CKLA Skills

Welcome to the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA™) program! CKLA is divided into two strands: a Skills Strand and a Knowledge Strand. The Skills Strand teaches foundational building blocks for reading!

CKLA focuses on sounds, or phonemes, as the primary organizing principle of the program.
CKLA uses a synthetic phonics approach which teaches students to read by blending through the word; it does not teach multiple cueing strategies, use of pictures as a primary resource in decoding, or part-word guessing.
CKLA begins by teaching the most common or least ambiguous spelling for a sound (the basic code spelling); later it teaches spelling alternatives for sounds that can be spelled several different ways. The system is kept simple at first, and complexity is added bit by bit as students gain confidence and automatize their reading and writing skills.
CKLA does not emphasize the use of letter names in the early lessons of Kindergarten, because what is most important for reading is not the letter names but the sound values the letters stand for. To read the word cat, it is essential to think and say /k/ /a/ /t/, not “see aay tee.”

CKLA SKILLS UNIT 1

CKLA Skills Unit 1 has three main purposes.
 The first purpose is to increase students’ awareness of environmental noises and words within sentences. Paying attention to environmental noises and to words within sentences prepares students to pay attention to sounds within
words. The ability to hear sounds (i.e., phonemes) is crucial for writing; when we write a word, we essentially write one symbol (either a single- or multipleletter spelling) for each sound in the word. For this reason, it is important to
begin to increase students’ awareness of the sounds they hear.
 The second purpose of Unit 1 is to teach students to draw a number of writing strokes used to create letters (e.g., horizontal lines, vertical lines, circles, etc.). As students learn to draw these writing strokes, their fine motor skills will
increase, and they will begin to master the tripod grip. This will prepare students to write letters in Unit 3.
 The third purpose of Unit 1 is to teach students the meanings of various position words (e.g., right, left, top, bottom, etc.). In Unit 3, students will begin to read and write. Reading and writing are done from left to right and
top to bottom, so it will be helpful if students are able to identify the left side, right side, top, and bottom of a page. Additionally, when teaching students to write letters, we will use position words. Below are some suggested activities you can practice at home to reinforce what we are learning.
 Have your child repeat back a clapping pattern to you.
 Clap or bang a few times and ask your child to tell you how many times you clapped/banged.
 Practice using a clear speaking voice when expressing ones wants and needs.
 Practice correct writing grip and name writing using a variety of writing tools (crayons, markers, pencils, sidewalk chalk, etc.)
 Practice using positional words by asking your child to put things in particular locations (put your shoes next to your bed, place the toy inside your toy box, etc.)

CKLA SKILLS UNIT 2

By the end of the Unit 2, students will be able to do the following:
 Demonstrate understanding of directionality (left to right, return sweep, top to bottom, front to back);
 Blend syllables to form words;
 Listen to one-syllable words and tell the beginning or ending sounds, e.g., given dog, identify initial /d/ or final /g/;
 Orally blend sounds to form words, e.g., given the sounds /k/.../a/.../t/, blend to make cat;
 Add or substitute phonemes to spoken one-syllable words;
 Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly;
 Hold a writing utensil with a tripod (or pincer) grip and make marks on paper;
 Write own name; and
 Use spatial words: there, here; in, on; in front of, behind; at the top of; at the bottom of; under, over; above, below; next to, in the middle of; near, far; inside, outside; around, between; up, down; high, low; left, right; front, back.

Below are some suggested activities you can practice at home to reinforce what we are learning.
 Use your or your child's finger to point at text during shared reading. This reinforces the concept of word and word boundaries as well as directionality
 Say 2-3 syllable words and ask your child to clap the syllables
 Say a word and have your child identify the beginning and ending sound in the word
 Say a word, with 2-3 sounds, and have your child break it apart and say the whole word again. Ask him or her how to use their arm to tap the sounds.
 Practice using a clear speaking voice when expressing ones wants and needs
 Practice correct writing grip and name writing using a variety of writing tools (crayons, markers, pencils, sidewalk chalk, etc.)
 Practice using positional words by asking your child to put things in particular locations (put your shoes next to your bed, place the toy inside your toy box, etc.)

