Students will learn to read, spell, and understand short-vowel words, basic consonants, consonant blends, consonant digraphs / trigraphs, and two syllable words. All First Grade Workbooks (Primer and I-III) follow the same format consisting of 5 exercises per lesson. The first exercise Read, Discuss, Spell presents a list of words to learn:
- The Read has the students read the words out loud to the teacher. Students discover that reading simply involves recognizing the letters of a word and knowing the sounds they make, then pronouncing these sounds from left to right.
- The Discuss components call for the teacher to chat with students about word meanings (no formal definitions needed) and make students aware that many English words have several meanings (bat, lap). This activity of discussing words ensures that students will develop the habit of thinking about meaning while they read.
- The Spelling part consists of a spelling test given at the end of every Exercise 1.
The other four exercises reinforce concepts taught in Exercise 1 and involve
- pairing words that rhyme,
- putting words from a list in alphabetical order,
- learning to use a dictionary, and
- practicing handwriting
These workbooks provide for small group (centers and reading groups), one-on-one instruction, interaction with the entire class, and really help students start out as confident, authentic readers. Teachers using this curriculum have been pleased by the dramatic improvement their students have shown when tested by reading programs such as Fountas and Pinnell, Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI), and computer programs including iStation and Read 180. Word Study Workbook Primer introduces 17 consonants and short-vowel a in dozens of words.
