Unit Overview:

There are 15 lessons in this unit that are designed to teach a number of skills. The lessons are followed by the Pausing Point, which provides recommendations for practicing the skills. In this unit eight sounds are introduced, along with the most common way of spelling each sound.

The eight sounds and corresponding spellings are:

1. /n/ spelled ‘n’ as in man

2. /h/ spelled ‘h’ as in hat

3. /s/ spelled ‘s’ as in sit

4. /f/ spelled ‘f’ as in fan

5. /v/ spelled ‘v’ as in van

6. /z/ spelled ‘z’ as in zigzag

7. /p/ spelled ‘p’ as in pig

8. /e/ spelled ‘e’ as in pen

As in Unit 3, each new sound is introduced by playing oral language games. Students are shown how to make a picture of the sound. Only the most common, or least ambiguous, spelling for the sound is taught. Activity pages allow students to practice writing the spellings. Pocket chart chaining games provide students with reading and spelling practice. Take-Home Activity Pages encourage family involvement. The Unit 4 Student Performance Assessment follows the same format as the Unit 3 Student Performance Assessment.

As in Unit 3, only the lowercase letters are taught. Continue to avoid the use of letter names. For an explanation of these aspects of the program, read the Introduction to Unit 3 and/or the Unit 3 Appendix. Letter names will be taught in Unit 6.

One difference you will notice are the Warm-Ups, which suggest you begin using finger gestures to show the segmentation of words into sounds. Previously you may have used arm gestures for blending. The segmenting gestures are explained clearly in the lessons.

Unit Calendar:

Unit 4 is 15 instructional days with 3 pausing points. It is recommended that it be taught from October 25th to November 20th.