All rights reserved.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced by any means,

including duplicating, photocopying, electronic, mechanical, recording, the World Wide Web,
e-mail, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Copyright © 2016 by All About® Learning Press, Inc.

Previous editions copyright © 2011-2015
Printed in the United States of America

Second Edition
v.2.0.0

All About® Learning Press, Inc.

615 Commerce Loop
Eagle River, WI 54521

ISBN 978-1-935197-62-1

Editor: Renée LaTulippe

Cover Design: Dave LaTulippe

The All About® Reading Level 1 Teacher’s Manual is part of the

All About® Reading program.

For more books in this series, go to www.AllAboutReading.com.

 Contents

1 Preparing for Level 1
What Do You Need?............................................................................................................... 7
What You Should Know about This Program........................................................................ 9
Is Your Student in the Right Level?...................................................................................... 11
Preview the Teacher’s Manual............................................................................................... 13
Preview the Activity Book..................................................................................................... 15
Preview the Readers............................................................................................................... 19
Organize the Manipulatives................................................................................................... 21
How Much Time Should I Spend on Reading?.................................................................... 27

2 Complete Step-by-Step Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A...................................................................................... 31
Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J........................................................................................ 39
Lesson 3: Read “Bam!”....................................................................................................... 49
Lesson 4: Letters G, D, C, and Y...................................................................................... 53
Lesson 5: Read “The Cat”................................................................................................. 61
Lesson 6: Letters H, K, and R........................................................................................... 65
Lesson 7: Read “Jam” and “A Hat”.................................................................................... 71
Lesson 8: Letters I, V, F, and Z........................................................................................ 75
Lesson 9: Read “Hit the Gas” and “The Bad Rat”............................................................ 81
Lesson 10: Letters O, L, and W.......................................................................................... 85
Lesson 11: Read “Jan Did It” and “The Job””...................................................................... 91
Lesson 12: Letter U and the Second Sound of S................................................................. 95
Lesson 13: Read “Run, Bug, Run!” and “Kip the Pup”..................................................... 103
Lesson 14: Letter E............................................................................................................ 107
Lesson 15: Read “The Gum” and “The Sad Hog”............................................................ 113
Lesson 16: Letters QU and X............................................................................................ 117
Lesson 17: Read “Pet Ox” and “Fox in a Box”................................................................... 123
Lesson 18: Consonant Team TH...................................................................................... 127
Lesson 19: Read “Get Them!” and “The Red Pen”........................................................... 133
Lesson 20: Consonant Team SH....................................................................................... 137
Lesson 21: Read “Run!” and “Six Fish”.............................................................................. 143
Lesson 22: Consonant Team CH...................................................................................... 147
Lesson 23: Read “The Tub” and “Get the Moth, Meg!”................................................... 153
Lesson 24: Words with Final Blends................................................................................. 157
Lesson 25: Read “Tin Raft” and “Lost in the Bog”........................................................... 163
Lesson 26: Words with Initial Blends................................................................................ 167
Lesson 27: Read “Lunch” and “The Big Top”................................................................... 173
Lesson 28: Read “Slim Went West” and “The Hit”.......................................................... 179
Lesson 29: FF, LL, and SS................................................................................................ 183
Lesson 30: Read “Mud Milk” and “The Ant Hill”............................................................ 189
Lesson 31: Three Leap Words.......................................................................................... 195
Lesson 32: Read “The Plan” and “The Big Mess”............................................................ 199
 Lesson 33: Read “The Runt Pig” and “Fish Class”............................................................ 203
Lesson 34: Consonant Team CK....................................................................................... 209
Lesson 35: Read “The Pet Duck” and “Fun at the Pond”................................................. 215
Lesson 36: Consonant Team NG...................................................................................... 219
Lesson 37: Read “The Bat and King Sam” and “The Long Nap”..................................... 225
Lesson 38: Consonant Team NK...................................................................................... 231
Lesson 39: Read “Frank Shrank” and “At Camp”............................................................. 237
Lesson 40: Compound Words........................................................................................... 241
Lesson 41: Read “Cobweb the Cat” and “Yuck!”............................................................... 245
Lesson 42: Plural Words.................................................................................................... 251
Lesson 43: Read “Ten Wishes” and “Fast Fun”................................................................. 255
Lesson 44: Additional Sounds for A, I, and C.................................................................. 259
Lesson 45: Read “The Lost List” and “No Mud for Max”................................................ 263
Lesson 46: Additional Sounds for O and G...................................................................... 267
Lesson 47: Read “Pip the Milkman” and “The Duck Egg”............................................... 271
Lesson 48: Additional Sounds for E, U, Y, and CH......................................................... 275
Lesson 49: Read “The Sled” and “Ducks in a Truck”........................................................ 279
Lesson 50: Short Vowels and Counting Syllables.............................................................. 285
Lesson 51: Read “Biff and the Bathtub” and “The Wind on the Hill”............................. 289
Lesson 52: Open and Closed Syllables.............................................................................. 293
Lesson 53: Read “Gus and Hal Go on a Trip” and “The Best Lunch”............................. 299

3 Appendices
Appendix A: Scope and Sequence of Level 1..................................................................... 307
Appendix B: Phonograms Taught in Levels 1-4................................................................ 309
Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure............................................................................... 313
Appendix D: Solving Letter Reversal Problems................................................................. 315
Appendix E: How to Assemble Word Flippers................................................................. 319
Appendix F: Tips and Activities for Using the Practice Sheets........................................ 321
Appendix G: Activities for Reviewing Phonograms........................................................... 325
Appendix H: Activities for Reviewing Word Cards........................................................... 327
Appendix I: List of Comprehension Activities................................................................ 329
Appendix J: If Your Child Struggles with the Stories...................................................... 331
Appendix K: Methods for Counting Syllables.................................................................... 333
Appendix L: Magnet Board Setup at the End of Level 1.................................................. 335
Appendix M: Leap Words Taught in Level 1..................................................................... 337
Appendix N: Words Taught in Level 1.............................................................................. 339
 1
Preparing for Level 1
 What Do You Need?
In addition to this Teacher’s Manual, you will need the following items:

1. Student Packet
The Student Packet contains:
• Blast Off to Reading! activity book
• Phonogram Cards and Word Cards
• Viewfinder Bookmark

2. Interactive Kit
The Interactive Kit contains:
• Letter Tiles
• Divider Cards
• Phonogram Sounds app
• Reading Review Box (Deluxe Kit)
• Stickers for the Progress Chart (Deluxe Kit)
• Tote Bag (Deluxe Kit)
(If you did not get the Reading Review Box, you will
need an index card box.)

3. Readers
• Run, Bug, Run!
• The Runt Pig
• Cobweb the Cat
(This Teacher’s Manual must be used with the Second Edition
of these readers, which contain additional stories.)

4. Common Craft Materials

• Crayons, scissors, glue, tape, stapler
• Two small baggies in which to store your letter tiles

5. 2’ x 3’ Magnetic White Board

A magnetic white board is optional, but highly recommended.

6. Optional Items
If your child enjoyed working with Ziggy in the All About Reading
Pre-reading program, or if you are working with a child six or under,
you may wish to add the book of games called Reading Games with
Ziggy the Zebra.

If you are working with a younger child, you may wish to use a puppet to help you “teach” the
lessons and keep student interest high.

What Do You Need? 7

 What You Should Know about This Program

First of all, you can do this! All About Reading is a scripted, open-and-go program developed for
busy parents, teachers, and tutors who want to teach reading in the most effective way possible. This
program doesn’t require long periods of study, you don’t have to develop your own lesson plans, and
you don’t have to stress over what to teach next—because everything is laid out for you, step by step.
You’ll get solid grounding in how to teach reading without being overwhelmed.

Your student will be actively involved in the learning process. This is a truly multisensory program;
your student will learn through sight, sound, and touch. Everything is taught in context, and your
student will apply what he has learned right away. Your student will be engaged in thinking,
processing, comparing, and learning.

Students who use the All About Reading method tend to feel a sense of excitement in learning. And
they should! They are learning how to think, explore, and grow in their abilities. They feel successful
as they see continual progress.

There are no gaps in this program. Your student will be taught everything he or she needs to know
about reading, so no guessing is required. Each new concept builds upon the previous one, and no
steps are skipped.

There are five key components of reading—and our program teaches all of them thoroughly.
These five components are:

1. Phonological Awareness
2. Phonics and Decoding
3. Fluency
4. Vocabulary
5. Comprehension

All About Reading is a mastery-based program. As such, the levels don’t correspond to grade
levels. In mastery-based learning, students master one concept before moving on to a more advanced
concept, regardless of age or grade level.

Most importantly, All About Reading is committed to results. The All About Reading program
has a very focused mission: to enable you to teach your student to read while guaranteeing retention
and enjoyment. Our approach to reading focuses on enabling students to become confident, fluent
readers who can absorb and retain new information.

If you ever have a question as you are teaching, please feel free to contact us at
support@allaboutlearningpress.com or 715-477-1976. We’re here to help!

What You Should Know about This Program 9

 Is Your Student in the Right Level?
Starting Level 1 of All About Reading is an exciting time for you and your student. Together, you’ll
explore fascinating new concepts—including phonograms, counting syllables, and reading stories—
and begin to establish a firm foundation for a lifetime of reading. But before your student begins
Level 1, be sure he or she is comfortable with these vital prerequisite concepts.

Your student should display letter knowledge.

Your child can recite the alphabet song.

Your child recognizes the capital letters. If you ask your child to point to an M, he
can do it.

Your child recognizes the lowercase letters. If you ask your child to point to an r, he
can do it.

Your student should display print awareness.

Your child knows the proper way to hold a book.

Your child understands that books are read from cover to back.

Your child understands that sentences are read from left to right.

Your child knows that words on the page can be read.

Your student should display listening comprehension.

Your child is able to retell a familiar story in his own words.

Your child can answer simple questions about a story.

Your child asks questions (Why did the elephant laugh?) during read-alouds.

Your student should display phonological awareness.

Your child can rhyme. If you say bat, your child can come up with a rhyming word
like hat.

Your child understands word boundaries. If you say the sentence Don’t let the cat
out, your child is able to separate the sentence into five individual words.

Your child can clap syllables. If you say dog, your child knows to clap once. If you
say umbrella, your child knows to clap three times.

Is Your Student in the Right Level? 11

 Your child can blend sounds to make a word. If you say the sounds sh…eep, your
child responds with the word sheep.

Your child can identify the beginning sound in a word. If you ask your child to
say the first sound in pig, your child is able to respond with the sound /p/.

Your child can identify the ending sound in a word. If you ask your child to say
the last sound in the word jam, your child is able to respond with the sound /m/.

Your student should display motivation to read.

Use your intuition to understand if your child is motivated to begin reading. The following
are all signs that your child is motivated to read and has achieved the understanding that
reading is fun.

Does your child enjoy being read to, at least for short periods of time?

Does your child pretend to read or write?

Does your child frequently request read-aloud time and show a general enthusiasm
for books?

How did your student do?

• If all or most of the boxes are checked, then your child is ready for All About Reading Level 1!

• If there are some missing checkmarks, then you’ve identified the areas that you should work
on with your child.

• It is surprisingly easy to fill in these gaps in an engaging way with the All About Reading Pre-
reading program.

12 Is Your Student in the Right Level?

 How Much Time Should I Spend on Reading?
All About Reading lessons are designed so that you can work at your student’s pace. Following are
general guidelines.

Spend 20 minutes per day teaching reading.

I recommend spending about 20 minutes per day, five days a week, on reading instruction, but you
can adjust this if necessary for early readers or for older remedial students.

