Sound Launch Teacher Guide HMH Structured Literacy Routine • Day 1
Sound Launch Teacher Guide
Small Group • 20 Mins
Focus: Long a (VCe / a_e)
Target Pattern VCe (a_e) /ā/
Phonemic Skill Substitution & Addition
Core Words tape, lake, make, cape
Materials Sound Mat, Counters
1
Phonemic Awareness: Auditory Warm-Up (4 Mins)
Teacher Script: "Eyes on me, ears listening. Today we will change vowel sounds from short to long. Listen: /m/ /a/ /t/. What word? (mat). Now replace /a/ with /ā/. What is the new word? (mate)."
Blending & Segmenting:
• /t/ /ā/ /p/ → tape (3 phonemes)cape
Sound Manipulation:
• Change /a/ in hat to /ā/ → hate plan to /ā/ → plane
2
Teach Sound-Spelling: VCe Pattern (6 Mins)
Articulate & Explain: Display Sound-Spelling Card (Train /ā/).
"This is the Train Card. The sound is /ā/. When a word has the pattern vowel-consonant-e, the vowel letter a says its name /ā/, and the letter e at the end is silent."
Step 1: Short Vowel
c a p
Short /a/ sound
Step 2: Add Silent e
c a p e
Silent e signals /ā/
Step 3: Blend Word
/k/ - /ā/ - /p/
Word: "cape"
3
Systematic Blending Routine (5 Mins)
Teacher Tap & Sweep: Model pointing to each grapheme. "Sound? /l/. Sound? /ā/. Sound? /k/. Blend it: lake."
Lines for student mat: Line 1 (tape, bake, cape) • Line 2 (made, tame, lake) • Line 3 (shake, grape, flame [with blends/digraphs]).
Corrective Feedback Routine: If student says short sound (e.g., tap instead of tape ): "Stop. Look at the end of the word. What letter is here? (e). What sound does the 'a' make when 'e' is at the end? (/ā/). Let's blend again: /t/ /ā/ /p/ → tape."
2
Encoding Protocol & Guided Practice
HMH Small Group Delivery
4
Elkonin Mapping & Encoding (5 Mins)
Students transition to their Sound Mapping Student Mat . Guide them through the explicit 4-step phoneme-grapheme mapping protocol:
1. Say & Tap
Say the target word. Tap out phonemes on fingers.
2. Push Chip
Push 1 magnetic chip into each sound box for each sound.
3. Write Letters
Replace each chip with spelling. Put silent 'e' in marker box.
4. Read & Verify
Sweep finger left to right and read the word smoothly.
Target Dictation Words for Day 1:
Word 1: name (/n/ /ā/ /m/) Word 2: game (/g/ /ā/ /m/) Word 3: brave (/b/ /r/ /ā/ /v/)
HMH Differentiation Pathways
Support / Intervention
Use physical colored letter tiles to contrast 'a' and silent 'e'.
Limit to 3-phoneme CVCe words with continuous initial sounds (e.g., same , late ).
Provide tactile tracing for silent 'e' linking to the vowel.
Extension / Acceleration
Introduce CCVCe blends (e.g., flame , chase , skate ).
Inflectional endings introduction: adding -s to VCe nouns/verbs (e.g., bakes , lakes ).
Create contrasting word pairs (pan → pane , tap → tape ).
Small Group Formative Tracker
Student Name Phoneme Sub. (/ā/) Blending Accuracy Silent 'e' Placement Notes / Next Steps 1. • • • • • • • • • 2. • • • • • • • • • 3. • • • • • • • • • 4. • • • • • • • • • 5. • • • • • • • • •
HMH Structured Literacy Sequence • Grade 1-2 Module Transition: Move to Day 2 Decodable Reading
Sound Mapping Student Mat Day 1 • Small Group Literacy Lab
Sound Mapping Mat
Name:
Date:
a_e
Long a Sound Pattern: VCe
The silent 'e' at the end makes the vowel say its name /ā/.
Train Card
/ā/ • a_e
1
Sound-to-Letter Mapping (Elkonin Boxes)
Tap sound • Push chip • Write letter
Word 1:
Silent e
Blend Word:
Word 2:
Silent e
Blend Word:
Word 3:
Silent e
Blend Word:
2
Blending Lines: Read Across
Touch each dot, sweep the arrow
Line 1 tape bake cape same
Line 2 made tame lake gate
Line 3 ☆ shake grape flame brake
3
Word Transformer: Short a → Long a
Short Vowel: c a p
↓ add silent e
Short Vowel: m a t
↓ add silent e
Short Vowel: p a n
↓ add silent e
Self-Check: I can blend long 'a' VCe words: Not yet Getting there I got it!
HMH Into Reading Small Group
Fluent Readers Teacher Guide HMH Structured Literacy Routine • Day 2
Fluent Readers Teacher Guide
Small Group • 20 Mins
Focus: Text Fluency & Word Study
Text Title "The Lake Race"
Heart Words they, there, come
Fluency Focus Scooping & Expression
Word Study CVC vs VCe Contrast
1
High-Frequency "Heart Word" Routine (4 Mins)
Orthographic Mapping Script: "We do not just memorize words by sight; we map the sounds to letters and learn the 'heart parts' that are irregular."
Target Word: they
• th = /th/ (regular voiced digraph)ey = /ā/ (Heart Part ♥ to remember!)
Target Word: there
• th = /th/ (regular)ere = /air/ (Heart Part ♥ to remember!)
