Here are the North Carolina Standards for Letterland each quarter!
Word List & Skills
Children learn to sort words according to rhyme patterns -ad, -ap, and -at. They also learn to finger tap words for reading and spelling.
Children sort words according to rhyme patterns -ack, -am, and -an. They learn why c and k go together at the end of short words (e.g. back). In some regions the a in an and am is not a pure short a sound, due to the nasal sound of n or m after it. In that case, to avoid confusion, have the children pronounce -an as a unit rather than separating the two sounds. Do the same for -am.
Children sort words according to the rhyme patterns -in, -ix, and -ick and learn additional short i words. Digraph th is introduced with its two sounds: voiced th (as in THIS, THE, THAT) and unvoiced th (as in THIN, THICK, and PATH).
Children will sort words according to rhyme patterns -ock, -op, and -ot. They also learn the fun story logic for sh.
Children sort words according to rhyme patterns -en, -et, and -ell. They also learn the fun story logic of wh and use consonant y for the first time. The ll at the end of short words is taught with Lucy Lamp Light and Linda Lamp Light, Best Friends on the end.
Children sort words according to rhyme patterns -ug, -un, and -ut. They also learn about the suffix -s and its two sounds: /s/ and /z/. When you dictate a word with a suffix, ask children to repeat the word, and then just the base word (example: cubs, cub). Then they finger tap the base word. They then build or write the base word and add the suffix. This helps to avoid missing the final sound of the base word. To read a word with a suffix, children fingertip the base word, say it, and then say it with the suffix added. (example: /d/ /u/ /k/, duck, ducks)
Children learn a new way of sorting: by vowel sound, using all five short vowels. The digraph ch is introduced and the spelling pair qu.
Children learn that when a 2 or 3 letter word has one vowel at the end, this final vowel almost always says the Vowel Man's name. Also, they learn the story logic of why y as a single vowel on the end of a short word says /i/ as in my and why.
Children learn the story logic that explains the sound of a in -all. They review short vowels a, e, and i as well.
Children have already learned some words that end with -ll. Now they learn about two more letters that like to have Best Friends on the End (ff and ss).
Children learn how to blend s with seven other consonants at the beginning of words. They will continue to sort words by the short vowel sound to consolidate that knowledge. They will finger tap four sounds, using all four fingers for the first time.
Children learn to blend 5 consonants with the letter L, and continue to sort words by short vowel sounds.
Children practice 7 R-Blends. Many children may have difficulty spelling the TR and Dr words because TR sounds very similar to /CH/ and Dr may sound like /j/ to them.
Children learn the final blends -nd, -nt, -st, -sk.
Children learn the sound of the digraph -ng, and the same sound represented by N and words ending in -nk. They will also be learning the suffix -ing.
Children learn that silent magic e causes a vowel man to appear in a word. They finger tap words such as bake with three fingers, not four, since the E is silent /b//a//k/. Adding a silent magic e to a word can transform it into a completely new word.
Children learn magic e words with Mr. I and Mr. O. They learn that magic -ing can take the place of magic e in words such as closing and riding. The digraph wr is introduced in the words write and writing.
Children learn the soft sounds of C /s/ and G /j/ when followed by E. they use magic e with Mr. U.
Children learn the ee spelling for long e. This is the first of a number of Vowel Men pairs out walking with the first vowel man saying his name and the second staying silent because he is looking out for vowel stealing robots. Children tap one finger for the sound of the vowel pair.
This week children learn about the long e sound of the vowel digraph EA. This is the second pair of Vowel Men out walking. As with EE children tap just one finger for the long e sound when reading or spelling with this digraph.
Children learn about the long a sound of ai and ay. These are two more pairs of Vowel Men out walking. They also learn the story logic that explains why ay used at the end of words instead of ai. Yo-yo man once again helps out Mr. I by taking his place as Lookout Man to prevent Mr. I from getting dizzy at the end of words.
Children learn about the long o sound in oa and ow. Mr. O and Mr. A follow the Vowels out walking story line. The first Vowel Man waves and says his name while the second silently looks out for Vowel Stealing Robots. The ow as in low is explained with a story about the mischievous Walter Walrus.
