ELA G1:S3:C15:L77

Setting Purpose: From Engagement Text to Decodables

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Daily Learning Targets

Opening A: I can retell the events from the story "James and Sam Make a Flame."
Opening B (optional): Using evidence from the text, I can answer questions about the story "James and Sam Make a Flame."
Work Time A: I can read high-frequency words and words that "don't play fair." (RF.1.3)

I can read first-grade words that "don't play fair" (irregularly spelled words).
I can decode regularly spelled one-syllable words by mapping graphemes to phonemes.

Work Time B: I can read the decodable text: "James and Sam Make a Flame." (RF.1.3)

I can decode regularly spelled one-syllable words by mapping graphemes to phonemes.
I can use what I know about the types of syllables to decode (read) a two-syllable word.
I can read first-grade words that "don't play fair" (irregularly spelled words).
I can decode a word with a vowel in the middle and a silent "e" at the end.
I can read and understand grade-level texts.

Ongoing Assessment

Observe students during Work Time.

Determine whether they can independently find a given word.
Also determine whether they can decode CVCe words and identify familiar sounds in or automatically read high-frequency words.

Agenda

Agenda
1. Opening (3-5 minutes) A. Engagement Text Read-aloud: "James and Sam Make a Flame" B. Comprehension Conversation (optional) 2. Work Time (10 minutes) A. High-Frequency Words: "like," "are," "they," "make" B. Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read 3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes) A. Reflecting on Learning 4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40 minutes)

1. Opening (3-5 minutes)

A. Engagement Text Read-aloud: "James and Sam Make a Flame"

B. Comprehension Conversation (optional)

2. Work Time (10 minutes)

A. High-Frequency Words: "like," "are," "they," "make"

B. Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read

3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes)

A. Reflecting on Learning

4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40 minutes)

In Advance

Prepare:

Comprehension Conversation questions (if different from suggested questions)
High-Frequency Word Cards (see supporting materials)
Interactive Word Wall (one to display)
Snapshot Assessment (optional; one per student)

Predetermine partnerships for retelling during Opening A and Work Time B.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T)

blend, high-frequency, decode, plural, proficient, skills (L)
campfire, flame, peeks, whizzes (T)

Materials

Enlarged Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame" (one to display)
Engagement Text: "James and Sam Make a Flame" (one for teacher read-aloud)
Movable letters (magnetic letters, Letter Cards in a pocket chart, or other letters that can be displayed and moved; one each for teacher modeling: letters to build the words: "like," "are," "they," "make")
High-Frequency Word Cards (teacher-created; one for each word)
Interactive Word Wall (one to display)
Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame" (one per student)
Highlighters (one per student and one for teacher)
Highlighter tape (optional; for the teacher to use to highlight the Decodable Reader)
Snapshot Assessment (optional; one per student)

Opening

Opening	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Engagement Text Read-aloud: "James and Sam Make a Flame" (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"): "Gather round together, together, together. It's time to hear a story, a story, a story. It's time to hear a story and say what you've learned." Display Enlarged Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame." Begin a read-aloud of the Engagement Text: "James and Sam Make a Flame": 1. Teacher says: "Listen carefully as I read today's story, 'James and Sam Make a Flame.' You will hear words in the story that we learned in our last lesson. After I am finished reading, you will retell the story to a partner and answer some questions about it." 2. Teacher reads the story aloud once or twice without interruption, pointing to the accompanying illustrations for each section. 3. Students turn to a partner and retell the story in their own words.	Consider providing a copy of the Decodable Reader to students who need help retelling the story. The illustrations show the sequence of the story; the student can simply retell the details based on what they see in the illustrations.
B. Comprehension Conversation (optional) Teacher asks the following suggested comprehension questions: Recall: "What did Dad, Sam, and James see on their hike?" (squirrel, bird, deer, dragonfly, snake) Vocabulary and Language: "It says: 'A dragon fly whizzes by.' What does that mean? (The dragonfly moved quickly past them.) "It says: 'A deer peeks out from behind some leaves.' What does that mean?" (secretly look from behind the leaves) Digging Deeper: Extension Questions: "How do James's feelings about camping change during the story?" (At first he was nervous, then he got more comfortable.) "What did he do or say in the story that helped you know that?" (He kept asking if it was safe, then at the end he said the fire reminds him of his grandma's fire, and he said he felt comfortable.)	For ELLs and other students who need help: Consider providing picture cards of nouns in "James and Sam Make a Flame" to support comprehension.

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Engagement Text Read-aloud: "James and Sam Make a Flame"

(Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"Gather round together, together, together. It's time to hear a story, a story, a story. It's time to hear a story and say what you've learned."

