Kindergarten - ELA
1: Letters
Unit 1: A - A Is for Musk Ox
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice identifying beginning letter sounds by circling the correct initial letter for pictured items on the "Letter Sounds: A" pages. Students cut out pictures and glue them under the correct letter boxes on the Beginning Letter Sounds page, matching images (e.g., cat, airplane, cap) to their initial letters. Students also practice forming and writing the letter A, reinforcing the sound-letter correspondence for that letter.
Unit 2: H - Hondo and Fabian
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students are asked to look for the letter H at the beginning of Hondo's name and to point to it when they see it. Students are asked to identify the initial sound of words that start with H such as "home," "happy," and "hungry." Students practice forming and tracing the lowercase h and practice the sight word "he," identifying the letter it starts with and locating the word in the story.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked to identify and circle the correct beginning letter for each picture on the "Letter Sounds: H" pages and to cut and paste letters under the correct picture, directly practicing matching initial sounds to the letter H. Students are prompted to practice writing the letter H or watch it formed, reinforcing the sound-letter correspondence. The second activity page presents images (lizard, horse, hammer) with letter boxes (h, h, a) so students match images to beginning letters.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are prompted to name words that start with the "h" sound, which asks them to identify an initial letter sound. Students are shown the sight word card "he" (and the sight word "you") and asked to recall these words, exposing them to letter-sound correspondences in printed words. Students move their finger left to right through the names "Hondo" and "Fabian" and identify the capital letters at the beginning, directing attention to initial letters in words.
Unit 3: I - The Little Island
Lesson 2
Day 2
Activity 2 explicitly tells students that the letter I can make two sounds and provides practice with the Ii letter card using the example words "igloo" and "island." Students are prompted to practice those sounds aloud. The handwriting/tracing practice for uppercase I gives students additional practice producing the letter while saying its sounds.
Unit 5: L - We're Going on a Leaf Hunt
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice beginning letter-sound correspondence in Activity 3 by circling the correct beginning letter for each picture and practicing writing the letter. Students cut out letters and paste them under the correct letter, and they match pictures to lowercase letters on the "Beginning Letter Sounds" page (a, h, t, l, i). The Student Activity Page with letter combinations (e.g., leaf labeled "LIT", ladder labeled "AHL") requires students to select or write the correct letter combination that matches the pictured word.
Unit 6: F - Fireflies
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students circle the correct beginning letter for each picture and cut out and paste picture boxes under the correct initial letter on the 'Letter Sounds: F' pages. Students practice identifying and producing the beginning sound /f/ versus other initial letters (i, h, l, a) and practice forming the letter F. The Beginning Letter Sounds activity presents pictures (butter, head, flag, orange, ax) that students sort by initial sound.
Unit 7: E - But No Elephants
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice letter-sound correspondence by circling the correct beginning letter for pictures on the "Letter Sounds: E" page and by matching pictures to the boxes labeled with beginning letters (e, h, e, l, a). Students practice producing and forming the letter E by tracing/writing it and by cutting and gluing pictures under the correct letter on the second activity page. Students listen for and hold up animal puppets as each is introduced, which practices attending to and identifying initial sounds in spoken words.
Unit 8: C - Millions of Cats
Lesson 3
Day 3
The lesson explicitly asks students to focus on and practice the sound of the letter C (review prompt and reminder in the handwriting activity). Students are asked to complete lowercase "c" handwriting practice and to form a lowercase c with coins, reinforcing the letter shape and its sound. The lesson also has students read and point to the sight word "pretty," supporting letter-sound decoding practice in connected text.
Unit 9: G - The Real Mother Goose
Lesson 1
Day 1
The text explicitly asks the child to notice rhyme pairs and points out that "horn" and "corn" "have different beginning sounds but the same ending sounds," asking why "corn" fits. The teacher offers the word "cat" and prompts the child to produce many rhyming words (rat, bat, sat, mat, pat, etc.), which requires changing the initial sound while keeping the rime constant. The activity of reading poems and then leaving off the end words asks the child to supply those words, encouraging attention to differing initial sounds in otherwise similar words.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice the letter sound /g/ by circling the correct beginning letter for each picture and by cutting and gluing picture boxes under the correct letter. Students also complete a beginning-letter-sounds activity where they match pictures to initial letters (f, e, c, g, a). The lesson includes review of letter sounds and word cards, prompting students to produce words and sounds.