Children learn about the long I sound of ie and igh. Mr. I and Mr. E follow the now familiar vowels out walking storyline. Then the igh story explains why we hear Mr. I while Harry Hatman and Golden Girl remain silent.
In the words of this unit, Mr. I and Mr. O say their names, but they do not follow the familiar pattern of magic e like in rope and hide, Vowel Men out walking like in boat and pie, or Vowel Men at the end like go and hi. You can teach some of these words as rhyming words. Mr. O has a habit of saying his name in -old words because he is old like in cold fold gold hold while Mr. I has a habit of saying his name in kind words because he is very kind like in behind blind grind, find, kind, mind, and remind. In keeping with being kind Mr. I is also mild-mannered. We say he is kind and mild which leads to more rhyming words child and wild that leaves just a few unit words that don't fit these rhymes both role most and climb.
Children learn the sound of ue, ui, and ew. In some words this sound is Mr U's name you as in cue and few. in other words, such as blue, fruit, and flu, the sound is the sound of oo in zoo and also in the word you without the /y/ sound the children learn that Mr. U says his name (long u) or part of his name /oo/ in the words of this unit.
Children learn that y can represent long e at the end of words. This happens in a great many words of more than one syllable. Your children will sort the words by the vowel sound in the first syllable- words with short vowels in one column, words with the Vowel Men's names (long vowels) in another. The reason for the double consonants in words like funny and foggy is not taught at this level.
Children learn two of the three sounds for suffix -ed. They learn that ed can say -ed with a short e like in heated Or just the D sound like in cleaned. As with suffixes -s and -ing, teach children to finger tap just the base word and then add the suffix when reading these words. For spelling, they should pronounce the base word, segment it, write the base word, and then add the suffix.
Children learn the third sound t of the suffix -ed. They also learn that ed has magic sparks that take the place of Magic e in making the vowel man appear. Continue to have children finger tap just the base word and then add the suffix when reading these words. For spelling, they should sound out and write the base word, and finally add the suffix.
Children learn the r-controlled sounds, ar and or. In Letterland the vowels are sometimes captured by Vowel Stealing Robots. Arthur Ar Orville Or are the robotic villains in this unit.
Children learn three new ways to spell the /or/ sound: ore, oor, our (as in your). In Letterland lore, all of these spelling patterns contain the Vowel Stealer Orvil Or. Children learn to associate the words for each spelling with a brief story or sentence.
Children learn the sound-alike spellings ir and ur. They learn to spot these robot brothers, Irving Ir and Urgent Ur, in words. To catch them we say their names before they trick us into saying the usual short I or short U sound. Despite sharing the same sound, these two Vowel Stealers insist on spelling their last name differently, along with their third brother Ernest Er, who children will meet in the next unit.
Children learn the third sound-alike spelling, er, Which has the same sound as ir and ur. As with the other Vowel Stealers, children learn to say Earnest Er's last name before he tricks them into saying the usual sound of the vowel behind his back. To explain the fact that the er spelling occurs much more often than the others at the end of words (i.e. ever, number) the children learn that Ernest Er is a faster runner than the other brothers, so he is usually quicker to get to the end of words.
Bothersome Little Brother is the baby brother of Oscar orange because he is just a baby he hasn't learned how to say short o yet so he just says short u in words like done, son, and from. He is paired with Ernest Er in this unit because they both appear in mother, brother, other, and another.
Children learn the first of two sounds for oo ( as in zoo, moon and choose) with the help of the Boot and Foot Twins, Mr O's grandsons. This unit focuses on the Boot Twin, who takes his brother's boots and teases, “oo-oo, I have your boots!” The next unit focuses on the other twin and his sound in words such as foot and look.
Children learn the second of two sounds for oo (as in book, good, and foot) with the help of the Boot and Foot Twins. This unit focuses on the Foot Twin. His brother has taken his boots. He steps in a puddle and says, “Oo (like in book), just look at my foot!” The same sound is heard in a few words spelled with u (like pull, put, push). The Letterland explanation for this involves Giant Full who puts umbrellas upside down into the letter u causing them to say “Oo (like in push), you pushed me in now pull me out!”