Display Enlarged Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame."
Begin a read-aloud of the Engagement Text: "James and Sam Make a Flame":

1. Teacher says: "Listen carefully as I read today's story, 'James and Sam Make a Flame.' You will hear words in the story that we learned in our last lesson. After I am finished reading, you will retell the story to a partner and answer some questions about it."

2. Teacher reads the story aloud once or twice without interruption, pointing to the accompanying illustrations for each section.

3. Students turn to a partner and retell the story in their own words.

Consider providing a copy of the Decodable Reader to students who need help retelling the story. The illustrations show the sequence of the story; the student can simply retell the details based on what they see in the illustrations.

B. Comprehension Conversation (optional)

Teacher asks the following suggested comprehension questions:

Recall:

"What did Dad, Sam, and James see on their hike?" (squirrel, bird, deer, dragonfly, snake)

Vocabulary and Language:

"It says: 'A dragon fly whizzes by.' What does that mean? (The dragonfly moved quickly past them.)

"It says: 'A deer peeks out from behind some leaves.' What does that mean?" (secretly look from behind the leaves)

Digging Deeper: Extension Questions:

"How do James's feelings about camping change during the story?" (At first he was nervous, then he got more comfortable.) "What did he do or say in the story that helped you know that?" (He kept asking if it was safe, then at the end he said the fire reminds him of his grandma's fire, and he said he felt comfortable.)

For ELLs and other students who need help: Consider providing picture cards of nouns in "James and Sam Make a Flame" to support comprehension.

Work Time

Work Time	Meeting Students' Needs
A. High-Frequency Words: “like,” “are,” “they,” “make” (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The More We Get Together”): “Now it’s time to learn high-frequency words together, it’s time to learn about words readers and writers use a lot.” Begin the High-Frequency Words instructional practice: 1. Teacher builds the word with movable letters: “like.” 2. Teacher invites students to decode together, sliding each letter down and making the sound while students “pull” the letters down from the air. 3. Teacher uses the word in a sentence. 4. Student volunteer(s) use the word in a sentence. 5. Teacher says: “This is a high-frequency word. That means we see it a lot in reading and use it a lot in writing. If we know a lot of these words, it will make reading and writing much easier. The word ‘like’ ends in the magic ‘e’ we have been learning about. The ‘i’ sounds like /ī/; it says its name in this word.” 6. Student volunteers share a sentence using the word: “like.” 7. Teacher places the High-Frequency Word Card on the Interactive Word Wall. 8. Teacher says: “That word plays fair. It sounds like we expect it to sound. But some high-frequency words don’t play fair.” 9. Teacher builds the word “are” with moveable letters. Teacher invites students to decode together, sliding each letter down and making the sound while students “pull” the letters down from the air. 10. Teacher says: “I see that ‘are’ ends in ‘e,’ but in this word, the ‘a’ does not say its name. ‘Are’ is pronounced like ‘car’ (/ar/). This word doesn’t play fair.” 11. Teacher uses the word in a sentence. 12. Student volunteer(s) use the word in a sentence. 13. Teacher places the High-Frequency Word Card on the Interactive Word Wall. 14. Repeat steps 9–13 with the word “they” and “make.”	Consider explaining to students that “they” is pronounced /th/ /ā/. Other words that are similar to this are: “prey” and “hey.”
B. Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"): "Now you will read a story, a story, a story. Now you will read a story with words that you know." Begin the Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read instructional practice: 1. Teacher displays the Enlarged Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame." 2. Teacher says: "This book is based on the Engagement Text: 'James and Make a Flame.' But this book is filled with words that YOU can read! There are decodable words, and there are some words that don't play fair, like 'are' and 'they.'" 3. Teacher draws attention to words on the Interactive Word Wall. 4. Teacher distributes the Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame" and highlighters to each student. 5. Teacher says: "Before you read the book with your partner, we are going to be detectives. We are going to look for some of the high-frequency words. Remember, some of these words 'don't play fair,' which means they are not easily decodable." 6. Teacher models with the Enlarged Decodable Reader and thinks aloud as he or she notices one of the high-frequency words. Teacher highlights it with a highlighter or highlighter tape. Model again as needed. 7. Partners search for high-frequency words in the Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame" together and highlight in their own book. 8. Teacher circulates to help struggling partners find words, focusing especially on those words that "don't play fair." 9. Teacher says: "Now you are ready to read the Decodable Reader with your partner. Some of the words in the story will be familiar because you have learned them in previous lessons. And some of the words you will see for the first time, but don't worry: Each of the words that you will see for the first time includes only phonemes (sounds) that you have learned. So, you just need to say the sound that goes with each of the letters you see in the word, then blend them together to read the word." 10. Teacher models with one new word from the book: "fire." 11. Students read their Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame" with a partner. Partners may take turns (by page or whole text), read in unison, or both.	If students in the Pre-Alphabetic phase need help identifying letters/digraphs, consider providing letter cards as support. The students can hold the letter next to each page and find the letter shape that matches. If students in the Pre-Alphabetic or Partial Alphabetic phase need additional help finding high-frequency words, consider allowing a student in the Full or Consolidated Alphabetic phase to help them. Or consider asking them to find the beginning letter of the word instead of the whole word. Consider adding words with the magic “e” to the Partner Search and Read. For students in the Late Full Alphabetic or Consolidated Alphabetic phases: Consider providing a whiteboard. Direct students to write the high-frequency word being searched. If students need help with words that “don’t play fair,” direct them to the Interactive Word Wall. Or have them read the rest of the sentence and think about which high-frequency word would make sense in the blank. Instruct students to notice the vowel sound in “fire” is a long /ī/. Explain that this word sounds different from the other long-vowel magic “e” words because of the “r” sound.