Unit 10: O - Owl Babies
Lesson 2
Day 2
The lesson explicitly has students practice the letter O sound in Activity 2, telling students that O can make different sounds using examples: "octopus" (short o), "orange" (different o), and "owl" (the ow sound). Students are asked to practice making the "o" sounds while forming the capital O and to review the Oo card for later review.
Unit 12: D - Dinosaurs Big and Small
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students are asked to circle the correct beginning letter for each picture on the "Letter Sounds: D" page, which requires them to identify the initial sound of each pictured word. Students cut out letters and paste them under the correct picture and match pictures to letter squares on the "Beginning Letter Sounds" page (letters a, f, d, c, g matched to images like alligator, duck, candle). These activities require students to identify and produce the sounds associated with initial letters.
Unit 13: P - Harold and the Purple Crayon
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice identifying beginning letter sounds in Activity 3 (Letter Sounds — P) by circling the correct beginning letter for each picture, practicing writing the letter, and cutting and pasting picture boxes under the correct letter. Students also complete a 'Beginning Letter Sounds' page where they match images (soup, piano, drum, tree, lemon) to the appropriate initial letters and distinguish initial sounds among multiple choices.
Unit 14: B - Blueberries for Sal
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice beginning letter sounds in Activity 3 by circling the correct beginning letter for each picture and practicing writing or watching letter formation. Students cut out letters and paste them under the correct letter and complete a 'Beginning Letter Sounds' page where they match images (astronaut, tree, elephant, bat, guitar) to initial letters. These tasks require students to identify and produce the sound associated with a single letter (including B).
Unit 15: R - Rain
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice identifying beginning letter sounds in Activity 3 by circling the correct initial letter for each picture (e.g., choosing R for robot) and cutting/pasting letters under the correct picture. The "Beginning Letter Sounds" page has students match specific letters (l, e, f, t, s) to images (ladder, elephant, football, tennis ball, star), requiring them to identify and select the initial sound for each word.
Unit 17: M - Marshmallow
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students complete Activity 3 "Letter Sounds — M" where they circle the correct beginning letter for each picture and practice writing or watching letter formation. They cut out letters and paste them under the correct picture, and a Student Activity Page asks students to match images (alligator, mushroom, house, leaf, drum) to beginning letter boxes ('a','m','h','l','d'). These tasks require students to identify and map initial sounds to their corresponding letters.
Unit 18: U - Umbrella
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson explicitly teaches the prefix "un": an adult points out the prefix "un" in "unfortunately," explains it means "not," and asks about opposites (e.g., "fortunately"). Activity 2 directs students to practice words with the un- prefix (examples given: unwrap, unbelievable, unsure, undone, unkind, unsafe, unlock) while doing and undoing fasteners. The lesson prompts students to use and say these un- words during the fastener activity and to look for un- words throughout the week.
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students practice the uppercase letter U and explicitly produce its different sounds: "uh" (umbrella), "yoo" (unicorn), and "oo" (rule) while tracing, writing, or tracing a pipe cleaner U. The activity instructs students to review and practice the sounds of the letter U as they form the letter and add the U card to a review file, and the student activity page provides repeated tracing and freehand practice tied to those sounds.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice beginning letter sounds in Activity 3 by circling the correct beginning letter for pictures and practicing writing or watching letter formation. They also cut out letters and paste them under the correct picture, and match animals to initial-letter squares on the 'Beginning Letter Sounds' page. These tasks require students to identify the initial sound of words and associate that sound with a specific letter.
Unit 19: J - Jump Frog Jump
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice beginning letter sounds in Activity 3 by circling the correct beginning letter for pictures and practicing writing the letter J. One Student Activity Page asks students to choose the correct initial letter from letter groups (e.g., IJL for jump rope) for six images, requiring them to identify which initial sound matches each picture. A second Student Activity Page presents five letters (p, d, o, g, j) and five pictures (pig, duck, octopus, goose, jet) for students to match pictures to corresponding beginning letters.
