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This Reading Mama

Phonics by The Book: God Made It All (Unit 1, Lesson 1)

By thisreadingmama 44 Comments

I’m so excited to share with you Lesson 1 of a series I’m calling Phonics by The Book!  This is the first lesson in a series of lessons that will teach beginning reader phonics skills and teach God’s Word at the same time!  I can’t wait to begin this journey with you!

GFree reading curriculum, Bible, Christian

In this post, you’ll find:

  • my God Made It All reader (with a focus on short a words)
  • printables & activities for reinforcing short a words with blends/digraphs
  • printables & activities to coincide with sight words (from Fry’s first 100 Sight Word & Pre-Primer/Primer lists)
  •  writing ideas & prompts
  • Bible Verse activities
  • A lesson outline that gives a plan for spacing out the activities over the week (note: we didn’t do all of these activities, some are just suggestions)
  • pictures of ALuv trying it out

The routines and activities in all the lessons of the short vowel unit will be very similar in nature, if not exactly the same, to keep with consistency and to help build confidence and independence. Below are some pictures of ALuv trying it out. 🙂  I hope these picture will also help to clarify how to do some of the activities.

GOD MADE IT ALL READER Please note that this text is protected by www.myfreecopyright.com.

On our first time through, I read most of the God Made It All Reader while he listened.  We talked about a few words as we read such as clam, drab, mass, and mighty.  He helped me read a few of the words, but mainly just wanted to listen.

On subsequent readings, he took over more of the reading.  I knew that it would take a while for him to build his confidence because there are a lot of words in the text, especially when compared to the little independent readers he’s been reading, and although I knew he could read almost every word, he didn’t know that. 🙂

SHORT A ACTIVITIES:

1. Short a word sort with the word families -at, -and, & -ack.  Most of the words chosen from this sort come directly from the God Made It All Reader.  If you like this sort, these are the same kind of sorts you’ll find in Words Their Way & all their supplement books.  I highly recommend these!

2. Here he is on day 2 color coding the short a words by word family chunks.  He got to use the new pen he got in his stocking this year.  I loved these pens as a kid and had no clue they still made them!

3. Little Words activity with PLANTS

I called out the words (listed on the download) one at a time, he built them,

and was excited to discover the “secret” word, used by all the letters, on his own at the end: PLANTS.

4. We went on a word hunt with the short a word sort.

First, I pulled out all the words from the sort that are in the God Made It All Reader and we sorted them by pattern.

Then, as we read through the book, I placed certain words above each page and he found them and circled them throughout the text.  (I placed the reader in plastic sleeve protectors.)

5. Blind Sort:  I set up the head words from the sort: CAT, AND & BLACK.  I held the stack of words so he could not see them and called each one out.  His job was to visualize the word and point to the column where it belonged.  Then, I placed the word in the column so he could check it.

SIGHT WORDS: (You can find a list of sight words for the lesson on the very first page of the God Made It All Reader and word cards in the Word-Wac-Woe activity.)

For the week, these are the words I chose to teach ALuv: day, night, with, and them.  That doesn’t necessarily mean those are the words you must teach your child.  Find 2-5 words on the word list that your child doesn’t know and focus in on those.

Secret Sentence: Unscramble the sight words to find the secret sentence

Roll & Write a Sentence: Roll 2 dice, add the sum, then use the number code to fill in the sentence. (2 pages in download)

Word-Wac-Woe : (strategy resembles Tic-Tac-Toe)

Display and read 15-20 of the sight word cards,

jot them down on your game board (mine on left, his on right),

shuffle the cards and place them face-down in a pile.  Players take turns reading the sight word and crossing them off their game boards.  Directions are in the download as well.

Because I used this lesson mainly for short a words and sight words, we did not do most of the writing and Bible Verse portions, but please feel free to use.

WRITING:

Writing Prompt: What is your favorite thing that God made?  Why?

Dictated Sentence: God made the cat and ant to go on land.  I read the sentence aloud several times and ALuv wrote it down with very little help from me.  (It reviews short a words as well as sight words.)

BIBLE VERSE:  More ideas are listed in the Lesson 1 Outline, but I’ve included the Cut & Paste Bible Verse in the download.

Here is the 5-day outline, which will break all these activities into a more manageable plan.

You can download this pack for FREE by clicking HERE!

 

Enjoy teaching!
~Becky

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Learn to Read, Phonics and Word Study

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Comments

  1. Ticia says

    January 23, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    This is totally awesome! What other Bible stories are you planning on doing?

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      January 23, 2012 at 4:55 pm

      Thanks, Ticia! This week, we’re doing the fall (Genesis 3), but I’m planning on working through the entire Bible when it’s all said and done (about 30 selected stories from the OT & NT).

