1st Grade English

126 core topics + 6 prerequisite topics taught as needed · approximately 33 hours of instruction including spaced review

How the course runs

An adaptive diagnostic (up to 40 questions) places the student on the course's knowledge graph - topics already known are credited, and instruction begins exactly at the learning frontier. Every topic is taught with a worked-example lesson and auto-graded practice; a topic is mastered at 75%+ and then maintained through spaced reviews on an expanding schedule. Mixed checks follow every 6 lessons; each unit ends with a 12-item quiz, and course-wide assessments appear at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% mastery. Prerequisite gaps below the course are detected and taught rather than skipped, so completion certifies the whole tower, not just the top.

Core curriculum

Phonological & Phonemic Awareness · 11 topics

Hearing Rhymes [E]	Tell when two words end with the same sound.
Finding the Word That Does Not Rhyme [E]	Pick the odd word out of a rhyming set.
Counting Syllables [E]	Break a word into its beats.
Hearing the First Sound [E]	Tell which sound a word starts with.
Hearing the Last Sound [E]	Tell which sound a word ends with.
Hearing the Middle Vowel Sound [E]	Find the vowel sound in the middle of a short word.
Blending Sounds into Words [M]	Push separate sounds together to make a word.
Breaking Words into Sounds [M]	Split a word into every separate sound.
Taking a Sound Away [M]	Say a word again with one sound removed.
Changing One Sound [M]	Swap one sound for another to make a new word.
Words That Begin Alike [E]	Group words by their beginning sound.

Phonics: Letters, Sounds & Short Vowels · 6 topics

Capital and Lowercase Letters [E]	Match every capital letter to its lowercase partner.
Letter Sounds [E]	Say the sound each letter stands for.
Short Vowel Sounds [E]	Hear and write the five short vowel sounds.
Reading Short Words [M]	Sound out and read consonant-vowel-consonant words.
Spelling Short Words [M]	Write the letter for each sound you hear.
Word Families [E]	Read a whole set of words by learning one ending.

High-Frequency Words & Sight Vocabulary · 3 topics

Recognizing High-Frequency Words [E]	Know the most common words on sight, instantly.
High-Frequency Words in Sentences [E]	Use common words correctly inside a real sentence.
Heart Words [E]	Learn the tricky part of words phonics will not crack.

Print Concepts & Early Comprehension · 4 topics

How Books and Print Work [E]	Know the parts of a book and which way print goes.
Words in a Sentence [E]	Count the separate words in a written sentence.
Listening Comprehension [M]	Understand a story that is read out loud to you.
What Happened First, Next, Last [E]	Put the events of a story in the order they happened.

Sentence & Capitalization Basics · 5 topics

What Makes a Sentence [E]	Tell a complete sentence from a group of words.
Naming Part and Telling Part [E]	Split a sentence into who it is about and what happens.
Capital Letters and End Marks [E]	Start every sentence with a capital and end it with a mark.
Choosing the Right End Mark [E]	Use a period, question mark, or exclamation point.
Capitalizing Names [E]	Capitalize names, places, days, months, and the word I.

Phonics: Consonant Blends & Digraphs · 11 topics

Digraphs at the Start of a Word [E]	Read sh, ch, th, wh and ph at the beginning of a word.
Digraphs at the End of a Word [E]	Read sh, ch, th, ck and ng at the end of a word.
Counting Sounds, Not Letters [M]	Count the sounds in a word that contains a digraph.
ph Says /f/ [E]	Read ph as the f sound.
Blends at the Start of a Word [M]	Read two and three consonants blended together at the start of a word.
Blends at the End of a Word [M]	Read blends like -nd, -mp, -st and -nk at the end of a word.
Three-Letter Blends [M]	Read str, spr, scr, thr and spl.
Blend or Digraph? [M]	Tell a blend from a digraph by listening to the sounds.
Reading Blend and Digraph Words [M]	Sound out and read a word containing a blend or a digraph.
Spelling Blends and Digraphs [M]	Write the right letters for a blend or digraph you hear.
-ng and -nk [M]	Hear the difference between the endings in ring and rink.

Phonics: Silent-e & Long Vowels · 8 topics

Long Vowel Sounds [E]	Hear a vowel saying its own name.
One Letter Changes the Word [M]	Add or remove a silent e and read the new word.
Short Vowel or Long Vowel? [M]	Decide from the spelling whether a vowel is short or long.
Reading Silent-e Words [M]	Read a silent-e word accurately, without dropping the e.
Spelling with Silent e [M]	Decide whether a word needs a silent e at the end.
Open Syllables: go, he, my [M]	Read a long vowel that got that way by ending the word.
The Silent e Makes No Sound [M]	Count the sounds in a silent-e word without counting the e.
When Silent e Breaks the Rule [M]	Know the common words where a final e does not make the vowel long.

Endings, Plurals & Contractions · 9 topics

More Than One: Adding -s [M]	Make a naming word mean more than one by adding -s.
When a Word Hisses: Adding -es [M]	Add -es to words that end in s, x, z, ch, or sh.
Words That End in y [M]	Decide whether a y changes to i by looking at the letter before it.
Words That End in f or fe [M]	Change f to v before the plural ending on the words that take it.
Plurals That Do Not Take an Ending [M]	Use the plural of words that change instead of adding -s.
The -s That Means One, Not Many [H]	Tell a plural -s on a naming word from a verb -s that marks one doer.
Adding -ed and -ing [H]	Apply the doubling, drop-e and y-to-i rules when an ending goes on.
Two Words Made Into One [H]	Match a contraction to the two words it stands for, both ways.
Where the Apostrophe Goes [H]	Place the apostrophe exactly where the missing letters used to be.