It can be helpful to set a timer. When 20 minutes are up, mark the spot in the lesson where you
stopped. When you begin teaching the next day, briefly review some of the daily review cards, and
then begin in the Teacher’s Manual wherever you left off previously.

Short daily lessons are much more effective than longer, less frequent lessons. Your student’s attention
is less likely to wander, and you can accomplish more when your student is actively engaged in the
lesson.

If you aren’t done with the lesson when the 20 minutes are up, don’t worry! This next tip is for you.

Lessons often take more than one day to complete.

Please know that the lessons in All About Reading are not meant to be completed in one day.

In fact, some lessons may take a week or more to finish. A number of variables including your
student’s age, attention span, prior experience, the difficulty of the concept being taught, and the
length of the stories all play a part in how quickly a lesson can be completed.

And after the formal lesson, it will be time for some great read-alouds!

In addition to the lessons, read aloud to your student for

20 minutes per day.
Reading aloud to your student is one of the most important things you can do to promote future
reading ability. In fact, this is such an important part of the program that it is actually added as a
reminder at the end of every lesson.

Reading aloud for 20 minutes a day may not seem like a lot, but the cumulative effect cannot be
overstated. By reading aloud for just 20 minutes a day over a five-year period, your child will have the
advantage of 600 hours of read-alouds. That equates to huge gains in vocabulary, comprehension,
and background information.

When you combine 20 minutes of direct reading instruction with 20 minutes of read-aloud time,
you can rest assured that you are providing your student with the very best opportunity for long-term
reading success.

How Much Time Should I Spend on Reading? 27

28
 2
Complete Step-by-Step
Lesson Plans

Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A 29

 Lesson 1 - Letters M, S, P, and A
This lesson will introduce the blending procedure and the terms vowels and
consonants, and teach words containing the letters m, s, p, and a.

You will need: Phonogram Cards 1-4 Word Cards 1-3

Blast Off to Reading! page 9 Progress Chart

Before You Preview the Sounds of the Letters

Begin
The four letters in today’s lesson were chosen because their sounds are
easy for students to learn and can be used right away to form simple
words.
At the beginning of
many of the lessons,
m The letter m says /m/ as in moon.
you will find a
“Before You Begin”
section enclosed in a box. s The letter s can say two sounds:
Review these instructions
before you begin the • /s/ as in sun (taught in this lesson)
lesson. • z as in has (taught in Lesson 12)

The actual lesson plan p The letter p says /p/ as in pig. Be sure that you and your student don’t
you will teach to your
add /uh/ to the end of the sound, as in /puh/.
student begins after the
boxed section.
a The letter a can say three sounds:
• /ă/ as in apple, known as the short sound (taught in this lesson)
• /aˉ/ as in acorn, known as the long sound (taught in Lesson 44)
• /ah/ as in father (taught in Lesson 44)

Preview the Hand Motion for Letter A

To further
cement this Level 1 – Lesson 1 Phonogram Card 4
Notice the hand on the card for a. This indicates that
sound in your
student’s mind, a there is a hand motion that goes along with the sound.
Your student will pretend to hold an apple in his hand
take a bite out of the
pretend apple with a as he says “/ă/–/ă/–apple.”
loud crunch! The more
dramatic you make this Vowel sounds are usually more difficult for students to learn. We make it
activity, the better your
easier by adding hand motions and teaching only one new vowel sound
student will remember it.
at a time.

Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A 31

 Before You Listen to the Phonogram Sounds app for a demonstration of
Begin the phonogram sounds.
(continued)

Preview Vowels and Consonants

Set up the letter tiles in alphabetical order before the start of the lesson,
as shown on page 22.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p qu r s t u v w x y z
y

Your student will learn that the red tiles are vowels and the blue tiles are
consonants.

If you are using Reading Games with Ziggy the Zebra, you can
play “Apples for Ziggy” to reinforce the concept of vowels
and consonants.

Preview the Blending Procedure

In the first twenty-three lessons, your student will be blending and
reading words with the Consonant-Vowel-Consonant pattern such as
mat, run, and did. These words are sometimes referred to as CVC words,
and the vowel sound is always short. Although the scripted lessons
will walk you through the blending procedure, you might also refer to
Appendix C for an overview of the process.

Note that learning to blend can take time! Don’t be concerned if it takes
several lessons for your student to grasp the concept of blending. We’ll
review blending in each “new concept” lesson, so your student will get
plenty of practice.

32 Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A

New Teaching Teach New Letter Sounds
Hold up the Phonogram Card for the letter m.
Level 1 – Lesson 1 Phonogram Card 1

m
“This letter says /m/.”

“Now it’s your turn. What does this letter say?” Student
says /m/.

Level 1 – Lesson 1 Phonogram Card 2

Hold up the Phonogram Card for the letter s.
s “This letter says /s/.”

“Your turn. What does this letter say?” Student says /s/.

Level 1 – Lesson 1 Phonogram Card 3

Hold up the Phonogram Card for the letter p.
p “This letter says /p/.”

“Your turn.” Student says /p/.

Level 1 – Lesson 1 Phonogram Card 4

Hold up the Phonogram Card for the letter a.

a “This letter says /ă/.”

Cup your hand as if you are holding an apple. “When

we say /ă /, let’s pretend that we are holding an apple.
Say the sound of a like this: /ă /–/ă /–apple.” Student
pretends to hold an apple and says /ă/–/ă/–apple.

Point to the hand symbol on the card. “This hand will

remind you that there is a hand motion for a.”

Shuffle the cards and review them several times.

File these flashcards behind the Phonogram Cards Review

divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. The cards
will be reviewed at the beginning of the next lesson.

Now practice the same sounds using the letter tiles. Pull these four letter
tiles down into your workspace.
m s p a

Point to each one in random order and ask your student to tell you the
sound that each tile makes. Practice until your student can say the sound
of each letter accurately.

Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A 33

New Teaching Demonstrate How to Blend Sounds
(continued)
Build the word map with letter tiles. m a p

Be sure your “Watch while I show you how we sound out words.”
student uses the
pointer finger
of his dominant hand for “I touch each letter tile in order, and I say the sound of that letter.”
this exercise.
Touch the m and say /m/. m a p

Touch the a and say /a˘/ . m a p

Touch the p and say /p/ . m a p

Now go back to the beginning of the word and blend the sounds together
as follows.

Slide your finger under the letters m-a and say /ma˘/ .
m a p

Start at the beginning of the word again. Slide your finger under the
letters m-a-p and say map slowly .
m a p

Finally, read the word map at a normal pace, as we do when we speak.

When your
student reads
the word in this
last step, you may need Using the same procedure for blending, have your student sound out the
to prompt him to say the word Sam.
word “fast like we talk.” s a m

34 Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A

New Teaching Play “Change the Word”
(continued)
Leave the word Sam on the board. s a m

“I’m going to change the first letter of this word.”

You may wish to
point out to your
p
student that Sam
and Pam are names, and a m
when they are in print, s
they are capitalized.
You may demonstrate
by writing the names on “What does this new word say?” Encourage your student to sound out
paper, or turn to page 9 the new word. Pam.
in the Blast Off activity
book and point out the
names shown at the Build the word sap. s a p
bottom of the page.
“Sound out this word.” Student sounds out the word sap.

Change the first letter to form the word map.

m
a p
s
“What does this new word say?” Student sounds out the word map.

Teach Vowels and Consonants

“Some of the letter tiles are red. Say the names of the letters on the red
tiles.” A, e, i, o, u, and y.

“The red tiles are vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.”

“The blue tiles are consonants. C is a consonant. P is a consonant.” Point

to the letter tiles as you mention them.

“Can you tell me some other consonants?” Student names some consonants.

Point to the two y tiles. y y

“The letter y can be a vowel or a consonant. That’s why we have a red y

and a blue y.”

Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A 35

New Teaching Complete Activity Sheet
(continued)
Word Match
Remove page 9 from the Blast Off activity book.
If you are
working with an
older student,
Cut out the word cards from the bottom of the
feel free to page.
Don’t skip any of the
Forget
activity sheets Have your student place the appropriate card
that your student wouldn’t
enjoy.
under the matching picture.

Explain that names start with a capital letter.

“Which of these words are names?” Pam and

Sam.

“Which of these words rhyme?” Pam and Sam,

map and sap.

Practice Reading Words

If your child can’t Have your student practice reading the words on Word Cards 1-3.
automatically Level 1 – Lesson 1 Word Card 1 Level 1 – Lesson 1 Word Card 2 Level 1 – Lesson 1 Word Card 3

read these words

by sight, he shouldn’t am Sam map
guess at them. Instead,
encourage your student
to decode words using
the blending procedure
taught in this lesson. File these flashcards behind the Word Cards Review
divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. The cards
will be reviewed at the beginning of the next lesson.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

36 Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart
Progress
If you haven’t already done so, remove page 5 from
the activity book.

After each lesson has been completed, have your

student color in or place a sticker over that lesson
number on the Progress Chart.

Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A 37

38 Lesson 1: Letters M, S, P, and A
 Lesson 2 - Letters N, T, B, and J
This lesson will teach words containing the letters n, t, b, and j, as well as the
Leap Word the.

You will need: Phonogram Cards 5-8 Word Cards 4-13

Blast Off to Reading! pages 11-15

Before You Preview the Sounds of the Letters

Begin
n The letter n says /n/ as in nest. If your student has difficulty
discriminating between the sounds of /n/ and /m/, have him watch
your lips as you pronounce the sounds.

t The letter t says /t/ as in tent. Be sure that you and your student don’t
add /uh/ to the end of the sound, as in /tuh/.

b The letter b says /b/ as in bat. It is impossible to say /b/ in isolation

without any trace of /uh/ at the end, but clip the /uh/ as short as
possible.

j The letter j says /j/ as in jam. Be sure that you and your student don’t
add /uh/ to the end of the sound, as in /juh/.

Listen to the Phonogram Sounds app for a demonstration of

the phonogram sounds.

If you are using Reading Games with Ziggy the Zebra, you can
play “Ziggy at the Market” as a fun way to practice the
Phonogram Cards.

Look Ahead to the Review Section

You’ll see that each lesson starts with a Review section. Review covers
two main areas: Phonograms and Word Cards.

Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J 39

 Before You You’ll use the Reading Review Box to keep track of what
Begin has been mastered and what still needs to be reviewed. If
(continued) your student knows the Phonogram or Word Card without
prompting and you feel that the card has been mastered,
place the card behind the Mastered divider. If the card has
not yet been mastered, place it behind the Review divider so
it can be reviewed again in the next lesson.

How do you know when your student has mastered a

Phonogram Card?

If your student...
• says the pure, clipped sound without adding /uh/ at the
end—for example, he says /p/, not /puh/;
• responds quickly and easily when you hold up the card;
• does not hesitate to think of the answer; and
• you have no doubt that your student knows the card
thoroughly...

...then that Phonogram Card is mastered! Move it behind the

Mastered divider.

How do you know when your student has mastered a

Word Card?

If your student is able to read the word on the card

without having to sound it out, then you can consider that Word
Card as mastered.

Preview the Practice Sheets

Over time, using the Practice Sheets will help your student move from
sounding out words letter by letter to being able to instantly recognize
words. This change usually happens gradually, so don’t expect perfection
at first.

Here are some tips to help you get the most benefit out of the Practice
Sheets:

1. Place the sheet directly in front of your student.

2. Read across the page from left to right to reinforce proper eye
movements. Don’t read down the columns.

40 Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J

 Before You 3. The viewfinder bookmark can help your student focus on
Begin individual words. Either run the top edge of the bookmark under
(continued) the line of text, or center the word or phrase in the cutout area.

cobweb

4. Stop before your student fatigues. You might not complete the
Practice Sheets all in one day, depending on your student’s age
and attention span.

