Through our interaction with teachers and students, we have identified a common issue when it comes to teaching phonics…finding engaging instruction materials that are effective and research based. To solve this problem, our team of master teachers, set to work on creating a phonics curriculum that follows Science of Reading research and best practices. Then, a case study was implemented in a 2nd grade classroom to put Lucky to Learn Phonics to the test. The results amazed us (see the graphic below), and we are ready to share how this phonics curriculum can pave the way to phonics mastery in your classroom.
Teacher & Classroom Information
What Sets Lucky to Learn Phonics Apart from the Rest?
Case Study Overview
Here are the stats of the classroom that participated in this case study:
Duration
- Spanned an entire academic year.
Classroom Details
- 2nd grade classroom
- Located in a rural, low-income district
- Teacher's Experience:
- 18 years of teaching experience
- 8 years teaching 2nd grade
- Typical class size: 18-22 students
- Inclusive of special education students
Support Structure
- Support staff and intervention instructors utilized
- Group size: 5-6 students
Groupings
- Above grade level students:
- Group size: 6-10 students
- Activities: Book clubs/literature circles
- At or below grade level students (including Tier 3 intervention students):
- Program usage: Monday-Thursday
- Duration: 20-25 minute block during Tier Time
What the Teacher Noticed…
Before digging into her routine, what did this teacher have to say after using this new phonics program for a school year?
“The biggest difference was that the kids took ownership of their learning. It was direct and explicit all while being engaging. There wasn’t a bunch of “frill” and the lessons were easy to prep/follow. The slides captivated the students. It addressed all learning styles throughout the week. We would save the center activities for our fun Fridays and this brought all the kids together regardless of their level. The sequence made sense!“
-2nd grade case study teacher
The Lucky to Learn Phonics curriculum includes a wide variety of resources for each phonics sound unit. This includes:
- 5 days of lessons per sound
- Digital teaching slides
- Sound wall posters
- Partner & independent activities
- Decodable passages
- Anchor charts
- Phonics ladders
- Word & picture cards
- Words & sentences lists
- Word sorts
- Centers
- Letter tiles
- Fold ‘n' Decodes
Get Lucky to Learn Phonics
A Daily Phonics Routine
Lucky to Learn Phonics can be tailored to fit any classroom schedule, routine or needs. Below is the routine that was used in the case study classroom, but is only one example of how this curriculum can be implemented.
* Please note other Lucky Little Learners and district curriculum resources were used in addition to Lucky to Learn Phonics as we know phonics is only one piece of a comprehensive reading block.
Small Group
Due to scheduling of classroom aides, differentiated small groups were used at the beginning of the reading block. During these small groups, Lucky to Learn Phonics lesson plans and teaching slides were utilized each day with the tier 2 and tier 3 groups. Let's walk through what a day of tier group instruction looked like in our case study classroom.
Small Group Structure
Using the Lucky to Learn Phonics daily teaching slides as a guide, our case study tier time (20-25 minutes daily) followed these lesson plans step by step. As mentioned above, students were broken up into groups of 5-6 students during this time. Students had the following small group schedule daily:
- Review previously taught sounds/previous day's words
- Phonological Awareness Activities
- Letter/Sound Correspondence
- Word reading & blending
- Word work & word building
- Diction & encoding
- Decodable text
Take a visual walkthrough of a daily small group lesson using Lucky to Learn Phonics: How to Teach an Explicit Phonics Lesson.
To note: at some point during the reading block, students got 15 minutes to read at their independent level. For your lower readers, consider adding a decodable passage from Lucky to Learn Phonics into their book box for continued review.
*Another note: During tier time, above level students were allowed independent reading time with books of their choice and interest. A couple above level extension ideas:
- Work ahead in phonics sounds
- Paired plays
- Writing skills fine tuning
- Book club
Whole Group
In this particular classroom, Lucky to Learn Phonics resources were used during whole group as a supplement to their district curriculum. A favorite activity of the students was the dice roll.
A dice roll is a quick and easy way to get students engaged and reviewing sounds. During our case study, the teacher used the dice roll whole group with whiteboards. Students loved playing this “game”!
*In addition to Lucky to Learn Phonics activities, our case study teacher incorporated additional phonics resources during whole group lessons.
Case Study Results
Through the use of pre and post curriculum assessments, our team was able to go over the data with our case study teacher and the results were astounding.
Fall Benchmark
At/Above: 9
On Watch: 5
Intervention: 5
Urgent Intervention: 2
Winter
At/Above: 18
On Watch: 3
Intervention: 0
Urgent Intervention: 0
Spring
At/Above: 21
On Watch: 0
Intervention: 0
Urgent Intervention: 0
What Sets Lucky to Learn Phonics Apart From the Rest?
So just what sets Lucky to Learn Phonics apart from the rest of the phonics curricula?
Expert Development
- Developed by master 1st & 2nd grade teachers with extensive classroom experience.
Science of Reading Aligned
- Based on the latest research and proven methodologies in literacy education.
Unmatched Student Engagement
- Includes interactive and enjoyable activities to keep students motivated.
- Designed by teachers who understand classroom challenges.
Logical Sequencing
- Intuitively sequenced for easy progression and mastery of skills.
These features set Lucky to Learn Phonics apart, offering a research-based, teacher-crafted, and engaging approach to phonics instruction.
Let this curriculum improve phonics mastery in your classroom.
Get Lucky to Learn Phonics
Happy teaching!
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