge pictured actions as kind/neutral/unkind and explain why, using the vocabulary in context.
Lesson 8
Rules and Laws
Students are asked to define and discuss the word "rule" ("Ask your child what a rule is") and are given Facts and Definitions that define "rule" and "law," which students can read and reference. Students read sentences aloud in Activity 1 and read or listen to the story "The House with No Rules," then answer comprehension questions about the story's content. In Activity 2, students read items aloud and decide whether each statement is a rule, a law, or both, which requires them to interpret the meaning of short phrases.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 3
Size, Shape, and Color
Students are prompted to "discuss some of the terms" they use when describing objects and to "review the names and outlines" of shapes and the listed definitions (circle, square, rectangle, etc.). The activity page lists shape names with visual representations and asks students to write or draw example objects, requiring them to connect words with referents. The color activity asks students questions (e.g., "what makes purple?") that require answering vocabulary-related questions about color mixing.
Lesson 7
More Attributes
The materials prompt an adult to "Ask your child to explain what an attribute is," and include guided questions asking the child to describe similarities and differences using attribute vocabulary. The Student Activity Page has handwriting practice for the word "Venn" and the activities use index cards labeled "yellow" and "triangle," asking the child to place or sort blocks that match those word labels. Activities require the child to find items described by two-word attribute phrases (e.g., "red and thick," "yellow triangles"), prompting use of word meanings to complete tasks.
Lesson 8
Amazing Attributes
Students are asked to define and discuss key vocabulary (magnet, magnetic, sink, float, density) in the Facts and Definitions and during activities. The lesson prompts oral questions such as "Ask your child what a magnet is" and directs discussion of the term "density" after watching the video. The Skills list explicitly includes developing and using vocabulary and using descriptive words in speech and writing.
Lesson 9
Solids and Liquids
Students are asked whether they have heard the words "liquid" and "solid" and to explain the difference, prompting them to ask and answer questions about those vocabulary words. Students write down formal definitions on the "Solid or Liquid" page and then brainstorm and sort examples (from magazines, images, and the activity page) to clarify meaning. Students respond to prompts about observations (e.g., what happened to the ice cube and what caused the change) that require explaining meaning related to the target terms.
Lesson 10
Earth Materials: Rocks, Soil, and Water
The lesson asks students to use the book's glossary (Activity 2) and explains that bold words are defined there, so students locate and read definitions for important words. In the prepositions activity (Activity 5) students complete sentences using prepositions in context and are encouraged to try different prepositions and prepositional phrases to clarify meaning. The Skills list also includes that students should "know and use various text features" and "ask and answer questions about what a speaker says... to gather additional information or clarify something," which gives a basis for practicing clarification.
Unit 2: Senses
Lesson 1
My Five Senses
Students read and engage with a "Senses Word List": an adult reads through each word, and students copy each word three times and are told they will find these words in the book. Students are encouraged to refer to the Senses Word List when they encounter the words in the text and to review vocabulary daily. Students are asked to describe each vocabulary word and use it correctly in a sentence, and to write or copy sentences about a sense and sense organ.
Lesson 4
Hearing and Seeing
Students are asked and answer comprehension questions during a read-aloud of The Magic School Bus (e.g., What happened when the bus driver flipped the green switch? Whose nose did the bus travel into?). Students are taught and given direct definitions for specific words (blind, deaf) and are asked to label and place vocabulary terms for parts of the eye and ear on diagrams. Students listen to short audio descriptions and decide the place being described, and are asked to describe and read back their own sound descriptions aloud.
Lesson 5
Touch
The lesson prompts an adult to ask the child what the word "texture" means and reminds the child that texture is the way something feels, which elicits a question-and-answer about a word meaning. Students are asked to write opposites of words, select or generate adjectives to describe objects, and mark descriptive boxes on a chart, all activities that require them to identify and apply word meanings. Handwriting and vocabulary practice (writing the words touch and taste) further reinforces understanding of specific sensory words.