CKLA SKILLS UNIT 3

In this unit, students will begin to make connections between sounds and symbols. They will continue to practice
blending sounds into words and they will be taught several of the symbols we use when we read and write. Specifically, they will learn the most common way to write eight of the sounds of the English language:
 /m/ spelled ‘m’ as in mat
 /a/ spelled ‘a’ as in mad
 /t/ spelled ‘t’ as in tag
 /d/ spelled ‘d’ as in dad
 /o/ spelled ‘o’ as in mom
 /k/ spelled ‘c’ as in cat
 /g/ spelled ‘g’ as in dog
 /i/ spelled ‘i’ as in dig.
Throughout this unit we will avoid using letter names. This is because some students become confused by letter names. All letters will be referred to by the sound they make until later units. We will only focus on lowercase letters in this unit.
Students will use the sound correspondences they learn in this unit and the oral blending skills they learned in Unit 2 to blend and read printed words. In this way they begin the process of decoding the mute symbols on the page into speech sounds—or what is traditionally called reading.

Below are some suggested activities you can practice at home to reinforce what we are learning.
 Say a word, with 2 or 3 sounds, and ask your child to use the arm blending motion to break apart the sounds in the word and then say the whole word
 Have your child use a magazine or newspaper to look for pictures of objects that begin with the letters m, a, t, d, o, c, g, and i.
 Say a word that begins with m, a, t, d, o, c, g, or i and ask your child to identify the beginning sound.
 Ask your child to practice writing/building m, a, t, d, o, c, g, and i using a variety of tools (crayons, markers, pencils, sidewalk chalk, shaving cream, playdough, etc.)
 Use letter tiles to build (or write) a 3 letter word containing m, a, t, d, o, c, g, and/or i. Have your child read the word. Change one letter of the word to make a new word.
Have your child read the new word. Repeat (Example: dadmadmatcatcotdotdogdig).
 Use paper plates to build 3 letter words containing m, a, t, d, o, c, g, and/or i. Have your child play Spelling Hopscotch by hopping on each letter as they say its sound and read the word. Make real and make-believe words!
 Think of a 3 letter word containing m, a, t, d, o, c, g, and/or i. Play a game of Hang Man and have your child guess a sound in your word until he/she guesses the word or a stick figure is drawn.
 Have your child think of objects that begin with m, a, t, d, o, c, g, and i. Have him or her draw the object on a piece of paper and label it with its beginning sound.

CKLA SKILLS UNIT 4

In this unit, students will learn eight sounds along with the most common way of spelling each sound. The eight
sounds and corresponding spellings are:
• /n/ spelled ‘n’ as in man
• /h/ spelled ‘h’ as in hat
• /s/ spelled ‘s’ as in sit
• /f/ spelled ‘f’ as in fan
• /v/ spelled ‘v’ as in van
• /z/ spelled ‘z’ as in zigzag
• /p/ spelled ‘p’ as in pig
• /e/ spelled ‘e’ as in pen
As in Unit 3, only the lowercase letters are taught. We will continue to avoid the use of letter names. Letter names will be taught in Unit 6. We will begin using finger gestures to show the segmentation of words into sounds. Previously we have used arm gestures for blending.

This transition will help when students begin to sound out and write words. At the end of this unit, students will be introduced to their first decodable book presented as the Big Book, Pet Fun. After watching and listening to demonstration readings of this book by the teacher, students will be given an opportunity to read the short phrases
that make up the story.

Below are some suggested activities you can practice at home to reinforce what we are learning.
 Say a word, with 2 or 3 sounds, and ask your child to use the finger segmenting gesture to break apart the sounds in the word and then say the whole word.
 Have your child use a magazine or newspaper to look for pictures of objects that begin with the letters n, h, s, f, v, z, p, and e.
 Say a word that begins or ends with n, h, s, f, v, z, p, or e and ask your child to identify the beginning or ending sound.
 Ask your child to practice writing/building n, h, s, f, v, z, p, and e using a variety of tools (crayons, markers, pencils, sidewalk chalk, shaving cream, playdough, etc.)
 Use letter tiles to build (or write) a 3 letter word containing n, h, s, f, v, z, p, e and/or previously learned letters. Have your child read the word. Change one letter of the word to make a new word. Have your child read the new word. Repeat (Example: zip  hip him  hit  hat  cat  sat  vat  van  fan).
 Use paper plates to build 3 letter words containing n, h, s, f, v, z, p, e, and/or previously learned letters. Have your child play Spelling Hopscotch by hopping on each letter as they say its sound and read the word. Make real and make-believe words!
 Think of a 3 letter word containing n, h, s, f, v, z, p, e, and/or previously learned letters. Play a game of Hang Man and have your child guess a sound in your word until he/she guesses the word or a stick figure is drawn.
 Have your child think of objects that begin with n, h, s, f, v, z, p, and e. Have him or her draw the object on a piece of paper and label it with its beginning sound.

