Exploring Professional Supports: SIPPS Challenge Level
SIPPS® (Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words) develops
the word-recognition strategies and skills that enable students to become independent and
confident readers and writers. SIPPS Challenge level is developmentally appropriate for grades
2 and 3 and can also be used as an intervention in grades 4–12 and with adults. Challenge Level
is designed for students who have mastered the spelling-pattern phase of reading and focuses
on the highest level of decoding skills, the polysyllabic/morphemic phase.
Collaborative Classroom materials are designed to support your professional learning as you
teach the programs. Use this list to become familiar with all the supports in the SIPPS Challenge
Level materials.
Explore the Introduction in the Teacher’s Manual…
☐ Read SIPPS Challenge Level Introduction on pages vii–viii.
What key words or phrases helped you understand the program and the way it is structured?
☐ Review the “Distinctive Features: Content, Instruction, and Materials” on pages x–xii.
What is important to know to teach a SIPPS lesson?
☐ Review the Daily Lesson Components on pages xii–xviii.
Instructional Routines
Single-syllable Phonics (optional)
Syllabic Transformations (Lessons 2–20)
Morphemic Transformations (Lessons 21–75)
Sight Syllables
Reading by Syllables
Reading Entire Words
Practice Routines
Guided Spelling
Fluency Practice/Individualized Daily Reading
How do the instructional routines work together in a complete lesson?
☐ Review the information about the Challenge Level Word Lists on pages xix–xx.
How will this information help you choose the word list to use for instruction? What list might you
use for a specific group you have in mind?
☐ Review the suggestions in Supporting English Language Learners on page xxiv.
How might you use this information to support the students?
Explore the Progress Monitoring…
☐ Use the scope and sequence on page 595 to identify the location of progress assessments and
mark them with self-stick notes in your Teacher’s Manual.
☐ Read Progress Assessment 1 on pages 116–117.
How might the interpretation information (“To Consider” and “Analysis of Errors”) inform your
planning for instruction and for supporting students who struggle?
Explore the Instructional Routines…
☐ Review the Basics Concepts (vowel and consonant review) instruction offered in Lesson 1–4
starting on page 11
What basic concepts might need to be reviewed for a specific group you have in mind?
Mark the Basic Concepts sections with self-stick notes to remind yourself to provide this instruction
to support students as needed.
☐ Review Introduce the “Two Key Generalizations” on page 14 and the “Where’s the Vowel?”
correction routine on pages 17 and 548. The two key generalizations and “Where’s the Vowel?”
correction routine are essential for students across the Challenge Level lessons.
How might this correction support student learning?
☐ Read the Syllabic Transformations Routine on pages 27–28 and pages 520–525.
How might this routine support students in becoming accurate and automatic in reading open and
closed syllables? Why might this work be important for students?
☐ Review the “VCV-pattern Correction” on pages 542–543 and “Support for Dividing Between
Syllables” on pages 543–545. The routine for breaking words into syllables is essential for
students across the Challenge Level lessons. The students’ response of “first try before” for the
question “How many consonants are between two vowels?” is particularly important.
Why is this type of work important in developing students’ word-recognition strategies?
☐ Read the “Morphemic Transformations” routine on pages 207–209 and pages 522–525.
Why might this work be important for enabling students’ navigation of a variety of texts?
☐ Review the “Practice with Grade Level Vocabulary” starting at Lesson 42 on page 365.
What are the implications of the practice lessons across Lessons 42–75?
Explore the Appendices…
☐ Skim and scan the routines located in “Appendix A: Routines.”
How might you use this information to prepare for instruction?
☐ Read the Background information for each routine located in “Appendix A: Routines.”
What information did you glean from the background information that will inform your planning?
☐ Skim and scan the following appendices







Appendix B: Fluency Practice
o Focus on Working with Individual Students
Appendix C: Assessment and Placement
o Interpreting the Assessment Results
Appendix D: Assessment and Placement
o Interpreting the Assessment Results
Appendix E: Assessment and Intervention for Irregular Words
Appendix F: Progress Monitoring
o Focus on Overview Chart and Passing Criterion and Interpretation
Appendix I: Memory Spelling List
Appendix J: Sight Syllables
In what ways might you use this information?
Explore the CCC Learning Hub…
☐ Go to the CCC Learning Hub (ccclearninghub.org) and select SIPPS Challenge Teacher’s Manual.
Explore the following resources.






Digital Teacher’s Set
General Resources
Navigation to select resources
SIPPS level resources
SIPPS Assessment app
Tutorials
How might each of these support your planning for instruction?
☐ Go to the General Resources and locate the Spelling-Sound Wall Chart, Irregular Sight Syllables
Wall Chart and Generalizations Poster.
How might these resources support student independence across the day?
We recommend that you print the items and distribute them to the students to use as a resource
during SIPPS lessons and across the day.
☐ Go to the General Resources and watch the Challenge Lesson 40 video.
What did you notice in the instruction that might inform your planning?
☐ Go to the Resource Filters and use the dropdown menu to locate the Routines Appendix (scroll
to the end of list), and click Search. Select two or three routines and watch the animation and the
teacher-facing video of the routine.
How might the animation of and teacher-facing video of each routine inform your instruction?