Lesson 8
Writing About Our Senses
Students read or listen to descriptive clues in the "Sensing Logic" activity and mark/eliminate pictures until they identify the item that matches the clues, using clue phrases (e.g., "I make a loud hissing noise"). Students fill in sensory-word blanks and draw before/after pictures in "A Sensible Report," then attempt to read the completed report aloud, linking words/phrases to sensory experience. Students also identify and record sensing words in "Sensing My Day" and are asked to look through books to identify authors' sensing words, which has them locate descriptive words and phrases in texts.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 3
Different Personalities
Students are asked to read a list of vocabulary words, attempt to sound them out, and explain what each word means, with the prompt "Ask him to explain what each word means." Students are prompted to circle first and last letters and identify letter sounds when they cannot read a word, giving them strategies to work with unknown words. Students pick and use personality words to describe themselves, peers, and characters, and are instructed to use new vocabulary in conversation and writing.
Lesson 6
Different Families
The lesson provides explicit vocabulary explanation: adults are instructed to explain the meaning of "responsibility" and to explain "health" as a basic need (including vaccines and doctor access) while reading A Life Like Mine. Students are asked to read pages of A Life Like Mine and describe people, activities, and compare families, which involves encountering and discussing words and phrases in the text. The lesson includes handwriting practice of the word "different," reinforcing a specific vocabulary item from the unit.
Lesson 7
Different Homes
The lesson asks the child to identify and describe the different homes shown in the book and to look at the materials used to make the homes, prompting the child to name materials he is familiar with and to be told about materials he does not know. The lesson specifically asks the child if he remembers what a "natural resource" is and includes an explanation of that term. The wrap-up and introductory prompts (e.g., asking why homes look different, asking what the child enjoys about his house) invite question-and-answer discussion tied to words and concepts in the text.
Lesson 8
Different Holidays and Traditions
The lesson gives explicit vocabulary goals ("Use new vocabulary in conversation and writing") and provides direct definitions for key terms (holiday, tradition). Students are asked to read about holidays in encyclopedias or on websites and to discuss the importance of each holiday, which involves encountering words and phrases in informational texts. Several activities (e.g., Activity 2 and the Book of Holidays) have students look up information, discuss, and write sentences about holidays, providing opportunities to work with new vocabulary in context.
Lesson 9
Different Modes of Transportation
Students are asked to identify and label transportation words on the 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles' pages by matching pictures to words and filling in missing letters, which requires using picture context to determine word forms. Students are prompted to 'look through books/websites on different countries and identify the modes of transportation' and to 'discuss reasons you might take specific modes of transportation,' engaging with vocabulary in text and images. Students are asked to draw and tell a story about a trip and to write sentences naming modes of transportation, providing opportunities to use and demonstrate understanding of transportation words and phrases.
Lesson 10
Wants and Needs
Students are asked to define what it means to want something and what it means to need something and to explain their answers. The activities have students discuss why children need education, play, and love after reading specified pages, and Activity 4 directs students to discuss whether items people named are truly needs or wants. The handwriting activity has students practice the word "need," and several activities require students to label or categorize words/images as wants or needs.
Lesson 11
Being Part of a Group
Students read pages 98–113 of A Life Like Mine and are asked to discuss what it means to have an identity, a nationality, and a religion. Students are encouraged to read or attempt to read their own paragraph about a group and to discuss similarities and differences with peers or an adult. The teacher/parent is prompted to explain meanings (e.g., of nationality and religion) and to ask questions such as why people join groups.
3: Patterns
Unit 1: Identifying and Creating Visual Patterns
Lesson 2
Recognizing Types of Patterns
Students are asked to respond to questions such as "Ask him how many colors are in the set" and to explain how a yellow-green sequence is an ABAB pattern, which prompts them to clarify the meaning of the term ABAB. They are also asked to decide whether sequences "make a pattern" and "how many objects are in the pattern," and are told to explain that a sequence is an AABB pattern. During wrap-up students are asked to explain the difference between ABAB and AABB and how they can decide which pattern they see.
