Phonics Overview

Kindergarten and Grade 1

  • Systematic phonics instruction has a significant effect on reading achievement. Within the phonics instruction in Trophies, letter-sound correspondences are taught sequentially. The systematic instruction allows students to continually build on what they learn. The individual sounds represented by letters are blended to form words, and those words are applied in decodable text.
  • In Kindergarten and First Grade, students are explicitly taught the process of blending previously introduced sound/letter relationships to form words. In contrast to word blending, word building allows students to practice making words from previously introduced letter-sound relationships and reading them.
  • Explicit instruction in decoding lessons provides students with various strategies, including understanding syllable types and patterns, as well as recognizing word structures such as prefixes, suffixes, and root words to decode multi-syllabic words.

To answer questions customers might ask about phonics instruction in Trophies, please point out the following Word Work lessons in the Teacher’s Editions:

WORD WORK (found in the selection lesson plans)

Word Blending

Word Building

Phonics and Spelling Lessons

High-Frequency Words

Additional WORD WORK Lessons

 Additional Support Activities (found in the back of the Teacher’s Edition)

Decoding/Phonics

Kindergarten

Systematic phonics instruction has a significant effect on reading achievement. In phonics instruction in Trophies, letter-sound correspondences are taught systematically and sequentially. The systematic instruction allows children to continually build on what they learn. The following chart allows you to see the decoding/phonics skills taught per selection.

Unit/Theme / Week / Decoding/Phonics Skills
Unit 1/Self-Discovery
Getting to Know You / Week 1 / Alphabet/Introduction/Early
Literacy Skills
Getting to Know You / Week 2 / Alphabet Introduction/Early
Literacy Skills
Unit 2/Self-Discovery
I am Special / Week 3 / Introduce /m/m
Introduce /s/s
I am Special / Week 4 / Introduce /r/r
I am Special / Week 5 / Introduce /t/t
Unit 3/Working Together
Around the Table / Week 6 / Introduce /p/p
Introduce /c/c
Around the Table / Week 7 / Introduce Short Vowel /a/a
Around the Table / Week 8 / Word Blending and Building

Decoding/Phonics

Kindergarten (continued)

Unit/Theme / Week / Decoding/Phonics Skills
Unit 4/Working Together
Silly Business / Week 9 / Introduce /n/n
Introduce /d/d
Silly Business / Week 10 / Word Blending and Building
Silly Business / Week 11 / Word Blending and Building
(phonograms)
Unit 5/Growth and Change
Family Ties / Week 12 / Introduce /g/g
Introduce /f/f
Family Ties / Week 13 / Introduce Short Vowel /i/ i
Family Ties / Week 14 / Word Blending and Building
Unit 6/Growth and Change
Animal Families / Week 15 / Introduce /l/l
Introduce /h/h
Animal Families / Week 16 / Word Blending and Building
Animal Families / Week 17 / Word Blending and Building
(phonograms)
Unit 7/Creativity
Bug Surprises / Week 18 / Introduce /b/b
Introduce /k/k
Bug Surprises / Week 19 / Introduce Short Vowel /o/o
Bug Surprises / Week 20 / Word Blending and Building

Decoding Phonics

Kindergarten (continued)

Unit/Theme / Week / Decoding/Phonics Skills
Unit 8/Creativity
Animal Adventures / Week 21 / Introduce /w/w
Introduce /ks/x
Animal Adventures / Week 22 / Word Blending and Building
Animal Adventures / Week 23 / Word Blending and Building
(phonograms)
Unit 9/Communities
Around Town / Week 24 / Introduce /y/y
Introduce /j/j
I am Special / Week 25 / Introduce Short Vowel /e/e
I am Special / Week 26 / Word Blending and Building
Unit 10/Communities
Neighborhood Helpers / Week 27 / Introduce /y/y
Introduce /z/z
Neighborhood Helpers / Week 28 / Word Blending and Building
Neighborhood Helpers / Week 29 / Word Blending and Building
(phonograms)
Unit 11/Explorations
Exploring Our Surroundings / Week 30 / Introduce /kw/ q
Exploring Our Surroundings / Week 31 / Introduce Short Vowel /u/u
Exploring Our Surroundings / Week 32 / Word Blending and Building
Unit 12/Explorations
Under the Ocean / Week 33 / Word Blending and Building
Under the Ocean / Week 34 / Word Blending and Building (phonograms)
Under the Ocean / Week 35 / Review Short Vowels a, e, i, o, u

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