5. Would your student benefit from reviewing the Practice Sheets

several times? If so, repeat the exercise several days in a row.

6. On the other hand, don’t overwhelm your beginning reader with too
much practice with the Practice Sheets. It is important to find the
right balance for your individual student. Some students desperately
need the practice provided, while others (especially younger children)
are better served by reading every other line, or every third line.

See Appendix F for more tips on using the Practice Sheets.

Remember that this is hard work for most beginning readers, especially if
they are still at the stage of sounding out each word. Reward effort with
words of praise!

Review Phonogram
Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound. If
necessary, remind your student of the sound.

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

a b c Ask your student to point to some vowels and some

consonants.
g e b t o m

Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J 41

New Teaching Teach New Letter Sounds
Level 1 – Lesson 2 Phonogram Card 5
Hold up the Phonogram Card for the letter n.
n “This letter says /n/.”

“Now it’s your turn. What does this letter say?” Student
says /n/.

Level 1 – Lesson 2 Phonogram Card 6

Hold up the Phonogram Card for the letter t.
t “This letter says /t/.”

“Your turn. What does this letter say?” Student says /t/.

Level 1 – Lesson 2 Phonogram Card 7

Hold up the Phonogram Card for the letter b.
b “This letter says /b/.”

“Your turn.” Student says /b/.

Level 1 – Lesson 2 Phonogram Card 8

Hold up the Phonogram Card for the letter j.
j “This letter says /j/.”

“Your turn.” Student says /j/.

File the Phonogram Cards behind the Review divider of the Reading
Review Box.

Now practice the same sounds using the letter tiles. Pull these four letter
tiles down into your workspace.
n t b j
Point to each one in random order and ask your student to tell you the
sound that each tile makes. Practice until your student can say the sound
of each letter accurately.

File the four new Phonogram Cards behind the Review

divider and review them at the beginning of the next lesson.
Doing so will help you better determine if your student has
really mastered the phonogram.

It often seems as if a student has mastered a new card during the

reading lesson, but when you revisit that card in a day or two, it
becomes obvious that he really hasn’t.

It often takes multiple sessions to master a new phonogram.

42 Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J

New Teaching Practice Commonly Confused Letters
(continued)
Pull down the m and n letter tiles. Randomly dictate /m/ and /n/ to test
whether your student can distinguish between the two sounds and choose
the correct letter tile.
m n

If your student has difficulty telling the difference between /m/ and /n/,
have him watch your mouth as you say the sounds.

Blend Sounds with Letter Tiles

Build the word pan with letter tiles. p a n

“I’ll sound out this first word, and then you’ll sound out the next word.”

Touch the p and say /p/. p a n

Touch the a and say /a˘/ . p a n

Touch the n and say /n/ . p a n

Now go back to the beginning of the word and blend the sounds together
as follows.

Slide your finger under the letters p-a and say /pa˘/ .
p a n

Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J 43

New Teaching Start at the beginning of the word again. Slide your finger under the
(continued) letters p-a-n and say pan slowly .
p a n

You may want Finally, read the word pan at a normal pace, as we do when we speak.
to point out to
your student
that pan and nap contain
Using the same procedure for blending, have your student sound out the
the same letters, just in a
different order. word nap.
n a p

Play “Change the Word”

Leave the word nap on the board. n a p

“I’m going to change the first letter of this word.”

t

a p
n
“What does this new word say?” Encourage your student to sound out
the new word. Tap.

Continue to change one letter at a time to form the following words.

Each time, have your student sound out the new word.
tap  tan  man  ban  an  at  bat  sat

44 Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J

New Teaching Complete Activity Sheets
(continued)
Word Match
Remove page 11 from the Blast Off activity book.

Cut out the word cards from the bottom of the

page and have your student place the appropriate
card under the matching picture.

Ask these questions:

“Which picture starts with the sound /j/?” Jam.

“Which picture starts with the sound /m/?” Man.

“What is the first sound in the word bat?” /b/.

“What is the first sound in the word pan?” /p/.

Ice Cream Cones

Remove page 13 from the activity book.

Cut out the ice cream scoops and cones.

Have your student read the words on each ice

cream scoop. Put the rhyming words together to
form ice cream desserts.

Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J 45

New Teaching Practice Reading Words
(continued)
Have your student practice reading the words on Word Cards 4-12.
The words an Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 4 Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 5 Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 6 Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 7

and Ann are

homophones (words man an nap tan
that sound alike but are
(She ate an apple.)

spelled differently), as are

mat, Matt, and matte. A Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 8 Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 9 Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 10 Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 11

sentence has been added

to the Word Cards an at mat
(Sit on the mat.)
sat jam
and mat, and all cards
containing homophones Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 12
in future lessons. Your
student does not read
these sentences—they are
Jan
there for your reference
in case you wish to
discuss the correct word File the Word Cards behind the Review divider of the Reading Review
usage. Box.

Teach a Leap Word: the

Show Word Card 13 to your student.
AAR Level 1 – Lesson 2 Word Card 13

You may wish to the

explain that we
usually pronounce
this word as /thŭ/. “Most words follow the rules and say the sounds that we expect them to
Sometimes we do say
/theˉ/, but for the purposes
say. But there are a few words that do not. Here is one of those words.”
of the flashcard review,
say the more common “This word is the, as in She has the balloons.”
pronunciation: /thŭ/.
Point to the frog on the Word Card. “See this frog? This means that
the word can’t be sounded out. It is a Leap Word that you just need to
remember.”

“What is this word?” The.

Review this Leap Word several times today and then file it behind the
Review divider in the Reading Review Box.

46 Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J

New Teaching Practice Fluency
(continued)
Remove page 15 from the activity book.
Exclamation points
are used in the story Point to a sentence that ends in a period. “This
your student will dot is a period. It is used to show the end of the
read in the next lesson. sentence.”

Point to a sentence that ends in an exclamation

point. “This is an exclamation point. Exclamation
points are used to show emotion or excitement.”

Model for your student the difference between

reading a sentence with a period and reading a
sentence with an exclamation point.

Have your student read from the Practice Sheet.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 2 on the
Progress Chart.

Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J 47

48 Lesson 2: Letters N, T, B, and J
 Lesson 3 - Read “Bam!”
In this lesson, students will read a short story and practice reading sentences
with periods and exclamation points.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 17-19 Optional: sticky notes
Run, Bug, Run! book

Before You Preview the Story-Related Lessons

Begin
You’ve reached the first story-related lesson in
Level 1! Story-related lessons are designed to
help your student practice newly learned decoding
skills and learn comprehension strategies.

Before reading the story in each story-related

lesson, your student will complete several warm-up
activities, including a Warm-Up Sheet. The words
on the Warm-Up Sheets have been explicitly
taught in previous lessons.

You’ll notice that there are discussion questions before your student reads
the story. The questions are designed to pique your student’s interest and
activate prior knowledge. The discussions allow your student to relate to
the text and attach meaning to what he is about to read.

During and after the story, we ask open-ended questions because we

want students to relate to and put thought into what they’re reading.
Together, these pre-
We want them to contribute their ideas, test their predictions, and
and post-reading
activities move comprehend in a meaningful way. To encourage an active reading
your student toward the process, our reading comprehension strategies also focus on visualizing,
goal of reading with questioning, summarizing, making predictions, and drawing conclusions.
comprehension.

Post-reading activities include discussing the main character or conflict,

story sequencing, imagining alternate endings, and relating the story to
your student’s life. A complete list of reading comprehension activities
can be found in Appendix I.

After completing the warm-up activities in this lesson, your student will
read “Bam!” in the Run, Bug, Run! book. All the words in the story are
decodable using previously taught concepts.

Lesson 3: Read “Bam!” 49

 Before You What should you expect when your student reads the stories?
Begin It is normal if your student’s reading is choppy at this very early stage.
(continued) The first time he reads a story, he will probably read just one word at a
time. Be patient and encouraging. Subsequent readings will be smoother
and more fluent.

Review Word Cards

If you are using Reading Games with Ziggy the Zebra, you can
play “Ziggy at the Beach” for an engaging way to review
Word Cards.

Review Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Phonogram
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
Always shuffle card to your student and have him say the sound(s). If
the Word Cards necessary, remind your student of the sound(s).
Reviewbefore reviewing
(continued)them. By doing
Don’t so, your student Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Forget Word
will practice Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
words with a variety of difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
patterns. and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

New Teaching Complete Activity Sheet

“In the last lesson you learned about periods and exclamation points.
This activity will In this activity, you’ll help Rocket the Dog express his excitement with
give your student
exclamation points.”
practice with
periods and exclamation
points, which are used in Down to Earth
the upcoming story. Remove pages 17-18 from the Blast Off activity
book.

Cut out the cards at the top of the sheet.

Tell your student that Rocket the Dog has just

landed back on planet Earth and is excited to
invite his friends to a picnic. Place a punctuation
card (flipped to the “period” side) next to each
name and read the names aloud. Then have your
student help Rocket the Dog show his excitement
by flipping the punctuation cards to reveal the
exclamation points.

Read each name again with the exclamation point at the end.
50 Lesson 3: Read “Bam!”
New Teaching Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “Bam!”
(continued)
Remove page 19 from the activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “Bam!”

Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge

Point out the illustration of a ferret on the Warm-Up Sheet. “This is
The purpose of a ferret. Ferrets were once used in Europe to catch rats and rabbits, but
this pre-reading now they are often kept as pets. Ferrets are quite playful, mischievous, and
discussion is to curious, like cats.”
introduce new vocabulary
that will be used in the
story and to activate your “What are some funny things that cats do? What kind of trouble can
student’s prior knowledge they get into?” Discuss your student’s experience with and ideas about
about curious animals. cats and their behavior.

“Ferrets can get into the same kind of trouble as cats. The story you are
about to read is about a curious ferret that gets into a lot of mischief. Let’s
During the story, see what happens!”
you will stop
your student in
several places to model
important comprehension
strategies. You’ll model Read “Bam!”
for your student how
to stop to think about “Turn to page 9 in your reader and read ‘Bam!’ aloud.” Discuss your
unfamiliar words or student’s ideas for the questions below as you come to them.
ideas. You’ll also model
the beginning stages of
After page 13: “Why do you think the ferret taps the bag?”
making predictions by
thinking ahead to what
might happen next. After page 15: “What do you think is going to happen to the pan?”

If you wish, you can place

After reading: “What kind of trouble does the ferret get into?” Have your
a small sticky note at the
bottom of pages 13 and student skim the illustrations for answers.
15 of the reader so you
remember to stop after
reading those pages.

Lesson 3: Read “Bam!” 51

New Teaching Point Out The End
(continued)
When your student gets to the last page of the story, read the phrase The
End, if your student doesn’t already know it. Children generally catch on
to this quickly because the phrase is at a predictable part of the story—
the end!

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

During your read-aloud times, model how you sometimes stop to think
about what you are reading. You want your student to understand that
good readers think about what they are reading, and that they should
expect the text to make sense. Reading is like a conversation between the
author and the reader.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 3 on the Progress
Chart.

52 Lesson 3: Read “Bam!”

Lessons 4-17 are not included in this sample.
 Lesson 18 - Consonant Team TH

This lesson will teach the concept of consonant teams and words containing
both sounds of consonant team th.

You will need: Phonogram Card 27 Blast Off to Reading! pages 99-104
Letter tile th Word Cards 81-88
Consonant Teams label spatula

Before You Preview Consonant Teams

Begin When two consonants work together to make one sound, we call them
a consonant team. Another common term for this is consonant digraph.