Meeting Students' Needs

A. High-Frequency Words: “like,” “are,” “they,” “make”

(Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of “The More We Get Together”):

“Now it’s time to learn high-frequency words together, it’s time to learn about words readers and writers use a lot.”

Begin the High-Frequency Words instructional practice:

1. Teacher builds the word with movable letters: “like.”

2. Teacher invites students to decode together, sliding each letter down and making the sound while students “pull” the letters down from the air.

3. Teacher uses the word in a sentence.

4. Student volunteer(s) use the word in a sentence.

5. Teacher says: “This is a high-frequency word. That means we see it a lot in reading and use it a lot in writing. If we know a lot of these words, it will make reading and writing much easier. The word ‘like’ ends in the magic ‘e’ we have been learning about. The ‘i’ sounds like /ī/; it says its name in this word.”

6. Student volunteers share a sentence using the word: “like.”

7. Teacher places the High-Frequency Word Card on the Interactive Word Wall.

8. Teacher says: “That word plays fair. It sounds like we expect it to sound. But some high-frequency words don’t play fair.”

9. Teacher builds the word “are” with moveable letters. Teacher invites students to decode together, sliding each letter down and making the sound while students “pull” the letters down from the air.

10. Teacher says: “I see that ‘are’ ends in ‘e,’ but in this word, the ‘a’ does not say its name. ‘Are’ is pronounced like ‘car’ (/ar/). This word doesn’t play fair.”

11. Teacher uses the word in a sentence.

12. Student volunteer(s) use the word in a sentence.

13. Teacher places the High-Frequency Word Card on the Interactive Word Wall.

14. Repeat steps 9–13 with the word “they” and “make.”

Consider explaining to students that “they” is pronounced /th/ /ā/. Other words that are similar to this are: “prey” and “hey.”

B. Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read

(Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"Now you will read a story, a story, a story. Now you will read a story with words that you know."

Begin the Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read instructional practice:

1. Teacher displays the Enlarged Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame."

2. Teacher says: "This book is based on the Engagement Text: 'James and Make a Flame.' But this book is filled with words that YOU can read! There are decodable words, and there are some words that don't play fair, like 'are' and 'they.'"

3. Teacher draws attention to words on the Interactive Word Wall.

4. Teacher distributes the Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame" and highlighters to each student.

5. Teacher says: "Before you read the book with your partner, we are going to be detectives. We are going to look for some of the high-frequency words. Remember, some of these words 'don't play fair,' which means they are not easily decodable."

6. Teacher models with the Enlarged Decodable Reader and thinks aloud as he or she notices one of the high-frequency words. Teacher highlights it with a highlighter or highlighter tape. Model again as needed.

7. Partners search for high-frequency words in the Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame" together and highlight in their own book.

8. Teacher circulates to help struggling partners find words, focusing especially on those words that "don't play fair."

9. Teacher says: "Now you are ready to read the Decodable Reader with your partner. Some of the words in the story will be familiar because you have learned them in previous lessons. And some of the words you will see for the first time, but don't worry: Each of the words that you will see for the first time includes only phonemes (sounds) that you have learned. So, you just need to say the sound that goes with each of the letters you see in the word, then blend them together to read the word."

10. Teacher models with one new word from the book: "fire."

11. Students read their Decodable Reader: "James and Sam Make a Flame" with a partner. Partners may take turns (by page or whole text), read in unison, or both.

