Lesson 1: Word Families and Long Vowel Review
Getting Started
Facts and Definitions
- Sentences begin with capital letters.
- Word families are groups of words that share letters in common and have a similar sound.
- Long vowel sounds say the letter names, as in /ā/ in "cake" and /ī/ in "kite."
- Long vowel sounds can be spelled in many different ways.
- Silent e has many jobs. One of its most important jobs is to make a vowel say its name, as in "late" and "note."
Lesson Focus
- Sight words for Lesson 1: "along," "while"
- Word families for Lesson 1: at, ap, an, ab, ag, ad, am, in, it, ig, op, og, ot, un, ut, ug, ub, en, et, eg, ed
- Word building for Lesson 1: adding silent e to make a long vowel sound
Skills
- Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words
- Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams
- Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences
- Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words
- Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension
- Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding
- Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings
- Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary
Materials
- binder or large accordion folder
- colored pencils
- glue or glue stick
- handwriting paper* (Introduction - optional)
- index cards (kit)
- laminated writing sheet (kit)
- lowercase letter cards (kit)
- readers (kit)
- scissors
- Shared Reading book (kit)
- sight word cards (kit)
- thin dry-erase markers (kit)
- word building cards (kit)
* - denotes an optional material that may or may not be needed
Introduction
Materials: binder or large accordion folder, colored pencils, glue or glue stick, handwriting paper*, index cards (kit), laminated writing sheet (kit), lowercase letter cards (kit), readers (kit), scissors, Shared Reading book (kit), sight word cards (kit), thin dry-erase markers (kit), word building cards (kit)
This unit begins with a review of the concepts covered in Age 5-7 Reading. Note that some children will need extra time to work with these words and patterns. This may mean that some lessons will take more than five days to complete. Be sure that your child has a good grasp of the material reviewed in the first four lessons before you move on to new material.
During this lesson, your child will review short and long vowel word families and the role of silent e in long vowel sounds. He will also work with the following sight words: "along" and "while." Most words in this lesson should be review for him.
Moving forward, letters are written as themselves, while sounds are written inside slash marks. For example, the letter s will be written as s. The sound of s (ssss) will be written as /s/.
When sounding out written words, be sure to point to the letters as you make their sounds. When using the letter cards to make words, use the lowercase letters because lowercase letters are more common than uppercase letters in print. Note that a laminated writing sheet is included in the kit. Your child can use the sheet to practice on, or you can use it to model how to write a word.
In many activities, modifications are suggested for students who may struggle with writing skills. Feel free to adapt activities further as needed by taking turns writing, reducing the number of words your child writes, and so on. If your child needs the support of handwriting paper as he writes, he can complete his writing on handwriting paper as needed.
Your child should have recall of about 100 sight words, and he'll add to these over the course of this year. These are high-frequency words that will appear in his readers and other lesson materials.
The "Age 5-7 Sight Words, Part 1" page shows a group of sight words covered in the Age 5-7 level of reading. These sight words all appear in this lesson's readers. Ask your child to read this list aloud. Keep track of words he may struggle with. For example, you can make a light mark in the box beside words he needs to continue reviewing, and you might make flashcards of words that he needs to practice reading. (If you have the sight word cards from the Age 5-7 kit, you can use those for practice.)
During this lesson, your child will review short and long vowel word families and the role of silent e in long vowel sounds. He will also work with the following sight words: "along" and "while." Most words in this lesson should be review for him.
Moving forward, letters are written as themselves, while sounds are written inside slash marks. For example, the letter s will be written as s. The sound of s (ssss) will be written as /s/.
When sounding out written words, be sure to point to the letters as you make their sounds. When using the letter cards to make words, use the lowercase letters because lowercase letters are more common than uppercase letters in print. Note that a laminated writing sheet is included in the kit. Your child can use the sheet to practice on, or you can use it to model how to write a word.
In many activities, modifications are suggested for students who may struggle with writing skills. Feel free to adapt activities further as needed by taking turns writing, reducing the number of words your child writes, and so on. If your child needs the support of handwriting paper as he writes, he can complete his writing on handwriting paper as needed.
Your child should have recall of about 100 sight words, and he'll add to these over the course of this year. These are high-frequency words that will appear in his readers and other lesson materials.
The "Age 5-7 Sight Words, Part 1" page shows a group of sight words covered in the Age 5-7 level of reading. These sight words all appear in this lesson's readers. Ask your child to read this list aloud. Keep track of words he may struggle with. For example, you can make a light mark in the box beside words he needs to continue reviewing, and you might make flashcards of words that he needs to practice reading. (If you have the sight word cards from the Age 5-7 kit, you can use those for practice.)
Student Activity Page
NOTE: If you need a reminder about any terms or rules introduced in this unit, refer to the Unit Review Sheet for definitions and descriptions. This page also summarizes the terms and principles that your child is introduced to in each lesson.
Web Link
