StartUp
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PHONICS
Overview
Assessment
&
HANDBOOK
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D U C A T I O N
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The Start Up™ Phonics Assessment CD-ROM contains printable PDF versions of all
assessment forms (teacher records and student sheets) used with Start Up™ Phonics.
The PDF file names match the page numbers of the assessments in this handbook.
Reproducible versions of these assessment forms are also provided (see page 29).
StartUp
PHONICS
Overview
Assessment
&
HANDBOOK
B
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M
A
R
K
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D
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TM
Benchmark Education Company
629 Fifth Avenue • Pelham, NY 10803
Editors: Jennifer Schieber and Susan Henderson
Art Director: Jonette Jakobson
Copyright © 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication, with the exception of the Assessment Forms and Blackline Masters may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher. Printed in the U.S.
ISBN: 978-1-4108-1498-2
For ordering information call Toll-Free 1-877-236-2465 or visit our website at www.benchmarkeducation.com.
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© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
StartUp
PHONICS
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome to Phonetic Connections Start Up Phonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
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Why Teach Explicit Phonemic Awareness and Phonics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
The Goals of Start Up Phonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
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The Research Behind Start Up Phonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
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Components at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Getting Started
Getting Started Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Setting Up Your Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Using the Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Managing Instruction in the Phonics Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Start Up ™ Skills
Red Phonological and Letter Awareness Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Purple Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Core Kit Materials Correlated to Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Start Up™ Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Appendix
Spelling Blackline Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Parent Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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StartUp
PHONICS
Introduction
Welcome to PHONETIC CONNECTIONS ™
Start Up™ Phonics
Start Up™ Phonics is a
complete kit designed for
use in the phonics block
within comprehensive
Thank you for selecting Start Up™ Phonics from Benchmark Education
Company’s Phonetic Connections™ program. Start Up™ Phonics provides all the lesson resources, books, posters, and support tools to
provide whole-group instruction, guided practice, and support in
small groups, as well as independent practice opportunities. Teachers
and students alike will find the lessons and materials engaging,
hands-on, and motivating.
literacy classrooms. It
presents a research-based,
explicit, and systematic
approach to teaching the
phonics skills students
need when learning to
read.
Why Teach Explicit
Phonemic Awareness and Phonics?
A good reader is like a builder who is able to reach into a toolbox of
familiar tools and pull out the right tool at the right moment. Like
tools, each reading skill or strategy has an important use in the complex cognitive process of reading.
Think about a young student who is in the beginning stages of
learning to read. He meets a large number of unfamiliar words in his
environment. His brain is very busy trying to categorize, integrate,
compare, and analyze the graphophonic information about letters,
sounds, and words. Without the keys to this decoding process, the
student cannot move quickly to other reading skills.
The Goals of START UP ™ Phonics
In order to shape young students’ development of phonemic knowledge, Start Up™ Phonics creates opportunities to provide students at
different stages of literacy growth with varied experiences that
promote automatic and flexible control of letters and words. The
systematic lessons will:
• Build a foundation for successful phonemic awareness and
phonics instruction
Most students are expected to begin phonics instruction in kindergarten, but many of these students still need reinforcement in
readiness skills to ensure success. Start Up™ Phonics provides explicit
lessons to teach and review phonological awareness skills. There is
also explicit hands-on instruction to teach and/or review letter recognition and formation.
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INTRODUCTION
• Explicitly teach short vowels and consonants
Once students have developed the readiness skills for phonics, each
five-day unit focuses on a single phonetic element and its sound. Instruction over the five days moves from direct whole group modeling
and guided practice to real reading of decodable books, and skill review through independent literacy center activities. Each day includes
explicit instruction for phonemic or phonological awareness,
sound/symbol relationships, blending, spelling, and sight words.
• Support and motivate all learners
Some students grasp phonics skills quickly and easily. Others need
more time to practice each new skill. Every Start Up™ Phonics unit
helps teachers tailor instruction to their students needs with: handson small-group activities for additional practice; independent extension activities; support tips for English Language Learners; motivating,
multisensory manipulatives; take-home practice activities.
• Make systematic phonics instruction manageable in
a comprehensive literacy classroom
Phonics is only one of the many daily literacy events in a comprehensive literacy classroom. Start Up™ Phonics is designed to help teachers
maximize their time in the phonics block. Everything needed for the
lessons is included, and everything is ready to use. The explicit
teacher’s guide can support teachers who have little or no phonics
experience. The Overview & Assessment Handbook provides all the
information teachers need to be successful.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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INTRODUCTION
The Research Behind Start Up™ Phonics
Start Up™ Phonics reflects the most current research on how to teach phonemic
awareness and phonics effectively. The bibliography on page 56 summarizes
this research.
Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and orally manipulate sounds in spoken language. It includes the recognition of words within sentences, the ability to
hear rhyming units within words, the ability to hear syllables within words, and
the ability to hear and manipulate phonemes, or individual sounds, within words,
which is known as phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the understanding
that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words.
What the Research Says About
Phonological and Phonemic
Awareness Instruction
• Before children learn to read print,
they need to become aware of how
the sounds in words work.
• If children do not know letter names
and shapes, they need to be taught
them along with phonemic awareness.
• Children who have phonemic awareness skills are likely to have an easier
time learning to read and spell.
• Blending and segmenting
phonemes in words is likely to
produce greater benefits to students’
reading than teaching several
types of manipulation.
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What
Start Up™ Phonics
Provides
• Fifty beginning-of-the-year lessons reinforce students’ awareness of sounds so
that they can more easily move to
sound/symbol relationships.
• The 50 beginning-of-the-year lessons
also reinforce letter recognition and
formation through explicit modeling
and guided practice.
• As short vowel and consonant
phonics instruction begin, phonemic
awareness instruction continues
on a daily basis.
• Students practice orally blending
and segmenting sounds in every
phonics unit.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
INTRODUCTION
Phonics Instruction
Phonics instruction focuses on teaching students the relationships between the
sounds of the letters and the written symbols. In phonics instruction, students are
taught to use these relationships to read and write words. Phonics instruction assumes that these sound/symbol relationships are systematic and predictable and that
knowing these relationships will help students read words that are new to them.
What the Research
Says About
Phonics Instruction
What
Start Up™ Phonics
Provides
• Systematic and explicit phonics instruction is more effective than nonsystematic or no phonics instruction.
• Start Up™ Phonics units provide direct,
explicit teaching of letter-sound
relationships in a clearly defined
sequence that schedules high-utility letter
sounds early in the sequence.
• Students need frequent and cumulative review of taught letter sounds.
• Every Start Up™ Phonics unit incorporates
review of previously taught letters and
sounds.
• Effective phonics programs provide
ample opportunities for students to
apply their knowledge of letters and
sounds to the reading of words, sentences, and stories.