If students in the Pre-Alphabetic phase need help identifying letters/digraphs, consider providing letter cards as support. The students can hold the letter next to each page and find the letter shape that matches.
If students in the Pre-Alphabetic or Partial Alphabetic phase need additional help finding high-frequency words, consider allowing a student in the Full or Consolidated Alphabetic phase to help them. Or consider asking them to find the beginning letter of the word instead of the whole word.
Consider adding words with the magic “e” to the Partner Search and Read.
For students in the Late Full Alphabetic or Consolidated Alphabetic phases: Consider providing a whiteboard. Direct students to write the high-frequency word being searched.
If students need help with words that “don’t play fair,” direct them to the Interactive Word Wall. Or have them read the rest of the sentence and think about which high-frequency word would make sense in the blank.
Instruct students to notice the vowel sound in “fire” is a long /ī/. Explain that this word sounds different from the other long-vowel magic “e” words because of the “r” sound.

Closing & Assessments

Closing	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Reflecting on Learning Emphasize that successful learners keep track of and reflect on their own learning. Point out that they are doing this each time they consider how what they did today helps them become more proficient readers. Invite students to reflect and share with a partner (or whole group). Ask: "What did you do today that is helping you become a more proficient reader?" (Responses will vary. Example: "I looked for the magic 'e' at the end of words.")	For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Examples: "When I saw a magic 'e,' I _____." "When I saw a word that doesn't play fair, I _____." "When my partner _____, I _____."

Closing

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning

Emphasize that successful learners keep track of and reflect on their own learning. Point out that they are doing this each time they consider how what they did today helps them become more proficient readers.
Invite students to reflect and share with a partner (or whole group). Ask:

"What did you do today that is helping you become a more proficient reader?" (Responses will vary. Example: "I looked for the magic 'e' at the end of words.")

For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Examples:

"When I saw a magic 'e,' I _____."
"When I saw a word that doesn't play fair, I _____."
"When my partner _____, I _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with students in the Pre-Alphabetic, Partial Alphabetic, and Full Alphabetic groups. Students in the Consolidated Alphabetic group do not work with the teacher today.

Note: Groups not working with the teacher at a given time should be engaged in purposeful independent rotation work. Refer to the Independent and Small Group Work Guidance document for more details (see K-2 Skills Resource Manual).

All Groups
Either today or another day this week after the Decodable Student Reader has been introduced, follow the Decodable Student Reader routine with each group. Differentiate the routine as needed based on students' microphase. Refer to the Independent and Small Group Work guidance document (see K-2 Skills Resource Manual) for full routine and Decodable Student Reader Planning and Recording Template.

Pre-Alphabetic:

Aim small group instruction at building students' knowledge and skills of letter identification and phonological awareness.
Use the Assessment Conversion chart to determine appropriate Kindergarten lessons and Activity Bank ideas to use in daily small group instruction.
Consider using the Decodable Reader from the whole group lesson as a resource during this time. Example:

Teacher identifies a grapheme or phoneme (based on the needs of the group). Students look for the grapheme. Student volunteer identifies the grapheme, makes the sound, and possibly practices proper formation (skywriting or whiteboard).

Partial Alphabetic:

Students in the Partial Alphabetic (PA) phase may need more time with CVCe patterns than the whole group lessons provide. If so, small group work might include extended practice of Work Time.
Suggestions for working with students at the early to middle PA phase:

Use the Decodable Reader from the current cycle and Word Lists to solidify CVCe patterns with "a" by having students locate those words.
Spend time on lessons and/or patterns from a previous cycle needing more practice. Consider using the Assessment Conversion chart to determine an appropriate cycle.
Prepare short decodable sentences with CVCe words. Example: "Sam and James want to bake a cake."
Cut up the decodable sentences and have students reconstruct them.

Related Activity Bank suggestions:

An Activity Bank activity from the Vowels category (V) or the High-Frequency Word category (HF)

Full Alphabetic:

Students in the Full Alphabetic phase may have successfully mapped graphemes to phonemes, including consonant digraphs, initial and final consonant clusters in single-syllable short-vowel words, closed and open two-syllable words, and CVCe patterns.
Suggestions for working with students at the early to middle PA phase:

Check in with Accountable Independent Reading.
Follow up with Word Lists and exit tickets. Analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.
Consider working with an appropriate common text, making connections to the syllable patterns introduced, and holding text-based comprehension conversations.

EL Education Curriculum

ELA G1:S3:C15:L77

Setting Purpose: From Engagement Text to Decodables

In this Lesson

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Daily Learning Targets

Ongoing Assessment

Agenda

In Advance

Vocabulary

Materials

Opening

Work Time

Closing & Assessments

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

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