Starting at Square One
Chapter 9

General Lesson Plans with Measurable Behavioral Objectives

Each Unit will have its own objectives that can be measured.  Within each unit there will be lessons with their own behavioral objectives.  The children should be told at the very beginning of each unit and each lesson just what the objectives are, just what they are expected to learn.Each day each student should be given a pre-printed slip on which it says:  TODAY I LEARNED and the students write at least one thing that they were taught.

That is our way of helping the students have an answer when their father or mother gets home from work and asks, "What did you learn in school today?" These are really great for the kindergarten, first and second grade students.  If this course is being used for remedial purposes, as it certainly should be, please no bunny rabbits or balloons for older children and adults.

Spelling and handwriting are used as multi-sensory techniques to give the maximum amount of repetitions with the least amount of copy, copy, copy, copy, copy that becomes brain numbing.  For example, a child could be asked to write the word in 50 times. We know that after a while the child is just going through the paces.  But if the child is asked to write the word in, then change the word in to sin, then change in to pin, and then to in to spin, the child’s mind keeps focused.  By building in words from in to inns to inner, thinner, spinner and even beginners a great amount of focused repetition is accomplished.  Even though each word is only written once, the child will be writing the phonogram in well over 50 times because it is imbedded in the different words.

If you examine closely the words given in each lesson that can be used to lock in a pattern you will notice that there can be a tremendous amount of systematic vocabulary development as well as practice in sounding out names.  Many teachers, even teachers who teach phonics, sometimes have problems pronouncing names.  My name has been mispronounced by college professors at Michigan State University who have doctorates in the teaching of reading!  Don pronounced as Dawn isn't quite right.  And it's a shame college professors of reading have mispronounced McCabe as Mick Cobb, Mac a bee, or McKay bee.  This is a sign that our teachers of teachers have never really been taught simple phonics.  Abe, babe, and McCabe should offer no problems for anyone.

Regular Activities:

1. Writing the Manuscript Letter, Upper Case and Lower Case.  You may use the scripted directions or use your own.  You're the teacher.  You know your children or your students as the case may be.  Use the directions for making the letters according to the method you are using.

2. Keep the accent on legibility.  If, for example, you decide to use D'Nealian and your child finds it difficult to make the start of a "monkey tail" or "hook" at the end of a letter, don't make a scene.  Just have it end straight down at the line just as it does in Getty-Dubay Italic.  If you or your child don't like the Capital Q in the system you're using because it looks too much like the number 2, don't use it. There is no law that says if you teach Palmer that you can't slip in a letter formation from Getty-Dubay Italic, Barchowski, Peterson, or D'Nealian.

3. Search and destroy "game" revealing real words between the letters searched for.  You can use this for any lesson. 

For example:  For the letter J  Circle the j’s and underline the real words inbetween.

AJBATJSTARJSTARTJHIGHJSADDESTJTEASEDJ

You can put them in lower case cursive: jbétjstarjstartjhighjsaddestjteasdj or in any fonts you wish.  The more the merrier.

4. Reading and reviewing words using word flash cards.  The difference is in the type of cards used.  Rather than using only one font, one size, all lower case we believe in using different fonts, different sizes, and upper and lower case as in:

5. Decodable Sentences suitable for

a. reading exercises,

b. dictation writing exercises,

c. copying exercises,

d. keyboarding

Decodable Sentences available at the end of Unit 3 after 8 letters (abcd rst y) have been taught:

1. Say, Stay, Ray.  Stay a day.

2. Ray, stay a day. 

3. Say Tray.  Say stray.

4. Art starts a yard a day.

5. Carter starts a yard cart.

6. Crabby cats say rats bray.

7. Bad Bart's bats say baby brats bray.

8. Ray says, “Stay a day at Brad's.”

9. Ray Carr's cars cart a cat a day.

10. Bart Starr's cars start.

By using the magic of computers and their ability to change fonts you can make them all capitals as in:

1. Say, Stay, Ray.  Stay a day.

2. Ray, stay a day.

3. Say Tray.  Say stray.

4. Art starts a yard a day.

5. Carter starts a yard cart.

6. Crabby cats say rats bray.

7. Bad Bart's Bats say baby brats bray.

8. Ray says, "Stay a day at Brad's.”

9. Ray Carr's cars cart a cat a day.

10. Bart Starr's cars start

Or choose a manuscript font of your choice:

1. Say, Stay, Ray.  Stay a day.

2. Ray, stay a day.

3. Say Tray.  Say stray.

4. Art starts a yard a day.

5. Carter starts a yard cart.

6. Crabby cats say rats bray.

7. Bats say baby brats bray.

8. Ray says, "Stay a day at Brad's.”

9. Ray Carr's cars cart a cat a day.

10. Bart Starr's cars start.

OR CHOOSE A CURSIVE FONT OF YOUR CHOICE:

1. Say, Stay, Ray.  Stay a day.

2. Ray, ãtay a day.

3. Say Tray.  Say ãtray.

4. Art ãtarts a yard a day.

5. Carter ãtarts a yard Ñart.

6. CrabèŸ Ñats ãay äats ªüay.

7. Bats ãay bébŸ ªüats ªüay.

8. Ray ãays, "Stay a day at Brad's.”

9. Ray Carr's Ñars Ñart a Ñat a day.

10. Bart Starr's Ñars ãtart.

Making Decodable Sentences  By sorting the word cards in piles as nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives, you can have the students create their own silly sentences.The sentences should be created using only the letters they have already been taught.  In this case, the letters taught have been abcd rst y.  Using just those eight letters, 29 different basic words are decodable.  There are 94 POWER words available that are decodable, words such as act and cast.  There are also 20 different names that are decodable. So, in just teaching 8 letters, if the phonics involved are mastered, then there are at least 143 words that can be used.  After the addition of each new letter the number of decodable words goes up exponentially.

Practicing Alphabetical Order. We believe that alphabetical order should be taught as we teach the alphabet.  Students can be given practice putting the letters they have learned in alphabetical order.  What comes before d?  Answer c.  What comes after s?  Answer t.  What comes before r?  (Gotcha!  We haven't got to that letter [Q] yet.  All we have to work with now is ABCD and RST and Y.) If we use alphabetical order for just a minute or two each day, it helps making the use of alphabetical order an automatic process long before they will really, really need it in personal life.

Length and number of sessions:  We believe that two separate twenty-minute sessions will produce more learning than one sixty-minute session.  Three separate twenty-minute sessions will produce more learning than one two-hour session.  By separate, we mean that at least two hours must be in between the sessions.

Keyboarding:  If you teach keyboarding along with handwriting, there should be at least one-half hour between a twenty-minute handwriting session and a twenty-minute keyboarding session

Flash Card Drills:  Ten minutes per drill should be sufficient.  Again, these drills should be at scheduled times during the day, at least two hours apart.  What other elements do you believe should be in the everyday lesson plan? Add them, please.  And be sure to add "fun" times and fun activities.

Back to Table of Contents

On to Unit 1