Unit 21: V - Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
Lesson 4
Day 4
Students practice identifying beginning letter sounds in Activity 3 where they circle the correct beginning letter for each picture and practice writing the letter. They cut out letters and paste them under the correct letter and sort pictures into boxes labeled with beginning letters (f, c, g, v, p), which requires hearing and matching initial sounds to letters. The Letter Sounds: V pages include pictures (violin, etc.) paired with letter-group choices that prompt students to select the correct initial letter sound.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 2 students are asked to produce and identify rhyming words (for example, supplying "trombone" to rhyme with "tone" and identifying pairs like along/song and trombone/alone). The activity explicitly explains that words that rhyme have different beginning sounds but the same ending sounds and asks the child to think of words that rhyme with given examples (cat, book, dog). Students are also encouraged to look at the ends of lines to find words that are spelled similarly which rhyme.
Unit 23: W - George Washington's Birthday
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students review letter sounds and sight words at the start of the lesson, providing practice with individual letter–sound correspondences. In Activity 2 students practice the uppercase letter W and repeatedly review the /w/ sound using finger tracing, handwriting practice, and word examples (Washington, wagon, wood). Students read the word boxes for the three symbols and match each printed label to the corresponding picture, practicing word recognition aloud.
Unit 25: X - An Extraordinary Egg
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students practice the sound of the letter x and write lowercase x in handwriting activities. Students read a list of words containing x (mix, fix, box, fox, etc.), hear each word read, repeat each word, and find and circle the letter x in those words. The lesson also has the teacher point out the letter x in the sight word "next" and asks the student to locate x in words on activity pages.
Lesson 4
Day 4
Activity 3 directs students to identify beginning letters for pictures: students circle the correct beginning letter for each picture, practice writing the letter, and cut and paste letters under the correct letter. The "Beginning Letter Sounds" page has students match five images (toy car, umbrella, refrigerator, drum, pirate) to their corresponding initial letters (j, u, r, b, p), requiring students to hear and map initial sounds to letters. These tasks engage students in hearing letter sounds and selecting or forming the matching letter symbols.
2: Holidays
Unit 27: Halloween
Lesson 5
Day 5
The Reading Workshop has students practice saying pairs of rhyming words (for example, "claws" and "jaws," "bat" and "hat") and asks them to look at those pairs to see what the rhyming words have in common (noting that they often end the same way). Students are asked to find additional pairs of words that rhyme because they are at the ends of lines. The Writing Workshop has students generate and copy rhyming word pairs (e.g., "clock"/"sock"), draw them, and write or fill in blanks with those words.
1: Environment
Unit 1: Habitats and Homes
Lesson 1
My Environment
The lesson asks students to use finger-pointing while an adult pronounces words and to discuss which letters are missing on the Exploring My Home fill-in-the-blank page, prompting students to map sounds to letters. The Skills list explicitly includes showing an understanding that letters represent the sequence of sounds in a spoken word and attempting to read dictated text. The handwriting page has tracing practice for the words "bath" and "bed," giving students practice with two similarly spelled words that differ by sounds/letters.
Lesson 2
What Is a Map?
The lesson directs students to sound out letters as they write labels (Option 1: "sounding them out with him as he writes them") and to sound out each word and spell it the way it sounds (Option 2). Students complete scrambled-word worksheets with partial letter blanks for common room words and practice handwriting words such as map, mom, home, and house. Several activities require students to read, fill in, or write words based on their letter-sound knowledge.
Lesson 7
Tools in My Environment
Students are asked to "attempt to record at least the beginning letter, and then encourage her to sound out the words as you write them," and the teacher reads the names of tools while the child points at letters as they are sounded out. Activity 4 has handwriting practice for the letter I and the words "it" and "inch," giving students practice with letter formation and reading short words. The lesson repeatedly prompts students to identify letter sounds (e.g., sounding out words and identifying beginning letters).
Unit 2: Weather
Lesson 4
Simulating Weather
The lesson asks students to find specific words in the Weather Song (e.g., "Can you find the word clouds? Hint: It starts with the letter c." and "Can you find the word rain? Hint: It starts with the letter r."). Students are asked to read the words aloud and to follow along by pointing to each word as they sing. The skills list includes recognizing that written words are separated by spaces and knowing the difference between individual letters and printed words.
