Reading 1

A phonics-first year read together with a grown-up: from blending sounds and short vowels through blends, digraphs, silent e, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels and word parts. Alongside the phonics, real fables, folktales, poems and information texts build retelling, main-topic, fluency and vocabulary skills, and the year ends with a family book project.

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180 lessons

One a day for a school year

12 units

Each opens to its lessons

Classic stories and poems

Aesop fables, Beatrix Potter, Stevenson poems

Standards

Common Core Grade 1 reading

What's taught, unit by unit

1
Sounds and short vowelsDays 1–21
How a sentence looks, then hearing sounds: blending, tapping out every sound, first, middle and last sounds, and short versus long vowels. A quick review of the five short vowels leads into the first decodable stories and tricky words, plus fables, a folktale and short information read-alouds with who, what and where questions and retelling.
- 1 · Welcome to Reading 1: how a sentence looks and reads
- 2 · Blending sounds into words
- 3 · Segmenting a word into every sound
- 4 · First, middle and last sounds
- 5 · Short or long? Hearing vowel sounds
- 6 · Kindergarten bridge: letter sounds and short a words
- 7 · Short a: a quick review of the Kindergarten word families
- 8 · Short i and short o: a quick review of the families
- 9 · Short u and short e: a quick review of the families
- 10 · All five short vowels: build, sort and read
- 11 · Reading short-vowel sentences and a first decodable story
- 12 · Story read-aloud: who is in it and what happens
- 13 · Decodable story: Sam and the Pig
- 14 · Information read-aloud: what did we learn?
- 15 · Decodable story: A Hen, a Pup and a Bug
- 16 · Story read-aloud: a folktale and its lesson
- 17 · Retelling a decodable story
- 18 · Tricky words: a quick review of Kindergarten words, plus were, there, does, has, his and as
- 19 · Information read-aloud: asking questions before and after
- 20 · Unit 1 review: short vowels
- 21 · Unit 1 assessment: sounds and short vowels
2
Blends and digraphsDays 22–42
Blends at the start and end of words (bl, st, fr, tw, -nd, -mp), double letters like ss and ll, and three-letter blends like str and spl, then sh, ch, th, wh, ck, ng and nk and the silent letters in kn and wr. Read-alouds practice how characters feel, retelling a tale, and finding the topic and connected ideas in information texts.
- 22 · Blends: bl and cl
- 23 · Blends: fl, gl, sl and pl
- 24 · S-blends: st, sp, sk, sn, sm and sw
- 25 · R-blends: br, cr, dr, fr and gr
- 26 · Story read-aloud: how the characters feel
- 27 · R-blends: pr and tr, plus tw
- 28 · Ending blends: -nd, -nt, -st, -mp, -nk, -ft and -lt
- 29 · Information read-aloud: facts about animals
- 30 · Reading words with blends, plus double letters at the end (ss, ff, ll, zz)
- 31 · Digraph sh
- 32 · Digraph ch
- 33 · Digraphs th and wh
- 34 · Story read-aloud: retelling a favorite tale
- 35 · Digraph ck
- 36 · Digraph ng, and nk
- 37 · Silent first letters: kn and wr
- 38 · Sorting and reading words with blends and digraphs, plus three-letter blends
- 39 · Information read-aloud: how two ideas connect
- 40 · Reading a story with blends and digraphs
- 41 · Unit 2 review: blends and digraphs
- 42 · Unit 2 assessment: blends and digraphs
3
Silent eDays 43–54
The silent e that makes a vowel say its name (cap to cape, kit to kite, hop to hope, cub to cube), comparing short and long words, word ladders and tricky e words like give and come. A picture book shows what pictures add to a story, and a seasons read-aloud practices who, what and why questions.
- 43 · Silent e: long a (cap to cape)
- 44 · Silent e: long i (kit to kite)
- 45 · Silent e: long o (hop to hope)
- 46 · Silent e: long u and long e (cub to cube)
- 47 · Short or long? Comparing pairs and building silent-e words
- 48 · Story read-aloud: pictures help tell the story
- 49 · Word ladders and reading silent-e sentences
- 50 · Read-aloud: winter and spring
- 51 · Tricky e words: have, give, come, some
- 52 · Reading a silent-e story
- 53 · Unit 3 review: long vowels with silent e
- 54 · Unit 3 assessment: silent e
4
Vowel teams and r-controlled vowelsDays 55–72
The vowel teams ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow, oe and oo, the long i spellings igh, ie and y, and words like me and go, then ar, or, er, ir and ur. Read-alouds focus on a character's problem and solution and on the main topic of an information text, with a decodable story for each sound group.