• Within each unit, students progress from
blending individual words to reading
word lists to reading decodable texts that
contain only words built on the phonics
elements students have been taught. A
carefully controlled number of sight words
are introduced in each unit, as needed to
read meaningful decodable texts.
• Approximately two years of
phonics instruction is sufficient
for most students.
• For most students, Start Up™ Phonics provides a year of beginning phonics instruction. Build Up™ Phonics, for extending
phonics instruction, also provides a year’s
worth of instruction. However, both kits
can be paced to speed up or slow down
instruction as needed.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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StartUp
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Components At A Glance
Lesson Resources
50 “Red” Teacher’s Guides for
Phonological and Letter Awareness
(card stock, double-sided), each
with Reproducible Tools, Activities,
and Home Connections.
25 “Purple” Teacher’s Guides for
Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
(card-stock folders with storage flap),
each with Reproducible Tools,
Activities, and Home Connections.
Overview & Assessment
Handbook (with Assessment
CD-ROM)
Books and Posters
Front
26 Decodable Titles
(6-packs)
(8 pages; 5 7/8" x 6")
26 Start Up™ Poetry Posters
(double-sided; 17"x 23")
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Take-Home Tear-Off Books
(20 pads of 26 books each; 7" x 9")
Back
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Front
Back
Front
Back
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Support Tools
Back
Front
Alphabet Frieze Cards/ Letter
Formation Cards
(set of 26; 81/2" x 11")
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Start Up™ Sight Word Card Set
(set of 42; 81/2" x 11")
Phonetic Letter Card Set
Start Up™ Picture Word Cards
(set of 143; 5" x 7")
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Start Up™
Decodable Word Card Set
(set of 154; 8 1/2" x 11")
Alphabet Charts
(one 171/2"x 23";
six 81/2" x 11")
Student Alphabet Strips
(set of 20; 17 1/2" x 23")
• Start Up™ Song
and Rhyme CD
• Start Up™
Poetry CD
Student Workmats
(set of 20; 14" x 19 1/2")
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Focus Frame Set
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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StartUp
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Getting Started
Getting Started Checklist
Use the following checklist to help you get ready to
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use Start Up™ Phonics.
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Unpack your program components and use the
Start Up™ Phonics Components At A Glance on pages 8–9 to
make sure you have everything.
Organize your classroom using the Setting Up Your
Classroom suggestions on page 11.
Familiarize yourself with how the program
works by reading Using the Components on pages 12–22
and reviewing the Start Up™ skills on pages 24-27.
Study the “red” and “purple” teacher’s guides
and examine the decodable texts, posters, and support tools.
Prepare for assessment by making:
• one copy of each student assessment page
(laminate, if desired)
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• one copy per student of the teacher record forms
Prepare for instruction by making:
• the spelling transparency (using the blackline master on
page 54)
• copies of the parent letter (on page 55) if you wish to
establish a home connection at the beginning of the year
• student copies of lesson activities for upcoming lessons
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(using blackline masters in the Reproducible Tools, Activities,
and Home Connections booklets for each unit)
Administer the Pre-Assessment and analyze the
results to determine your students’ starting point in the
Start Up™ Phonics skill sequence and how to group students
for small-group instruction.
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© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
G E T T I N G S TA R T E D
Setting Up Your Classroom
Start Up™ Phonics instruction accommodates whole-group and small-group instruction
as well as center activities. Use the model below to help you prepare your classroom.
Whole Group
Center
Small Group
Center
Whole Group Center
Shared Reading Area
Team Meetings
Computer
Cl
a
Li ssr
br oo
ar m
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Books
Listeners’
Corner
Children’s Desks
Art Center
Start Up™ Phonics
Materials
• Lesson resources
and support tools
as needed
• Decodable texts
• Poetry Posters
Easel
Small Group
Center
Classroom Resources
• Pocket chart
• Chart paper
Pocket
Chart Teacher
Chair
Assessment
Materials
Start Up™ Phonics
Materials
• Lesson resources and
support tools as
needed
• Poetry Posters
Chalkboard
Books
Math
Center
Classroom Resources
• Easel
• Overhead projector
• Pocket chart
• CD player
• Chalkboard or
chart paper
Independent
Centers
Classroom Resources
• CD player and
headphones
Start Up™ Phonics
Materials
• Lesson resources
and support tools
as needed
Teacher’s
Desk
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Writing
Center
Science
Center
Word
Work
Center
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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StartUp
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Using the Components
Assessment
The Start Up™ Phonics Overview & Assessment Handbook provides a
variety of methods for you to gather, record, and evaluate information about your students’ knowledge of sound/symbol relationships.
Based on this information, you can decide what skill instruction your
students need and whether they would benefit from small-group
instruction.
Pre/Post Assessments
Pre/Post Assessments cover all skills taught in the kit. All assessments
are administered on a one-to-one basis. (See pages 29–53.)
All assessments have teacher records for
documenting individual student progress.
Phonics assessments require students to decode
nonsense words in order to truly assess their
knowledge of sound/symbol relationships.
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Letter, phonics, and sight word assessments
have student pages. You may wish to
laminate these for reuse.
A sight word assessment
measures all the words that
are not decodable.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
USING THE COMPONENTS
Quick-Checks
Quick-Check assessments are provided for every five purple units and
include phonological awareness, segmenting and blending, and
sight-word recognition. As you analyze student responses, note
which sounds or sight words give students difficulty. You may decide
to provide further practice in the skill by using the small-group activities in each unit.
Informal Observation
It is recommended that in addition to the pre/post and quickcheck assessments, you use informal observation to note
whether students are mastering the skills. If you are uncertain
about how a student is performing on a skill, call on that student to perform the task during the lesson and observe what
he/she does. If you feel the student requires more practice, use
the small-group mini-lessons provided within each unit.
Throughout the unit, teacher assessment tips are provided to
help you make observations about student progress.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Assessment Tip: Note which
students have difficulty with auditory
discrimination and provide additional
support in a small-group setting.
Assign Independent Activities for the
rest of the class.
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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USING THE COMPONENTS
Red Teacher’s Guides for
Phonological and Letter Awareness
Fifty “red” lessons begin the instructional sequence in Start Up™
Phonics. These explicit lessons are intended for students who need
beginning-of-the-year instruction or review in phonological and letter awareness before they move to phonemic awareness and phonics
instruction. Use the pre/post assessments to determine whether or
not to use these lessons with your students.
Phonological Awareness
instruction follows
a systematic sequence
that moves from simple
to more complex
phonological tasks.
Two explicit
phonological awareness
activities are provided
in each lesson using the
Song and Rhyme CD,
picture cards, and other
support tools.