Five consonant teams will be taught in Level 1: th as in three and then; ch

as in child, school, and chef; ck as in duck; ng as in king; and nk as in thank.

Preview Consonant Team TH

th Today you will be teaching the consonant team th.

Depending on the word, th says /th/ as in three or /th/ as in then.

You will notice that there is a strikethrough on the th in the second
sound: /th/. This strikethrough is used to differentiate between the
two sounds of th. The /th/ is considered an unvoiced sound, while
the /th/ is considered a voiced sound because we use our vocal cords
to say it.

Your student will learn both sounds of th in this lesson. Examples

incude:
/th/: bath moth thin
/th/: than this them

Listen to the Phonogram Sounds app for a demonstration of

the phonogram sounds.

Lesson 18: Consonant Team TH 127

 Before You Place the Consonant Teams Label on the Board
Begin
(continued) We will use the Consonant Teams label to organize consonant teams.
Place the label below the alphabet row, and place the th tile below the
label.
...
Consonant Teams

th

To see what the magnetic white board will look like after all of the Level
1 consonant teams have been placed on the board, refer to Appendix L.

Avoid Making Corrections Too Soon

When your student misreads a word in a sentence, resist the temptation
to correct him immediately. Let him reach the end of the sentence before
you interrupt, giving him the chance to realize on his own that he made
a mistake.

For example, if your student reads The hot sat with a thud, he will probably
self-correct because the sentence obviously doesn’t make sense. He will
look back to see where his error is and reread the sentence correctly as
The hog sat with a thud. If he does continue reading without correcting
himself, ask him if the sentence he just read makes sense.

When you interrupt your student immediately after he makes an error, he

is deprived of the opportunity to monitor what he is reading for meaning.
In the example above, the phrase The hot... does make sense in itself, as
it could be The hot day or The hot lunch. If you give your student time to
reach the end of the sentence, though, it will most likely be clear to him
that he has misread a word.

128 Lesson 18: Consonant Team TH

Review Phonogram
Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound. If
necessary, remind your student of the sound.

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

New Teaching Teach New Letter Sounds

Level 1 – Lesson 18 Phonogram Card 27
Hold up the Phonogram Card for the consonant team
th th.

“See how there are two letters on one card? The two
letters work together to make one sound.”

“These letters can say /th/, or they can say /th/.”

“Repeat after me: /th/–/th/.” Student repeats.

Mix in several other Phonogram Cards for mixed review and practice
until your student can say the sounds accurately. File the new Phonogram
Card behind the Review divider in the Reading Review Box.

Set out the new letter tile. th

Mix in several other letter tiles for mixed review and practice with the
new tile until your student can say the sounds accurately.

Blend Sounds with Letter Tiles

“When we read words with th, we try the first sound first. If that doesn’t
make a word you recognize, then try the second sound of th.”

Build the word them with letter tiles. th e m

“I’ll sound out this first word, and then you’ll sound out the next word.”

Lesson 18: Consonant Team TH 129

New Teaching “First I try the first sound of th.” Touch the th and say /th/. th e m
(continued)

“Then I sound out the rest of the word.”

Touch the e and say /ĕ/, then touch the m and say /m/. th e m

Now go back to the beginning of the word and blend the sounds together,
using the first sound of th. Slide your finger under the letters th-e-m and
say /thĕm /.
th e m

“With the first sound of th, this word doesn’t sound like a word I
recognize. So now I try the second sound of th, /th/.”

Repeat the steps above, using the second sound of th. Then go back and
blend the sounds together. Slide your finger under the letters th-e-m and
say them.

“So this word says them. It uses /th/, the second sound of th.”

“Now it’s your turn. Remember to always try the first sound of th first.”

Using the same procedure for blending, have your student sound out the
words this and bath. Be sure your student tries the first sound of th first,
then the second sound.

th i s b a th

Play “Change the Word”

Keep the word bath on the board. b a th

“I’m going to change the first letter of this word.”

m

a th
b

130 Lesson 18: Consonant Team TH

New Teaching “What does this new word say?” Encourage your student to sound out
(continued) the new word. Math.

Continue to change one letter at a time to form the following words.

Each time, have your student sound out the new word.
math  path  pat  pan  an  in  thin

This next sequence contains the second sound of th. Change one letter
at a time to form the following words.
that  than  then  them

Complete Activity Sheet

Over Easy
Remove pages 99-102 from the Blast Off activity
book.

Cut out the eggs. Color the yolks yellow, if desired.

Place several eggs sunny side up in a pan.

Have your student use a spatula to flip over
the eggs, one at a time, and read the word.

If your student reads the word correctly, he can

keep the fried egg. If he reads the word incorrectly,
he should put the egg back in the pan and try
again.

Practice Reading Words

Have your student practice reading the words on Word Cards 81-88.
Level 1 – Lesson 18 Word Card 81 Level 1 – Lesson 18 Word Card 82 Level 1 – Lesson 18 Word Card 83 Level 1 – Lesson 18 Word Card 84

this math with that

Level 1 – Lesson 18 Word Card 85 Level 1 – Lesson 18 Word Card 86 Level 1 – Lesson 18 Word Card 87 Level 1 – Lesson 18 Word Card 88

than them then bath

File the Word Cards behind the Review divider of the Reading Review
Box.

Lesson 18: Consonant Team TH 131

New Teaching Practice Fluency
(continued)
Remove pages 103-104 from the activity book.

Have your student read from the Practice Sheet.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 18 on the
Progress Chart.

132 Lesson 18: Consonant Team TH

 Lesson 19 - Read “Get Them!” and
“The Red Pen”
In this lesson, students will read two short stories and complete a character
motivation activity.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 105-108

Run, Bug, Run! book

Review Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Phonogram
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound(s). If
necessary, remind your student of the sound(s).

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

If you are using Reading Games with Ziggy the Zebra, you
can play “Caving with Ziggy” for a fun way to review the
Phonogram Cards and Word Cards.

New Teaching Story 1: “Get Them!”

Complete Activity Sheet

“You probably have a reason for doing everything you do. This is called
your motivation. In this activity, you’ll discover the reasons various
animals do what they do.”

Why Did They Do That?

Remove page 105 from the Blast Off activity book.

Cut out the cards and place them face down on the
table. Have your student draw one card at a time
and then answer one of the character motivation
questions below.

Lesson 19: Read “Get Them!” and “The Red Pen” 133
New Teaching Q: Why is the cat licking her paw?
(continued) Possible answers: She wants to be clean; it hurts.

Q: Why does the monkey want the banana?

Possible answer: He’s hungry.

Q: Why is the seal balancing the ball?

Possible answers: He’s been trained; to make people laugh.

Q: Why does the bird have a twig in her mouth?

Possible answer: She wants to build a nest.

Q: Why is the meerkat standing guard?

Possible answers: He wants to protect his family; to make sure enemies stay
away.

Q: Why is the lion roaring?

Possible answers: He wants to show who is boss; he wants to scare others away.

Discuss your student’s answers.

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “Get Them!”

Remove page 107 from the activity book.
You will need
the flip side of
this Warm-Up Have your student practice reading words and
Sheet for the phrases that will be encountered in “Get Them!”
Don’t next story, “The
Forget
Red Pen.” If
you won’t be completing
that portion of the lesson
today, return this Warm-
Up Sheet to the activity
book for safekeeping.

Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge

Point out the illustration of a pug on the Warm-Up Sheet. “A pug is a
small dog with a flat nose and a very wrinkled face. There is a pug in
today’s story.”

Point out the illustration of a bun on the Warm-Up Sheet. “A bun is a

small cake or bread. Have you ever had a cinnamon bun or a dinner bun
with butter? The pug in the next story is very fond of buns!”

134 Lesson 19: Read “Get Them!” and “The Red Pen”
New Teaching “Have you ever been on a team or in a group to play a game or do a
(continued) project? How did it go?” Discuss any experience your student has had as
part of a team.

“Do you prefer to do things by yourself or with a team or group? Why?”

“In this next story, a pug gets help from a group of people. Let’s see what
happens.”

Read “Get Them!”

“Turn to page 151 in your reader and read ‘Get Them!’ aloud.” Discuss
your student’s ideas for the questions below as you come to them.

After page 154: “Hopping doesn’t work. What else could the pug do to
get the bun?”

After page 158: “What is the pug going to do with all these people?”

You may need to explain the word nab on page 159 to your
student. Nab means to grab or to catch.

After page 161: “Do you think the pug is going to get away with the bun?
Why or why not?”

Story 2: “The Red Pen”

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “The Red Pen”

Remove page 108 from in the activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “The Red
Pen.”

Point out the name Tex in the Names section. “Tex

is a nickname for Texas.”

Lesson 19: Read “Get Them!” and “The Red Pen” 135
New Teaching Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge
(continued)
Point out the illustration of a jet on the Warm-Up Sheet. “A jet is a large,
very fast airplane.”

Point out the illustration of a bog on the Warm-Up Sheet. “A bog is an

area where the ground is wet, muddy, and spongy. It is hard to walk in a
bog!”

“If you could be anything for a day, like a bird or a tree or a cloud, what
would you be?” Discuss what your student would do during his day as his
chosen object.

“The boy in the story you are about to read has a big imagination. Let’s
see what he would like to be.”

Read “The Red Pen”

“Turn to page 165 in your reader and read ‘The Red Pen’ aloud.” Discuss
your student’s ideas for the questions below as you come to them.

After reading: “Tex imagines that he is many things. Why do you think
he would like to be a pen? A log? A box?”

“Look at the illustrations on pages 167 and 176. Based on the items
in Tex’s bedroom, what are some things that Tex likes to do?” Possible
answers: Play basketball, play guitar, listen to music, draw, read, play with
his dog.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 19 on the Progress
Chart.

136 Lesson 19: Read “Get Them!” and “The Red Pen”
Lessons 20-23 are not included in this sample.
 Lesson 24 - Words with Final Blends

This lesson will teach words containing consonant blends at the end, as well
as the Leap Word was.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 139-152

Word Cards 103-112

Before You Preview Consonant Blends

Begin In this lesson, your student will learn to read words with consonant
blends.

A consonant blend consists of two sounds that are said together quickly.
For example, the word lamp has a consonant blend at the end. The /m/
A consonant blend
is different from and /p/ sounds are said in rapid succession, but each consonant keeps its
a consonant team. own sound.
In a consonant blend,
each letter retains its A blend at the end of a word is called a final blend. Final blends are easier
own sound. In consonant
teams, such as th, sh, and to read than blends at the beginning of the word, so we will introduce
ch, two letters combine final blends first. Read the following examples and listen for the blends.
to make a completely new dust help risk felt bump
sound.
Words with consonant blends will be decoded using the same blending
procedure that your student is already using. Touch each letter and say
its sound, slowly at first, and then fast like you would in everyday speech.

Some phonics programs teach blends as a unit. For example, the blends sp
and nd would be taught as their own sounds on letter tiles or flashcards.
But that method requires much more memory work on the part of the
student because the student would have to memorize dozens of blends.
It is much simpler to have the student learn the basic phonograms and
blend them to sound out words.

Automatic Word Recognition

Automatic word recognition means that words are recognized at a glance. If
you have automatic word recognition, you don’t have to decode the word;
you just know what the word is with a single look. Another name for this
skill is automaticity.

Lesson 24: Words with Final Blends 157

 Before You Automaticity enables your student to read more fluently. When he
Begin doesn’t have to laboriously decode each and every word, he can read
(continued) smoothly and with more comprehension.

These fluency exercises give your student the practice he needs to

develop automaticity. After encountering the same words multiple times,
your student will move from sounding out the words to automatic word
recognition.

