Set 2, Book 6

Lesson One

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, fly, has, shhh
• Read: Set 2, Book 6 ("Sox the Fox") pp. 1-7

Lesson Two

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, fly, has, shhh
• Read: Set 2, Book 6 ("Sox the Fox") pp. 8-ff

Lesson Three

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, fly, has, shhh
• Read: Set 2, Book 6 ("Sox the Fox") pp. all

This is another great book for practice. Some children will find it so easy that they do not need to read it twice. Even though it doesn't seem like they are learning anything "new" we need to remember that each word they have never read before is new to them even if it is applying old rules and concepts. They are really learning, at this point, about how versatile their knowledge has become.

Must-Read Book: Uncovering the Logic of Englishby Denise Eide

One of the things I try to say around here is that you really can teach. You don't need me, not once you understand how teaching reading can work, how it is simply a combination of teaching sounds and patterns (you know: blends, digraphs, diphthongs, etc.), and then methodically reviewing them. I've also shown you how sight words usually are not.

What I mean is, there are very few words which do not follow some rule somewhere in our language. This is why we might teach a few words as sight words, but later take them off of our sight words list and place them on a rule card where they belong.

The reason I love to teach reading is that English makes perfect sense.

I don't remember being taught phonics as I began reading at a very young age. Perhaps I was, perhaps I wasn't. But I have always thought in patterns. This is how my mind works, by noticing patterns and then noticing things that don't conform to the pattern. In English, though, it is not that a word does not conform, but that it fits in a different pattern. Some people call them word families.

I love teaching reading because I love showing children who do not naturally see patterns that all of this seeming chaos actually makes sense.

I just finished listening to two fabulous, wonderful, amazing talks from Denise Eide on the logic of the English language, which are available for download free online. Since you all teach reading, you ought to carve out time to listen to these talks.

According to Eide, somewhere between 95% and 98% of English words fit a pattern.

They have a rule.

I felt like Eide was a kindred spirit. She is my new best friend; I just haven't told her yet.

The difference between myself and Eide, however, is that she is way more informed than I am (or would ever care to be), plus she explains it all much better than I ever could.

Jesus said this:

A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

In her talk, Eide gave some frightening statistics on adult literacy in this country. How can we pass on a gift we have not received?

After listening to Eide speak, I can tell you that she gets it. She sees the patterns, and she knows how to teach them. But a pupil will be like his teacher, which means that first we who teach must know and understand these patterns. We must know that English makes sense, that it is not a crazy language full of exceptions.

Probably the most fascinating thing I heard Eide say was to explain functional MRIs that have been performed on children while they are reading. Good readers use different parts of the brain than struggling readers and non-readers. But here is the cool thing: after only 80 hours of teaching a la Eide, the struggling readers' brains looked like the brains of good readers! In fact, they were no long struggling readers. Some, she says, are now defining dyslexia as a student whose brain activity does not improve after the 80 hours of instruction.

So I am highly, highly recommending her book, even though I haven't yet read it (I want a copy so badly!) because I am convinced, after hearing her speak, that she is helping to bring literacy back to our country. So go. Listen to her talks. And buy her book. Become the teacher your students need you to be.

Set 2, Book 5

Lesson One

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, fly, has, shhh
• Read: Set 2, Book 5 ("The Big Hat") pp. 1-7

Lesson Two

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, fly, has, shhh
• Read: Set 2, Book 5 ("The Big Hat") pp. 8-ff

Lesson Three

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, fly, has, shhh
• Read: Set 2, Book 5 ("The Big Hat") pp. all

This book is great for practice and doesn't really introduce anything new, though it is full of new applications of old concepts and rules already learned. It's nice to have some books that feel "easy" to the student; I find this builds confidence.

Set 2, Book 4

Lesson One

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, fly, has
• Introduce new sight words: shhh
• Introduce new diphthong: ow
• Read: Set 2, Book 4 ("Bow-Wow") pp. 1-6

Click here for a tip on introducing the diphthong ow. The book is set up in such a way that the ow words in it can be introduced as sight words, but I just skip straight to the rule and teach it from the beginning.

Lesson Two

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, fly, has, shhh
• Read: Set 2, Book 4 ("Bow-Wow") pp. 7-ff

Lesson Three

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, fly, has, shhh
• Read: Set 2, Book 4 ("Bow-Wow") pp. all

Note that I took the word "now" off of the sight words list because it fits the new rule.