      Reply
      • Ticia says

        January 23, 2012 at 5:19 pm

        Cool! I can’t wait to see them all.

        Reply
  2. Amber Scavo says

    January 23, 2012 at 10:11 pm

    Awesome!! Love everything! Can’t wait to do this with Julia 🙂 Thank you for sharing your time and talents.

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      January 24, 2012 at 6:49 am

      Thanks, Amber. Let me know your honest opinion when you do. I greatly value it.
      Becky

      Reply
  3. Jackie says

    January 24, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    I love, love, love, love this!! And I’m super excited because you’ll probably have all of them done when my kiddo is ready for them 😉 I’m sharing this with EVERYONE I know!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      January 24, 2012 at 3:30 pm

      Thank you, Jackie! I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the stories and it has been surprising to me how much my son has liked them, despite their length. Maybe it’s because I told him I’d cry if he didn’t like them…just kidding! Thanks for sharing them with others. I am praying that God will be able to use them as only He can.

      Reply
  4. educator says

    January 25, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    He seems to be enjoying the lesson. ..adorable smile.

    Reply
  5. Michelle Breum says

    February 2, 2012 at 8:43 am

    Nice work, Becky! You are giving some great tools to parents.

    Reply
  6. Megan Spires says

    February 2, 2012 at 9:13 am

    Becky,
    I’m visiting from We Teach! I LOVE your new reading lessons. I have wanted to find a phonics program that I could use or incorporate bible lessons with for my little boys and have yet to find anything I thought would work. THIS looks great and I plan to print it all out later today and use it with 6 year old son. He is half way through his K year. Can’t wait to try it. I have 4 little boys in all and I love it when I can teach them core subjects WHILE teaching them Truth as well. Thank you so much for creating this and offering it to all of us.

    Blessings to you and your family,
    Megan
    http://houseofthe4risingsons.blogspot.com/

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      February 2, 2012 at 12:47 pm

      Awesome! I am so glad you’ll be able to use it! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  7. wendy says

    May 25, 2012 at 9:19 am

    Love this! I teach Kindergarten to a small group at a church and am always looking for GOOD Christian lessons and try to tie it all together for them. So excited I found you!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      May 25, 2012 at 10:29 am

      Oh, I’m so glad you can use them! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Whitney says

    April 29, 2013 at 11:05 pm

    I am so glad to have found this resource. Wow! This is great. My oldest will love this.

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      April 30, 2013 at 7:00 am

      Thank you. I hope to get moving on the rest soon. 🙂

      Reply
  9. debbie says

    August 21, 2013 at 1:43 am

    thanks for sharing! really a big help…God bless

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      August 21, 2013 at 5:29 am

      You’re so welcome. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Stephanie L. says

    September 10, 2013 at 2:19 pm

    Thank you soooo much for this lovely unit! I’ve been searching the internet for a book, program, or curriculum to order that is would be simplistic and fun and within our budget! I’m so happy to have found yours. I’m so happy about it, I wish there was something I could do for you! 🙂

    Reply
  11. carisa says

    September 24, 2013 at 11:46 am

    How do I get the reader?
    Carisa
    Homeschooling mom of almost 12

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      September 24, 2013 at 2:18 pm

      The reader is in the pack. You need to download the pack to get the reader {look at the end of the post}.

      Reply
  12. Alexis says

    June 20, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    Becky, I am speechless right now. This is AWESOME!!! God bless you!

    Reply
  13. Deborah says

    June 28, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    I can’t find anything else like this out there for free!! Thank you! My daughter has really enjoyed the Pre-K Resurrection pack. I know she’ll love this one too! Anything Bible related we will eat up!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      July 1, 2014 at 6:22 am

      I’m so glad it will work for your daughter. I hope to pick back up where I left off with the curriculum in the next couple of months. 🙂

      Reply
  14. punkin0001 says

    October 26, 2014 at 7:48 am

    Thanks so much! Will use this Monday.

    Reply
  15. Bhedrick says

    November 8, 2014 at 10:09 am

    Thank you so much for all the work that has went in to this! It is what I have been looking for…using the Bible to teach reading! I so appreciate all… blessings to you and THANKS!

    Reply
  16. Verna Willhoite says

    May 30, 2015 at 3:34 am

    Hi! I am so thankful to the Lord that I found your site and these wonderful phonetic Buble based readers! I am serving in Thailand and am preparing to teach a beginners English class in a small church and this will be perfect once we get the basics down! Thank you, and God bless your ministry!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      May 30, 2015 at 7:55 am

      Awesome! So glad God can use it in your situation!

