The Skills strand of the Core Knowledge Language Arts program teaches students the decoding skills needed for (future) independent reading. Each Skills lesson begins with a warm-up, reviewing previously taught content in reading, writing, and/or grammar.

By the end of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Ask and answer questions (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how), orally or in writing, requiring literal recall and understanding of the details and/or facts of a nonfiction/informational text read independently;
2. Identify and use text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a nonfiction/informational text;
3. Identify the main purpose of a nonfiction/informational text read independently, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe;
4. Interpret information from diagrams, charts, timelines, graphs, or other organizers associated with a nonfiction/informational text read independently and explain how these graphics clarify the meaning of the text;
5. Describe how reasons or facts support specific points the author makes in a nonfiction text read independently;
6. Compare and contrast (orally or in writing) similarities and differences within a single nonfiction/informational text read independently or between two or more nonfiction/informational texts read independently;
7. Read independently and demonstrate understanding of nonfiction/informational text in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range;
8. Use knowledge of the letter-sound correspondences that have been taught to distinguish and correctly read long and short vowels in one-syllable words: ‘a’ > /a/; ‘e’ > /e/; ‘i’ > /i/; ‘o’ > /o/; ‘u’ > /u/; ‘a_e’ > /ae/; ‘ee’ > /ee/; ‘i_e’ > /ie/; ‘o_e’ > /oe/; ‘u_e’ > /ue/;
9. Read and write words spelled with the following vowel teams: long vowel sounds: ‘ai’, ‘ay’ > /ae/; ‘e_e’, ‘ea’, ‘ey’ > /ee/; ‘oa’, ‘oe’, ‘ow’ > /oe/; ‘ie’, ‘igh’> /ie/; short vowel sounds: ‘ou’, ‘o_e’ > /u/; ‘ea’ > /e/; other vowel sounds: ‘oi’, ‘oy’ > /oi/; ‘aw’, ‘au’, ‘augh’, ‘al’ > /aw/; ‘ow’ > /ou/; r-controlled vowel sounds: ‘er’ > /er/; ‘or’ > /or/; ‘ar’ > /ar/;
10. Decode two-syllable words with any combination of the following syllable types: closed syllables, magic –e syllables, vowel digraph syllables, r-controlled syllables, open syllables, consonant –LE syllables;
11. Read and write words with the following inflectional endings and suffixes: –ed, –ing, –s, –es;
12. Read and write words with the following letter-sound correspondences: ‘a’ as /a/ (hat), /ae/ (paper), /ə/ (about), or /aw/ (wall); ‘i’ as /i/ (hit), /ie/ (item), or /ee/ (ski); ‘o’ as /o/ (hop), /oe/ (open), or /u/ (son); ‘e’ as /e/ (pet), /ee/ (me), or /ə/ (debate); ‘u’ as /ue/ (unit) or /u/ (but); ‘y’ as /y/ (yes), /ie/ (try), /i/ (myth), or /ee/ (funny); ‘ir’ (bird), ‘ur’ (hurt), or ‘er’ as /er/ (her); ‘ar’ > /ar/ (car) or /or/ (war); ‘al’ > /ə/ + /l/ (animal); ‘il’ > /ə/ + /l/ (pencil); ‘ul’ > /ə/ + /l/ (awful); ‘el’ > ə/ + /l/ (travel), ‘le’ > /ə/ + /l/ (apple); ‘tion’ > /sh/ + /ə/ + /n/; ‘ph’ > /f/ (phone); ‘ch’ > /k/ (school); ‘a’ > /o/ (water);
13. Read decodable text that incorporates the letter-sound correspondences taught with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension;
14. Read and understand decodable text that incorporates letter-sound correspondences taught with purpose and understanding;
15. Plan, draft, and edit a personal narrative with a title, recounting a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, including details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, using temporal words to signal event order, and providing a sense of closure;
16. With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing;
17. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification;
18. Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names;
19. Consult the Individual Code Chart; and
20. Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Unit 3 - Alternative spelling for vowel sounds