Parent guide · Grade 1 Phonics & Reading: Long Vowels and Many Words · Unit 2
Lesson 2.4 Hop and Hope; Unit 2 Check
Written for the parent. Read the Say this lines aloud as they are, or in your own words. Answers for you are marked Listen for.
At a glance
- Time
- 5 sessions of 15–20 minutes
- Goal
- I can tap and blend words such as hope , hop , tape . I can read the heart words water and say which part is learned by heart. I can read “The Mule and the Salt” and tell it back.
- You need
- Blocks or cubes
- Heart-word cards (printables pack)
- A small whiteboard or a tray of salt or sand
- Primary-ruled paper and a pencil
- A King James Bible
- the lesson page (it also has a short video (10:34) and an explainer to read aloud (about 10 minutes))
Steps
Do this: Read the pairs: hop/hope, tap/tape, kit/kite, cub/cube, not/note. Which one has a long vowel?
Do this: Tap and blend. For each word your child touches each letter (or letter team) and says its sound, then sweeps a finger under the whole word and says it smoothly. Never guess from the first letter or a picture. If a word is misread, point to the part that was missed and blend again from the start.
Do this: Spell it. Say a word. Your child says it back, taps the sounds on his or her fingers, then writes one letter (or letter team) for each sound. Check together, sound by sound.
Do this: Heart words. A heart word is mostly regular. We tap it like any other word, and draw a heart over the one part that does not follow the rules we know yet. Practise the heart words on cards every day this week (see the table below).
Do this: The week at a glance. Day 1: warm-up, new sound, handwriting. Day 2: card review, word lists, spelling. Day 3: second new sound or more words, heart words. Day 4: read the story, talk about it. Day 5: reread the story for fluency, play the game, quick check (10 words, 1 sentence, 5 spelling words). Read the read-aloud at another time of day.
Show: Blend hope.
Say this: “Touch and say: /h/ /o_e/ /p/.”
Say this: “Sweep your finger under the word and say the sounds again, faster, without stopping between them.”
Say this: “Say the word: hope . Use it in a sentence.”
Answer: hope
Show: Blend hop.
Say this: “Touch and say: /h/ /o/ /p/.”
Say this: “Sweep your finger under the word and say the sounds again, faster, without stopping between them.”
Say this: “Say the word: hop . Use it in a sentence.”
Answer: hop
Do this: Your child does these with you. Let them try first; help only after a real try.
Ask: Read: hope · hop · tape · tap
Listen for: hope = h | o_e | p; hop = h | o | p; tape = t | a_e | p; tap = t | a | p
Ask: Read: kite · kit · cube · cub
Listen for: kite = k | i_e | t; kit = k | i | t; cube = c | u_e | b; cub = c | u | b
Ask: Read: note · not · slide · slid
Listen for: note = n | o_e | t; not = n | o | t; slide = s | l | i_e | d; slid = s | l | i | d
4 more practice items on the lesson page.
- Guessing from the first letter or the picture. Cover the picture and ask the child to tap every sound.
- Dictation: hope, hop, kite, cube, these.
- Use the ball-and-stick lines: tall letters touch the top line, short letters touch the middle line, tails go below the base line.
Copywork: Write each word once, saying the sounds as you write: hope, hop, tape, tap, kite, kit.
Word Sounds Heart part water /w/ /aw/ /t/ /er/ ♥ a says /aw/ The Mule and the Salt
Pete had a mule. The mule had to tote a sack of salt.
Splash! The mule slid in the pond. The salt in the sack melts in the water. The sack is not so big! The mule had a sly plan.
The next time, the mule slid in the pond as a trick. Splash! The sack got small.
But Pete had a plan as well. The next time, he made the sack a sack of rags. Splash! The rags got wet and fat. The mule had to tote a fat, wet sack home. Tricks can trip you up.
Retold from Aesop, The Ass Carrying Salt. Before reading, show your child these story words and read them together: Pete, sly.
Every word in this story uses only the sounds and heart words taught so far (checked by the School Launch decodability checker). Read a page a day on Days 3 and 4, and the whole story on Day 5.
- What did the mule carry first?
Answer
A sack of salt.
- What happened when he fell in the pond?
Answer
The salt melted and the sack got lighter.
- What did Pete put in the sack?
Answer
Rags.
- What is the lesson?
Answer
Tricks can trip you up; laziness does not pay.
Then ask your child to tell the whole story back in his or her own words (narration).
- What did the mule carry first?
Aesop: The Ass Carrying Salt. Read the original.
The read-aloud is for listening, not decoding. Read it to your child at another time of day.
Make cards for hop, hope, tap, tape, kit, kite, cub, cube. Turn two over. Snap a short/long pair and read both.
Say this: “Tell me the new sounds you learned this week, and read me one word.”
Listen for: I can tap and blend words such as hope , hop , tape .; I can read the heart words water and say which part is learned by heart.; I can read “The Mule and the Salt” and tell it back.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Jane Taylor)
Twinkle, twinkle, little star!
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.This week: Big voice. Speak so a person at the back of the room hears every word. Big, not shouting: fill the room, do not scream.
- Day 1: The teacher says it twice; the child echoes it one line at a time.
- Days 2–4: Say it together each morning; drop one line of help each day.
- Day 5: Say the title and the poet, then the poem. Stand up and say it alone for the family.
He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Hard work, not tricks, is God’s way.
Spread over the week
5 sessions of 15–20 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.
- Session 1. Warm-up, then teach the new idea (steps 1 and 2).
- Session 2. Warm-up again, then show how with the examples.
- Session 3. Practice together, then play the game.
- Session 4. More practice, handwriting and reading, and the daily habit.
- Session 5. Quick check: narration and a few practice items. Move on when it is mostly right.
For you
For families. Keep each session short and cheerful: 15 to 20 minutes, then stop. If your child is tired or frustrated, stop and finish tomorrow. A lesson can take more than a week; move on when the quick check on Day 5 is mostly “Got it.”