I began by reviewing Eliana's homework. We played Crazy Moose to review syllable types. I taught the vowel combinations oi and oy as new concepts. Eliana read example words, and I dictated two sentences for her to write in cursive and edit. To conclude, we co-read a chapter of "Stink" by Meg McDonald.

We began by reviewing -ous /us/ and -age /ij/ endings (Megawords 4, List 23, p.55). Colson read example words (e.g., famous, mountainous, thunderous, image, village) syllabicating as necessary. We reviewed his spelling words from that list: shortage, courage, simultaneous, monotonous, dangerous) as well as his SAT list and morphology list. I am using every opportunity to bolster Colson's vocabulary. To conclude, he read a timed oral reading fluency passage (Megawords, List 16, p. 38) in just over one minute with no errors.

I conducted visual, auditory, and blending exercises. For the visual drill, Libby identified 19/20 letter sounds correctly, only missing "w." For the auditory drill, she successfully wrote the letters for the following sounds: /sh/, /å/, /m/, /k/, and /w/. She confidently read CVC words with a short o. We reviewed her irregular word list, and I dictated two sentences: Baby is sad. She loves the rats. I introduced qu as a new concept, and we read example words. To conclude, I read several pages of the Kate DiCamillo novel as Libby colored the illustrations.

First, I conducted visual, auditory, and blending drills. Libby wanted to make a card for her dad, so I used that project to dictate encodable words. Libby wrote, "Hi Dad! This is for you! Love, Libby." I taught that names and the first word of a sentence are capitalized, and we talked about the punctuation marks period and exclamation point, and how they are different. We reviewed her irregular (sight) words. Libby read a decodable reader from FlyLeaf Publishing, "Can You See 3?" The story features a raccoon who plays a detective, so we talked about what a mystery story is. To conclude, I read several pages from "Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln?" by Kate DiCamillo while Libby colored the illustrations. She is quite observant and naturally makes predictions while reading/listening, which is a terrific strategy for reading comprehension.

We did several alphabetical awareness exercises, sequencing the alphabet by bouncing a ball and using manipulative letters. I conducted visual, auditory, and blending exercises. Libby showed significant improvement in blending CVC words. I can now substitute initial, medial, and final sounds, including digraphs. I read her the book, "How a Seed Grows" by Helene Jordan, and we checked on Libby's plant outside. I dictated three sentences for Libby to write and edit (adding a capital letter and the beginning and punctuation at the end). She then illustrated the sentences (The cat is red. It is mad. It sat on a tack!)
To conclude, we started the new Mercy Watson series. The illustrations are not in color; Libby asked if she could color them, and I thought that was a great idea! This project will carry us through the rest of the school year.

Colson was absent today.

Today, I continued the lesson on words with—ous /us/ and—age /ij/endings. Colson read example words, syllabicating as necessary, and created a deck of spelling words (Megawords 23, List 23, p. 55). He also read a timed oral reading fluency passage, in 85 seconds with one error (Megawords 3, List 15, p. 17). His focus and reading comprehension were better than usual today.

At Libby's request, we went outside for today's session. We sequenced the alphabet while bouncing a ball. I conducted visual, auditory, and blending drills. I am very pleased with Libby's improvement with the blending (decoding) drill. We reviewed regular spelling (CVC with all short vowels) and irregular spelling words (UFLI scope and sequence list, in order). Libby read a decodable book by FlyLeaf Publishing. To conclude, I read the remainder of "Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise."

I began with visual, auditory, and blending drills. Libby read CVC words with all short vowels. For spelling, I dictated similar words for Libby to write and we reviewed her list of irregular words. Libby read a decodable book from FlyLeaf Publishing. To conclude, I read several chapters from the book "Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise" by Kate DiCamillo.

Eliana was distracted by a stye in her eye; after getting a snack and a warm tea bag to soothe her, we got to work. Every session, I review the syllable types learned; Eliana benefits from continuous reinforcement of skills. Today, we played SLAP with er/ir/ur/ar/or syllables and words, and I dictated example words from the game for Eliana to spell. Next, I did the same with a SLAP deck of ai/ay/ee/ea words and syllables. Eliana syllabicated VCCV words with closed & silent-e syllables and VCCV words with closed and r-controlled syllables. I dictated example words for her to write in both print and cursive. To conclude, she read three oral reading fluency passages (Wilson 2, p. 43, 44, 46)