Lesson 6
Winter
Students are encouraged to sound out words when they attempt to read the story they dictated and when an adult helps them read, and vocabulary (cold, snow, freeze) is provided for use in writing. Students practice the letter W and write or copy the words wind and winter during handwriting activities. In Snowflake Math students are instructed to circle the beginning letter of number words to help sound them out.
Unit 3: Community
Lesson 3
Jobs in the Community
Students are asked to circle the first and last letters of words and to name and sound out each letter (Activity 1 and Activity 2). Students are asked to recognize beginning consonant sounds and to attempt to sound out words, read their own story, and write words they can sound out (Skills list; Activities 4 and 5). Students read names of community helpers and attempt decoding on multiple activity pages, practicing letter-sound correspondence in context.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 1
Describe It
Option 1 instructs the child to "circle the first letter in each word and sound out the word," and the activity has students select words that name pictures and copy or paste them beneath the images. Activity 4 asks the child to write or copy a sentence and, if needed, to continue practicing letters in lieu of sentence writing. Option 2 requires students to write descriptive words from a word box and to think of additional words, which involves letter-level writing and reading.
Unit 3: We're the Same, We're Different
Lesson 1
You're Special
The lesson explicitly asks students to "sound out the words for his answers" and to "write the letters he hears in yellow," encouraging phonetic spelling and phoneme-grapheme mapping. The skills list includes "Represent spoken language with phonetic spelling (LA)." Activity 4 has students trace and practice the letter U/u and the word "unique," reinforcing letter-sound correspondence.
Lesson 3
Different Personalities
Students are asked to attempt to sound out vocabulary words and, if unable, to circle the first and last letters and tell the sounds those letters make (Activity 1). Students practice letter-sound correspondence by tracing and writing the letter Q and the word "quiet" (Activity 4). These tasks require students to identify individual letter sounds in words.
Lesson 9
Different Modes of Transportation
Students fill in missing initial letters for transportation words (e.g., "__ar", "__lane", "__rain", "__oat") in the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles activity (Option 1). In Option 2 students write entire labels for modes of transportation, requiring them to map sounds to letters. The handwriting activity has students write or copy a sentence naming a mode of transportation, reinforcing spelling and letter formation.
3: Patterns
Unit 1: Identifying and Creating Visual Patterns
Lesson 6
Shapes and Patterns
Activity 2 (Reading Patterns, Option 1) asks students to circle the beginning letter of each word in a pattern and then sound out each word before creating the pattern with attribute blocks. Several pages prompt students to read words that describe shapes and to work with those words while forming patterns. The Words to Practice section has students write the words shape, color, and size on handwriting paper.
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 1
Word Patterns
Students are asked to listen to and compare word sets such as take/bake/rake and to circle the repeating word parts on activity pages (e.g., hat/bat/cat, hen/pen, frog/dog). Students say rhyming pairs aloud, match illustrated words that rhyme (Bear Hugs grid), and record rhyming words from nursery rhymes. The lesson also lists skills including recognizing identifiable speech sounds and understanding that some words begin and end alike.
Lesson 2
Making Word Patterns
Students complete rhyme sentences (Activity 1) by supplying words that share rime patterns (e.g., frog/log, cat/hat). In Activity 2 (Option 1 and 2) students sort cut-apart words into word families and are prompted to try different beginning letters to make new words (e.g., hit, kit, sit). Activity 3 asks students to identify groups of words that follow the same spelling patterns and rhyming words that do not follow the same spelling pattern.
Lesson 3
Poetry Patterns
Students read poems and circle rhyming words in Activity 1, identifying end-of-line patterns (e.g., "be" and "me", "dog" and "frog"). In Activity 2 students predict and fill in rhyming words in the song and generate new rhyming pairs (e.g., snake/lake, pig/twig). Activity 3 directs students to identify words that rhyme, record them, and "circle the parts of the words that follow the same pattern," and it explicitly asks students to note words that rhyme but are spelled differently.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 2
Patterns of Growth
Activity 2 asks students to sound out plant-part words and record the first letter of each word, which requires identifying initial sounds. Activity 6 has students write target words (plant, grow, part) multiple times after modeling, giving practice with phoneme-letter correspondence and spelling patterns. The labeling and word-box tasks require students to match spoken words to written forms.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 1
Letter Sounds Review I
The Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ." In Activity 3.2 (Building Words) students spell and blend CVC words (sat, pat, cap, map) by selecting and placing different initial letter cards and then sounding out the resulting words. Activities 4.2 and 5.1 (at and ap word families) have students place different initial letters in front of the same rime (at, ap) and read the new words aloud, and Activities 2.3 and 5.4 require students to identify and produce beginning sounds for words and to use those sounds to find or write letters.