2
Decodable Text Protocol: "The Lake Race" (10 Mins)
Pass 1: Echo & Choral
Teacher reads Line 1 with smooth prosody; students echo. Transition immediately into synchronized choral reading.
Pass 2: Whisper Partner
Students pair up. Partner A whispers while Partner B tracks with finger/pointer. Swap roles at halfway mark.
Pass 3: Timed Fluency
Teacher times 1-minute partner sprint or conducts 1-on-1 running record with target student.
Prosody Coaching Cue: "Notice the comma after Dave ? Pause like a breath. When you see an exclamation mark at the end of They made it! , make your voice sound excited!"
3
Comparative Word Sort (6 Mins)
Guide students to hunt for words from the passage and sort into two distinct orthographic columns on their worksheet:
Short a (CVC - Closed)
cap, ran, fast, flag, track
Long a (VCe - Silent e)
Dave, Kate, lake, gate, skate, trace
Fluency Benchmark Target: Grade 1 target is 40-60 WCPM by mid-year. Prioritize 95%+ accuracy before urging speed.
2
Fluency Coaching & Observation Log
HMH Small Group Delivery
Teacher Prompting Stems (During Whispered Reading)
When Student Hesitates:
"Look at the vowel and the final 'e'. What sound does that pattern make? Blend from the start."
When Word Is Misread:
"Check the ending letter. Is there a silent 'e'? Try reading it again with the long sound."
When Reading Is Choppy:
"Good accurate reading! Now scoop those 3 words together so it sounds like you are talking."
Lake Race Decodable Passage Day 2 • Decodable Text & Word Study
The Lake Race
Name:
Date:
Read 1: Whisper ○ Accurate
Read 2: Partner ○ Smooth
Read 3: Star Reader ☆ Expressive
1
Dave and Kate met at the lake. Kate had a red cap.
2
Dave had on his skates. "Let us race to the big gate!" said Dave.
3
They lined up on the path. A flag went down, and they ran fast!
4
Dave made a dash, but Kate was quick. They saw the gate ahead.
5
"Wave to the crowd!" yelled Kate. They were brave and made it in time.
6
Both friends were glad. It was such a fun race at the lake!
1
Word Hunt & Comparative Sort
Find words in the story and write them below
Short a (CVC)
Sounds like /a/ in cat
Closed
Long a (VCe)
Sounds like /ā/ with silent 'e'
Silent e
Heart Words Found: ♥ they ♥ there
HMH Into Reading Small Group
Close Reading Teacher Guide HMH Structured Literacy Routine • Day 3
Close Reading Teacher Guide
Small Group • 20 Mins
Focus: Comprehension & Dictation
Anchor Text "The Lake Race"
Tier 2 Word brave (adjective)
Key Comprehension Character Actions & Details
Assessment Sentence Dictation
1
Tier 2 Robust Vocabulary: "brave" (4 Mins)
HMH 4-Step Vocabulary Routine:
1. Say & Define
"The word is brave . Say it with me: brave . When someone is brave, they try hard and face something even if they feel nervous or scared."
2. Connect to Text & Self
"In line 5, Dave and Kate were brave because they kept going fast to finish the big race. When have you been brave?"
Turn-and-Talk Stem: "I was brave when I ."
2
Text-Dependent Questioning Protocol (8 Mins)
Question 1 (Recall & Detail): Where did the race take place, and what was the finish line? Lines 1-2
Scaffolding Stem: "Point your finger to line 2. What did Dave say they would race to? Let's re-read together: 'Let us race to the big gate!' "
Question 2 (Inference & Evidence): How did the two friends feel at the end of the race? How do you know? Lines 5-6
Scaffolding Stem: "Find the word glad in line 6. What does glad mean? What did they do in line 5 that shows they were excited? (They waved to the crowd)."
3
Encoding / Sentence Dictation Protocol (8 Mins)
Sentence to Dictate: "Dave can bake a cake at the lake."
1. Teacher says sentence once.
2. Students repeat & count words (8 words).
3. Students write without teacher model.
4. Guided check & self-correction.
Dictation Success Criteria: • Capital 'D' on Dave • Silent 'e' on bake, cake, lake • Final period punctuation
2
Assessment Rubric & Mastery Decision Tree
HMH Small Group Evaluation
Day 3 Analytic Scoring Rubric (Total: 12 Points)
Skill Domain Advanced (3 pts) Proficient (2 pts) Developing (1 pt) Phonics & VCe Encoding Accurately spells all VCe words (bake, cake, lake ) with silent e. Spells 2 of 3 VCe words correctly; minor hesitation with silent e. Omits silent e (spells bak, cak, lak ); confused with short a.
Clue Catchers Assessment Sheet Day 3 • Comprehension & Dictation Check
Clue Catchers Assessment
Name:
Date:
1
Text Clues: Answer with Text Evidence
Look back at "The Lake Race"
1. Where did the two friends race, and what was the finish line?
Found in Line:
2. What did Kate yell to Dave as they raced toward the gate?
Found in Line:
2
Power Word: brave
Complete the sentence to show what it means to be brave:
I was brave when I
3
Phonics Dictation Check
Listen • Count words • Write carefully
Word 1:
Word 2:
Sentence Dictation:
Check Your Work: Capital letter at start Silent 'e' on long vowels Period at the end
Teacher Score: Comprehension: ___ / 4 Vocabulary: ___ / 2 Dictation: ___ / 6 Total: ___ / 12
HMH Into Reading Small Group
