A detailed look at Sounds Great

	All titles begin with a story, followed by a carefully structured sequence of activities.
	1. Develops aural discrimination
	2. Familiarity with the letter name, sound and shape.
	3. Identifying words that begin with the target letter.
	4. Identifying rhyming CVC words
	5. Reinforces letter knowledge and the idea that sentences convey meaning.
	6. Focus on word building, involves segmenting and blending sounds.
	Quiz (on Assessment Disk) Overview of skills and concepts developed.

Phonemic Awareness

• all initial consonant sounds
• rhyming words
• onset and rime in CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant) e.g. /h/at
  
• individual sounds within CVC words e.g. /h/a/t
• short vowel sounds and final consonant sounds
  Letter-Sound Knowledge
• the letter name and sound for all initial consonants, “Xx” in final position and short vowels
• lower-case and capital letters
• rhyming word families
• spelling patterns
• building CVC words

Letter-Sound Knowledge

• the letter name and sound for all initial consonants, “Xx” in final position and short vowels
• lower-case and capital letters
• rhyming word families
• spelling patterns
• building CVC words

Word Knowledge and Grammar

• basic-sight vocabulary
• high-frequency words
• use of meaning and graphaphonic cues to help word choice
• provides models for sentences and patterns of grammar

Assessment

• a CD-ROM with quizzes for all
  26 titles
• authentic assessment of skills, with items directly related to
  CD-ROM activities
• automatic recording of results
• results can only be accessed by the teacher and may be printed

Concepts about Print

• one to one matching of spoken words with written words
• directionality (reading left to right)
• concepts of letter, word and sentence
• capital letters and their uses

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