Set 4, Book 5

Lesson One

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain, me, he, by, be, too, little, want
• Introduce new blend: ight
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book 5 ("Samantha") pp. 1-5

Click here for a tip on introducing the blend ight.

Lesson Two

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, rain, me, he, by be, too, little, want
• Introduce new blend: oof
• Introduce new sight word: want
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book 5 ("Samantha") pp. 6-9

Click here for a tip on introducing the blend oof.

Lesson Three

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain, me, he, by, be, too, little, want
• Introduce new digraphs: ee and oa
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book 5 ("Samantha") pp. 10-13

Click here for tips on introducing the vowel digraphs ee and oa.

Lesson Four

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain, me, he, by, be, too, little, want
• Introduce new digraph: wh
• Introduce new sight word: eyes
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book 5 ("Samantha") pp. 14-ff

Click here for a tip on introducing the consonant digraph wh.

Lesson Five

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain, me, he, by, be, too, little, want, eyes
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book 5 ("Samantha") pp. all

Something interesting began happening with Daughter A. at this point. I see this with students on occasion, so I thought I'd mention it. If you notice, it took four full lessons to get through the book a single time. Daughter A. cannot take in more than one or two new sounds at a time, and this particular book was full of new things. But once we were through the book the first time, she was able to read it all in a single sitting. This shows us that sometimes we might begin to think it is going to take ten or twelve lessons to get through a book...and we might be totally and completely mistaken!

I emphasize trying to keep everything at the student's personal pace. They will go slooooow, and then they will go fast, and it is our job to gauge what they are and are not capable of.

Three New Digraphs

For those of you who are new around here, or who have forgotten, a digraph is defined as two letters that make a single sound. Today I'll present cards for two vowel digraphs and one consonant digraph.

As a reminder, we need to tell the students that these letter combinations make their own sound. When we see words containing these combinations, we sound them out as if these two letters were only one letter--because, I repeat, they always and consistently make one single sound.

Ahem.

Here are the cards:

ee

________

tweet

sweet

feet

peek

oa

________

boat

toast

roast

soak

wh

________

whiff

when

what

I just hate that the word who is an exception to that last one. It positively made my head spin as a child. The word where is more difficult to sound out because it is nonconforming, also, but it can be added to the chart later when it is introduced as a sight word. It is nice to explain that some sight words do follow at least some of the rules.

Two New Blends: ight and oof

I usually introduce each blend separately, but as I have a fair amount of new information to present, I decided to be efficient about it and combine two in one post.

Our approach is always about the same. We make up a card that contains the blend and sample words which use said blend. We tell the child the sound the blend makes. The child then practices sounding out the sample words.

The first blend, ight, can be tough for some students. Don't be afraid to "help" a little with the sounding out in the beginning. One thing we don't want them doing is practicing it wrong, so a little assistance, keeping them from trying to make a hard-g sound, will go a long way.

ight
____________
night
tight
sight
light

Some folks will introduce the oof blend as the oo sound. I don't, and I know that this is unconventional. I teach oof as in roof  as well as ook as in book as if they were blends. I find this helps my students in the long run. In my geographic location, the blend oof  makes a shorter sound (similar to in the word book), except for when it doesn't. (Yes it is really that arbitrary.) Some of you live in places where this combination consistently says oo as in zoo (and if that is the case, you don't need to introduce this blend at all). Teach this sound according to what is appropriate for your area.

I know that I have written before about using phonics to correct mispronunciations. This is good practice, but some "mispronunciations" are actually differences in local dialect, so as teachers, we need to make sure we know the difference.

The second blend, obviously, is oof.

oof
________
woof
Roofus
roof

Set K, Book 3

Lesson One

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y
• Build words: tat, mat, sat, hat
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out
• Introduce new sight words: fly, has
• Read: Set K, Book 3 ("The Jet") pp. 3-7

Lesson Two

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, fly, has
• Introduce new sight word: now
• Read: Set K, Book 3 (" The Jet ") pp. 8-ff

Lesson Three

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, now, fly, has
• Read: Set K, Book 3 (" The Jet ") pp. all

**NEW LESSON** Set 2, Book 3

You read that right: this is a new, never-before-published lesson! I would like to thank all of you for your patience during this time when I've been reorganizing and reposting old information using the new and improved organizational labels. I have finally completed that process, and from now on all of the lessons will be new ones (unless I find that I missed something).

