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. Identify the parts of books and function of each part (front cover, back cover, title page, table of contents);
2. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions (e.g., who, what, where, when) requiring literal recall and understanding of the details and/or facts of a fiction text;
3. Demonstrate understanding of basic print conventions by tracking and following print word for word when listening to a text read aloud;
4. Demonstrate understanding that a systematic, predictable relationship exists between written letters and spoken sounds;
5. Identify whether pairs of phonemes are the same or different, including pairs that differ only in voicing, e.g., /b/ and /p/;
6. Indicate whether a phoneme is present in the initial/medial/final position of a spoken word, e.g., hear /m/ at the beginning of mat and /g/ at the end of bag;
7. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or basic code sound for every consonant 'b', 'bb' > /b/; 'd', 'dd' > /d/; 'f', 'ff' > /f/; 'g', 'gg' > /g/; 'h' > /h/; 'j' > /j/; 'c', 'k', 'ck', 'cc' > /k/; 'l', 'll '> /l/; 'm', 'mm' > /m/; 'n', 'nn' > /n/; 'p', 'pp' > /p/; 'r', 'rr' > /r/; 's', 'ss' > /s/; 't', 'tt' > /t/; 'v' > /v/; 'w' > /w/; 'x' > /x/; 'y' > /y/; 'z', 'zz', 's' > /z/; 'ch' > /ch/; 'sh' > /sh/; 'th' > /th/ (thin); 'th' > /th/ (then); 'qu' > /qu/; 'ng', 'n' > /ng/;
8. Read and write any one-syllable short vowel CVC word, e.g., sit, cat, wet, not, cup;
9. Read decodable text that incorporates the letter-sound correspondences that have been taught, with purpose and understanding;
10. Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly;
11. Hold a writing utensil with a tripod (or pincer) grip and make marks on paper;
12. Trace, copy, and write from memory the letters of the alphabet accurately in lowercase form;
13. Write from left to right leaving spaces between words, and top to bottom using return sweep;
14. Use spatial words: there, here; in, on; in front of, behind; at the top of; at the bottom of; under, over; above, below; next to, in the middle of; near, far; inside, outside; around, between; up, down; high, low; left, right; front, back;
15. Name and use commas and end punctuation while reading orally; and
16. Recognize, isolate, and write single-letter, double-letter, and digraph spellings for consonant sounds.

Unit 5 - Short vowel sounds and sound spelling