Parent guide · Grade 2 Phonics & Reading: Syllables and Stories · Unit 1
Lesson 1.4 Unit 1 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 manger , snarled , barking . I can read the heart words iron and say which part is learned by heart. I can read “The Dog in the Manger” and tell it back.
- You need
- Sound cards (printables pack)
- Heart-word cards (printables pack)
- Primary-ruled paper and a pencil
- A King James Bible
- the lesson page (it also has a short video (3:08) and an explainer to read aloud (about 10 minutes))
Steps
Do this: Read the Unit 1 word lists as fast as you can, then reread the slowest row.
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 manger.
Say this: “Touch and say: /m/ /a/ /n/ /g/ /er/ (a says /ā/ and g says /j/: /mān-jer/).”
Say this: “Sweep your finger under the word and say the sounds again, faster, without stopping between them.”
Say this: “Say the word: manger . Use it in a sentence.”
Answer: manger
Show: Blend snarled.
Say this: “Touch and say: /s/ /n/ /ar/ /l/ /e/ /d/.”
Say this: “Sweep your finger under the word and say the sounds again, faster, without stopping between them.”
Say this: “Say the word: snarled . Use it in a sentence.”
Answer: snarled
Do this: Your child does these with you. Let them try first; help only after a real try.
Ask: Read: manger · snarled · barking · hungry
Listen for: manger = m | a | n | g | er (a says /ā/ and g says /j/: /mān-jer/); snarled = s | n | ar | l | e | d; barking = b | ar | k | i | ng; hungry = h | u | ng | r | y
Ask: Read: grain · oxen · please · trough
Listen for: grain = g | r | ai | n; oxen = o | x | e | n; please = p | l | ea | s | e (the final e is silent); trough = t | r | ough
Ask: Read: greedy
Listen for: greedy = g | r | ee | d | y
4 more practice items on the lesson page.
- Trying to read a long word all at once. Find the vowels, split the word into syllables, read each part, then put it together.
- Guessing from the first letter or the picture. Cover the picture and ask the child to tap every sound.
- Dictation: hungry, manger, growled, tired.
- 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: manger, snarled, barking, hungry, grain, oxen.
Word Sounds Heart part iron /ī/ /er/ /n/ ♥ ir and o swap places: we say "eye-ern" The Dog in the Manger
A dog was looking for a soft place to nap. He jumped into the manger of an ox and curled up on the hay.
Soon the ox came in from the field. He was tired and hungry, and he wanted to eat the hay in his manger.
But the dog stood up and growled and snapped at the ox. Each time the ox came close, the dog barked and showed his teeth.
At last the ox gave up. "What a selfish dog!" he said. "He cannot eat the hay himself, and yet he will not let me eat it." Do not keep from others what you cannot use yourself.
Retold from Aesop. Before reading, show your child these story words and read them together: manger, oxen, trough, hungry.
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.
- Where did the dog lie down?
Answer
In the ox’s manger.
- Why did the ox come in?
Answer
He was hungry and wanted the hay.
- What did the dog do?
Answer
Growled and snapped so the ox could not eat.
- What is the lesson?
Answer
Do not keep from others what you cannot use.
Then ask your child to tell the whole story back in his or her own words (narration).
- Where did the dog lie down?
Aesop: The Dog in the Manger. Read the original.
The read-aloud is for listening, not decoding. Read it to your child at another time of day.
All Grade 1 sound cards and heart words against a timer.
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 manger , snarled , barking .; I can read the heart words iron and say which part is learned by heart.; I can read “The Dog in the Manger” and tell it back.
My Shadow (Robert Louis Stevenson)
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all.This week: Stand tall. Feet still and a little apart, hands quiet at your sides, chin up. Stand still from the first word to the last.
- 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.
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Share what you have.
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.”