Lesson 3
What Comes Next?
Students are prompted to explain what it means for something to have a pattern and are given explicit facts/definitions for the word "extend" and the phrase "to extend a pattern." In Activities 2 and the introduction, students are asked descriptive questions using vocabulary such as "thick" and "thin" (e.g., "Are the lines that form the square thick or thin?"). Option prompts ask students to answer pointed questions ("What comes before __?" "What comes after __?") that require interpreting words in the activity context.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 8
Symmetrical Patterns
Students are asked to describe the pattern in a butterfly's wings and to answer whether the wings look the same or different, which prompts discussion of the term "symmetrical pattern." The Facts and Definitions section gives a definition that students can use, and the Wrapping Up directs the adult to ask the child what it means for something to have a symmetrical pattern. Activities (Alphabet Symmetry, Shape Symmetry, and Handwriting) require students to identify symmetry, draw lines of symmetry, and complete a sentence about lines of symmetry, reinforcing the meaning of the term.
Lesson 11
Patterns in Graphs
Students are asked to read the title and labels on graphs and charts and to have the labels explained to them (e.g., circle the title in red and the labels in green and explain what each label means). The plan explicitly introduces the word "data" and tells the child that data is the information used to create a graph, and points out examples of data in graphs. Questions are provided for students to answer about chart meaning (e.g., "What does this chart tell us?", "How many different colors of shirts were worn?") which prompt students to discuss word/label meanings in context.
4: Change
Unit 1: Changes on Planet Earth
Lesson 1
What Causes Change?
Students are asked orally what it means for something to change and prompted to explain examples of change, which targets determining the meaning of the word "change." The lesson provides explicit definitions (cause, effect, observe) that students are to learn and use when matching before-and-after picture cards and when completing sentences about a change they saw. Students are asked to complete and attempt to read aloud a short paragraph about a change, linking word use to their own writing.
Lesson 2
What Changed?
The lesson tells the adult to "share with your child that location is where something can be found" and then asks the child to identify their location, directly teaching and checking a word meaning. During reading of "Part 1: Things Change," students are encouraged to answer specific questions that label terms in the text (e.g., identifying the crushed cookie as a physical change and the ripening banana as a chemical change). The teacher prompts students with direct questions about vocabulary-like terms (e.g., "What do you call a change where something changes into something new?" and "When something burns, is it a physical or chemical change?").
Lesson 3
Changing Position
The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes "Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 1 reading and content." Activity 1 directs students to find the words "gravity" and "inertia" in the index, go to the page, and copy the sentence from the book that contains the word. Activity 6 asks the child "why objects pushed up in the air always come back down" and then names that force "gravity," and Reading and Questions includes Q4: "What force keeps us on Earth? Gravity."
Lesson 6
Changes in the Sky
Students are prompted to list adjectives and phrases describing the Sun and Moon on the activity pages, engaging with word meanings in those contexts. Adults are instructed to discuss terms such as why the Sun is important and to explain that the Moon does not produce its own light, explicitly using the word "illuminates." Students are also asked questions aloud during the rotation/revolution activities (e.g., "Do you know what I am doing?" and "What are you doing now?"), which elicits use of vocabulary like revolve and rotate in oral responses.
Lesson 7
Living Things Change
Students are asked to define key vocabulary when prompted (e.g., "Ask your child what it means for something to be living and what it means for something to be nonliving"). Students are asked to identify and circle words that describe changes (number, size, shape, place) and to answer directed questions about examples (e.g., "Did it change in size?"). The lesson also includes a teacher explanation of the term camouflage and asks students whether certain changes happen quickly or slowly, inviting them to explain word meanings in context.
Lesson 11
People Change the Environment
Students are given explicit definitions for reducing, reusing, and recycling and are told that recycling is the process of changing waste to reusable material. Students are asked to discuss what materials can be recycled and which cannot and to explain why their family chooses to recycle. Students are prompted to describe what is happening in illustrations (e.g., planting a tree, smoke emissions) and decide whether changes are positive, negative, or neutral.
