Unit 3
Digraphs (Lessons 42–53)
Day 1
Step 1: Listening Warm-Up (Phonemic Awareness)
No letters here, just ears. Your child will practice blending sounds together into a word and breaking a word apart into its sounds. This builds the foundation for both reading and spelling.
Step 2: Letter Flash (See It, Say It)
Your child looks at letters they've already learned and says the sound each one makes. It moves quickly and reviews recent learning first.
Step 3: Sound to Letter (Hear It, Write It)
This time it's reversed. You say a sound out loud, and your child writes the letter that matches. If they get it wrong, you show the correct answer and have them write it while saying the sound.
Step 4: Word Chain
Using letter tiles, your child reads a chain of words where only one sound changes at a time, like sat, mat, map, mop, top. The goal is smooth, connected reading rather than sounding out each letter separately.
Step 5: Build a Word
You say a word, and your child figures out the sounds in it and builds it with letter tiles or writes it out. This strengthens the connection between the sounds they hear and the letters they write.
Step 6: New Concept
This is where a new letter, sound, or spelling pattern gets introduced and where you read a few simple words that use it.
Day 2
Step 7: Quick Review and Word Reading
A fast recap of what was introduced on Day 1, then your child reads several words containing that new pattern.
Step 8: Heart Words
These are common words with tricky, irregular spellings (like "said" or "was") that can't be fully sounded out. Your child reads the word, figures out which part is regular and which part has to be learned by heart, then practices writing it from memory.
Step 9: Reading in Context
Your child reads sentences or a short passage using everything they've learned so far. This is where phonics turns into real reading.
Step 10: Dictated Sentence
You read a sentence out loud, and your child writes it down. Afterward, you check it together for capital letters, how it looks, punctuation, and spelling, celebrating effort along the way.
Step 1: Listening Warm-Up (Phonemic Awareness)
No letters here, just ears. Your child will practice blending sounds together into a word and breaking a word apart into its sounds. This builds the foundation for both reading and spelling.
Step 2: Letter Flash (See It, Say It)
Your child looks at letters they've already learned and says the sound each one makes. It moves quickly and reviews recent learning first.
Step 3: Sound to Letter (Hear It, Write It)
This time it's reversed. You say a sound out loud, and your child writes the letter that matches. If they get it wrong, you show the correct answer and have them write it while saying the sound.
Step 4: Word Chain
Using letter tiles, your child reads a chain of words where only one sound changes at a time, like sat, mat, map, mop, top. The goal is smooth, connected reading rather than sounding out each letter separately.
Step 5: Build a Word
You say a word, and your child figures out the sounds in it and builds it with letter tiles or writes it out. This strengthens the connection between the sounds they hear and the letters they write.
Step 6: New Concept
This is where a new letter, sound, or spelling pattern gets introduced and where you read a few simple words that use it.
Day 2
Step 7: Quick Review and Word Reading
A fast recap of what was introduced on Day 1, then your child reads several words containing that new pattern.
Step 8: Heart Words
These are common words with tricky, irregular spellings (like "said" or "was") that can't be fully sounded out. Your child reads the word, figures out which part is regular and which part has to be learned by heart, then practices writing it from memory.
Step 9: Reading in Context
Your child reads sentences or a short passage using everything they've learned so far. This is where phonics turns into real reading.
Step 10: Dictated Sentence
You read a sentence out loud, and your child writes it down. Afterward, you check it together for capital letters, how it looks, punctuation, and spelling, celebrating effort along the way.