Letters, Sounds & Words
Objectives
- D04.S1.01.01 Listen to a speaker or story and ask or answer a simple question about it.
- D04.S1.01.02 Speak in complete sentences to share an idea or experience so others can understand.
- D04.S2.01.01 Decode simple words by sounding out letters and letter groups in their home writing system.
- D04.S2.01.02 Read a simple text aloud and retell its beginning, middle, and end.
- D04.S3.01.01 Write letters and simple words to express an idea, and read back what they wrote.
- D04.S3.01.02 Compose one or more complete sentences about a topic or picture, using a capital letter and an end mark.
- D04.S4.01.01 Name their home language or languages and share a few words in each with pride.
- D04.S4.01.02 Learn and use a greeting and a courtesy word, such as please or thank you, in another language.
Essential questions
- How do letters and sounds come together to make words I can read and write?
- How do I share my ideas with words, in my own language and others'?
Big ideas
- Written marks carry meaning: I can sound out words, read them, and write my own.
- Every language is a treasure; my home language matters and other languages enrich us.
Lessons
- 1 Listening and Asking Questions 45 minutes
- 2 Answering Questions About a Story 45 minutes
- 3 Speaking in Complete Sentences 45 minutes
- 4 Letters and Sounds 45 minutes
- 5 Sounding Out Words 45 minutes
- 6 Letter Groups 45 minutes
- 7 Reading Aloud 45 minutes
- 8 Beginning, Middle, End 45 minutes
- 9 Writing Letters and Words 45 minutes
- 10 Reading Back What I Wrote 45 minutes
- 11 A Complete Sentence 45 minutes
- 12 Writing My Own Sentence 45 minutes
- 13 My Home Language 45 minutes
- 14 Greetings in Another Language 45 minutes
- 15 Letters, Sounds & Words Festival 50 minutes
Assessment plan
One-on-one reading check-ins, a writing sample, and read-backs; a home-language sharing and a multilingual greeting as portfolio artifacts.
Unit 4 — Letters, Sounds & Words
Overview
This unit begins formal literacy. Learners listen and ask or answer simple
questions, speak in complete sentences, decode simple words by sounding out letters
and letter groups in their home writing system, and read a simple text aloud,
retelling its beginning, middle, and end. They write letters and simple words and
compose a sentence or more with a capital letter and an end mark. Throughout, the
home language is honored first and multilingualism is treated as wealth: learners
share their own languages with pride and learn a greeting and a courtesy word in
another. Foundational skills are taught with explicit instruction and guided
practice, per docs/philosophy.md §13.
Essential questions
- How do letters and sounds come together to make words I can read and write?
- How do I share my ideas with words, in my own language and others’?
Lessons
| Lesson | Title | Standards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Listening and Asking Questions | D04.S1.01.01 |
| 2 | Answering Questions About a Story | D04.S1.01.01 |
| 3 | Speaking in Complete Sentences | D04.S1.01.02 |
| 4 | Letters and Sounds | D04.S2.01.01 |
| 5 | Sounding Out Words | D04.S2.01.01 |
| 6 | Letter Groups | D04.S2.01.01 |
| 7 | Reading Aloud | D04.S2.01.02 |
| 8 | Beginning, Middle, End | D04.S2.01.02 |
| 9 | Writing Letters and Words | D04.S3.01.01 |
| 10 | Reading Back What I Wrote | D04.S3.01.01 |
| 11 | A Complete Sentence | D04.S3.01.02 |
| 12 | Writing My Own Sentence | D04.S3.01.02 |
| 13 | My Home Language | D04.S4.01.01 |
| 14 | Greetings in Another Language | D04.S4.01.02 |
| 15 | Letters, Sounds & Words Festival | D04.S1.01.01, D04.S1.01.02, D04.S2.01.01, D04.S2.01.02, D04.S3.01.01, D04.S3.01.02, D04.S4.01.01, D04.S4.01.02 |