Unit 2: Characters Change
Lesson 1
What's in a Name
Activity 4 (Vocabulary) has students listen for listed words, pause the story, guess a word's meaning from context, record their guess, and then match the correct definition. The directions ask students to underline and use the suffixes "-less" and "-ful" as clues to word meaning, having them apply affix knowledge to infer meanings. Activity 3 (Feeling Phrases) asks students to identify what phrases communicate about a character, which requires them to determine the meaning of phrases in context.
Lesson 2
Why Worry?
Students are given an explicit definition: "A conjunction is a word that joins together words and ideas," and are taught examples such as "and" and "but." Students practice combining sentences orally and in writing using the conjunctions "and" and "but," and they are asked to identify and circle conjunctions on activity pages. The read-aloud and follow-up questions engage students with the text and prompt discussion about characters and events.
Lesson 3
Is It a Problem?
The lesson includes an explicit figurative language activity where students examine phrases such as "What if it swallows me up?" and "I tackled my problem" and are asked to talk about those expressions and how the author personifies the problem. Students are directed to look through the book and illustrate how the problem changes in the illustrations, linking text phrases to meaning in pictures. The notes instruct explaining that "tackle the problem" means to start solving it and that idioms do not mean exactly what they say, which guides student interpretation of those phrases.
Lesson 5
The Raft
Students read vocabulary sentences and use clues in the text to choose the correct definitions in Activity 2, directly practicing determining word meanings from context. In Activity 6 students are asked to discuss idioms and figurative phrases (for example, "She had eyes in the back of her head" and "like finding presents under a Christmas tree"), explain what the phrases mean, and propose alternative wordings, which practices clarifying phrase meaning. The lesson's skill statements and teacher prompts repeatedly require students to answer questions about word and phrase meanings from the text.
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 2
Understanding Time
Students read pages of a nonfiction book about telling time and are asked specific questions about units of time and examples (e.g., "Were you born in the past, present, or future?"). Students are prompted to use and review time-related vocabulary (past, present, future, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millennia) and to record or describe events on the "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" activity page. Students cut, order, and paste time-span terms and place events or years in chronological order, practicing the meanings of those temporal words through tasks and discussion.
Lesson 3
Communities Change
Students are asked vocabulary-like prompts in the Facts and Definitions section where "chronological order" and "artifacts" are explicitly defined, and the teacher is told to help the child say the phrase "chronological order" three times. After reading, students answer specific questions about the story (Where did the story happen? Who are the characters? How did the environment change?), and they identify and label artifacts (arrowhead, china cup, ax, pot, beads, pan, plate). Activities require students to match pictures with captions and place event labels on a timeline, which uses words and phrases from the text in a meaningful context.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 1
Letter Sounds Review I
Students are asked to answer questions about words and parts of text (e.g., Activity 1.1 asks "What else do you see on the cover?" and Activity 3.1 asks students to find and count sight words in the weekly message). In Activity 5.3 students are prompted to use strategies and answer teacher questions such as "Does that word make sense here?" and to use pictures and sounding-out to figure out words. The Guess My Word activity (5.4) requires students to answer spoken clues to identify specific words.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
Several activities ask the child to answer questions about words and text: Activity 1.1 asks the child, "Based on the hint, what vowel do you think you're going to work with this week?" and asks the child to point to punctuation. Activities 3.3, 4.2, and 5.2 instruct the child to read words in word-family or reader pages and to have any unknown words defined and sounded out. Activity 5.3 has the child use pictures to figure out missing words in sentences and then read the completed sentences aloud.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
Students are asked to read the reader Ducks Are Fun and either be told that 'don' means to wear something or, for a greater challenge, to read the words and look at the picture to figure out what 'don' means on their own (Activity 4.3). Multiple activities instruct students to read words and 'explain the meanings of the words as needed' when doing word-family sorting and word-building (Activities 2.2, 3.3, 4.2). Teachers pose direct questions for students to answer about text features and comprehension (e.g., "Which duck do you think is having the most fun? Why?" and questions guiding identification of word families).