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Students practice changing one letter to make a new word in Activity 5.2 (Word Chains), where they spell words like tap → tip → sip and are asked to say each letter sound as they change the word. In Activity 2.3 (Ending Letters) students listen to spoken words and point to or write the letter that makes the ending sound (e.g., say "bell" and select l). Activities 3.2 and 4.2 have students build and blend CVC words and sort word-family words, requiring them to segment and attend to beginning, medial, and final sounds while manipulating letters.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
Students sort pictures into short o and short u categories (Activity 2.2), saying each word slowly and drawing out the vowel sound to decide which box to place it in. Students build and read word-family words (Activities 3.3 and 4.2) by adding letters to word-building cards (ut, un, ub, ug; ot, op, og, ob) and then place words under the correct family. Students create three-letter words from given letter groups (Activity 3.2) and are asked to say each word slowly, clearly pronouncing each sound; optional challenge prompts ask which family particular words belong to (e.g., plug, shut, club, stun).
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
Students listen to pairs of words and are asked to tell which word has the short /e/ sound (Activity 2.1). Students name pictures and sort them by short vowel sounds on the "Short Vowel Sort" pages, cutting and gluing pictures into boxes for each vowel. Students sort and place words into word-family columns (et, en, eg, ed) and read each word, distinguishing endings by sound (Activity 4.3). Students build and change words with letter cards (Activity 3.2 and 1.2), saying sounds as they add or substitute letters to form new words.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
The Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ." In Activity 5.1 (Word Chains) students spell words, change one letter at a time, and are encouraged to say each letter sound as they change the word. Activity 4.2 and related word-family sorting tasks ask students to listen closely to the middle sound and place words into ack/eck/ick/ock/uck families, with teacher help to sound out and correct misplacements. Activity 5.2 (Guess My Word) has students write and say words from sound-based clues.
Lesson 6
Open Syllables and Digraph th
Students compare word-family lists (fan, man, pan, can) and are asked whether the words end with the same or different sounds (Activity 1.1). Students manipulate letter cards to turn closed words into open words (wet -> we, met -> me, bed -> be) and read the changed words aloud, attending to the sound change when a letter is removed (Activity 2.2). Students sort pictures and build words to distinguish /t/, /h/, and the digraph /th/, and spell/read words that differ only in those sounds (t, h, th word sorts and Building th words in Activities 4.1–4.2).
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
Activity 1.2 has students listen to and compare pairs like "chop" and "shop," with an explicit prompt to listen for the difference in beginning sounds and respond (stand up/sit down). Activity 2.2 and Activity 4.1 require students to point to cards, sort pictures, and place words into columns labeled for ch, sh, wh, or ph based on the sound each digraph makes. Activity 5.1 has students fill in missing digraphs in words and Activity 4.2 has students write and read dictated words that differ by digraphs, using sound to choose the correct letters.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
Students practice changing one letter or blend to make a new word in the Word Chains activity (e.g., snap → snag → snack) and are told to spell each word with letter/word-building cards while saying each letter sound. In Guess My Word and other activities, students listen for and identify beginning, middle, and ending sounds (e.g., clues that isolate the initial blend, vowel, and ending blend for words like chest, snack, slip). In Writing Words, Fill in the Blanks, and other word-building tasks, students say words slowly to hear all sounds and choose or write the correct blends that differentiate words.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
In Activity 4.2 (Word Chains) students spell a word, change only one letter or word-building card to make a new word, and are instructed to say each letter sound as they change the word (e.g., flock → flick → sick → sack...). Activity 1.2 directs students to say minimal pairs such as "glam" and "clam" and explicitly tells them to "say each word very carefully to hear the beginning sound" to distinguish gl and cl. Multiple word-building and dictation activities (Activities 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, and the Fill-in-the-Blanks pages) require students to manipulate initial blends and listen for sounds when forming or writing similar words.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students are asked to say each word slowly to hear all the sounds and then write the word (Activity 2.2 Writing Words), requiring them to identify the component letter sounds. Students sort and place pictures/words under columns by their beginning r blends (Activity 1.2 and the multiple Student Activity Pages), which requires distinguishing words that are similarly spelled except for their initial blend. The wrap-up clue activity and the Alphabet Soup activity require students to identify words by individual sounds (e.g., clues referencing initial, middle, and final sounds; building words from letter/blend pieces).
