MEANING MAKING LESSONS

Meaning Making lessons target specific story elements, helping students practice recall of the text while strengthening connections between letters, words, and ideas.

Reading Comprehension Skills

Prompts provide opportunities for discussion with students about story elements:

• Identify characters, settings, and major events in a story

• Identify the problem and the solution of a story

• Describe the actions and feelings of the main characters

• Use text evidence to support a response to a story

Oral Language

• Use words and phrases through conversation after reading

• Discuss topics with prompts and support

• Provide an oral, pictorial, or written response to a story

• Clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL (SEL) SKILLS

SEL is woven into the Student Letter Books and Meaning Making lessons as children read, think, talk, and write or draw about five key habits:

• Problem Solving

• Understanding Feelings

• Persistence

• Cooperation

• Kindness

Assessments

Teachers can consult suggested activities for evaluating student progress, including conditional charts and digital resources that help identify and overcome stumbling blocks students face while on their alphabet journeys.

Reading Science Informs Our Instructional Approach

Our instructional design builds alphabet knowledge by integrating phonics with connected text, helping children develop into beginning readers. The program's instruction and practice are driven by four, research-backed recommendations for teaching students early literacy skills.