Lesson 8
Blends with s
In Activity 4.1 (Guess My Word) students hear clues and write/say target words (e.g., chest, snack, sky, slip), demonstrating they can answer questions that identify word meanings. Activities (2.1, 2.2, 5.1) require students to name pictures, sort pictures by initial blends, and fill in missing blends using picture cues, so students use visual/contextual information to identify words. The materials instruct the adult to "explain any words she's not familiar with" and to check student responses, indicating some question-and-answer interactions about word meanings.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
Students are asked to explain the difference between the sight words "have" and "had" and to use each in a sentence during the Wrapping Up section, which requires them to answer about word meaning and temporal use. During Activity 1.2 students name pictures and are prompted to have terms clarified as needed, which involves answering questions about word-picture meaning. Activity 4.3 asks students questions after reading The Club, requiring them to answer questions about the text (though these focus on content rather than specific word meanings).
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students read words aloud and are asked to explain word meanings (Activity 2.2: "Explain the meanings of the words as needed"). Students identify pictures and fill in missing digraphs, which requires them to name and recognize the pictured items (Activity 4.1: "Make sure that he knows what each picture is showing"). Students answer comprehension questions after reading the reader (Activity 4.3 asks questions about where characters sleep and what color drinks they drink) and are asked to explain spelling rules for word pairs (Rules Review asks the child to explain the rule for each pair).
Lesson 17
Semester Review
Students are asked to point to the correct sight-word card after sentences are read aloud and then to underline "there" or "their" on the page (Activity 1.3 and Wrapping Up). The activities include teacher-led explanations of word meanings such as explaining that "how" is a question word and distinguishing "there" versus "their." The rhyming and vocabulary grouping activities note that the teacher should "explain the meaning of words as needed," and students are asked to show and read sight words they find in a word search (Activity 5.1 and 5.2).
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
Students are asked to tell how "there" and "their" are pronounced and to point to which word fits in example sentences (Activity 1.3). Students are asked to explain what a "silent e" means and to compare pairs like "tap"/"tape" and "slid"/"slide," answering questions about how the added e changes the word (Activities 2.2, 3.2). Students are prompted to read the Weekly Message and to point to or sound out words they do not know, and they answer teacher prompts about which sight words have short or long vowels (Activity 1.1, 1.3).
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
Students are prompted to read the story They Chose To Doze and are asked follow-up questions about it (e.g., "What did the family do on their trip?"), and the teacher is instructed to point out and explain unfamiliar vocabulary such as "dome" and "slope" using the illustration. Students are also asked to point to and read words in the Weekly Message and to sound out words they do not know, which provides some occasion for clarifying individual word forms.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
Students are asked to point to and read words and to answer questions such as "What do you notice about the sound of c in these words?" and "How do you know how to pronounce the c in this word?" (Activities 2.1, 3.1, 4.1). Students highlight the letter after each c or g to determine whether the sound is hard or soft and then explain their reasoning. The skills list also includes using context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, and students answer comprehension questions after reading the short reader (Activity 5.2).
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
Students are asked to use context and picture cues to identify words (for example, being prompted "This is a vegetable that you eat on a cob. What is this word?" to elicit 'corn') and to find sight words in the Weekly Message. Students answer teacher questions that probe word pronunciation and function (for example, "What makes the way you pronounce a in each word change?" and underlining ar and silent e and explaining its job). Students name pictures and fill in missing vowel pairs on worksheets, and they are prompted to read words aloud and to have meanings explained as needed.
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
Students are asked to answer teacher prompts about word meanings and sounds (e.g., "Do these words have the short or long a sound? How do you know?" and "Do these have the hard or soft sounds of c and g?"). Students use context to select words in sentences (Fill in the Blanks activity requiring them to read each sentence and choose the correct word from a word bank). After reading The Gray Day, students answer comprehension questions about the text (e.g., "What do the boys play with indoors?"), which requires them to refer to the text for meaning.
