Curriculum Structure
An overview of our complete reading curriculum with unit descriptions, rationales,
and lesson lists.
Unit 1: Single-Sound Consonant Letters
Unit 1 teaches sixteen single-sound consonant letters (b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, qu, r, t, v, w, z) and their corresponding sounds. This gives students a strong understanding of consonant phonograms before they learn vowel phonograms and before they begin blending sounds together into words.
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Unit 2: Consonant Digraphs
Unit 2 teaches six consonant digraphs (ck, ch, ng, sh, th, wh) which are pairs of letters that represent a single sound. This gets students comfortable with the idea that two letters can work together to represent one sound even before they begin blending sounds together into words.
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Unit 3: Multi-Letter Vowel Phonograms
Unit 3 teaches nineteen multi-letter vowel phonograms (ai, ay, eigh, ee, igh, oa, au, aw, oi, oy, ui, er, ir, ur, ar, or, wor, ear, our). All but two of these vowel phonograms were chosen for their 1:1 correspondence between symbol and sound. Students begin blending sounds into words in these lessons.
Lessons in this Unit:
Unit 4: Vowel Letters and the Sounds They Represent
Unit 4 teaches six vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u, y) and the multiple sounds each letter can represent in different words. Understanding that individual vowel letters can make multiple sounds is essential for decoding unfamiliar words and improving reading fluency.
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Unit 5: Multi-Sound Consonant Letters
Unit 5 teaches four multi-sound consonant letters (c, g, s, x) and the different sounds each letter can stand for depending on context. Learning the rules for when these consonant phonograms represent different sounds helps students decode both simple and difficult words spelled with these letters.
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Unit 6: Syllable Types
Unit 6 teaches the six syllable types: closed, open, consonant-le, r-controlled, vowel-consonant-e, and vowel team syllables. Understanding syllable types is critical for decoding multi-syllable words and helps students apply phonics knowledge to longer, more complex words.
Lessons in this Unit:
Unit 7: The Schwa Sound
Unit 7 teaches about the schwa sound, which is the most common vowel sound in English, and how to identify it in words. Understanding the schwa sound helps students decode and spell words with unstressed syllables.
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Go to Unit 7Unit 8: More Single-Sound Phonograms
Unit 8 teaches nine more single-sound phonograms (tch, ph, rh, gh, gn, kn, wr, dg, aigh) that are less common but important for reading. Learning these additional phonograms expands students' decoding abilities and helps them read words with less common spelling patterns.
Lessons in this Unit:
Unit 9: More Multi-Sound Phonograms
Unit 9 teaches fifteen more multi-sound phonograms (gu, oe, ou, ow, oo, ew, eu, eur, ea, eau, ei, ey, ie, augh, ough) to complete the curriculum. Mastering these final phonograms gives students the tools to decode almost any word they encounter and completes their foundational reading education.