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USING THE COMPONENTS
To provide students with a quick beginning-of-the-year review of
previously taught skills, complete each lesson in one day. To provide
more intensive instruction and practice, spread the lessons over more
than one day by slowing the pace, repeating some of the activities,
and incorporating the small-group and independent activities.
Letter lessons begin
with letter discrimination
and then move through
the alphabet from A to Z.
All lessons include
modeling, guided practice,
and writing.
Small-group and
independent activities
help you support students
at a range of levels.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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USING THE COMPONENTS
Purple Teacher’s Guides
for Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
The 25 purple units in Start Up™ Phonics teach short vowels and consonants in a systematic sequence that supports current research on
best practices. All teacher’s guides follow a consistent sequence that
provides five days of instruction targeting one phonetic element and
its sound.
Start with phonological
and phonemic awareness.
(Days 1–4)
Move to quick
sound/symbol relationship
activities with word and
picture sorts. (Days 1–2)
Provide blending
practice daily with
decodable word lists.
(Days 1–4)
Introduce and practice six
spelling words per unit.
(Days 1-4)
Beginning with Unit 6,
introduce and practice
sight words. (Days 1–4)
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USING THE COMPONENTS
Work with small groups of students to read decodable texts.
(Days 3–4) Students who are
not reading the text complete
a blackline master and
Independent Activities.
Assess students whose progress
you feel you need to check, and
work with small groups of students who need extra support.
(Day 5) Students who are not in
the small group complete a
blackline master and
Independent Activities.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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USING THE COMPONENTS
Reproducible Tools, Activities,
and Home Connections booklets
Every red lesson and purple unit has a corresponding booklet that
includes all the reproducibles needed for instruction. Booklets for
the red lessons can be stored behind the card-stock lessons. Booklets
for the purple units can be stored inside the flap of the appropriate
unit folders. The cover of each booklet serves as a visual guide to all
materials needed for that lesson or unit.
All lesson-specific tools are provided in reproducible form
for literacy center and independent activities. Once you
make reproducible versions, save them in envelopes behind
the appropriate red lessons or in the storage flaps of the
purple lessons.
Activity blackline masters, referenced in each
lesson or unit, are provided.
Red lessons have one
take-home activity.
Purple units have three
take-home activities.
Use the parent letter
on page 55 to establish
a home connection
at the beginning of the
year.
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USING THE COMPONENTS
Start Up™ Poetry Posters
Twenty-six Poetry Posters—one for each letter of the alphabet—can
be folded for easy storage inside the flap of the appropriate unit
folders. (Unit 1 has two Poetry Posters.) The posters are used for
whole-group instruction as well as small-group activities to provide
additional support.
The front of each poster features a
playful, alliterative poem that
emphasizes the target letter and
sound. It is used to develop phonemic awareness and sound/symbol
relationships.
The back of each poster
features a playful, wordless
illustration with many objects
whose names reflect the target sound. Students practice
phonemic awareness as they
locate objects with the sound.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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USING THE COMPONENTS
Decodable Texts
Start Up™ Phonics follows best-practice research that recommends
students have frequent opportunities to apply phonics skills in
authentic reading contexts.
The Start Up™ Phonics decodable texts have been carefully written so
that only phonics elements that students have learned and practiced
appear in the books. A very limited number of sight words are also
used in the decodable texts. New sight words are always explicitly
taught before they appear in students’ decodable text reading.
Previously taught sight words are also reviewed.
20 Fiction titles
Twenty engaging fiction titles introduce the new skills. Beginning in purple unit 6, one of these decodable
titles is provided for each phonetic
element that is introduced. Students
will respond to the playful illustrations
and the cast of characters they
encounter from story to story.
6 Nonfiction titles
Six nonfiction, photo-illustrated
decodable titles provide additional
practice after all 25 purple units of the
Start Up™ Phonics skill sequence
have been completed.
Take-Home
Tear-Off Books
allow you to send students home
with a real book to share with
family members.
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© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
USING THE COMPONENTS
Support Tools
High-quality, durable, and motivating manipulatives are provided to
support the instruction throughout Start Up™ Phonics.
Start Up ™ Song and Rhyme CD
Twelve playful, familiar rhymes and twelve well-loved children’s
songs support the red phonological awareness lessons.
Start Up ™ Poetry CD
Lively readings of all 26 Start Up™ Phonics Poetry Posters support
the phonological awareness lessons and literacy center/independent
activities in the purple units.
26 Alphabet Frieze Cards/Letter Formation Cards
The uppercase and lowercase letters are displayed on the front
of each laminated frieze card, along with a photo illustrating the
target sound. The card fronts are used in red lessons and purple
units to teach letter recognition and sound/symbol relationships.
On the back of each card are letter formation guides and writing
lines. The card backs are used to model and provide practice with
letter formation in the red lessons.
Start Up ™ Picture Word Cards
All picture cards used in the red lessons and purple units are
provided in an alphabetically indexed box within the Start Up™
Phonics storage box. Because you will use these cards in many lessons,
it is recommended that you store them alphabetically for easy
reference. The cards have pictures on one side, for phonological
awareness practice, and pictures with labels on the other side for
picture and word sorts.
Start Up ™ Sight Word Card Set
Two copies of every sight word explicitly taught in Start Up™ Phonics
are provided on card stock to support whole-group instruction and
small-group and independent activities. These cards are used in
multiple lessons. Keep in mind that blackline master versions of
these cards, organized by lesson, are also provided in the
Reproducible Tools, Activities, and Home Connections booklets
for each purple unit.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Back
Front
Front
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Front
Back
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OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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USING THE COMPONENTS
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Start Up ™ Decodable Word Card Set
One copy each of every decodable word used in Start Up™ Phonics
lessons is also provided on card stock. These cards are also used in
multiple lessons. Blackline master versions of these cards are provided in the Reproducible Tools, Activities, and Home Connections
booklets for each purple unit.
Phonetic Letter Card Set
Multiple copies of each letter of the alphabet are provided on card stock
for use in pocket chart, small group, literacy center, and independent
activities with red lessons and purple units. Blackline master versions of
these cards are also provided in the Reproducible Tools, Activities, and
Home Connections booklets for each red lesson and purple unit.
Student Alphabet Strips
Twenty alphabet strips, sized for student use, support learning the
alphabet and sound/symbol relationships.
Alphabet Charts
A large alphabet chart, as well as six small charts, are included in the
kit. These are useful resources for the red letter-awareness lessons.
Set of Focus Frames
Three focus frames with small, medium, and large openings
allow you to frame letters, word chunks, and words on the
Poetry Posters.
Student Workmats
The 20 laminated Student Workmats are double-sided. Side one has
an alphabet strip at the top and a blank space on the bottom for
practice in writing letters and words with a dry-erase marker. Side
two has elkonian boxes for two-, three-, four-, five-, and six-letter
words. Students can practice hearing and recording sounds with
counters or by writing letters in the boxes.