Lesson One

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y
• Build words: tat, mat, sat, hat
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out
• Introduce new sight words: car
• Read: Set 2, Book 3 ("Pip and Pog") pp. 1-6

Lesson Two

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car
• Introduce new sight word: now
• Read: Set 2, Book 3 ("Pip and Pog") pp. 7-ff

Lesson Three

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, now
• Read: Set 2, Book 3 ("Pip and Pog") pp. 1-6

Lesson Four

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out, car, now
• Read: Set 2, Book 3 ("Pip and Pog") pp. 7-ff

Set 4, Book 4

Lesson One

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain, me, he, by, be, too, little
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book4 ("The Swimmers") pp. 1-6

Some children might need to be reminded of the word her if you haven't been doing all of your regular review.

Lesson Two

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, rain, me, he, by be, too, little, want
• Introduce new blend: ee
• Introduce new sight word: want
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book 4 ("The Swimmers") pp. 7-ff

Click here for a tip on introducing the blend ee.

Lesson Three

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain, me, he, by, be, too, little, want
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book4 ("The Swimmers") pp. 1-6

Lesson Four

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, rain, me, he, by be, too, little, want
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book 4 ("The Swimmers") pp. 7-ff

_____________________________
Read More:
-Embracing Summer
-Mortimer Adler on Reading Readiness

Kindergarten Set, Book 2

Lesson One

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y
• Build words: tat, mat, sat, hat
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh
• Introduce new sight words: of, Do, do, out
• Read: Set K, Book 2 ("Hop") pp. all

I've mentioned this before, but most younger readers will not initially recognize that capitalized Do is the same word as lower-case do. This is why occasionally I will put both on the sight words list.

Lesson Two

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out
• Read a sentence: The cat went into the red zoo.
• Read: Set K, Book 2 ("Hop") pp. 3-7

Silly sentence there, I know. We laughed!

Lesson Three

• Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, hard-g, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
• Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for, pink, zoo, into, saw, was, uh-oh, of, Do, do, out
• Build words: bit, kit, lit
• Read: Set K, Book 2 ("Hop") pp. 8-ff

I'm sure this looks strange. She read the whole book in one day the first time, but then I split it up into two days after that. All I can say is that children are like the rest of us (only more so, as Charlotte Mason used to say). Just as we have days where we "perform" better than others, so do children. On the day of Lesson One, Daughter Q. was having a Very Good Reading Day. The next day, not so much. This is why I always say to please adjust the lessons to your own students. In fact, there is a sense in which these aren't really lessons. Rather, they are records of what we have done, and once you get the process down, you can do your own lessons, tailored to your own student, all by yourself.

Because you are a good teacher. I just know it!

First Grade Set, Book 2

Lesson One

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain, me, he
• Introduce new blend: a_e
• Introduce new sight word: little
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set FG, Book 2 ("Little Bug") all

Click here for a tip on introducing the blend a_e.

Lesson Two

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain, me, he, by, be, too, little
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set FG, Book 2 ("Little Bug") pp. all

Set 4, Book 3

Lesson One

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree, rain
• Introduce new blend: ouse
• Introduce new sight words: by, be, too
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book 3 ("Catn and Mouse") pp. all

Click here for a tip on introducing the blend ouse.

Also, I didn't exactly make a chart for it, but I wrote out some of the sight words (like we) as well as sight words that were moved to charts (like she) so that my student could visualize the word family. So: we, she, be (which is the new word for today). I also added me and he for fun...and I'm pretty sure they are necessary for the next book anyhow.

Incidentally, the sight word we was introduced awhile back. I just noticed today that it (and another word, push, also introduced that day) mysteriously dropped off the review list, and I don't know why. I apologize for that, and I hope this is a reminder to manage your own review lists as you figure out what each student needs.

Someday soon I'm going to add a "report a problem" form to the tabs at the top, so that you can tell me when you find issues such as these. I am sure some of you have found problems...and never told me!

Lesson Two

• Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., into, was, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, we, push, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what, want, have, were, don't, head, your, good, night, tree
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 4, Book3 ("Cat and Mouse") all

Daughter A. breezed through Cat and Mouse, which surprised me. Feel free to split up each of these into two lessons (for a total for four lessons) if your student has need for this.