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
Activities require students to say individual letter sounds and blends (e.g., Activity 2.1 and 3.1 ask students to say /n/ and /d/ separately and then together as /nd/, and to pronounce lf and nt). Activity 5.1 Word Chains asks students to change one letter/card at a time and to say each letter sound as they spell the new word. Multiple word-building and sorting activities (Activities 2.2, 3.2, 4.1) have students spell, write, read, and sort words by their ending blends (nd, mp, lf, nt), highlighting the differing letters/sounds that make words different.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
Students listen to pairs of words and point to the word-ending card that matches the ending sound (Activity 1.2 lists bill/doll, fuzz/jazz, grass/toss, puff/cliff and directs emphasis on the /s/ and /z/ sounds). Students read words aloud and underline the double consonants at the end (hill, fizz, dress, stuff, off, pass) and spell words using ll, ss, ff, and zz word-building cards (buzz, sniff, well, miss). Students also read and write ss, ff, and zz words, and are asked to read words they create and note nonsense versus real words (Activities 3.1, 4.1, 4.2).
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
Students practice listening for and identifying final digraphs ng and nk in multiple activities (Activity 5.1: Word Sorting ng and nk asked the child to point to the ending he hears). Students build and read words that differ by a single letter sound (Activity 2.1 and 3.1: replacing initial letters to make ring, wing, ding and sank, yank, Hank) and complete Fill-in-the-Blanks exercises requiring them to choose the correct digraph to finish a word (Activity 4.1). Students also cut, sort, and glue words into word-family columns (ng and nk word families), reinforcing distinctions based on the differing final sounds.
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
Students are asked to say and isolate the beginning sounds of three-letter blends (Activity 1.2: say the sound for scr and str; Activity 2.1: identify spr vs spl; Activity 3.1: point to shr or thr for words like "throw" and "shrink"). Students complete Fill-in-the-Blanks and Word Sort pages (Activity 4.1 and 4.2) that require choosing the correct beginning blend to complete or categorize similarly spelled words. Students read and compare word pairs (e.g., scrap vs. strap, shrimp vs. shrunk) and are prompted to note what makes them rhyme or differ.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
Students are asked to say the sounds for ending-blend cards and to point to the card that matches a spoken word ending (Activity 1.2, Activity 4.2). Students change words by substituting or adding blends (e.g., change "pat" to "pact," "let" to "left," "wet" to "wept") and then read the new words aloud (Activity 2.1, Activity 2.2). Students underline ending blends, spell dictated words that differ by final blends, and sort lists of similarly spelled words into columns by their ending sounds (Activity 3.1, Activity 3.2, Word Sort pages).
Lesson 16
R-Controlled Vowels (ar)
Students are asked to compare pairs like "cat" vs. "car" and explicitly told, "Can you hear how the letter r changes the sound of the letter a?" (Activity 1.2 and Day 2). Multiple activities require students to read paired columns (cat/car, pad/par, etc.), complete fill-in-the-blanks with r blends, and sort words into columns by their ending r sounds (Activities 2.1, 3.2, 4.1). In Activity 5.1 (Word Chains) and other tasks students are instructed to say each letter or blend sound as they change or spell words, and to point to cards showing ending sounds (Activity 3.3 and Ending r Blends), which directs them to identify the specific sound differences between similarly spelled words.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
The lesson's Skills list explicitly names the target ability: "Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ." Activity 1.3 asks students to choose and underline "there" or "their" in sentences and to point to the correct sight word card, giving direct practice with those two similarly spelled words. Activity 2.2 (A and An) requires students to say words aloud to hear beginning sounds, and Activity 3.1 (word-building) and Activity 3.2 (sentence dictation) emphasize manipulating letters and emphasizing sounds as words are formed or written.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
Students hear and compare paired words that differ only by a final silent e (e.g., tap/tape, mat/mate, cap/cape) and are asked to point to the silent e and notice the vowel sound change (Activity 2.2). Students repeat the same comparison for long i pairs (slid/slide, bit/bite) and are explicitly asked, "Do you hear the difference between 'slid' and 'slide'?" (Activity 3.2). In word-building and spelling activities (word building groups, Alphabet Soup, spelling test, and Guess My Word) students add or remove the silent e and then read the resulting words to show they can distinguish similarly spelled words by the sounds of the letters that differ.