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© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
StartUp Managing Instruction
PHONICS
in the Phonics Block
Grouping Students
Use the pre-test to determine where in the kit you will begin instruction (red lessons or purple units). The pre-test will also help you determine whether or not you need to do all sections of the unit lessons, and it will help you identify students who will need more support in learning the sounds. The Independent Activities for each unit
allow you to provide meaningful learning for the larger group while
you work with a small group or individual students who have not
mastered the skills.
Most of the purple unit instruction can be done with a whole class,
using a pocket chart or chalkboard for demonstration purposes. Assessment tips throughout the unit help you determine whether students need further support in a small group. It is recommended that
decodable texts be read with small groups of students so that you
can more easily monitor students’ reading.
Pacing the Instruction
StartUp™ Phonics has been designed for use with a whole group during
the phonics block of your comprehensive literacy program. Each day’s
lesson is designed to fit within a 20–30 minute instructional block of
time. During this time, students will practice sounding out words in
a controlled, decodable format. They should have the opportunity to
apply their decoding skills, along with other reading strategies, during
the small-group reading block of your literacy program.
Each unit spans a five-day period. In other words, you will introduce
one skill per week. You can choose to use some or all of the activities,
depending on the needs of your students. For example, you may find
that you want students to work more quickly and learn a new skill
every three days. If this is the case, you may select from any of the
activities that you feel will most benefit your students.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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StartUp Skills
PHONICS
RED Phonological and Letter Awareness Lessons
Week 1
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
Letter
Discrimination
• Stick letters
Letter
Discrimination
• Straight sticks
Letter
Discrimination
• Slanted Sticks
Letter
Discrimination
• Straight and
slanted sticks
Letter
Discrimination
• Review stick
letters
Week 2
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
Letter
Discrimination
• Circles and
curves
Letter
Discrimination
• Sticks and
curves
Letter
Discrimination
• Sticks and
circles
Letter
Discrimination
• Letters that
look alike
• Review letter
discrimination
Week 3
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Word
discrimination
• Rhyme
recognition
• Word
discrimination
• Concept of
words
• Listening
• Rhyme
recognition
• Word
discrimination
• Concept of
words
• Word
discrimination
• Rhyme
recognition
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
A
a
B
b
Cc
Week 4
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Word
discrimination
• Rhyme
recognition
• Listening
• Concept of
words
• Word
discrimination
• Concept of
words
• Word
discrimination
• Concept of
words
• Word
discrimination
• Concept of
words
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
D
d
E
e
F
Week 5
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Rhyme
recognition
• Concept of
words
• Word
discrimination
• Concept of
sentences
• Listening
• Concept of
sentences
• Rhyme
recognition
• Concept of
words
• Listening
• Producing
rhyme
f
G
g
H
h
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
24
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
S TA R T U P S K I L L S
Week 6
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Producing
rhyme
• Segmenting
words by
syllables
• Identifying
rhyme
• Segmenting
words by
syllables
• Listening
• Segmenting
words by
syllables
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Identifying
repeated sounds
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Segmenting
compound words
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
Ii
J
j
Kk
L
Week 7
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Producing
rhyme
• Segmenting
compound
words
• Producing
rhyme
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Listening
• Producing
rhyme
• Identifying
rhyme
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Sound
discrimination
• Segmenting
words by
syllables
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
l
M
m
N
n
Week 8
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Producing
rhyme
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Sound
discrimination
• Segmenting
words into
syllables
• Performing
steps in a
sequence
• Identifying
rhyme
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Segmenting
words by
syllables
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Segmenting
words into
syllables
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
Oo
Pp
Q
q
R
Week 9
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Producing
rhyme
• Segmenting
words into
syllables
• Blending
syllables
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Blending
syllables
• Segmenting
words into
syllables
• Sound
discrimination
• Blending
syllables
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Segmenting
words into
syllables
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
r
Ss
T
t
Uu
Week 10
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Phonological
Awareness Skill
• Producing
rhyme
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Blending
syllables
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Blending
syllables
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Blending
syllables
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Segmenting
initial sounds
• Segmenting
words by
syllables
Vv
Ww
Xx
Yy
Zz
Letter
Recognition
and Formation
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
25
S TA R T U P S K I L L S
Purple Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Units
Unit/
Phonics Skill
Phonological
Awareness Skill
Phonemic
Awareness Skill
Sight
Words
Spelling
Words
1/Mm and
Short Aa
listening
for rhyme
• initial /m/
• medial /a/
N/A
am
2/Ss
listening
for rhyme
• initial /s/
• listening for initial sounds
N/A
am, Sam
3/Tt
listening
for rhyme
• initial /t/
• listening for initial
consonant sounds
N/A
am, Sam, mat,
sat, Tam
4/Nn
listening
for rhyme
• initial /n/
• differentiating consonant
sounds
N/A
man, Nat, mat,
sat, Tam, tan
5/
Short Ii
listening
for rhyme
• medial /i/
• differentiating medial
sounds
N/A
man, Nat, tan,
am, in, sit
6/Ff
listening
for rhyme
• initial /f/
• listening for initial
consonants
is
man, mat, fan,
fit, if, fin
7/Pp
identifying and
producing rhyme
• initial /p/
• blending and segmenting
onset and rime
a, has
tin, fat, tap, pat,
pin, sip
8/
Short Oo
identifying and
producing rhyme
• medial /o/
• discriminating medial sounds
the
nap, fit, on, pot,
mop, not
9/Cc
identifying and
producing rhyme
• initial /k/
• discriminating sounds
and, of
pit, top, cat, can,
cot, cap
10/Hh
identifying and
producing rhyme
• initial /h/
• blending and segmenting