Review Phonogram
Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound. If
necessary, remind your student of the sound.

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

New Teaching Blend Sounds with Letter Tiles

Build the word land with letter tiles. l a n d

“Sometimes there are two consonants at the end of a word, as in the word
land. Listen and watch as I blend the letters in this word: l-a-n-d.”

Touch the l and say /l/. l a n d

Touch the a and say /a˘/ . l a n d

Touch the n and say /n/. l a n d

158 Lesson 24: Words with Final Blends

New Teaching Touch the d and say /d/. l a n d
(continued)

Now go back to the beginning of the word. Slide your finger under the
letters l-a-n-d and say land slowly.
l a n d

Finally, read the word land at a normal pace, as we do when we speak.

Using the same procedure for blending, have your student sound out the
word best.
b e s t

Decode Words Containing Two-Letter

Phonograms
Build the word lunch with letter tiles. l u n ch

“Sometimes one of the sounds at the end of a word is a consonant team,

as in the word lunch. Listen and watch as I blend the letters in this word:
l-u-n-ch.”

Touch the l and say /l/. l u n ch

Touch the u and say /ŭ/. l u n ch

Touch the n and say /n/. l u n ch

Lesson 24: Words with Final Blends 159

New Teaching Touch the ch and say /ch/. l u n ch
(continued)

Now go back to the beginning of the word. Slide your finger under the
letters l-u-n-ch and say lunch slowly.
l u n ch

Finally, read the word lunch at a normal pace, as we do when we speak.

Using the same procedure for blending, have your student sound out the
word tenth.
t e n th

Complete Activity Sheets

Word Flippers for Final Blends
Remove pages 139-145 from the Blast Off activity
book.

Refer to Appendix E for assembly instructions.

Have your student turn the pages and read the

words that are formed.

Matching Socks
Remove pages 147-148 from the activity book.

Cut out the individual socks and put them in

random order on the table, with the words facing
down.

Have your student find two socks that match, and

then read the words on the back of the socks.

160 Lesson 24: Words with Final Blends

New Teaching Practice Reading Words
(continued)
Have your student practice reading the words on Word Cards 103-111.
Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 103 Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 104 Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 105 Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 106

west next help best

Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 107 Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 108 Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 109 Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 110

left fast gift lost

Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 111

hand

File the Word Cards behind the Review divider of the Reading Review
Box.

Teach a Leap Word: was

Show Word Card 112 to your student.
Level 1 – Lesson 24 Word Card 112

was

“Most words follow the rules and say the sounds that we expect them to
say. But there are a few words that do not. Here is one of those words.”

“This word is was, as in She was a lion tamer.”

Point to the a. “The a doesn’t say the sound we expect it to.”

Review this Leap Word several times today and then file it behind the
Review divider in the Reading Review Box.

Lesson 24: Words with Final Blends 161

New Teaching Practice Fluency
(continued)
Remove pages 149-152 from the activity book.

Have your student read from the Practice Sheet.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 24 on the
Progress Chart.

162 Lesson 24: Words with Final Blends

 Lesson 25 - Read “Tin Raft” and
“Lost in the Bog”
In this lesson, students will read two short stories and practice matching
text and illustrations.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 153-159

The Runt Pig book

Before You Today your student will read the first story in the
Begin second reader, The Runt Pig.

The stories in The Runt Pig have been specially

written to increase your student’s fluency and
comprehension skills even further. The wide
variety will help keep your student interested and
motivated.

Remember to check out the tips in Appendix J if

your student runs into difficulties while reading
the stories.

Review Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Phonogram
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound(s). If
necessary, remind your student of the sound(s).

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

Lesson 25: Read “Tin Raft” and “Lost in the Bog” 163
New Teaching Story 1: “Tin Raft”

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “Tin Raft”

Remove page 153 from the Blast Off activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “Tin Raft.”

Point out the name Tish in the Names section.

“Tish is a nickname for Patricia.”

Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge

Point out the illustration of a raft on the Warm-Up Sheet. “A raft is a flat
structure that floats and is used as a boat. Rafts are often made of wood
lashed together with cord.”

Point out the illustration of a workbench on the Warm-Up Sheet. “This

is a workbench. A workbench is a table where you can keep your tools and
do small carpentry or electrical work, or repair small items.”

“Have you ever had a favorite toy that was damaged or broken? What did
you do to fix it?”

“The boy in this story has a damaged toy raft. Let’s see if someone can
fix it.”

Read “Tin Raft”

“Turn to page 9 in your reader and read ‘Tin Raft’ aloud.” Discuss your
student’s ideas for the questions below as you come to them.

After page 14: “Look at the raft in the illustration. Do you think it will
be able to float now? Why or why not?”

After reading: “Why does Kent think this is the best gift?”

164 Lesson 25: Read “Tin Raft” and “Lost in the Bog”
New Teaching Complete Activity Sheet
(continued)
“Now let’s read some of the words from the story and see if you can
match them to the illustrations.”

Make a Match
Remove pages 155-157 from the activity book.

Cut out the text and illustration cards.

Set the text cards in a pile face down. Spread the

illustration cards face up on the table. Have your
student draw one text card at a time, read it, and
match it to the most appropriate illustration. If
your student does not find the right match, return
the card to the bottom of the stack to try again
later.

Continue until your student has read all the text

cards and matched them to the illustrations.

Story 2: “Lost in the Bog”

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “Lost in the Bog”

Remove page 159 from the activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “Lost in the
Bog.”

Point out the name Sis in the Names section. “Sis

is a nickname for Sister.”

Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge

Point out the illustration of an elf on the Warm-Up Sheet. “An elf is a
small, imaginary human, often shown with pointy ears.”

Lesson 25: Read “Tin Raft” and “Lost in the Bog” 165
New Teaching Point out the illustration of a box turtle on the Warm-Up Sheet. “This
(continued) is a box turtle. A box turtle is a land turtle with a low shell that can be
completely closed around the animal inside. This type of turtle lives in
North America and Mexico and is often kept as a pet.”

“Have you ever seen a turtle? What do turtles do when they get scared?
What do you do when you get scared?” Discuss how turtles hide in their
shells, and what your student does when he is afraid of something.

“Let’s see what happens when the turtle in this story gets scared.”

Read “Lost in the Bog”

“Turn to page 19 in your reader and read ‘Lost in the Bog’ aloud.” Discuss
your student’s ideas for the questions below as you come to them.

After page 22: “What do you think bumps Gump?”

After page 28: “Who do you think is on the path?”

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 25 on the Progress
Chart.

166 Lesson 25: Read “Tin Raft” and “Lost in the Bog”
 Lesson 26 - Words with Initial Blends
This lesson will teach words containing consonant blends at the beginning, as
well as the Leap Word to.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 161-174

Word Cards 113-122

Before You Preview Initial Blends

Begin
In this lesson, your student will learn to read words with consonant
blends at the beginning. For most students, initial blends are slightly
more difficult than final blends. Read the following examples and listen
for the blends.
step plan swim frog glad

Remember that a consonant blend is different from a

consonant team. In consonant blends, each letter retains its
own sound. In consonant teams, such as th, sh, and ch, two
Don’t
Forget letters combine to make a completely new sound.

Review Phonogram
Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound. If
necessary, remind your student of the sound.

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

Lesson 26: Words with Initial Blends 167

New Teaching Blend Sounds with Letter Tiles
Build the word spot with letter tiles. s p o t

“Sometimes there are two consonants at the beginning of a word, as in

the word spot. Listen and watch as I blend the letters in this word:
s-p-o-t.”

Touch the s and say /s/. s p o t

Touch the p and say /p/. s p o t

Touch the o and say /ŏ/. s p o t

Touch the t and say /t/. s p o t

Now go back to the beginning of the word. Slide your finger under the
letters s-p-o-t and say spot slowly.
s p o t

Finally, read the word spot at a normal pace, as we do when we speak.

Using the same procedure for blending, have your student sound out the
word flag.
f l a g

168 Lesson 26: Words with Initial Blends

New Teaching Decode Words Containing Two-Letter
(continued) Phonograms
Build the word throb with letter tiles. th r o b

“Sometimes one of the sounds at the beginning of a word is a consonant

team, as in the word throb. Listen and watch as I blend the letters in this
word: th-r-o-b.”

Touch the th and say /th/. th r o b

Touch the r and say /r/. th r o b

Touch the o and say /ŏ/. th r o b

Touch the b and say /b/. th r o b

Now go back to the beginning of the word. Slide your finger under the
letters th-r-o-b and say throb slowly.
th r o b

Finally, read the word throb at a normal pace, as we do when we speak.

Using the same procedure for blending, have your student sound out the
word shred.
sh r e d

Lesson 26: Words with Initial Blends 169

New Teaching Complete Activity Sheets
(continued)
Word Flippers for Initial Blends
Remove pages 161-167 from the Blast Off activity
book.

Refer to Appendix E for assembly instructions.

Have your student turn the pages and read the

words that are formed.

How Animals Move

Remove page 169 from the activity book.

Cut out the movement cards and the animal cards.

Have your student match the picture of each
animal with the movement it makes:

• hop (frog, grasshopper)

• trot (horse, zebra)
• swim (fish, duck)

Practice Reading Words

In some regions,
flag is pronounced Have your student practice reading the words on Word Cards 113-121.
with a long a Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 113 Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 114 Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 115 Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 116

instead of a short a.
If your student has step trip glad brush
difficulty reading
the word flag due to
pronunciation, make it
Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 117 Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 118 Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 119 Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 120

a Leap Word, following

the general format for
drop frog flag plan
the word to in the next
section. Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 121

swim

File the Word Cards behind the Review divider of the Reading Review
Box.

170 Lesson 26: Words with Initial Blends

New Teaching Teach a Leap Word: to
(continued)
Show Word Card 122 to your student.
Level 1 – Lesson 26 Word Card 122

We are treating the

word to as a Leap to
(Did you go to the lake?)

Word because it
contains the third sound
of o, which has not been “This word is to, as in Did you go to the lake?”
taught yet.
Point to the o. “The o doesn’t say the sound we expect it to.”

Review this Leap Word several times today and then file it behind the
Review divider in the Reading Review Box.

Practice Fluency
Remove pages 171-174 from the activity book.
If you adapted the
teaching of the Have your student read from the Practice Sheet.
word flag when
you taught the Word
Cards in this lesson, it is
likely that you will need
to adapt the words drag,
snag, stag, and brag on
this Practice Sheet as
well.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Lesson 26: Words with Initial Blends 171

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart
Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 26 on the
Progress Chart.

172 Lesson 26: Words with Initial Blends

 Lesson 27 - Read “Lunch” and
“The Big Top”
In this lesson, students will read two short stories and learn about
onomatopoeia.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 175-178

The Runt Pig book Optional: map or globe

Before You Preview Onomatopoeia

Begin
Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the natural sound of a particular
thing. For example, the words plop, plip, splash, drizzle, drip, sprinkle, and
gush are all onomatopoeic words that can describe water.

Onomatopoeia is pronounced /ŏn–oˉ–mah–toˉ–peˉ–uh/.

Here are some other common examples of onomatopoeia.

buzz honk quack
choo-choo jingle snarl
crash oink swish
ding dong pitter patter zoom

Review Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Phonogram
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound(s). If
necessary, remind your student of the sound(s).

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

Lesson 27: Read “Lunch” and “The Big Top” 173

New Teaching Teach Onomatopoeia
“Some words imitate sound.” Knock on a solid surface and say knock
knock.

“You already know a lot of words that imitate sounds. What do cows
say?” Moo.

“What do cats say?” Meow or purr.

“What do birds say?” Tweet or chirp.

