Unit Plan 9 (Grade 1 ELA): Phonics & Fluency Boost – Short/Long Vowels & Digraphs
Build phonics mastery in Grade 1 with this CVC to CVCe fluency unit—students decode short and long vowels, blend digraphs (sh/ch/th/ck), read high-frequency words, and build prosody for smoother, expressive reading.
Focus: CVC → CVCe, blends/digraphs (sh/ch/th/ck), high-frequency words; prosody
Grade Level: 1
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Foundational Skills • Fluency)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
This week strengthens phonemic awareness, decoding/encoding of core Grade 1 patterns, and oral reading fluency. Students review short-vowel CVC words, learn to flip sounds to CVCe (silent e) long vowels, practice common digraphs (sh, ch, th, ck), and apply these in decodables and short passages. Daily routines include word chaining, heart-word mapping for high-frequency words, and phrase-cued reading for prosody (expression, phrasing, attention to punctuation).
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Orally blend and segment single-syllable words; change one phoneme to make new words (RF.1.2).
- Decode and encode words with short vowels (CVC), CVCe long vowels, and digraphs sh/ch/th/ck; read/write selected high-frequency words (RF.1.3).
- Read grade-level text with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression; use context/self-correction when meaning breaks down (RF.1.4a–c).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 1
- RF.1.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds; blend/segment phonemes; substitute phonemes in single-syllable words.
- RF.1.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis in decoding words (digraphs; long vowel sounds with silent e; grade-appropriate irregular/high-frequency words).
- RF.1.4a–c Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension: read on-level text with purpose and understanding (a), read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings (b), use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding (c).
Success Criteria — student language
- I can tap and blend sounds to read a CVC word and then flip it to a CVCe word.
- I can read and spell words with sh, ch, th, ck.
- I can read my passage smoothly, in phrases, and use the punctuation.
- When a word doesn’t look right or make sense, I try again and fix it.
- I can read and spell this week’s high-frequency words.