Lesson 1: a /ă/
Overview
Focus: Short a as in apple; heart word the
Graphemes and Heart Words
New grapheme: a /ă/
New heart words: the
Heart words so far: none yet
Letter Formation Cues
Big A: Slant down to the left. Back to the top, slant down to the right. Cross in the middle.
Small a: Start below the middle line. Curve up, around, and close the circle. Straight line down.
Say while modeling: "This is a. It says /ă/." Have the child say the sound each time they write the letter.
Parent guide: what to say for each slide
Optional support for this slideshow. Open this guide when you want words to say, expected responses, or a little extra help. Follow the slide numbers and pause at your child’s pace.
Before you begin: Have paper or a whiteboard, a marker, and letter tiles or homemade letter cards. Read the Say wording aloud. Listen for and Parent tip are notes for you.
Sound reminder: Slashes mean say the sound, not the letter name. /a/ is the short sound in apple. Stretch /m/, /s/, and /f/ briefly; keep /t/ and /p/ quick. Avoid adding “uh.” If your child needs help, model once, try it together, and then let your child try.
Listening activities: Picture pairs in the early slides join or separate word parts. Ear pictures later cue individual sounds. Prompts for ear pictures and listen-and-write slides are supplied here for parents. Adults read example words containing spellings that have not been taught yet.
Slide 1 — Welcome to Lesson 1
Say: “Today we’re going to play with words and learn the letter a. We’ll listen, talk, and try some writing. I’ll help you.”
Listen for: Gets ready to listen.
Parent tip: Have paper or a whiteboard and a marker ready. This first lesson does not require independent reading.
Slide 2 — Blending Practice
Say: “We’re going to put two word parts together to make a bigger word. Listen first, then tell me the whole word.”
Listen for: Let your child settle into the next activity.
Slide 3 — Cup plus cake
Say: “Listen to these two word parts: cup … cake. Put them together. What word do they make?”
Listen for: cupcake
Parent tip: Pause before saying the answer. If needed, say “cup … cake, cupcake,” and have your child repeat. Bring two hands together as you join the parts.
Slide 4 — Cupcake
Say: “Yes, cupcake! Say it with me: cupcake. We joined cup and cake to make cupcake.”
Listen for: Says “cupcake.”
Parent tip: This is the answer picture. If your child did not get the previous item, use it to model the answer, then try the two parts again.
Slide 5 — Foot plus ball
Say: “Listen to these two word parts: foot … ball. Put them together. What word do they make?”
Listen for: football
Parent tip: Pause before saying the answer. If needed, say “foot … ball, football,” and have your child repeat. Bring two hands together as you join the parts.
Slide 6 — Football
Say: “Yes, football! Say it with me: football. We joined foot and ball to make football.”
Listen for: Says “football.”
Parent tip: This is the answer picture. If your child did not get the previous item, use it to model the answer, then try the two parts again.
Slide 7 — Segmenting Practice
Say: “Now we’ll start with a whole word and pull it apart into two smaller word parts. Watch my hands move apart.”
Listen for: Let your child settle into the next activity.
Slide 8 — Lipstick
Say: “Say lipstick. Now pull that word apart into two smaller word parts. What two parts do you hear?”
Listen for: lip … stick
Parent tip: Move your hands apart. If needed, model “lip … stick.” These are word parts, not individual speech sounds.
Slide 9 — Lip and stick
Say: “That’s right: lip … stick. Those are the two parts in lipstick. Say the parts, then say the whole word.”
Listen for: lip … stick; lipstick.
Parent tip: Point to each picture as you name the two parts.
Slide 10 — Sunflower
Say: “Say sunflower. Now pull that word apart into two smaller word parts. What two parts do you hear?”
Listen for: sun … flower
Parent tip: Move your hands apart. If needed, model “sun … flower.” These are word parts, not individual speech sounds.
Slide 11 — Sun and flower
Say: “That’s right: sun … flower. Those are the two parts in sunflower. Say the parts, then say the whole word.”
Listen for: sun … flower; sunflower.
Parent tip: Point to each picture as you name the two parts.
Slide 12 — New Concept
Say: “Now let’s learn a letter. Its name is A. Today we’ll learn the sound at the beginning of apple.”
Listen for: Let your child settle into the next activity.
Slide 13 — Lowercase a
Say: “This is lowercase a. Its name is A. The sound we are learning is /a/. Say /a/ with me.”
Listen for: /a/
Parent tip: Trace the displayed letter in the air. Keep the letter name and its sound distinct.
Slide 14 — Uppercase A
Say: “This is uppercase A. Its name is A. The sound we are learning is /a/. Say /a/ with me.”
Listen for: /a/
Parent tip: Trace the displayed letter in the air. Keep the letter name and its sound distinct.
Slide 15 — Find different forms of a
Say: “These letters look a little different, but they are all a. Can you find a capital one? Can you find a lowercase one? They can all spell /a/.”
Listen for: Points to uppercase and lowercase forms; says /a/.
