Unit 1: Students learn to sort words according to rhyme patterns -ad, -ap, and -at.
They also learn to finger tap words for reading and spelling. (e.g. /h/ /ă/ /d/, /m/ /ă/ /p/).
Unit 2: Students 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
Unit 3: Students sort words according to 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). To differentiate the two sounds we use the conventional underlined th for the voiced sound and a pain th for the unvoiced.
Unit 4: Students sort words according to rhyme patterns -ock, -op, and -ot. They also learn the fun story logic for sh.
Unit 5: Students 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.
Unit 6: Students 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 (e.g. 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 finger tab the base word, say it, and then say it with the suffix added (e.g. “/d/ /ŭ/ /k/, duck, ducks”)
Unit 7: Students will learn a new way of sorting; by vowel sound, using all 5 short vowels. The digraph -ch is introduced and the spelling pair -qu.
Unit 8: Students learn that when a two or three letter word has a vowel at the end, this final vowel almost always says the Vowel Man’s name. They learn the story logic of why ‘y’ as a single vowel on the end of a short word says /ī/ as in my and why.
Unit 9: Students learn the story logic that explains the sound of a in -all. They review short vowels, a, e, and i as well.
Unit 10: Students learn about two more letters that like to have ‘Best Friends on the end’ (ff and ss).
Unit 11: Students learn how to blend s with seven other consonants at the beginning of words (sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw). They will continue to sort words by the short vowel sound and finger tap four sounds, using all four finders for the first time.
Unit 12: Students learn to blend five consonants with l. They continue to sort words by short vowel sounds.
Unit 13: Students practice seven r blends. Many students may have difficulty spelling the tr and dr words because tr sounds very similar to /ch/ and dr may sound like /j/ to them. Try the rubber band trick (p.232) emphasizing the d and t sounds in these blends.
Unit 14: Students learn the final blends nd, nt, st, sk. They sort words by these endings using special cards for these blends in the Unit 14 Word Cards.
Unit 15: Students learn the sound of the digraph ng, and the same sound represented by n in words ending in nk. They will also learn the suffix -ing. Students sort words with the Special Unit 15 Word Cards -ang, -ank, -ink, -ong and the Picture Code Card -ing.
Unit 16: Students learn that Silent Magic e causes a Vowel Man to appear in a word. Students 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.
Unit 17: Students 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.
Unit 18: Students learn Magic e words with Mr. U. They learn the soft c and g before e.
Unit 19: Students learn ee and e-e. This is the first of a number of Vowel Men out walking pairs with the first Vowel Man saying his name and the second staying silent because he is looking out for vowel stealing robots.
Unit 20: Students learn ea. This is the second pair of Vowel Men out walking.
Unit 21: Students learn ai and ay. These are two more pairs of Vowel Men out walking.They also learn the story logic that explains why ay is used at the end of words instead of ai.
Unit 22: Students learn oa and ow. Mr. O and Mr. A follow the Vowels out walking storyline. The first Vowel Man waves and says his name while the second silently looks out for Vowel Stealing Robots.
Unit 23: Students learn igh and ie. Mr. I and Mr. E follow the now familiar Vowels out walking story line. Then the igh story explains why we hear Mr. I while Harry Hat Man and Golden Girl remain silent.
Unit 24: Students learn -ild, -ind, -old and -ost. Words in this unit have Mr. I and Mr. O say their names, but they do not follow familiar patterns of Magic e, Vowel Men out walking, or Vowel Men on the End. This unit also includes the -mb story.
Unit 25: Students learn ue, ui, and ew. In some words this sound is Mr. U’s name (you) as in few, but in other words, the sound is the sound of oo as in zoo. Mr. U says his name or part of his name in the words of this Unit.
Unit 26: Students learn -y as the long e sound. They will sort words by the vowel sounds in the first syllable, but the reason for double consonants in funny and foggy is not taught at this level.
Unit 27: Students learn -ed endings. They will learn two of the three sounds for suffix -ed. They learn that ed can say ed or just d.
Unit 28: Students learn -ed endings. They will learn the third sound for suffix -ed. They learn that that ed can say t. They also learn that ed has magic sparks that take the place of Magic e in making the Vowel Men appear.
Unit 29: Students learn r controlled vowels ar and or. They learn that vowels are sometimes captured by Vowel Stealing Robots.
Unit 30: Students learn ore, oor, and our as additional ways to spell the or sound. In Letterland, all of these spelling patterns contain the Vowel Stealer Orvil Or.
Unit 31: Students learn ir and ur as spellings that make the er sound. They learn to spot these robot brothers, Irving Ir and Urgent Ur in worlds. To catch them, we say their names before they trick us to say the usual short sounds.