onset and rime
with, see
nip, can, hat,
him, hit, hop
11/Bb
identifying and
producing rhyme
• initial /b/
• identifying final consonants
for, no
hat, sap, bat,
bib, bin, bit
• initial and medial /u/
• blending onset and rime
cannot
bit, him, cup,
nut, sun, but
12/ Short Uu identifying and
producing rhyme
13/Rr
identifying and
producing rhyme
• initial /r/
• differentiating final
consonants
have, are
cup, hop, run,
rat, rub, rip
14/
Short Ee
identifying and
producing rhyme
• initial and medial /e/
• segmenting and
blending onset and rime
said
rap, cab, met,
pen, let, ten
15/Gg
identifying and
producing rhyme
• initial /g/
• segmenting and
blending onset and rime
I, you, me
men, bin, tag,
get, beg, rug
26
X
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
S TA R T U P S K I L L S
Unit/
Phonics Skill
Phonological
Awareness Skill
Phonemic
Awareness Skill
Sight
Words
Spelling
Words
16/Dd
identifying and
producing rhyme
• initial /d/
• blending phonemes
come, here,
to
bag, pen, dig, had,
red, did
17/Ww
• initial /w/
• blending phonemes
• blending and segmenting
onset and rime
my, look,
he
bed, pat, wet, win,
wig, wed
18/Ll
• initial /l/
• differentiating final consonants
• blending and segmenting
onset and rime
go
bag, dad, let, lap,
lid, lip
19/Jj
• initial /j/
• initial sound substitution
• blending and segmenting
phonemes
put, want
lab, bin, job, jam,
Jim, Jen
20/Kk
• initial /k/
• initial sound substitution
• blending and segmenting
sounds
this, she,
saw
led, bad, kiss,
Kit, jam, Kim
21/Yy
• initial /y/
• vowel substitution
• blending and segmenting
sounds
now, like,
do
jog, but, yes, yap,
yell, yet
22/Vv
• initial /v/
• vowel substitution
• blending and segmenting
sounds
home, they,
went
yet, tip, vet, van,
Val, hug
23/Qq
• initial /kw/
• initial sound substitution
• blending and segmenting
sounds
good
jam, bad, quit,
yet, quip, quill
24/Xx
• final /ks/
• vowel substitution
• blending and segmenting
sounds
was, be, we
sip, did, mix, box,
fox, wax
25/Zz
• initial and final /z/
• final sound substitution
• blending and segmenting
sounds
there, then,
out
fox, quiz, zip,
buzz, zap, fuzz
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
27
StartUp Core Kit Materials
PHONICS
Correlated to Units
28
Unit
Decodable
Title
Poetry
Posters
Alphabet
Frieze Cards
1
N/A
Melons and Muffins;
Apple Pie
Mm;
Aa
2
N/A
Seven Silly Sailors
Ss
3
N/A
Turtles
Tt
4
N/A
Nip the Newt
Nn
5
N/A
Baking
Ii
6
Fit
Fuzzy Fox and Fiddle
Ff
7
Pam Has a Map
Pet Parade
Pp
8
Pop
Oliver and Dot
Oo
9
Pop and the Fat Cat
Camping
Cc
10
The Ham
Happy Thoughts
Hh
11
The Bib
Baby Bird
Bb
12
The Nut
Buddy
Uu
13
The Rat
The Race
Rr
14
Mem the Hen
The Red Hen
Ee
15
Get the Gum
By the Garden Gate
Gg
16
The Red Pen
Dot
Dd
17
The Wig
Worm
Ww
18
Pop and Len
Lenny Lion
Ll
19
The Job
Jumping
Jj
20
Kit and Kim
King Karl’s Kangaroo
Kk
21
Yip and Yap
Yellow
Yy
22
The Vet
Violins and Violets
Vv
23
Quinn
The Queen’s Nap
Qq
24
The Sax
Max
Xx
25
Buzz, Buzz
Baby Zigzag
Zz
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
StartUp
PHONICS
Start Up™ Assessment
Pre/Post Assessments
• Letter Recognition Assessment Teacher Record . . . . . .30
• Letter Recognition Assessment Student Sheet . . . . . . . 31
• Phonological Awareness Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . 32–34
• Phonics Assessment Teacher Record . . . . . . . . . . . . 35–36
• Phonics Assessment Student Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37–38
• Sight Word Assessment Teacher Record . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
• Sight Word Assessment Student Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Quick-Checks
• Units 1–5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41–42
• Units 6–10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43–44
• Units 11–15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45–47
• Units 16–20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48–50
• Units 21–25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51–53
Pre/Post Assessment Instructions
Make a copy of
the teacher
record for each
student and
place it in his or
her file.
Administer tests
on a one-to-one
basis. Use the
examples provided with the
directions to
ensure students
understand
what to do.
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Analyze results to
determine where to
place students in the kit
and how to group them
for small-group instruction. If students lack
phonological and letter
awareness skills, you
may wish to review
these by completing the
red lessons before moving on to the purple
phonics units.
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
29
PRE/POST ASSESSMENT
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Letter Recognition Pre- and Post-Tests
Student: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Directions: Ask the student to point to each letter, moving across the page, and name each one. If the student comes
to a letter he or she doesn’t know, say the letter name, put an X next to the letter in the column, and have the student
continue. If the student says an incorrect letter name, record what he or she says in the column.
Pre-Test
Date
Post-Test
Date
Pre-Test
Date
Post-Test
Date
Pre-Test
Date
Post-Test
Date
Pre-Test
Date
Post-Test
Date
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
e
f
L
B
h
l
U
K
m
g
N
J
c
z
T
X
o
j
A
P
a
p
D
M
y
k
V
G
b
q
Z
C
x
r
R
Y
i
v
F
Q
d
s
O
E
n
w
W
I
u
H
S
t
30
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
PRE/POST ASSESSMENT
Student Sheet
Letter Recognition
e
h
m
c
o a y
b x
i
d
n
u
t
f
l
g z
j
p
k
q
r
v
s
w
H L
U
N
T A D V Z
R F
O W S
P M G
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
C
B K
J
Y Q E
I
X
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
31
P R E / P O S T A S S E S S M E N T P H O N O L O G I C A L AWA R E N E S S
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ____________________________________
Word Awareness
Identify Rhyme
Directions: Say the sentence. Have the student repeat the sentence and tell you the number of words. Example: This is my
dog. I can hear four words in this sentence.
Pre-Test
Date _____
Post-Test
Date _____
Pre-Test
Date _____
I see my cat.
/4
/4
bug/rug
Can you do this?
/4
/4
pink/sink
This book is fun to read.
/6
/6
big/box
Please sit on the chair.
/5
/5
hop/hip
Where do you live?
/4
/4
jump/pump
/23
/23
Score
Score
Post-Test
Date _____
/5
/5
Observations:______________________________________
Observations:______________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Syllable Awareness
Initial Sounds
Directions: Say the word. Have the student repeat the word
and clap for the number of syllables. Example: Engine. I hear
two syllables in engine.
Pre-Test
Date _____
Directions: Say the word. Have the student repeat the word
and tell you the sound at the beginning. Example: Hat. I hear
/h/ at the beginning of the word hat.
Post-Test
Date _____
Pre-Test
Date _____
happy
/2
/2
turtle
Saturday
/3
/3
man
book
/1
/1
sink
sunshine
/2
/2
pudding
experiment
/4
/4
leg
Score
32
Directions: Say the word pairs and ask the student if the words
rhyme. Example: Roast/toast. Yes, these words rhyme.
Roast/ran. No, these words don’t rhyme.