CKLA SKILLS UNIT 5

In this unit we introduce eight more sounds using the most common spelling of each sound. In addition, we introduce a spelling alternative for the /k/ sound. The nine sounds and corresponding spellings are:
• /b/ spelled ‘b’ as in bed
• /l/ spelled ‘l’ as in log
• /r/ spelled ‘r’ as in rat
• /u/ spelled ‘u’ as in mug
• /w/ spelled ‘w’ as in wig
• /j/ spelled ‘j’ as in jam
• /y/ spelled ‘y’ as in yes
• /x/ spelled ‘x’ as in box (a sound combination)
• /k/ spelled ‘k’ as in kid (as an alternative to ‘c’)

As in Units 3 and 4, each new sound is introduced with oral language exercises and students are shown how to write the letter that makes each sound. Only the most common, or least ambiguous, spelling is taught for each of the sounds /b/, /l/, /r/, /u/, /w/, /j/, /y/, and /x/. An alternative spelling is taught for the sound /k/ (‘k’).

In addition to working on these new sounds in isolation and within words, whole group, students will be placed in differentiated groups to work on the skills needed at their progression level. Students working on grade level will be provided with more opportunities for independent practice. Students needing support will work closely with the teacher to develop blending and segmenting skills.

A big book, “Ox and Man,” will be used to focus on print concepts and whole group reading. This text includes sentences, which is a big step in the acquisition of reading. The teacher will model good reading strategies using this book.

Below are some suggested activities you can practice at home to reinforce what we are learning.
 Practice saying each vowel sound in isolation and have your child identify the vowel sound within a 2 or 3 letter word.
 Have your child use a magazine or newspaper to look for pictures of objects that begin with the letters b, l, r, u, w, j, y, x, and k.
 Say a word that begins or ends with b, l, r, u, w, j, y, x, or k and ask your child to identify the beginning or ending sound.
 Ask your child to practice writing/building b, l, r, u, w, j, y, x, and k using a variety of tools (crayons, markers, pencils, sidewalk chalk, shaving cream, playdough, etc.)
 Use letter tiles to build (or write) a 3 letter word containing b, l, r, u, w, j, y, x, k and/or previously learned letters. Have your child read the word. Change one letter of the word to make a new word. Have your child read the new word. Repeat (Example: pun  pan tan  ban  bat  bet  wet  web).
 Use paper plates to build 3 letter words containing b, l, r, u, w, j, y, x, and k and/or previously learned letters. Have your child play Spelling Hopscotch by hopping on each letter as they say its sound and read the word. Make real and make-believe words!
 Think of a 3 letter word containing b, l, r, u, w, j, y, x, and k and/or previously learned letters. Play a game of Hang Man and have your child guess a sound in your word until he/she guesses the word or a stick figure is drawn.

CKLA SKILLS UNIT 6

In this unit, students will learn the names of all 26 lowercase letters. Because students now have a good
understanding of letter-sound correspondence and blending skills, letter names are now used and practice throughout this unit.
Students will also learn how to blend and segment consonant clusters in this unit. A consonant cluster consists of two or more consonant sounds, one after the other, without an intervening vowel sound (example: stop, ask, clap). We will work on tapping the sounds for 3-5 letter words and blending them together to read or say the whole word.

Both rhyming words and tricky spellings will be covered in this unit. Students will learn that words that end with the same sounds, rhyme. Students will also learn that there are tricky spellings for many words. Words that do not follow a given “rule” for the English language are referred to in Skills as tricky spellings. In this unit, students will learn that ‘s’ is sometimes sounded /z/, as in is, his, and runs.

This unit transitions students from a Big Book Reader to Independent Readers. The teacher will model the reading process with the first three stories of the reader, focusing on new spellings, uppercase letters, punctuation, and other unfamiliar content. After the initial three stories, students will read the stories independently in their readers. These stories are 100% decodable and students should be able to read all the words via blending. The stories begin as short and simple reads and gradually lengthen in complexity as students learn more letter-sound correspondences and augment their decoding skills. Discussion questions are used at the end of each story to begin working on story retell.