- 55 · Vowel team ai
- 56 · Vowel team ay
- 57 · Vowel team ee
- 58 · Vowel team ea
- 59 · Long i spellings: igh, ie and y
- 60 · Open-syllable words: me, she, go, no, and y as a vowel
- 61 · Vowel teams oa, ow (long o) and oe
- 62 · Story read-aloud: what problem does the character have?
- 63 · Vowel team oo: the moon sound and the book sound
- 64 · Information read-aloud: main topic and details
- 65 · Which spelling? Sorting long vowel teams
- 66 · Reading vowel-team words in a story
- 67 · R-controlled vowel ar
- 68 · R-controlled vowel or
- 69 · R-controlled vowels er, ir and ur
- 70 · Reading all the r-controlled vowels
- 71 · Unit 4 review: vowel teams and r-controlled vowels
- 72 · Unit 4 assessment: vowel teams and r-controlled vowels
5
Tricky words and word partsDays 73–87
Question words and tricky words like could, would and because, then syllables, compound words, splitting two-syllable words, the endings -s, -es, -ed and -ing, contractions, and the word parts un-, re-, -ful and -less. A fable read-aloud teaches how to find a story's message.
- 73 · Question words: who, what, where, why, how
- 74 · More tricky words, and reading sentences with them
- 75 · Story read-aloud: a tale with a message
- 76 · What is a syllable? Counting vowel sounds
- 77 · Compound words
- 78 · Two-syllable words: splitting between consonants
- 79 · Word endings -s and -es
- 80 · Word endings -ed
- 81 · Word endings -ing
- 82 · Reading contractions
- 83 · Prefixes un- and re-
- 84 · Suffixes -ful and -less
- 85 · Reading longer words in sentences
- 86 · Unit 5 review: tricky words and word parts
- 87 · Unit 5 assessment: tricky words and word parts
6
Reading smoothlyDays 88–97
Rereading a short passage until it is smooth, accuracy before speed, reading with expression from the end marks, matching the voice to a calm or lively story, fixing a word that doesn't make sense, reading a longer story part by part and choosing a just-right book. It ends with an oral reading check, not a timed test.
- 88 · Reading a first short passage
- 89 · Fluency: accuracy and rate
- 90 · Fluency: smoother reading with repeated reading
- 91 · Reading with expression
- 92 · Pacing, volume and mood
- 93 · Does that make sense? Using context to fix a word
- 94 · Reading a longer story, one part at a time
- 95 · Choosing a just-right book
- 96 · Unit 6 review: fluency
- 97 · Unit 6 assessment: oral reading check
7
Understanding storiesDays 98–121
Talking about books (taking turns, adding on, asking "What do you mean?") and asking who, what, where, when, why and how about fables, fairy tales and short stories, then retelling in order, characters and setting, events in order, predicting, problem and solution, and how characters feel and change. Children find feeling and sense words, tell the narrator from a character who is speaking, name a story's lesson, use clues, compare two characters and two stories, and look at what pictures show.
- 98 · Key details: who and what
- 99 · Key details: where and when
- 100 · Key details: why and how
- 101 · Reading a story: The Lost Puppy
- 102 · Retelling a story
- 103 · Characters and setting
- 104 · Reading a story: The Best Garden
- 105 · Putting events in order
- 106 · Predicting what happens next
- 107 · Reading a story: The Rainy Day, and the problem
- 108 · Reading The Kite and retelling it in order
- 109 · Reading a longer story: The New Friend
- 110 · How characters feel and change
- 111 · Words that show feelings and senses
- 112 · Who is telling the story?
- 113 · The lesson a story teaches: The Race and a fable
- 114 · Using clues: reading The Missing Toy
- 115 · Reading a story: The Kindness Chain
- 116 · Reading a story: The Big Move
- 117 · Comparing characters
- 118 · Comparing two stories
- 119 · Pictures help tell the story
- 120 · Unit 7 review: stories
- 121 · Unit 7 assessment: stories
8
Information booksDays 122–143
How information books differ from stories, asking and answering questions, main topic and key details, then headings, captions, labels, diagrams, a table of contents and a glossary. Children compare what pictures and words tell, connect ideas with because and so, follow numbered steps, read signs, find an author's reasons, work out new words, compare two texts on one topic and write two facts.
- 122 · Stories and information books: what's the difference?
- 123 · Reading information: Bears
- 124 · Main topic and key details
- 125 · Headings tell what a section is about
- 126 · Photos, captions and labels
- 127 · Table of contents and glossary
- 128 · Pictures and words: what each one tells