/12
/12
Score
Post-Test
Date _____
/5
/5
Observations:______________________________________
Observations:______________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
P R E / P O S T A S S E S S M E N T P H O N O L O G I C A L AWA R E N E S S
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ____________________________________
Final Sounds
Differentiating Sounds
Directions: Say the word. Have the student repeat the word
and tell you the sound at the end. Example: Hat.
I hear /t/ at the end of the word hat.
Pre-Test
Date _____
Directions: Say the words. Have the student repeat the words
and say which word starts with a different sound. Example:
Mix, man, nose. Nose starts with a different sound.
Post-Test
Date _____
Pre-Test
Date _____
park
bag, bug, cup
noise
table, nut, tent
rabbit
cup, cat, bat
trap
fish, pan, pig
head
sun, sit, man
Score
/5
/5
Score
Post-Test
Date _____
/5
/5
Observations:______________________________________
Observations:______________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Medial Sounds
Onset and Rime
Directions: Say the word. Have the student repeat the word
and tell you the sound in the middle. Example: Hat. I hear /a/ in
the middle of the word hat.
Pre-Test
Date _____
Directions: Say the word. Have the student repeat the word,
say the first sound in the word, and then say the rest of the
word. Example: pig: /p/ /ig/.
Post-Test
Date _____
Pre-Test
Date _____
pet
cat: /k/ /at/
sack
run: /r/ /un/
hit
pop: /p/ /op/
stop
hen: /h/ /en/
cut
rid: /r/ /id/
Score
/5
/5
Score
Post-Test
Date _____
/5
/5
Observations:______________________________________
Observations:______________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
33
P R E / P O S T A S S E S S M E N T P H O N O L O G I C A L AWA R E N E S S
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ____________________________________
Phoneme Segmentation
Initial Sound Substitution
Directions: Say the word. Have the student tell you all the
sounds in the word. Example: If I say run, you will say /r/ /u/ /n/.
Directions: Say the word. Ask the student to replace the first
sound in the word with the new sound. Example: I can change
the /r/ in rat to /k/ to make the word cat.
Pre-Test
Date _____
Pre-Test
Date _____
Post-Test
Date _____
cat: /k/ /a/ /t/
/3
/3
tin: change /t/ to /b/ [bin]
top: /t/ /o/ /p/
/3
/3
mat: change /m/ to /r/ [rat]
said: /s/ /e/ /d/
/3
/3
hop: change /h/ to /b/ [bop]
jumps: /j/ /u/ /m/ /p/ /s/
/5
/5
pen: change /p/ to /t/ [ten]
rugs: /r/ /u/ /g/ /z/
/4
/4
lake: change /l/ to /k/ [cake]
/18
/18
Score
Score
/5
Post-Test
Date _____
/5
Observations:______________________________________
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Blending Phonemes
Directions: Say the word sound by sound. Then have the student say the word. Example: I will say the sounds of some
words. I want you to blend the sounds and say the words: for
example, /r/ /u/ /t/: rut.
Pre-Test
Date _____
Post-Test
Date _____
/n/ /u/ /t/ : nut
/j/ /e/ /t/: jet
/w/ /i/ /g/: wig
/r/ /a/ /t/: rat
/m/ /o/ /p/: mop
Score
/5
/5
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
34
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
PRE/POST ASSESSMENT PHONICS
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ____________________________________
Consonant Sounds Assessment
Directions: Have students point to each letter and tell you the
sound each consonant stands for. Some letters stand for more
than one sound. Note whether students say both sounds. Circle
any letters they miss on the recording sheet.
Pre-Test
Date _____
Vowel Sounds Assessment
Directions: Have the student point to each word and tell
you the sound each vowel stands for in the word. Record
the student’s responses in the column.
Post-Test
Date _____
Pre-Test
Date _____
Post-Test
Date _____
m: /m/
mat
s: /s/, /z/
c: /k/, /s/
rub
v: /v/
get
l: /l/
g: /g/, /j/
hot
n: /n/
fit
d: /d/
t: /t/
Score
/5
/5
j: /j/
Observations:______________________________________
w: /w/
__________________________________________________
p: /p/
r: /r/
b: /b/
q: /kw/
h: /h/
z: /z/
f: /f/
k: /k/
x: /ks/
n: /n/
Score
/21
/21
Observations:______________________________________
__________________________________________________
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
35
PRE/POST ASSESSMENT PHONICS
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Blending Sounds Assessment
Student Name: ___________________________________
Directions: Explain to the student that these are nonsense words that you want him or her to sound out. Have the student put his or her finger on the example word on the student sheet. Say: I can sound out this nonsense word:
/m/ /i/ /n/: min. Have the student say each sound in the nonsense word and then blend the sounds.
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Date _____
Date _____
Date _____
Date _____
fam: /f/ /a/ /m/
yad: /y/ /a/ /d/
tif: /t/ /i/ /f/
hep: /h/ /e/ /p/
wug: /w/ /u/ /g/
bab: /b/ /a/ /b/
fop: /f/ /o/ /p/
ven: /v/ /e/ /n/
rac: /r/ /a/ /k/
sut: /s/ /u/ /t/
zot: /z/ /o/ /t/
gom: /g/ /o/ /m/
jun: /j/ /u/ /n/
dat: /d/ /a/ /t/
sot: /s/ /o/ /t/
nex: /n/ /e/ /ks/
rog : /r/ /o/ /g/
leb: /l/ /e/ /b/
mic: /m/ /i/ /k/
quet: /kw/ /e/ /t/
pum: /p/ /u/ /m/
sil: /s/ /i/ /l/
cof: /k/ /o/ /f/
kif: /k/ /i/ /f/
Score
______/24
______/24
Observations: _________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
36
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
P RE/POST ASSESSMENT PHONICS
Student Sheet
Consonant Sounds
m
s
c
v
l
g
n
d
t
j
w
p
r
b
q
h
z
f
k
x
n
Vowel Sounds
mat
rub
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
get
hot
fit
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
37
PRE/POST ASSESSMENT PHONICS
Student Sheet
Blending Sounds
Example: min /m/ /i/ /n/
38
fam
tif
wug
fop
rac
zot
jun
sot
rog
mic
pum
cof
yad
hep
bab
ven
sut
gom
dat
nex
leb
quet
sil
kif
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
P RE/POST SIGHT WORD ASSESSMENT
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Sight Words
Student Name: ___________________________________
Directions: Have the student put his or her finger on the first word on the student sheet and then read across the line,
saying the words as quickly as possible. Count as incorrect any word the student misses or hesitates on before reading.