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
Students are asked to name pictures before writing (Activity 3.2), which requires them to identify word meanings for pictured items (bean, leash, leaf, beach, bead, meal). The teacher models and explains word meanings explicitly, for example saying "'See' means to look at or note with your eyes. 'Sea' is another word for 'ocean'" (Activity 2.1). Students answer comprehension questions about a reader (Activity 5.1: "What does the worm eat?" "How many beans are the birds eating?"), which involves extracting word-level information from text.
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students are prompted to read words and have meanings explained as needed during the word-sorting activity (Activity 1.2). In the Fill-in-the-Blanks activity (Activity 3.3) students read sentences and try words from a word bank until a word makes sense, using sentence context to determine which word fits. After reading the reader (Day 5 Activity 5.1) students answer questions about the text's content, showing practice in answering questions about a text.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
Students are asked questions about words and spellings (e.g., "What letters are making the long o sound in the words on this page?") and they answer by highlighting ow, oa, and oe. Students identify pictures before writing the corresponding oa words and then write those words, linking images to word meaning. After reading The Slow Boat, students answer comprehension questions about the text (e.g., how many boats, what color wins).
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
Students are prompted to explain word changes and meanings (Activity 1.2 asks the child to explain how adding silent e changes short u to long u). Students answer questions about word meaning and usage (Activity 3.1 asks the child to explain the meanings of "blue" and "blew" in her own words, and Activity 5.1 asks comprehension questions such as "What does Tom add to the stew?" and "What color does Val add to the stew?"). Students use context to select words that make sentences sensible (Activity 2.2 Fill in the Blanks requires reading sentences and choosing correct words from a word bank).
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
Students are asked to point to and read words in the Weekly Message and to answer teacher questions such as "Do you see any words in the message that are unusual in some way?" (Activity 1.1). Students are asked to explain what makes groups of words special and to read and define words aloud (Activity 1.2, Activity 2.1), and to use context to choose words for the Fill in the Blanks and Alphabet Soup activities (Activity 3.3 and Activity 2.2). The skills list also explicitly includes using context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding.
Lesson 11
Long Vowel Sounds Review
Students complete multiple Fill in the Blanks activities (Activity 3.1 and Day 5 Activity 5.3) where they must read sentences and choose words from a word bank, and they are explicitly asked, "Which word will make the most sense in each blank?" The Skills list also includes "Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary," which directs students to use surrounding text to determine word meaning. Activity instructions ask students to read words in context (e.g., rereading readers and writing words they find) and to explain word meanings as needed during word-sorting tasks.
Lesson 12
Other Vowel Sounds oi, oy
Students are asked and prompted to identify and read words in the Weekly Message and to point to words with particular vowel sounds (Activity 1.1, Wrapping Up). The teacher asks direct questions about vowel blends and word parts (e.g., "Can you guess what that sound is?" in Activity 2.1 and "What silent e's job is in this word?" in Activity 2.2), and students are asked to read words from a video and sort them by spelling and position of oi/oy. The materials also instruct the adult to "explain word meanings as needed" and include reading-comprehension questions after the Reader (Day 5) that require students to answer questions about text details.
Lesson 14
Other Vowel Sounds aw, au
In Activity 2.1 students are asked to read each sorting word and the instructions say to "explain meanings as needed," and students are asked to explain their groupings. In Activity 3.1 the teacher asks the student what the word "saw" means and discusses that it has multiple meanings. In the Sight Words activities the child is told that "made" is the past-tense form of "make" and shown example sentences to clarify meaning.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
Multiple activities ask the student to read words aloud and include directions to "explain word meanings as needed" (Activity 2.1, Activity 3.2, Activity 4.1). Students read an illustrated reader (The Bad Bear) and answer comprehension questions about events (Activity 5.1). Students complete a question-words worksheet and generate questions (Activity 4.2), which practices question formation.