Parent tip: Use this as letter recognition practice. There is no need to name every font or trace every example.
Slide 16 — A is a vowel
Say: “A is a vowel. Watch my mouth as I say /a/. My mouth is open. Say /a/ with me, like the beginning of apple.”
Listen for: Says short /a/.
Parent tip: Use the short a sound in apple, not the letter name “ay.” Say the sound comfortably; do not force a particular accent or mouth shape.
Slide 17 — Stretch the short a sound
Say: “We can hold this sound: /aaaa/. Your turn. Now say a short /a/.”
Listen for: Holds short /a/, then says it briefly.
Parent tip: Keep the same short vowel sound as you stretch it. It should not turn into “ay.”
Slide 18 — Ant and apple
Say: “This is an ant. Say ant. What sound do you hear first? /a/. Now say apple. What sound comes first in apple?”
Listen for: /a/ in both words.
Parent tip: Name each picture first so the task checks sound listening rather than picture vocabulary.
Slide 19 — Hear a in cat and bag
Say: “This word is cat. Listen: /k/ /a/ /t/. Hear /a/ in the middle? Say cat with me. This word is bag: /b/ /a/ /g/. What sound is in the middle?”
Listen for: /a/.
Parent tip: You read these words. The child has not yet learned all their letters. Point to the highlighted a; independent decoding of cat and bag is not expected.
Slide 20 — Write uppercase A
Say: “Watch how we write uppercase A. Start where the dot shows us and follow the movement. Now draw it in the air with me. Try it on your board.”
Listen for: Forms A and says its sound.
Parent tip: Play or replay the letter animation. Model once, trace together, then let your child try. Aim for recognizable formation rather than perfect handwriting.
Slide 21 — Write lowercase a
Say: “Watch how we write lowercase a. Start where the dot shows us and follow the movement. Now draw it in the air with me. Try it on your board.”
Listen for: Forms a and says its sound.
Parent tip: Play or replay the letter animation. Model once, trace together, then let your child try. Aim for recognizable formation rather than perfect handwriting.
Slide 22 — Blank slide
Parent tip: This slide is empty in the current deck. Advance to slide 23. If you want a brief pause, say “Shake out your hands. Now let’s try a word.”
Slide 23 — Heart Words
Say: “Some words have spellings we haven’t learned yet. I’ll help you read them while we learn how they work.”
Listen for: Let your child settle into the next activity.
Slide 24 — The heart word the
Say: “This word is the. Say the. We see it in phrases like the cat and the bag. Let’s look at its letters: t, h, e. These letters work together in a way we haven’t learned yet. Read the word with me: the.”
Listen for: Reads “the” with adult help.
Parent tip: Model your natural pronunciation in a phrase. Do not have the child sound it out as separate /t/ /h/ /e/. The th spelling and vowel pronunciation will be taught later.
Slide 25 — Good Bye
Say: “You worked on a today. What sound does it spell? Show me one thing you learned. I noticed how you kept trying. We’re finished for today!”
Listen for: /a/
Parent tip: Choose one specific success to mention, such as hearing a sound, blending a word, or forming a letter. Stop here for the child.
Slide 26 — Copyright and course information
Parent tip: Adult information only. No child-facing script is needed; you may skip this slide during teaching.
Workbook Pages
Letter formation
Do: Trace the big and small A and a. Circle the best one in each row. Say /ă/ each time you write it.
If stuck: "Show me where you start." Model once on a whiteboard, then have the child copy it there before the page.
Letter sort
If stuck: "Is it the same letter, just dressed up? Trace it with your finger. What sound does it make?"
Beginning sound
Do: Say the letter sound. Name the three pictures in each row. Put an X on the picture that starts with /ă/.
If stuck: "Say the picture name slowly. What is the first sound you hear?"
New heart word
Do: Read the heart word. The ♡ marks the part to remember. Trace it, fill in the missing letters, color it (the ♡ part in red, the rest any color), write it, then circle it every time you find it.
Say: "This is a heart word. Most of it follows the sounds we know. The heart shows the part we learn by heart."
If stuck: "Which part can we sound out? Which part has the heart, the part we remember?"
Watch For
- Saying the letter name (/ā/) instead of the short sound /ă/.
- Forming a like a circle with a stick on the wrong side, or a two-story a.
Game: Apple Picking
Materials
- Sticky notes
- Marker
- A basket, bowl, or bag for the "apples"
- Tape (only if the sticky notes will not stay on your wall or door)
Get ready
Write A and a on lots of sticky notes, some big and some small. Write other letters on a few more sticky notes to use as decoys. Stick them all on a wall or door to make the "apple tree."
How to play
- Give the child the basket and say, "Let's go apple picking!"
- The child picks only the notes with the letter a (upper or lower case).
- Each time they pick an a, they say /ă/ and drop it in the basket.
- The other letters stay on the tree.
Make it harder
Add more decoy letters, or mix up the sizes and cases so every a looks a little different.