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Date _____
Date _____
Date _____
Date _____
is
look
a
he
the
go
has
put
and
want
of
this
with
she
see
saw
for
now
no
like
cannot
do
have
home
are
they
said
went
I
good
you
was
me
be
come
we
here
there
to
then
my
out
Score
______/42
______/42
Observations: _________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
39
P RE/POST SIGHT WORD ASSESSMENT
Student Sheet
Sight Words
40
is
a
the
has
and
of
with
see
for
no
cannot
have
are
said
I
you
me
come
here
to
my
look
he
go
put
want
this
she
saw
now
like
do
home
they
went
good
was
be
we
there
then
out
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 1–5
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ___________________________________
Phonological Awareness:
Identify Rhyme
Phonics: Blending Sounds
Directions: Say the pairs of words and ask the student if the
words rhyme. Example: Roast/toast. Yes, the words rhyme.
Date: _______
Directions: Tell the student that these are nonsense words that
use the sounds he or she has been learning. Have the student
point to each word on the student sheet, say each sound, and
then blend the sounds together. Example: /n/ /i/ /s/, nis.
Date: _______
Date: _______
cat/hat
nam: /n/ /a/ /n/, nam
man/let
san: /s/ /a/ /n/, san
Sam/ram
sim: /s/ /i/ /m/, sim
tab/top
tis: /t/ /i/ /s/, tis
leg/peg
nit: /n/ /i/ /t/ nit
hit/sit
min: /m/ /i/ /n/ min
Score
/6
/6
Score
Date: _______
/6
/6
Observations:______________________________________
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Phonemic Awareness: Initial Sounds
Directions: Say the word. Ask the student to repeat the word
and tell you what sound they hear at the beginning.
Example: Hat. I hear /h/ at the beginning of the word hat.
Date: _______
Date: _______
man (/m/)
turtle (/t/)
sink (/s/)
net (/n/)
inch (/i/)
ax (/a/)
Score
/6
/6
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
41
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 1–5
Student Sheet
Blending Sounds
Example: nis
42
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
nam
san
sim
tis
nit
min
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 6–10
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ___________________________________
Phonological Awareness:
Blending Onset and Rime
Phonemic Awareness:
Medial Sounds
Directions: Say the first sound of the word and then the rest of the
word. Then have the student say the whole word. Say: When I say
/k/ /at/, I want you to blend the sounds to say cat.
Directions: Say the word. Ask the student to repeat the word and
tell you what sound they hear in the middle. Example: Hat. I
hear /a/ in the middle of the word hat.
Date: _______
Date: _______
Date: _______
/p/ /ig/ (pig)
man (/a/)
/f/ /un/ (fun)
pot (/o/)
/s/ /at/ (sat)
pick (/i/)
/n/ /ext/ (next)
ham (/a/)
/t/ /in/ (tin)
slim (/i/)
/m/ /ap/ (map)
clock (/o/)
Score
/6
/6
Score
Date: _______
/6
/6
Observations:______________________________________
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Sight Words
Phonics: Blending Sounds
Directions: Have the student point to the first word on the corresponding student sheet and read across the line, saying the
words as quickly as possible. Put an X next to words the student
hesitates on or gets incorrect.
Directions: Tell the student that these are nonsense words that
use sounds he/she has been learning. Have the student point to
each word on the student sheet, say each sound, and then blend
the sounds together. Example: /h/ /i/ /f/, hif.
Date: _______
Date: _______
Date: _______
with
/f/ /a/ /m/: fam
the
/h/ /i/ /n/: hin
see
/a/ /p/: ap
and
/t/ /o/ /f/: tof
is
/h/ /a/ /p/: hap
a
/n/ /a/ /f/: naf
has
/t/ /o/ /k/: toc
of
/m/ /i/ /k/: mic
Score
/8
/8
Score
Date: _______
/8
/8
Observations:______________________________________
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
43
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 6–10
Student Sheet
Blending Sounds
Example: hif
fam
hin
ap
tof
hap
naf
toc
mic
with
the
see
and
is
a
has
of
Sight Words
44
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 11–15
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ___________________________________
Phonological Awareness: Producing
Rhyme
Phonics: Blending Sounds
Directions: Say the rhyming pair. Ask the student to say a word
that rhymes with the pair.
Date: ______
Directions: Tell the student that these are nonsense words that
use the sounds he/she has been learning. Have the student
point to each word on the student sheet, say each sound, and
then blend the sounds. Example: /s/ /i/ /f/, sif.
Date: ______
Date: ______
Date: ______
hit/fit
/b/ /i/ /p/: bip
man/pan
/s/ /i/ /b/: sib
pop/stop
/n/ /u/ /f/: nuf
lake/cake
/t/ /u/ /k/: tuc
bring/king
/r/ /i/ /t/: rit
nest/vest
Score
/6
/6
/p/ /a/ /f/: paf
Observations:______________________________________
/g/ /u/ /g/: gug
_________________________________________________
/r/ /e/ /g/: rog
Score
/8
/8
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
Phonemic Awareness: Final Sounds
Directions: Say the word. Ask the student to repeat the word
and tell you what sound they hear at the end.
Date: ______
Date: ______
ship /p/
bus /s/
pig /g/
pan /n/
tub /b/
tent /t/
Score
/6
/6
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
45
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 11–15
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ___________________________________
Sight Words
Directions: Have the student point to the first word on the student sheet and read across the line, saying the words as quickly
as possible. Put an X next to words the student hesitates on or
gets incorrect.
Date: ______
Date: ______
with
for
I
cannot
no
you
have
are
me
said
has
of
Score
/12
/12
Observations:______________________________________
_________________________________________________
46
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 11–15
Student Sheet
Blending Sounds
Example: sif
bip
sib
nuf
tuc
rit
paf
gug
rog
with
for
I
cannot
no
you
have
are
me
said
has
of
Sight Words
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
47
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 16–20
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ____________________________________
Phonemic Awareness: Blending Phonemes
Directions: Say the word sound by sound. Then have the student
say the word. Example: /m/ /a/ /t/: mat.
Phonics: Blending Sounds
Directions: Tell the student that these are nonsense words that
use the sounds he or she has been learning. Have the student
point to each word on the student sheet, say each sound, and
then blend the sounds. Example: /w/ /u/ /d, wud./
Date:______
Date: ______
Date: ______
/n/ /u/ /t/: nut
Date:______
/d/ /i/ /b/: dib
/w/ /e/ /p/: wep
/j/ /e/ /t/: jet
/s/ /u/ /d/: sud
/w/ /i/ /g/: wig
/l/ /o/ /m/: lom
/r/ /a/ /t/: rat
/j/ /i/ /p/: jip
/m/ /o/ /p/: mop
/k/ /i/ /f/: kif
/p/ /u/ /m/ /p/: pump
/g/ /u/ /g/: gug
Score
/6
/6
Observations:_______________________________________
/w/ /u/ /k/: wuk
Score
/8
/8
___________________________________________________ Observations:_______________________________________
___________________________________________________
Phonemic Awareness: Initial Sound
Substitution
Directions: Say the word. Ask the student to replace the first
sound in the word with the new sound. Example: man: change
/m/ to /p/. The new word is pan.