Lesson 2
Long Vowels o, u, and e with Silent e
Students compare explicit word pairs that differ only by a final silent e (e.g., Tim/time, can/cane) and are asked to point to and read the pairs (Activity 1.1). They add or substitute letters to change words and note the sound change (spell rob → robe; hop → hope; cub → cube; cut → cute) in Activities 2.2, 2.3, and 3.2. Students sort pictures and write words into short vs. long vowel columns and answer questions about which vowel sound each word has (Activities 1.2, 2.1, 3.1), highlighting the differing letter-sound correspondences.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
Students are asked to compare word pairs such as "fake" vs. "face" and "rake" vs. "race" (Activity 2.2 and Activity 2.2 word-building) and to point to the soft and hard c in "circus" (Activity 2.2). They highlight the letter after each c or g to determine whether the consonant is hard or soft (Activity 2.1 and 3.1). Sorting, word-building, and the spelling test require students to place or write words into hard/soft c and g categories (Activities 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, Spelling Test), and teachers prompt students to explain how they know the pronunciation (e.g., "How do you know how to pronounce the c in this word?").
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
In Activity 1.2 students spell "chat," replace the a with "ar" to make "chart," and are asked "What makes the way you pronounce a in each word change?" They also remove r from "farce" to get "face" and note the pronunciation change. Day 2 has students replace o with "or" (con→corn) and practice pairs cod/cord and shot/short, and students listen to and repeat contrasts such as form/worm and barn/warm to hear how a single letter or letter pair alters the sound. Activity 5.1 and Activity 3.1 require students to fill in ar/er/ir/or/ur in pictured words and to sort words by er/ir/ur spellings, providing repeated practice with choosing or comparing spellings based on sounds.
Lesson 5
Long a Spellings ai, ay
Students are asked to identify which letters make the long a sound in words like "may" and "way" (Activity 2.1) and to underline the ai letter pair and state which vowel says its name in words like mail, rain, paint (Activity 3.1). Students sort words by their ai spellings into columns (aid/ail/ain/aint/ait) and place words in correct columns based on differing letter patterns (Activity 3.3). In Word Chains (Activity 4.1) students change one letter at a time with letter cards to create new words, observing how changing letters alters the resulting word and its sounds.
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
Students sort words into "Short e" and "Long e" pages (Activity 1.2), deciding whether words like "neck" or "these" have short or long e and then glue and read them. Students highlight ee, ea, and ey spellings in different colors and read the words aloud to notice which spelling patterns make the long e sound (Activity 2.1). Students read and compare the words "see" and "sea," saying the words and discussing that they sound the same but look and mean different things (Activity 2.1). The Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ."
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students are asked to sort words into columns labeled by spelling patterns (ide, ice, ike, ime, ipe, etc.), which requires them to notice differing letters in similarly spelled words. The lesson explicitly instructs students to "distinguish between ice (soft c sound) and ike (/k/)," asking them to identify the different sounds. Students are asked to explain which letters make the long i sound in words such as dime, sky, and night and to point out silent letters in words like "fight."
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
Students are asked to identify the letters that make the long o sound (Activity 2.1) and to underline/highlight ow, oa, and oe in different colors, directly tying letter sequences to sounds. In Activity 4.2 students cut, sort, and group long-o words by their ending spellings (ope, oke, ote, oat, etc.) and label each group with the spelling that differs. In Activity 2.2 and 3.2 students build and unscramble words using ow/oa/oe cards and then read the words aloud, and in Activity 1.3 students compare 'go' and 'no' and note their shared long o sound.
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
Students practice identifying different long u pronunciations when the lesson asks them to clap for words with the long u sound pronounced either /oo/ or /yu/ and to name which words have /yu/ rather than /oo/ (Activity 1.2, Activity 2.1). Students read and compare pairs like "blue" and "blew," pronounce both, explain their meanings, and underline the correct word in sentences (Activity 3.1). Students sort and categorize words by their long u spellings (u_e, ue, ew, ou) and complete word-sorting and scrambling tasks that require choosing spellings based on sound and position (Activity 4.1, 4.2).
