Fundations

Trick Words (Students need to be able to spell these words)

Unit 9 Week 1 (Week of 3/23)

say, says

Unit 9 Week 2 (Week of 3/30)

see, between, each

Previously Taught Trick Words

-the, a, and, is, his, of, as, has, to, into, for, me, he, she, be, we, as, has, to, into, or, for, me, we, he, she, be, you, your, I, they, was, one, said, from, have, do, does, why, by, my, try, put, two, too, very, also, some, come, would, could, should, her, over, number

Letter Sounds and Keywords

Each letter of the alphabet has a key word to help students remember the sound that the letter makes. A key word worksheet will be sent home and may be kept at home.

Sound Tapping

Sound tapping is when students sound out a word and tap one finger to their thumb for each sound heard. Each word type has a different way to tap. Watch to see sound tapping for three letter words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yAl1Qs1SQI. 

Trick Words

In Fundations, trick words are words that cannot be sounded out (ex: are, be, her). Each unit will have a different number of trick words. Students are expected to practice spelling and writing trick words which will appear on their assessments. 

Digraphs

Digraphs are two letter pairs that make one sound. Each digraph has a corresponding keyword to remember the sound, just like the individual letter sound. Students will learn about digraphs ck (sock), ch (chin), th (thumb), sh (ship), wh (whistle). Words with digraphs will be marked with a line underneath the digraph (ex: ship). Watch from 2 minutes to see tapping digraphs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yAl1Qs1SQI. 

Bonus Letters

In Fundations, the letters f,l,s are called "bonus letters". We call them bonus letters because they are doubled at the end of the word following a short vowel sound (ex: cuff, fill, mess). Bonus letters are marked by putting a small star above the bonus letter and a breve above the vowel. 

Glued Sounds

Glued sounds are groups of 2 or 3 letters whose letters cannot be separated without changing the sounds of the letters. In Unit 4 of Fundations, only one glued sound is introduced, the -all sound. In Chapter 5, we will focus on the glued sounds -an and -am. All glued sounds have their own keywords (ex: -all, ball; -an, fan; -am, ham, -ang, fang; -ing, ring; -ong, song; -ung, lung; -ank, bank; -ink, pink; -onk, honk; -unk, junk). Glued sounds are marked with a box around the letters of the glued sound. The star above the bonus letter "l" will also be used to mark the glued sound "-all". There will be no breve above the "a" in a glued sound because the sound is slightly different than regular short "a". Watch the following videos for tapping glued sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNCgnT1YNo0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=babGZ_WVjGk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=femiyq3a4ic. 

Baseword and Suffix -s

The suffix -s is added to the end of a baseword in order to make a noun plural or to make a verb agree with the subject. In some cases, the suffix -s can make the "z" sound (ex: bugs). When spelling and reading words with a suffix -s, students are encouraged to tap and read the baseword before adding the suffix sound to the end. To mark basewords and suffixes, scoop the baseword and circle the suffix -s. All other ways to mark words will also be applied. 

Consonant Blends

Consonant blends are two consonants next to each other. They are different from digraphs because consonant blends have two separate sounds, whereas a digraph makes only one sound. Consonant blends can occur in the beginning or the end of the word, and the blend is marked with a small line under each letter (ex: s t op or pe s t). 

Digraph Blends

Digraph blends are when a digraph is followed by another consonant. Digraph blends make two sounds and get two taps when tapping out a word. Digraph blends can occur at the beginning or the end of the word. They are marked by making a long line under both letters in the digraph and a small line under the other consonant in the blend (ex: sh r ed, i n ch).

Closed Syllables

Closed syllable words are any words with a short vowel sound in the middle and consonants after the vowel. Closed syllables are marked by putting a breve about the vowel, marking any other ways that were previously taught, scooping the word, and putting a small "c" under the scoop. Watch the following clip to learn how to mark a closed syllable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIkbT2MSqow. 

R-Controlled Vowels

R-controlled vowels are a vowel paired with the letter r. They are called r-controlled because the r changes the sound of the vowel. In other words, the vowel sound does not make a short or long sound. The r-controlled vowels that we have learned so far as -ar (-ar, car, ar) and -or (-or, horn, or). These concepts are introduced in first grade, but they will not be tested on unit assessments. 

Vowel Pairs

Vowel pairs are two vowels or a vowel and the letter y. Vowel pairs have their own keywords and sounds. These concepts are introduced in first grade, but they will not be tested on unit assessments.

Long Vowels

A sheet was sent home for the keywords that correspond with the long vowel sounds. The long vowels that we will be working on will be in a v-consonant-e format. All long vowels in these syllables will be marked with a macron (a small, straight line above the vowel). The silent -e at the end of the word will be crossed out when marking to remind students that the -e at the end does not make a noise. We say that the silent -e tells the vowel to say its name. Each vowel-consonant-e syllable will be scooped with v-e written underneath.

Two-Syllable Words

Students will be spelling and reading two-syllable words. Some words have two closed syllables, and some will have a closed syllable and a v-e syllable. Each syllable will be scooped and the vowels will be marked accordingly (breve for short vowel, macron for a long vowel).