This section is the key to the success of the program. In the first 6 units, five letters are introduced each week. One letter is a vowel and the others are consonants. These five letters can be combined to form words for the student to learn to read and spell.
Common alternative pronunciations are also included as a discussion point, but with no expectation that students will necessarily remember this information.
Occasionally, relevant rules are also highlighted (e.g., no English word ends with a v).
Each letter is linked to a key word and an accompanying picture to assist in retention and recall. The key word begins with the most common pronunciation of the letter and the accompanying picture of the word incorporates the shape of the letter as this assists in retention (Shmidman & Ehri, 2010).
The focus should be on learning the letter sounds and NOT the letter names. The letter names are introduced in Unit 7.
Each day the student:
- Traces over each of the letters while saying the sound of the letter and the picture cue (e.g., /a/ apple). As students move through the first 7 units, it is important that they continue to do this with every letter in every unit that has been covered to ensure retention.
- Writes the lower-case version of each letter along the line under each of the letters being learned that week.
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