- 129 · Using pictures to describe key ideas
- 130 · Reading information: Frogs
- 131 · Reading information: Ocean animals
- 132 · Reading information: Space
- 133 · Reading a longer information text on your own
- 134 · How ideas connect: cause and effect
- 135 · Reading about asking a question: The Science Fair
- 136 · Following instructions
- 137 · Reading signs and labels
- 138 · Reasons authors give
- 139 · Asking about new words in information books
- 140 · Reading two texts on the same topic
- 141 · Writing facts from what I read
- 142 · Unit 8 review: information books
- 143 · Unit 8 assessment: information books
9
PoemsDays 144–150
Classic children's poems and nursery rhymes read aloud and reread: rhyming words, silly poems, clapping the rhythm, and words that show feelings or the five senses, with a short poem performance for the family.
- 144 · Reading a poem: rhyming fun
- 145 · Finding rhymes in poems
- 146 · Reading a silly poem
- 147 · Rhythm in poems
- 148 · Feeling and sense words in poems
- 149 · Unit 9 review: poems
- 150 · Unit 9 assessment: poems
10
Word meaningsDays 151–163
Using the sentence to work out a new word, sorting words into groups, defining a word by its group and a special detail, connecting words to real life and finding root words. Then synonyms and antonyms, shades of meaning (peek and stare, big and gigantic), stronger word choices and using new words with because, all drawn from familiar fables.
- 151 · Context clues: figuring out a new word
- 152 · Sorting words into categories
- 153 · Defining words: a duck is a bird that swims
- 154 · Words and real life
- 155 · Root words and endings
- 156 · Synonyms: words that mean the same
- 157 · Antonyms: opposite words
- 158 · Shades of meaning: look, peek, stare
- 159 · Shades of meaning: big, large, huge, gigantic
- 160 · Choosing stronger words
- 161 · New words from stories and talk
- 162 · Unit 10 review: word meaning
- 163 · Unit 10 assessment: word meaning
11
Year-end review and checksDays 164–169
Reviews of vowel sounds, letter teams, tricky words and word parts, and story and information-text skills, then a final decoding and fluency check and a final comprehension check on a fable and an information text.
- 164 · Cumulative review: vowel sounds
- 165 · Cumulative review: blends, digraphs and r-controlled vowels
- 166 · Cumulative review: tricky words and word parts
- 167 · Cumulative review: reading comprehension
- 168 · Final assessment: decoding and fluency
- 169 · Final assessment: comprehension
12
My book projectDays 170–180
Choosing a just-right book and a reading plan, reading it in parts with a reading log, retelling it, and naming its characters, setting and lesson (or main topic). Then a favorite part with a reason, a poster, a practiced book talk for the family, a print hunt at home, a look back at the year and a read-aloud celebration.
- 170 · Book project: choosing a book and a plan
- 171 · Book project: reading time
- 172 · Book project: retelling with key details
- 173 · Book project: characters, setting and the lesson (or main topic)
- 174 · Book project: my favorite part
- 175 · Book project: making a book poster
- 176 · Book project: practicing my presentation
- 177 · Book project: sharing with my family
- 178 · Reading around the house: a print hunt
- 179 · Reflecting on a year of reading, and looking ahead
- 180 · Reading celebration: favorite book read-aloud

By the end of the year, your child can

Blend and break apart the sounds in spoken words, and read short-vowel words with blends and digraphs
Read words with silent e, vowel teams and r-controlled vowels, plus common tricky words like said, were and because
Read two-syllable and compound words, and words with -s, -es, -ed, -ing, un-, re-, -ful and -less
Read a short story or poem aloud smoothly and with expression, and fix a word that doesn't make sense
Ask and answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about a story, retell it in order and name its lesson
Describe a story's characters, setting, problem and feelings, and compare two characters or two stories
Find the main topic and key details of an information text and use headings, captions, labels, a table of contents and a glossary
Work out a new word from the sentence around it, sort and define words, and choose between close words like peek and stare
Take turns talking about a book, add on to what someone else says, and ask a speaker questions to find out more

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Other 1st Grade subjects: Math 1 · Writing 1 · Science 1 · History 1