Lesson 10
Other Long Vowel Patterns
The lesson explicitly lists the skill 'Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.' In Activity 1.2 students compare short-i words (wind, sand, lamp, stand) with ild words and are shown that 'mild'/'wild' have a long i sound rather than the expected short i. In Activity 4.2 students cut out and sort words into columns by endings (ild, ind, ost, old, olt), and in Activity 4.3 students write and read a spelling list (e.g., most, kind, wild, bolt, cold, two, hold, host, find, gold) and then correct mistakes, requiring them to read and distinguish similar spellings and sounds.
Lesson 11
Long Vowel Sounds Review
The Skills list explicitly states that students will "Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ." Students complete multiple word-sorting and matching activities (Activity 1.2, Activity 2.2, Activity 4.2) in which they read words, match spellings to example words, and place words into columns by vowel spelling (a_e, ai, ay; e_e, ee, ey, ea, etc.). Activity 4.1 asks students to find long e words in a reader and tell which letters in each word are making the long e sound, requiring students to identify which letters produce particular sounds.
Lesson 12
Other Vowel Sounds oi, oy
Students sort words into oi, oy, and long-o columns (Activity 2.1 and 2.2) and are asked to read words aloud and place them in the correct column based on their spellings and sounds. Students practice spelling and building oi/oy words (Activity 3.2) and complete a spelling test and read-aloud tasks that include minimal variations in vowel spelling (Day 4 spelling test; Day 5 reader and sentence dictation). The Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ," and students repeatedly compare where oi and oy occur in words and how those letter combinations sound.
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Students sort word lists into columns labeled OW = ō, OW, and OU and place words like "show" versus "howl" into different columns (Activity 2.2). Students highlight the letter groups (ou or ow) in words that make the /ou/ sound and complete fill-in-the-blank pages by writing either ou or ow to finish pictured words (Activities 3.1 and 4.2). Students also read, spell, and build words with ou/ow (word-building, word-scramble, and spelling test activities) and are asked to explain when to use ou versus ow.
Lesson 14
Other Vowel Sounds aw, au
The skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ." Students read words aloud and sort them into three columns (aw, au, o) in Activity 2.2, using spelling and pronunciation to place each word. In Activity 3.1 students highlight aw and au in words and use letter cards to spell target words aloud, and in Activity 4.3 students take a spelling test where they must choose and write words containing aw or au while being asked to think about where those blends occur.
Lesson 15
These Make More Than One Sound: oo and ea
Students are asked to compare and listen to pairs such as "read" and "head" and to underline/circle those words while the adult emphasizes the vowel sound (Activity 1.1). Students sort oo words into two sound-based groups (book vs. moon) by naming pictures and placing words according to the vowel sound (Activities 1.2 and 2.1). Students sort ea pictures and cut-and-paste ea words into three columns based on ea sounds (Activities 3.1 and 3.2). The Life Application invites students to spell and read the same letter sequences with different vowel pronunciations (e.g., "seach" pronounced three ways).
Lesson 16
Silent Starts: kn, wr, gn
Students are asked to listen to and discuss words with silent initial letters (Activity 1.2, 2.1, 3.1) and to identify that letters such as g, k, and w are silent in words like gnome, know, and write. In Activity 3.3 the child compares pairs like "see"/"sea" and is asked to write words that sound the same as "know" and "write" (no, right), explicitly linking different spellings to the same or differing sounds. In Activity 4.1 students sort words by vowel sounds and then sort the same words into columns by their silent beginnings (gn, kn, wr), reading each word aloud as they sort.
Lesson 17
Year-End Review
Students are asked to identify different pronunciations for the same letter pair in the "Which Words?" activity (e.g., "Which words have two different ea sounds? What sound does ea make in each word? (wreath: long e, bread: short e)"). Activities 3.1 and 5.1 explicitly remind students that vowel blends (ow, oo, ea) can make more than one sound and prompt students to note the differing sounds. The Long Vowel Sounds Sorting activity requires students to listen to and sort words by vowel sound, and the sight-word activity asks students to identify the initial long o in both "only" and "over."