“What does it sound like when a balloon breaks?” Pop.

Story 1: “Lunch”

Complete Activity Sheet

“Let’s practice reading some words that imitate sounds.”

Swish, Flop, Snap!

Remove page 175 from the Blast Off activity book.

Cut out the word cards at the bottom of the page

and spread them out on the table with the words
facing up.

Have your student match each word with the

drawing that makes that sound. For example,
“chomp, chomp” should be matched with the
drawing of the bunny chomping on a carrot.

Continue until all word cards have been matched

to their illustrations.

174 Lesson 27: Read “Lunch” and “The Big Top”

New Teaching Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “Lunch”
(continued)
Remove page 177 from the activity book.
You will need
the flip side of Have your student practice reading words and
this Warm-Up
phrases that will be encountered in “Lunch.”
Sheet for the
Don’t next story, “The
Forget
Big Top.” If
you won’t be completing
that portion of the lesson
today, return this Warm-
Up Sheet to the activity
book for safekeeping.

Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge

Point out the illustration of a bunch of bananas on the Warm-Up Sheet.
“A bunch is a number of things that are grouped or fastened together, like
this bunch of bananas.”

Point out the illustration of the fruit vendor on the Warm-Up Sheet.
“This is a fruit vendor. A vendor is someone who sells something. This
man sells bananas.”

Find India on a map or globe. “This next story is set in India, a country
in the southern part of Asia. Many vendors in India are experts at loading
up their bicycles with their goods. This is how they transport their goods
to the market. Do you think you could ride a bike loaded with bananas?”

“What is your favorite food? Pretend you live on a desert island, and your
favorite food is dangling from a palm tree out of your reach. What are
some ways you could try to get it?”

“In this next story, a chimp takes some chances to get his favorite food.
Let’s see what happens.”

Read “Lunch”
“Turn to page 33 in your reader and read ‘Lunch’ aloud.” Discuss your
student’s ideas for the questions below as you come to them.

After page 35: “How do you think the chimp will get the bananas from
the bicycle?”

Lesson 27: Read “Lunch” and “The Big Top” 175

New Teaching After page 41: “How do you think this story will end? Will the chimp
(continued) be happy or sad? Why?”

After reading: “This story uses a lot of onomatopoeia. Flip through the
pages to find some examples.” Possible answers: swish, snap, thump, flop,
chomp, gulp, munch.

Story 2: “The Big Top”

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “The Big Top”

Remove page 178 from the activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “The Big Top.”

Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge

Point out the illustration of a big top tent on the Warm-Up Sheet. “This
is a big top tent. The largest tent at a circus is called the big top, and many
shows are held inside it.”

Dromedary camels Point out the illustration of a camel on the Warm-Up Sheet. “This is a
have one hump. camel. Camels are often included in circuses. Did you know that you
Bactrian camels
can ride a camel? This camel has a fancy saddle.”
have two humps.

“Have you ever been to a circus? What kinds of things can you see at
a circus?” Discuss the different people and animals at a circus, such as
clowns, horses, elephants, and trapeze artists.

“The story you are going to read will explore many things you can see at
a circus.”

176 Lesson 27: Read “Lunch” and “The Big Top”

New Teaching Read “The Big Top”
(continued)
“Turn to page 45 in your reader and read ‘The Big Top’ aloud.” Discuss
your student’s answers for the questions below.

After reading: “Let’s go back to look at some of the pictures. See if you
can name some of the things found in a circus.”

Page 47: “What do we call this big tent?” The big top.
Page 51: “Do you know what we call this swing?” Trapeze.
Page 52: “Do you know what we call the person who works with
the animals?” Animal trainer, lion tamer.
Page 53: “What are these ten men?” Clowns.
Page 54: “Do you know what we call a person who can lift heavy
objects?” The strong man.
Page 55: “What do we call a person who jumps and flips?” Acrobat.
Page 56: “Do you know what we call the person who is in charge
of the whole circus show?” Ringmaster.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 27 on the Progress
Chart.

Lesson 27: Read “Lunch” and “The Big Top” 177

178
178 Lesson 27:
Lesson 27: Read
Read “Lunch”
“Lunch” and
and “The
“The Big
Big Top”
Top”
Lessons 28-41 are not included in this sample.
 Lesson 42 - Plural Words

This lesson will teach plural words and verbs ending in s and es.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 285-289

Extra s letter tile
Word Cards 176-185

Before You Preview Plural Words

Begin The s at the end of a plural word can say either /s/ or /z/. Most students
will naturally say the correct sound for the letter s, since it is actually hard
to say the wrong sound. But if your student has difficulty, remind him to
say the singular form of the word first, and then the plural form. He will
naturally pronounce the word correctly.

Read the following examples of plural words and listen for the /s/ or /z/
sound.
/s/: lips sinks hilltops belts rats
/z/: flags spills stems fishes boxes
It is interesting to note that the letter s says /z/ after vowel sounds (as in
plays) and after voiced consonants (as in bugs).

The suffix es is found after the sounds /s/, /z/, /ch/, /sh/, and /ks/. The
syllable es at the end of a word is unaccented, and therefore the vowel
sound is muffled. In normal speech, es often sounds like /ĭz/ instead of
/ĕz/.

Add a Letter Tile to the Magnetic White Board

In today’s lesson, your student will begin building plural words. Add the
third s tile to your letter tile setup.

Preview Verbs Ending in S and ES

Many present tense verbs end in s or es, such as checks, mixes, and hits.
Students will encounter these words on the Practice Sheets and in the
upcoming short stories. Because of their experience with plural words, it
will be easy for them to decode these verbs.

Lesson 42: Plural Words 251

Review Phonogram
Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound. If
necessary, remind your student of the sound.

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

New Teaching Teach Plural Words

Build the word hats with letter tiles. h a t s

Cover the s with your finger.

“We say one hat...” h a t s

“...and we say two hats.” h a t s

“Hats is plural because it means more than one.”

“I’ll say a word and you make it plural.”

“One map, two _____.” If necessary, prompt your student to say maps.

“One ant, two _____.” Ants.

“One star, two _____.” Stars.

“At the end of a word, the s can say either /s/ or /z/. First try the /s/
sound, and if that doesn’t sound right, try the /z/ sound.”

Build the following words and have your student read them.

c u p s b u g s t e n t s

Build the word glasses with tiles. g l a s s e s

Cover the e-s with your finger.

“We say one glass...” g l a s s e s

252 Lesson 42: Plural Words

New Teaching “...and we say two glasses.” g l a s s e s
(continued)
“Glasses is plural because it means more than one.”

Build the following words and have your student read them.

d i sh e s k i s s e s b o x e s

Complete Activity Sheet

Have a Ball
Remove pages 285-286 from the Blast Off activity
book.

Cut out the twelve sports items. Place the six balls
in one group with the words facing down. Mix
them up.

Place the six items of sports equipment in another

group with the words facing down.

Have your student match each ball with the

corresponding piece of sports equipment. He
should then flip them over and read the singular
and plural versions of the words.

Practice Reading Words

Have your student practice reading the words on Word Cards 176-185.
Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 176 Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 177 Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 178 Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 179

bells lamps twigs dresses

Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 180 Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 181 Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 182 Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 183

songs desks wishes clocks

Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 184 Level 1 – Lesson 42 Word Card 185

hens classes

File the Word Cards behind the Review divider of the Reading Review
Box.
Lesson 42: Plural Words 253
New Teaching Practice Fluency
(continued)
Remove pages 287-289 from the activity book.

Have your student read from the Practice Sheet.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 42 on the
Progress Chart.

254 Lesson 42: Plural Words

 Lesson 43 - Read “Ten Wishes”
and “Fast Fun”
In this lesson, students will read two short stories that give them practice
with plural words, and complete an activity about rhyme.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 291-295

Cobweb the Cat book

Review Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Phonogram
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound(s). If
necessary, remind your student of the sound(s).

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

New Teaching Story 1: “Ten Wishes”

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “Ten Wishes”

Remove page 291 from the activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “Ten Wishes.”

Lesson 43: Read “Ten Wishes” and “Fast Fun” 255

New Teaching Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge
(continued)
Point out the illustrations of the masks on the Warm-Up Sheet. “A mask
is a disguise that covers all or part of your face. Do you recognize any of
these masks?”

“Have you ever dressed up in a costume with a mask? What kind of mask
was it?”

“Suppose that for one day you could have the one thing you want most in
the world. What would you ask for?” Discuss your student’s ideas.

“Let’s see what the children in this story would ask for.”

Read “Ten Wishes”

Your student “Turn to page 41 in your reader and read ‘Ten Wishes’ aloud.” Discuss
may notice that your student’s ideas for the question below when you come to it.
the king in “Ten
Wishes” is the same
King Sam as in the After reading: “Which of these wishes would you like the most? The
story “The Bat and least? Why?”
King Sam.”

Complete Activity Sheet

“Did you notice that many of the wishes rhyme? In this activity, you’ll
match the characters with their rhyming wishes.”

Rhyme Time
Remove page 293 from the activity book.

Cut out the character cards and rhyme cards.

Mix the character cards and place them face down

in a pile. Mix the rhyme cards and spread them
face up on the table. Have your student draw the
character cards one at a time, read the card out
loud, and then choose the matching rhyme card.

Continue until your student has matched all the

cards.

256 Lesson 43: Read “Ten Wishes” and “Fast Fun”

New Teaching Story 2: “Fast Fun”
(continued)

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “Fast Fun”

Remove page 295 from the activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “Fast Fun.”

Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge

Point out the illustration of a dishcloth on the Warm-Up Sheet. “A
dishcloth is a piece of fabric used to wash or dry dishes. It’s also called a
dishrag, washcloth, and kitchen cloth. What does your family call it?”

Point out the illustration of children playing leapfrog on the Warm-Up

Sheet. “These kids are playing a game called leapfrog. In this game, one
person bends down and another person vaults right over his back, like a
frog.”

“Do you know what a tongue twister is? It’s a silly sentence that’s hard to
say, like Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Do you know any tongue twisters?”

“Let’s see if you can say the tongue twisters in the next story. ”

Read “Fast Fun”

“Turn to page 57 in your reader and read ‘Fast Fun’ aloud.”

Encourage your student to repeat each tongue twister several times in a

row. How fast can he go?

Lesson 43: Read “Ten Wishes” and “Fast Fun” 257

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem
Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 43 on the Progress
Chart.

258 Lesson 43: Read “Ten Wishes” and “Fast Fun”

 Lesson 44 - Additional Sounds for A, I, and C
This lesson will teach additional sounds for the letters a, i, and c.

You will need: Phonogram Cards 4, 11, and 16

Letter tiles a, i, and c
Blast Off to Reading! page 297

Before You Look Back at Previous Progress

Begin
Your student has come a long way! He can now decode any CVC
(consonant-vowel-consonant) word, as well as words containing these
concepts:
• words with blends
• words with consonant teams th, sh, ch, ck, ng, and nk
• compound words

The one thing that ties these words together is that they are all short
vowel words with closed syllables.

The sequence has been very intentional. We wanted your student

to become confident in reading short vowel words because it is a
developmentally appropriate approach to teaching reading.

And starting with this lesson, we’re ready to build on this solid base!

Look Ahead to Remaining Lessons

As you know by now, the vowels and some of the consonants have more
than one sound. Your student has learned the first, most common, sound
for these letters, and now it is time to learn the remaining sounds.

Here’s a summary of the remaining lessons in Level 1:

• The “new concept” lessons (Lessons 44, 46, 48, and 50) teach the
remaining sounds of the letters. There are no new Word Cards
taught during these lessons; the teaching time is devoted to the
new phonogram sounds.