      Reply
  17. Hannah says

    June 15, 2015 at 3:05 am

    Happy to find a wonderful site with so much of effort and hardwork put into the lesson plans …and available free is what a sharing heart does …Praise God and thank you so so so so much

    Reply
  18. Amy says

    August 2, 2015 at 3:22 pm

    This is amazing! I’ve been using Reading the Alphabet for a long time and was doing my own word study now that my daugther is ready for a more full blown reading program. I’m using Reading A-Z for leveled books, but I’ve been exploring your site more and really can’t thank you enough for all the resources. I have some word sorts and stuff from when I was teaching but I have found myself making cards and games and anyway, I’m just realizing I’m re-inventing the wheel too much. Thank you SO much for all the work you’ve put into this. I keep finding more and more treasures! THANK YOU!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      August 5, 2015 at 4:14 pm

      You are very welcome!

      Reply
  19. Alyssa says

    September 4, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    I’m so grateful to you for this! Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to explore the material with my 4-year-old. 🙂

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      September 8, 2015 at 5:52 am

      You are very welcome! 🙂

      Reply
  20. Renee Griswold says

    September 5, 2016 at 1:24 am

    I can’t tell you how much I LOVE this phonics program! I am homeschooling 2 first graders and I searched a long time for the perfect phonics curriculum. I stopped searching when I found Phonics By The Book!!! I just finished printing out the entire Unit 1 for both of my readers. I am so excited to get started. I especially love all the fun activities we get to do together. I like that you have all the activities planned out into a 5-day chart (We plan to do them ALL). So FAB!!! Thank you so much for this labor of love. I appreciate that you have shared this blessing with us all. The only disadvantage is that I KNOW we are going to want more units after we have finished the 8 you have posted. Please tell me you have plans to continue making more?????!!

    God bless you tremendously for blessing me and my family, and so many others!

    Renee G.

    Reply
    • Renee Griswold says

      September 5, 2016 at 1:45 am

      Oops, I meant that you posted 12 lessons, not 8 units. And I only printed lesson 1, not unit 1. Please excuse me.

      Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      September 16, 2016 at 3:49 pm

      I do plan on re-visiting it…eventually. Sorry I can’t be more specific than that. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed what you have used so far!

      Reply
  21. Trisha says

    February 15, 2018 at 7:22 pm

    Hi Becky,
    I’ve tried to print the lessons by clicking on the above link but nothing happens. I am a subscriber so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Thank you so much for your amazing resources. I know making all of these fantastic printable material while homeschooling your own kiddos is no easy task.

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      February 16, 2018 at 1:40 pm

      Try to see if any of these tips help -> https://thisreadingmama.com/downloading-printing-help/

      Reply
  22. Chessa says

    April 30, 2019 at 3:11 pm

    Thank you for such a wonderful biblical resource! I cried when I found these because they are so amazing! And then I cried when I found the post that you wouldn’t be making any more. I hope one day you will come back to these 🙂 I just shared in my big Christian mom Facebook group!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      May 4, 2019 at 8:54 pm

      My plan is to still come back to these someday. Thanks for sharing them! 🙂

      Reply
  23. Jennifer Franklin says

    December 31, 2019 at 2:18 pm

    Dear Becky, I’m sure life has intervened, which happens so often, to prevent you from continuing your efforts, but I will be copying that which you have finished to give as a parting gift to my preK students at the end of the year. I teach at a Christian daycare. I’m very grateful to you, given your circumstances of homeschooling 4 kids!!!!, for providing the resources you have over the years. I would love to buy some of your resources, which I tried to do a while back but a pre-paid card I bought at the bank didn’t work. I will ask my bank why the next time I go in.

    Anyway, thanks for all of the wonderful resources you have provided for free all this long time, and I want you to know your work is still being used years after you produced it! Between you and themeasuredmom.com I have been able to do a far better job in my teaching than I would otherwise have been able to do.

    God bless you and your family!

    Reply
  24. Jean says

    March 16, 2020 at 4:26 pm

    Thank you thank you thank you! Exactly what I was looking for to use while schools are closed during the pandemic. God bless!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      March 23, 2020 at 7:01 am

      You’re welcome! 🙂

      Reply
  25. Casey Jo McKinnon says

    May 14, 2021 at 8:58 am

    I’m really excited to begin working through this with my homeschooling K/1st guy! Thank you!

    Reply

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Hi! I’m Becky, a homeschooling mama with 4 blessings who keep me on my toes {and knees}. Before homeschooling, I was a classroom teacher (M.Ed.) and reading tutor. Read more about me here.

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