Date: ______
Date: ______
tin: change /t/ to /b/ [bin]
mat: change /m/ to /r/ [rat]
hop: change /h/ to /b/ [bop]
pen: change /p/ to /t/ [ten]
nut: change /n/ to /k/ [cut]
dig: change /d/ to /w/ [wig]
Score
/6
/6
Observations:_______________________________________
___________________________________________________
48
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 16–20
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ____________________________________
Sight Words
Directions: Have the student point to the first word on the student sheet and read across the line, saying the words as quickly
as possible. Put an X next to words the student hesitates on or
gets incorrect.
Date:______
Date:______
come
my
put
here
look
you
have
to
go
said
this
cannot
she
he
want
saw
Score
/16
/16
Observations:_______________________________________
___________________________________________________
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
49
QUICK CHECKS: UNITS 16-20
Student Sheet
Blending Sounds
Example: wud
dib
wep
sud
lom
jip
kif
gug
wuk
come
my
put
here
look
you
have
to
go
said
this
cannot
she
he
want
saw
Sight Words
50
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
QUICK-CHECKS:
UNITS 21–25
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ___________________________________
Phonemic Awareness:
Blending Phonemes
Phonics: Blending Sounds
Directions: Say the word sound by sound. Then have the
student say the word. Example: /m/ /a/ /t/, mat.
Directions: Tell the student that these are nonsense words that
use the sounds he or she has been learning. Have the student
point to each word on the student sheet, say each sound, and
then blend the sounds. Example: /y/ /o/ /b/, yob.
Date: ______
Date: ______
/s/ /u/ /ch/: such
Date: ______
/k/ /a–/ /k/: cake
/y/ /a/ /d/: yad
/f/ /e–/ /t/: feet
/v/ /o/ /b/: vob
/b/ /o/ /ks/: box
/j/ /e/ /v/: jev
/t/ /r/ /a/ /k/: track
/kw/ /i/ /f/: quif
/b/ /u/ /z/: buzz
/p/ /u/ /ks/: pux
Score
/6
/6
Date: ______
/y/ /e/ /d/: yed
Observations:______________________________________
/z/ /u/ /p/: zup
__________________________________________________
/b/ /e/ /z/: bez
Score
/8
/8
Phonemic Awareness:
Medial Sound Substitution
Directions: Say the word. Ask the student to replace the medial
sound in the word with the new sound. Example: man: change
/a/ to /e/: men.
Date: ______
Observations:______________________________________
__________________________________________________
Date: ______
mat: change /a/ to /i/ (mitt)
bit: change /i/ to /e/ (bet)
run: change /u/ to /a/ (ran)
hot: change /o/ to /u/ (hut)
let: change /e/ to /o/ (lot)
bike: change / –i / to / –a/ (bake)
Score
/6
/6
Observations:______________________________________
__________________________________________________
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
51
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 21–25
Te a c h e r R e c o r d
Student Name: ___________________________________
Sight Words
Directions: Have the student point to the first word on the student sheet and read across the line, saying the words as quickly as
possible. Put an X next to words the student hesitates on or gets incorrect.
Date: ______
Date: ______
Date: ______
now
was
they
be
put
there
we
home
out
went
look
saw
here
this
to
do
good
then
put
want
Score
/20
Date: ______
/20
Observations:_______________________________________
___________________________________________________
52
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
QUICK-CHECKS: UNITS 21–25
Student Sheet
Blending Sounds
yad
vob
jev
quif
pux
yed
zup
bez
now
they
put
we
out
look
here
to
good
put
was
be
there
home
went
saw
this
do
then
want
Sight Words
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
OVERVIEW & ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
53
SPELLING BLACKLINE MASTER
1
2
3
54
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Dear Parent/Guardian,
This year your child will be learning all about
sounds, letters, and words. There are many ways
you can help your child learn to read. In class
we will be reading many stories. I will be sending copies of these books home so that you can
listen to and help your child read them to you.
I will also be sending home some fun activities
and games for you and your child to enjoy
together.
I look forward to an exciting year of learning,
and I want to thank you in advance for the
important part you will play in helping your
child learn to read.
Sincerely,
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
StartUp
PHONICS
Bibliography
Adams, M.J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about
print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Armbruster, B.B, Lehr, F., and Osborne, J. (2001). Put reading first: The
research blocks for teaching children to read. The Partnership in Reading.
Blachman, B.A. and James, S.L. (1985). Metalinguistic abilities and reading
achievement in first-grade children. In J. Niles and R. Lalik (Eds.), Issues in
literacy: A research perspective (pp. 280-286). Rochester, NY: National
Reading Conference.
Foorman, B.R., Francis, D.J., Fletcher, J.M., Schatsschneider, C., and Mehta,
P. (1998). The role of instruction in learning to read: Preventing reading
failure in at-risk children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 1-15.
Juel, C. (1998). Learning to read and write: a longitudinal study of
54 children from first through fourth grades. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 80, (4), 437-447.
Juel, C., Griffith, P.L. and Gough, P.B. (1986). Acquisition of literacy: A longitudinal study of children in first and second grade. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 78, 243-255.
Learning First Alliance (1998). Every child reading: An action plan of the
Learning First Alliance. Washington, D.C.
Lundberg, I., Olofsson, A. and Wall, S. (1980). Reading and spelling skills
in the first school years, predicted from phonemic awareness skills in
kindergarten. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 21, 159-73.
Moats, L.C. (1998). Teaching decoding. American Educator
(spring/summer), 42-49.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000).
Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching Children to Read: An
Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on
Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction (NIH Publication
No. 00-4769). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Snow, C.F., Burns, M. S., and Griffin, P. (1998) Preventing Reading
Difficulties in Young Children. National Research Council. National
Academy Press. Washington, D.C.
Tunmer, W.E. and Nesdale, A. R. (1985). Phonemic segmentation skill and
beginning reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 417-427.
56
StartUp
TM
PHONICS
© 2004 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
TM
All
less
resou on
providrces
ed!
An explicit, systematic phonics program
for comprehensive literacy classrooms—
in two easy-to-use kits!
StartUp
PHONICS
Start Up™ Phonics
Build Up™ Phonics
BuildUp
for Beginning
Phonics Instruction
for Extending
Phonics Instruction
PHONICS
• Phonological Awareness
• Short vowels and
consonants review
• Phonemic Awareness
• Blends, digraphs,
long vowels, diphthongs,
and variant vowels
• Letter recognition
and formation
• Short vowels
• Consonants
B
E
N
C
H
M
A
R
K
E
D
U
C
A
T
I
O
N
C
O
M
P
A
N
Y