Lesson 44: Additional Sounds for A, I, and C 259

 Before You • The “read a story” lessons (Lessons 45, 47, 49, and 51) present
Begin eight new stories. These stories provide great practice with the
(continued) words taught in Lessons 1-42 and help your student build fluency
and reading stamina. No new words are introduced.

• Lesson 52 puts all the newly learned long vowel sounds to use,
and seven open syllable words are taught, including she, go, and
we.

• The final lesson, Lesson 53, includes two stories that give practice
with these new open syllable words.

Preview the Sounds of the Letters

In this lesson, your student will be learning the remaining sounds of a, i,
and c. As a quick reminder, the letter a can say three sounds:
• /ă/ as in apple, known as the short sound (taught in Lesson 1)
• /aˉ/ as in acorn, known as the long sound
• /ah/ as in father

The letter i can say three sounds:

• / ĭ/ as in itchy, known as the short sound (taught in Lesson 8)
• / ˉi/ as in ivy, known as the long sound
• /eˉ/ as in radio

The letter c can say two sounds:

• /k/ as in cat, or hard c (taught in Lesson 4)
• /s/ as in city, or soft c

Listen to the Phonogram Sounds app for a demonstration of

the phonogram sounds.

a i c

If you are using Reading Games with Ziggy the Zebra, you can
practice these phonograms by playing “Ziggy Plays with
Penguins.”

260 Lesson 44: Additional Sounds for A, I, and C

Review Phonogram
Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound. If
necessary, remind your student of the sound.

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

New Teaching Teach New Letter Sounds

Level 1 – Lesson 1 Phonogram Card 4
Take out Phonogram Card 4 and show it to your
In future lessons, a student.
your student will
learn when each of “You already know that the letter a says /ă/. But it also
these letters can say their
makes two other sounds: /aˉ / and /ah/. So the letter a
first, second, and third
sounds. makes three sounds: /ă/, /aˉ/, and /ah/. Repeat after me:
/ă/–/aˉ/–/ah/.” Student repeats.

Level 1 – Lesson 6 Phonogram Card 16

Take out Phonogram Card 16 and show it to your
i student.

“You already know that the letter i says / ĭ / . But it also

makes two other sounds: / ˉi / and /eˉ /. So the letter i
makes three sounds: / ĭ / , / ˉi/, and /eˉ /. Repeat after me:
/ ĭ /–/ ˉi/–/eˉ/.” Student repeats.

Level 1 – Lesson 3 Phonogram Card 11

Take out Phonogram Card 11 and show it to your
c student.

“You already know that the letter c says /k/. But it also
makes another sound, /s/. So the letter c makes two
sounds: /k/ and /s/. Repeat after me: /k/ –/s/.” Student
repeats.

Set out the letter tiles and practice until your student can say the sounds
accurately.
a i c

Lesson 44: Additional Sounds for A, I, and C 261

New Teaching Complete Activity Sheet
(continued)
Load the Train
Remove page 297 from the Blast Off activity book.

Give your student something fun to use for

markers, like raisins, M&Ms, coins, jelly beans, or
Cheerios.

Randomly call out the sounds of the letters. For

instance, for the letter i, ask your student to place
a jelly bean over the letter that can say
/ ĭ/–/ ˉi/–/eˉ/.

As you call each sound or group of sounds, your

student should put a marker over the corresponding
letter. When your student has filled all eight parts
of the train, he says “Choo-choo!”

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 44 on the Progress
Chart.

262 Lesson 44: Additional Sounds for A, I, and C

 Lesson 45 - Read “The Lost List”
and “No Mud for Max”
In this lesson, students will read two short stories and skim the text to
answer questions.

You will need: Blast Off to Reading! pages 299-303

Cobweb the Cat book
Optional: M&Ms, raisins, or nuts

Review Review the Phonogram Cards that are behind the Review
Phonogram
Cards divider in your student’s Reading Review Box. Show the
card to your student and have him say the sound(s). If
necessary, remind your student of the sound(s).

Review the Word Cards that are behind the Review divider
Word
Cards in your student’s Reading Review Box. If your student has
difficulty reading the word, build the word with letter tiles
and have your student sound it out using the procedure
shown in Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure.

New Teaching
Story 1: “The Lost List”

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “The Lost List”

Remove page 299 from the activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “The Lost
List.”

Lesson 45: Read “The Lost List” and “No Mud for Max” 263
New Teaching Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge
(continued)
Point out the illustration of hot cross buns on the Warm-Up Sheet. “A
hot cross bun is a spiced, sweet bun made with currants or raisins and
marked with a cross on the top.”

Point out the illustration of a badger on the Warm-Up Sheet. “This is

a badger. Badgers are strong, nocturnal mammals in the weasel family.
They usually have a gray and black coat.”

“There is a badger in the next story that likes to help with the grocery
shopping. Let’s see if he does a good job.”

Read “The Lost List”

“Turn to page 69 in your reader and read ‘The Lost List’ aloud.” Discuss
your student’s ideas for the questions below as you come to them.

After page 73: “Uh-oh, Finn lost the list! Do you remember the four
items he is supposed to get?”

After page 78: “Did Finn get all the right items? How do you think his
mother will react to his purchases?”

After reading: “Why do you think Mom and Dad aren’t mad at Finn?”

Complete Activity Sheet

“Now let’s see if you can remember the facts in the story.”

Check the Facts

Remove page 301 from the Blast Off activity book.

Have your student read each question in the

first column and then mark his answer in the
appropriate yes or no column. If desired, mark each
answer with an M&M, raisin, or nut.

264 Lesson 45: Read “The Lost List” and “No Mud for Max”
New Teaching Story 2: “No Mud for Max”
(continued)

Read the Warm-Up Sheet for “No Mud for Max”

Remove page 303 from the activity book.

Have your student practice reading words and

phrases that will be encountered in “No Mud for
Max.”

Teach Vocabulary and Activate Prior Knowledge

Point out the illustration of the hippopotamus on the Warm-Up Sheet.
“This is a hippopotamus, or hippo for short. A hippo is a large African
mammal with thick skin, huge jaws, and big tusks. Hippos live on land
and in the water.”

Point out the illustration of a remote control on the Warm-Up Sheet.

“This is a remote control. You probably have a remote control for your
television. Remote controls are used to operate machines or even toys
from a distance.”

“Have you ever lost a toy in a tree or in a hole or under something? How
did you get it back?”

“The hippo in this story loses his favorite toy. Let’s see if he gets it back.”

Read “No Mud for Max”

“Turn to page 83 in your reader and read ‘No Mud for Max’ aloud.”
Discuss your student’s ideas for the questions below as you come to them.

After page 87: “If you were to help Max, how would you get the plane
out of the mud?”

After page 91: “What do you think is going to happen?”

Lesson 45: Read “The Lost List” and “No Mud for Max” 265
New Teaching After reading: “Do you think Max has anything in common with Tam
(continued) from the story ‘Yuck!’?” Possible answer: They both think they don’t like
something but then find out it is not so bad.

Read-Aloud Time Read a Story or Poem

Read aloud to your student for twenty minutes.

Track Your Mark the Progress Chart

Progress
Have your student mark Lesson 45 on the Progress
Chart.

266 Lesson 45: Read “The Lost List” and “No Mud for Max”
Lessons 46-53 are not included in this sample.
 3
Appendices
 appendix a
Scope and Sequence of Level 1
Your Student Will: Lesson
Learn the blending procedure and the sounds of letters m, s, p, and a 1
Learn the sounds of phonograms n, t, b, and j and the Leap Word the 2
Read a short story and learn about periods and exclamation points 3
Learn the sounds of phonograms g, d, c, and y and that every word has a vowel 4
Read a short story and learn words with two meanings 5
Learn the sounds of phonograms h, k, and r and the Leap Word a 6
Read two short stories and complete a comprehension activity 7
Learn the sounds of phonograms i, v, f, and z 8
Read two short stories and practice punctuation marks 9
Learn the sounds of phonograms o, l, and w and the Leap Word of 10
Read two short stories and complete a comprehension activity 11
Learn the sound of phonogram u and the second sound of s 12
Read two short stories and discuss a character’s point of view 13
Learn the sound of phonogram e 14
Read two short stories and complete a story sequencing activity 15

Learn the sounds of phonograms qu and x 16

Read two short stories and create silly sentences 17
Learn the concept of consonant teams and both sounds of consonant team th 18
Read two short stories and discuss character motivation 19
Learn the sound of consonant team sh 20
Read two short stories and discuss story setting 21
Learn the first sound of consonant team ch 22
Read two short stories and use illustrations to retell a story 23
Learn words with final blends and the Leap Word was 24
Read two short stories and match text with illustrations 25
Learn words with initial blends and the Leap Word to 26
Read two short stories and learn about onomatopoeia 27
Read two short stories and practice reading words with blends 28

Learn words ending in ff, ll, and ss and the Leap Words said and I 29
Read two short stories and follow recipe instructions 30
Learn the Leap Words or, for, and no 31
Read two short stories and practice previously taught concepts 32
Read two short stories and discuss the main conflict 33

Appendix A: Scope and Sequence of Level 1 307

 Your Student Will: Lesson
Learn the sound of consonant team ck 34
Read two short stories and discuss character traits 35
Learn the sound of consonant team ng 36
Read two short stories and learn about the five senses in literature 37
Learn the sound of consonant team nk 38
Read two short stories and learn about cause and effect 39
Learn compound words and the Leap Word do 40
Read two short stories and discuss realism vs. fantasy 41
Learn plural words and verbs ending in s and es 42
Read two short stories and learn about rhyme 43
Learn additional sounds of phonograms a, i, and c 44
Read two short stories and skim text to answer questions 45
Learn additional sounds of phonograms o and g 46
Read two short stories and discuss character motivation 47
Learn additional sounds of phonograms e, u, y, and ch 48
Read two short stories and use the Table of Contents to locate information 49
Learn the term short vowels and learn to count syllables 50
Read two short stories and draw a character from oral instructions 51
Learn long vowel sounds and open and closed syllables 52
Read two short stories and complete a story sequencing activity 53

308 Appendix A: Scope and Sequence of Level 1

 appendix b
Phonograms Taught in Levels 1-4
Phonograms are letters or letter combinations that represent a single sound. For example, the letter
b represents the sound /b/, as in bat. The letter combination sh represents the sound /sh/, as in ship.