Below are some suggested activities you can practice at home to reinforce what we are learning.
 Say a word containing 3-5 sounds (consonant clusters) and have your child use finger tapping to break apart the sounds in the word
 Practice pointing to and saying the letters of the alphabet (both in and out of order). Begin with having your child identify the letters in his or her name.
 Use letter tiles to build (or write) a 3-5 letter word. Have your child read the word. Change or add one letter to the word to make a new word. Have your child read the new word. Repeat (Example: ripdripdroppropplopflopslopslipslap).
 Ask your child to identify words that rhyme with common household objects (example: sock- rock, clock, shock; bed- fed, red, head).
 Say a word with 3-5 sounds and have your child write each word you say (example: fast, stamp, west, drums).
 Use books at home, additional books sent from school, or the decodable reader stories from class to work on developing new vocabulary, reviewing blending skills, and retelling a story. Ask your child questions about the stories he or she is reading. Use questions stems such as, Who, What, When, Where, How, Why, and Describe. Practice
responding to questions in complete sentences.
 Have your child begin practicing writing in response to text. Have he or she write a simple sentence about their favorite part of a story or to answer one of the question stems you have asked. Practice writing in complete sentences when responding or answering questions (Example: Who is the main character in the story? Child’s
response: The dog is the main character in the story.).

CKLA SKILLS UNIT 7

In this unit, students will learn six more consonant sounds and the most common spelling for each sound:

• /ch/ spelled ‘ch’ as in chin

• /sh/ spelled ‘sh’ as in shop

• /th/ (unvoiced) spelled ‘th’ as in thin

• /th/ (voiced) spelled ‘th’ as in them

• /qu/ spelled ‘qu’ as in quit

• /ng/ spelled ‘ng’ as in sing.

The six sounds presented in this unit differ from the sounds studied up to this point because all six are generally written with two letters instead of one. English has more than 40 sounds and only 26 letters. The people who began transcribing English long ago solved this imbalance by using multi-letter combinations to represent some sounds.

In this unit, students will learn about consonant diagraphs and review consonant clusters. When two letters stand for one sound, we refer to those letters, collectively, as a digraph. A consonant digraph is a set of two letters that, jointly, stand for one consonant sound. We will work on tapping the sounds for 3-5 letter words that contain diagraphs and
clusters and blend them together to read, write, build, or say the whole word.

The decodable Reader for this unit is “Seth.” The teacher will model reading the Seth stories during the demonstration story exercises beginning in Lesson 9, pointing out digraphs and other unfamiliar content. After modeling reading these stories, students will be given the opportunity to practice reading the stories with partners, in small groups, or as a class.

Comprehension is the goal of learning to read. Discussion questions are used at the end of each story to work on story retell. In this unit, literal questions (which can be answered by citing a specific text reference or illustration) and inferential questions which require understanding and interpretation of text or illustrations are used for comprehension.

Below are some suggested activities you can practice at home to reinforce what we are learning.
 Use letter tiles to build (or write) a 3-5 sound word that contains a diagraph. Have your child read the word. Change or add one sound in the word to make a new word.
 Have your child read the new word. Repeat (Example: hen > then > than > that > bat > chat > chad > bad > bath).
 Have your child think of words that contain each diagraph, write each word, and draw a picture to go along with each.
 Say a word that has a diagraph and 3-5 sounds. Have your child tap and write each word you say (example: fish, bench, Seth, quit, ring).
 Use books at home, additional books sent from school, or the decodable reader stories from class to work on developing new vocabulary, reviewing blending skills, and retelling a story. Ask your child questions about the stories he or she is reading. Use questions stems such as, Who, What, When, Where, How, Why, and Describe. Practice
responding to questions in complete sentences.
 Have your child practice writing in response to text. Have he or she write a simple sentence about their favorite part of a story or to answer one of the question stems you have asked. Practice writing in complete sentences when responding or answering questions (Example: Who is the main character in the story? Child’s response: The dog is the main character in the story.).
 Dictate a sentence(s) to your child and have he or she practice using correct writing conventions (capitalization, spacing, and punctuation) to write the sentence(s) you say. Try and use words your child should be able to spell (sight words, 3-5 letter words we have practiced). Example: My mom had fish and shrimp for lunch.

CKLA SKILLS UNIT 8

Phonemic Awareness and Phonics

Rhyming review
Double letter spellings for consonant sounds
Phoneme/grapheme review

Language

Story comprehension with discussion evaluative questions
Periods, commas, question marks, exclamation points, apostrophe

Reading

New Tricky Words: funny, all, from, was
Emphasis moving from reading individual words to reading connected text
Inclusion of Tricky Words in the Unit 8 Reader

Writing

Writing tricky words and words with double letters
Dictation and/or copying decodable words, phrases, and sentences
Drawing to show understanding of Reader vocabulary words