Letterland Spelling and Phonics

For the 2022-23 school year, first grade will be using Letterland Phonics. This program helps students understand spelling patterns rather than lists of words. Each week, we will have a spelling assessment but the assessment will not focus on 10 words, but will focus on students understanding the pattern.

You may be wondering why this is important. Well, research has found that most of the time, when students are given a list, they memorize it by rote. They are not actually learning the words for lifetime use. The method that Letterland uses is wonderful for students because it allows them to learn new spelling patterns each week, while also reviewing sounds and words used in previous weeks. There will also be dictation sentences each week as well. A dictation sentence is a sentence that the teacher says out loud and students are required to write down exactly what the teacher says.

Example: The teacher will say, "The cat is on the mat." Students must then say the sentence to themselves and then write "The cat is on the mat." on their paper using the correct spelling and punctuation.

Letterland also includes a few "Tricky Words" each week. These words are generally words that we call "sight words" that students need to be able to read immediately when they see the word. Kindergarten worked on this last year and many of the words will be a review of the ones they learned in kindergarten.

For more information regarding Letterland, you can visit their website by following the link below.

Letterland

You can also watch the video below LEFT to learn the names of the characters that go along with each letter as well as the "Action Trick" that students will learn to help them remember letter sounds. On the RIGHT you will see a list of sight words students will need to know each week.