For the Teacher’s Use Only Lesson/

Card # Phonogram Sound
(example of word containing the phonogram) Level
Phonograms Taught in Level 1 Lesson
1 m /m/ moon 1

2 s /s/–/z/ sun has 1, 12

3 p /p/ pig 1

4 a /ă/–/ā/–/ah/ apple acorn father 1, 44

5 n /n/ nest 2

6 t /t/ tent 2

7 b /b/ bat 2

8 j /j/ jam 2

9 g /g/–/j/ goose gem 4, 46

10 d /d/ deer 4

11 c /k/–/s/ cow city 4, 44

12 y /y/–/ĭ/–/ �i/–/ē/ yarn gym my happy 4, 48

13 h /h/ hat 6

14 k /k/ kite 6

15 r /r/ rake 6

16 i /ĭ/–/ �i/–/ē/ itchy ivy radio 8, 44

17 v /v/ vase 8

18 f /f/ fish 8

19 z /z/ zipper 8

20 o /ŏ/–/ō/–/ o–o/–/ŭ/ otter open to oven 10, 46

21 l /l/ leaf 10

22 w /w/ wave 10

23 u ˘/
/ŭ/–/ū/–/oo udder unit put 12, 48

24 e /ĕ/–/ē/ echo even 14, 48

25 qu /kw/ queen 16

26 x /ks/ ax 16

Appendix B: Phonograms Taught in Levels 1-4 309

 For the Teacher’s Use Only Lesson/
Card # Phonogram Sound
(example of word containing the phonogram) Level

27 th /th/–/th/ three then 18

28 sh /sh/ ship 20

29 ch /ch/–/k/–/sh/ child school chef 22, 48

30 ck /k/, two-letter /k/ duck 34

31 ng /ng/ king 36

32 nk /ngk/ thank 38
Phonograms Taught in Level 2
33 wh /hw/ while

34 ee /eˉ/, double e feed

35 er /er/ as in her her

36 ar /ar/ car

37 or /or/–/er/ as in work corn work

38 ed /ĕd/–/d/–/t/ wanted snowed dropped

/oy/ that we may use
39 oy at the end of English toy
words Level 2
/oy/ that we may not
40 oi use at the end of oil
English words
/aw/ that we may use
41 aw at the end of English saw
words
/aw/ that we may not
42 au use at the end of haul
English words
43 ow /ow/–/ō/ cow low

44 ou /ow/–/ō/–/oo/–/ŭ/ mouse soul soup touch

Phonograms Taught in Level 3
/ā/, two-letter /ā/ that
45 ai we may not use at the rain
end of English words
ā/, two-letter /ā/ that
46 ay we may not use at the day Level 3
end of English words
/ō/, two-letter /ō/ that
47 oa we may not use at the boat
end of English words
48 ir /er/ as in first first

310 Appendix B: Phonograms Taught in Levels 1-4

 For the Teacher’s Use Only Lesson/
Card # Phonogram Sound
(example of word containing the phonogram) Level

49 ur /er/ as in nurse nurse

50 oo / o–o/–/o˘o /–/ō/ food book floor

51 ea /ē/–/ĕ/–/ā/ leaf bread great

52 igh / �i /, three-letter / �i / light

53 tch /ch/, three-letter /ch/ watch

54 dge /j/, three-letter /j/ badge

55 ew / o–o/–/ū/ grew few

/r/, two-letter /r/ used Level 3
56 wr only at the beginning of write
a word
/n/, two-letter /n/ used
57 kn only at the beginning of know
a word
58 eigh /ā/, four-letter /ā/ eight
/ō/, two-letter /ō/ that
59 oe we may use at the end toe
of English words
60 ti /sh/, tall-letter /sh/ nation

Phonograms Taught in Level 4

61 ey /ē/–/ā/ key they

62 ear /er/ as in early early

63 ui /o–o / fruit

64 ie /ē/–/ �i/ field pie

65 ph /f/, two-letter /f/ phone

66 gu /g/, two-letter /g/ guide

Level 4
/n/, two-letter /n/ used
67 gn at the beginning or end gnat
of a base word
68 augh /aw/, four-letter /aw/ daughter

69 ei /ā/–/ē/ vein ceiling

/ō/–/o–o /–/ŭff/– though through rough
70 ough
/ŏff/–/aw/–/ow/ cough thought bough
71 si /sh/–/zh/ mission vision

72 mb /m/, two-letter /m/ lamb

Appendix B: Phonograms Taught in Levels 1-4 311

 For the Teacher’s Use Only Lesson/
Card # Phonogram Sound
(example of word containing the phonogram) Level

73 our /er/ as in journey journey

74 ci /sh/, short-letter /sh/ special Level 4

/r/, two-letter /r/ used
75 rh rhyme
in Greek words

312 Appendix B: Phonograms Taught in Levels 1-4

 appendix c
Full Blending Procedure
Decoding one-syllable words

1. Build the word with letter tiles. p a n

2. Touch one letter at a time, and say the sound of each letter.

p a n p a n p a n

/p/ /ă/ /n/

3. Go back to the beginning of the word and blend the first two sounds together.

p a n

/pă/

4. Start at the beginning of the word again. Slide your finger under the letters and say the
word slowly.
p a n

/păn/

Starting over at the beginning of the word is optional. Some students need the extra support
provided by this step, while others do not.

Whenever you feel that your student is ready, blend all three letters without this additional step.

5. Finally, say the word at a normal pace, as we do when we speak.

“Touch the Vowel” Technique

Many errors in sounding out words are related to the vowel. If your student says the wrong
vowel sound, ask him to touch the vowel and say the vowel sound first. After he says the
correct sound for the vowel, he should go back and sound out the word from the beginning.

Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure 313

In Level 2, the blending procedure will be expanded as shown below.

Blending multisyllabic words

1. Build the word with letter tiles. r i v er

2. Divide the word into syllables using the appropriate syllable division rules.

r i v er

3. Label the syllable types.

Closed Syllable Bossy R Syllable

r i v er

4. Decode one syllable at a time, following the same procedure you would use for a one-syllable
word.
r i v r i v r i v

/r/ / ĭ / /v/

5. Start at the beginning of the word again. Slide your finger under each syllable, saying the
sound of the syllables.
r i v er

/rĭ v/ /er/

6. Finally, say the word at a normal pace, as we do when we speak.

If the word has three or more syllables, follow the same procedure:
1. Divide the word.
2. Label the syllable types.
3. Decode one syllable at a time.

d i f f er e n t

/dĭ f/ /fer/ /ĕnt/

314 Appendix C: Full Blending Procedure

 appendix d
Solving Letter Reversal Problems
Most of the letters of the alphabet have unique shapes, so no matter which way you turn them, they
can’t be confused with any other letters. For example, the letter m looks quite different from the letter
x, and f is not likely to be confused with z.

There are a few notorious troublemakers, however, particularly b and d, the letters that students most
often have trouble with.

It is easy to see where the confusion comes in: flip the b and it becomes a d. The beginning reader
or dyslexic student may not realize that the direction of the letter matters, or he may not be able to
remember which letter is which.

Letters and numbers that can be flipped include:

b d p q p d n u 6 9
What is considered normal?

If your student is between the ages of three and seven, is just starting to read, and makes occasional
reversal errors when reading or writing, it’s perfectly normal. It doesn’t mean that your student has
dyslexia or a reading disability. Make a gentle correction and move on.

But if your student is eight years or older, has had prior reading instruction, and is making frequent
letter reversal errors, it is important to take action to solve the reversal problems.

As reading instructors, we have two jobs to do regarding reversals:

1. Try to prevent confusion.

2. Where confusion exists, resolve it.

Try to prevent letter confusion before it begins.

The All About Reading program is carefully structured to minimize the likelihood of letter reversals.
We teach the sounds of potentially confusing letters like b and d in separate lessons. The student’s
task is simplified because he only has to make one new visual discrimination at a time.

When your student is learning to print, be sure to teach correct letter formation. Doing so is critical
to prevent confusion.

Appendix D: Solving Letter Reversal Problems 315

 When forming the letter b, start with the stick first, followed
by the circle. To write the letter d, start with the circle first,
followed by the stick.

Have your student use lined paper so it is clear where the

circle is in relation to the stick. Also be sure your student does
not lift the pencil from the paper when writing any of the
confusable letters.

What to do if your child already reverses letters.

If you are working with older learners, it may be too late to prevent confusion. They may have had a
few false starts in reading, and may have already confused these troublemakers. They may encounter
the letter b and misinterpret it as the letter d. They may read the word bad as dab, or fad as fab. You
might give a gentle correction, pull out the corresponding Phonogram Cards, and re-teach the letters
separately, but your student still mixes them up.

Below are four effective methods to clear up tough reversal problems.

The demonstrations are for correcting b and d reversals, but the same concepts can be applied to any
letter or number. You may only need to use one of these methods, but for really resistant cases, you
will need to use all four methods.

Please note that it’s important to concentrate on just one letter per session. Wait until that letter is
completely mastered before teaching another letter.

Method 1: Teach the letters b and d using tactile surfaces.

Have a variety of tactile surfaces for your student to choose from. Possibilities include flannel fabric,
corrugated cardboard, very fine sandpaper, fluffy fur fabric, or a carpet square. Ask your student which
surface reminds him of the letter b, and then cut a large lowercase b out of the chosen tactile surface.

Using the pointer finger of his dominant hand, have your student trace the letter b on the textured
surface. Be sure that he starts and ends in the correct place. Practice until he can easily write the letter
b.

When your child is ready to go on to a new letter, choose a different textured surface. If fine sandpaper
was used for the letter b, perhaps furry fabric can be used for the letter d.

Method 2: Use “air writing” to reinforce proper letter formation.

Another simple but powerful method for correcting reversals is “air writing.” Using the dominant
hand, the student uses his entire arm to write letters in the air as he says the sound of the letter. The
whole arm should be involved, and the student should pretend that his pointer finger is a pen.

316 Appendix D: Solving Letter Reversal Problems

Brain research shows that two ideas practiced at the same time can permanently bond the ideas
together. In this case, the large movements of the arm combined with saying the sound of the letter
helps link these two concepts together in your student’s brain. Additionally, this multisensory activity
takes advantage of the fact that the muscles in the shoulder and in the jaw have muscle memory, and
this makes it easier for your student to recall the shape and sound of the letter.

Method #3: Teach the letters b and d using analogies.

Explain that the letter b is made up of two shapes: a bat and a ball. Using the tactile surface,
demonstrate how you write the bat part of the letter first, followed by the ball.

As you write the letter b, say “bat-ball-/b/,” like this:

To further clarify which side of the letter the straight line is on, tell your student that first you grab
the bat, then you hit the ball.

Have your student practice this motion and chant many times over a two-minute time period. Repeat
the exercise several times a day.

Show your student that when you are reading from left to right, you encounter the bat part of the
letter first. If he is ever unsure of the sound this letter makes when he sees it, he should think to
himself, “bat-ball-/b/.” This will help him recall the sound of the letter b.

To teach the letter d, you can use the analogy of a doorknob and a door. The doorknob represents the
circle part of the letter, and the door represents the straight line, like this:

To clarify which side of the letter the straight line is on, tell your student that first you grab the
doorknob, then you open the door.

Again, practice the motion and chant many times over a two-minute period. Repeat the exercise
several times a day.

Appendix D: Solving Letter Reversal Problems 317

Show your student that when you are reading from left to right, you encounter the doorknob part of
the letter first. If he is ever unsure of the sound this letter makes when he sees it, he should think to
himself, “doorknob-door-/d/.” He will now be able to recall the sound of the letter d.

Another common analogy to help with b and d is a bed. Though this analogy may help some kids,
for others it may require more thought, and for many kids it may not become automatic.

Method #4: Help your student notice the shape of our mouths while saying the letter sounds.

When we say /b/, our lips come together in a straight line. Point out that the straight line comes first
when you write the letter b.

When we say /d/, our lips are open. Coincidentally, the circle comes first when you write the letter d.

If your student misreads a b as a d, refer back to the tactile surface activity and air writing that you did
together. Point to the misread letter and say, If you wrote this letter, what would this letter say?

If your student can’t answer easily, ask him to draw the letter b using air writing. The sound of the
letter (/b/–bat) should come more easily this way. Then have your student read the word again.

318 Appendix D: Solving Letter Reversal Problems

 appendix e
How to Assemble Word Flippers
Word Flippers are a fun way for your student to practice fluency. Follow these steps to assemble and
use them in your lessons.

1. Remove the appropriate pages from the activity book. Cut apart the pages on the dotted lines.

2. Put the larger pieces of paper on the bottom. Stack the smaller pieces on top. Note that some
Word Flippers will be stacked on the left side and some on the right side.

3. Staple the Word Flipper along the left or right side, as indicated.

4. Have your student turn the pages and read the words that are formed.

Appendix E: How to Assemble Word Flippers 319