40_Book_Pages/). Mini-whiteboards and pens out. Pointer in hand. Today's page has 71 words.SAYSounds first. Say each one when I point.
NOTECards or board: all sounds taught so far. Fast, no comment, no praise between items — the pace is the point. Anything hesitant goes on the list for the end of the week.
SAYNow these words.
NOTEWords: polish, rubbish, selfish, sandwich, contest, stick, half, Jump. These are drawn from lessons already taught, not from today's, so a child who has forgotten shows it here rather than in the middle of new work.
SAYToday's letters are bl, br. Here is the important part: there is no new sound in any of them. You already know every sound in bl, br. What is new is that they go side by side, with nothing in between.
NOTEShape: a stop, then l, r or w, at the start of the word. The instruction below is written for that shape; do not swap in the routine from another blend lesson, because the repair is different and so is the fix.
SAYPut your mouth in place for the first sound and DO NOT let it go. Lips together for b, and hold them shut. Now say 'lue' — your lips open straight into it. The opening IS the b. blue.
SAYNow you check it. Watch in the mirror: your lips must not open until the second sound starts. If they open first, you will hear 'buh' — and 'buh-lue' is two beats. Clap it: 'blue' is one.
DOEvery child does the check on the same word. Walk the room. You are listening for an extra beat, not for a wrong sound — the sounds will usually be right.
SAYTogether: bled. Again, one beat. bled.
SAYTogether: bluff. Again, one beat. bluff.
SAYTogether: black. Again, one beat. black.
NOTEWATCH FOR: A vowel BETWEEN: 'blue' as [bəluː], 'grab' as [gərab]. You cannot fix this by holding the first sound, because a stop cannot be held and still be heard — that is why this type gets a different instruction from the s-clusters.
NOTEThis SHAPE does not exist in Somali, Arabic. For those children the extra vowel is not carelessness and not a decoding error — it is their phonology repairing a syllable their language does not allow. Correct the beat, never the effort, and never say 'sound it out again' — they already did, correctly.
SAYSound it out with me, and do NOT stop between the sounds. b – l – e – d … keep going … do not stop.
NOTEStretch the sounds into each other — mmmaaannn — rather than chopping them apart. 'muh-a-nuh' produces a child who says 'muhanuh' and cannot hear the word inside it. The stop between sounds is the error; the sounds themselves are usually fine.
SAYNow say it fast.
SAYYes — bled.
SAYSound it out without stopping: bluff. Now fast.
SAYSound it out without stopping: black. Now fast.
SAYSound it out without stopping: blend. Now fast.
NOTEThis lesson is short on paper. Run the column a SECOND time before you move on — random order, individual turns, and this time write down who missed what. Do not end the block early; there are 0 minutes here and they belong to accuracy.
SAYOpen to pages 71–72. Finger on the first word.
SAYDown the first column. My pointer, your voice. Wait for the pointer.
NOTEPoint deliberately and hold. Accuracy before speed — if it is getting fast and sloppy, slow the pointer down, do not ask them to slow down.
SAYNow across the rows.
NOTEReading down a column can be done from memory. Reading ACROSS cannot. If a child was strong going down and falls apart going across, they were reciting, not reading — that is what this step is for, and it is the same reason the Qaida is drilled this way.
SAYNow I am going to jump around. Watch the pointer.
NOTERandom order over all 71 words. This is the real test. Anything missed here goes on tomorrow's warm-up.
SAYPartners. One points, one reads. Then swap.
NOTEWalk and listen to four children you have not heard from today. Note who to put in the warm-up tomorrow.
NOTENothing has been taught yet that can be asked for on a whiteboard. From tomorrow this segment runs every day.
SAYPencils. I say a word, you say it back, then we count the sounds on our fingers, then we write it.
NOTECounting the sounds BEFORE writing is what stops a child writing the first letter and guessing the rest. A child who holds up three fingers for `man` will write three letters.
SAYFirst word: bled. Say it back. Now count the sounds. How many?
NOTEThen write. Then show me. Check every board before the next word — this is the fastest assessment in the lesson and it is why mini-whiteboards are not optional here.
NOTEWords to dictate: bled, bluff, black, blend, blunt
SAYBefore you go, three words, on your own.
NOTEWords: crank, crib, cross. One child at a time as they line up. Mark each child got 3, 2, or fewer. Two or fewer means they start tomorrow's warm-up group — that is the entire purpose of recording it, so do not skip it and do not make it public.
| My turn. | Say the word correctly, sounding it out the way you want it sounded out. Do not explain yet — just model it. |
| Together. | Say it with the child, slowly, while they look at the word. |
| Your turn. | The child says it alone. |
| Back to the top. | Return to the first word in the column and come down again. The child must meet that word once more and get it right. This step is the one that makes the correction stick. |