Word Relationships: Synonyms, Antonyms & Categories · 8 topics

Words That Go Together [M]	Spot the word that belongs with a group, and the word that does not.
Naming the Group [M]	Give a group of words the name that covers all of them.
Parts and Wholes [M]	Tell a piece of something from one kind of something.
Words That Mean Almost the Same [M]	Find a word that means nearly the same as another word.
Words That Mean the Opposite [M]	Find the word that means the opposite of another word.
How Two Words Go Together [H]	Name the relationship between a pair of words.
Some Words Are Stronger [M]	Put words with the same meaning in order of how strong they are.
Choosing the Word That Fits [H]	Choose the word whose strength matches what the sentence says.

Story Basics: Character, Setting & Events · 8 topics

Who the Story Is About [E]	Name the characters in a story and say what one of them is like.
Where the Story Happens [M]	Name the place a story happens, and say why that place matters.
When the Story Happens [M]	Say what time of day, day of the week, or season a story happens in.
How a Character Feels [M]	Name a feeling a story shows through what a character does.
What a Character Wants [M]	Say what a character is trying to get or trying to do.
What Happens in the Story [M]	Pick out the things that happen, and which one matters most.
Why It Happened [M]	Explain why something in a story happened, using the story.
Character, Setting, or Event? [M]	Sort a piece of a story into character, setting, or event.

Retelling, Sequence & Summary · 7 topics

Who the Story Is About [E]	Name the character a story follows.
First, Next, and Last [M]	Say what happened first, what came in between, and what came last.
Putting the Whole Story in Order [M]	Arrange all the events of a story from beginning to end.
Finding the Problem [M]	Name what goes wrong in a story.
Finding the Solution [M]	Say how a story's problem gets resolved.
Summarizing a Story [H]	Retell a story keeping only what matters.
Knowing What to Leave Out [H]	Spot the detail a summary does not need.

Nonfiction Basics: Topic & Key Details · 7 topics

What the Whole Text Is About [M]	Say in a few words what a whole true text is about.
Key Details You Can Point To [M]	Find a fact the text really states, and point to where it says so.
Questions a Text Can Answer [M]	Tell which questions a text answers and which ones it never touches.
New Words in a True Text [M]	Work out what a new word means from the sentences around it.
Titles, Labels, and Captions [M]	Use the title, labels, captions, and contents page to find what you need.
Two Facts That Go Together [M]	Say how one fact in a text leads to another.
Which Fact Matters Most [M]	Choose the facts worth telling back and leave the rest out.

Text Features & Graphics · 8 topics

What a Heading Promises [M]	Use a title or a heading to say what a part of a page will be about.
Finding the Page You Need [M]	Use a contents page, an index, and headings to find a fact fast.
Bold Words and the Glossary [M]	Notice a word printed in bold and look it up where the book keeps meanings.
The Words Under a Picture [M]	Read a caption for what it adds to the picture and to the text.
Reading a Labeled Diagram [M]	Follow labels and arrows to read a drawing that names its own parts.
Reading a Chart [M]	Read across a row and up a column, and name what the numbers leave out.
Reading a Map and Its Key [M]	Use a key, a compass rose, and a scale to read what a map is showing.
Why the Author Put It There [M]	Say what a text feature does that the sentences alone could not do.

Nouns & Verbs · 8 topics

What a Noun Is [E]	Name the words that stand for a person, place, or thing.
Common Nouns and Proper Nouns [M]	Tell a general noun from the name of one particular thing.
What a Verb Is [E]	Name the words that tell what someone does.
Finding the Verb in a Sentence [M]	Pick out the verb inside a whole sentence.
Verbs That Do Not Show Action [M]	Find is, are, was and were doing a verb's job.
One Word, Two Jobs [M]	Decide whether a word is a noun or a verb from the sentence it is in.
Making the Verb Match [M]	Choose a verb form that matches one thing or many things.
Finding Both Parts [M]	Pick out the noun and the verb in the same sentence.

Writing Strong Sentences · 7 topics

Knowing When You Have a Sentence [M]	Tell a finished sentence from a piece of one.
Saying More Than the Bare Fact [M]	Add detail that answers a question a reader would ask.
Verbs That Do the Work [M]	Choose a verb precise enough to replace a description.
Naming the Thing Exactly [M]	Replace a category word with the actual thing.
Joining Two Sentences [M]	Put two related sentences together without making a run-on.
Choosing the Right Joining Word [M]	Pick the joining word that states the real relationship.
Not Starting Every Sentence the Same Way [H]	Notice a repeated opening and rewrite one to break it.

Reading Fluency & Prosody · 8 topics

What the End Mark Tells Your Voice [M]	Read a line the way its end mark says to read it.
Reading in Groups, Not One Word at a Time [M]	Group the words in a line the way they belong before you read it aloud.
Where the Marks Say Pause [M]	Pause where a comma is and stop where an end mark is, and nowhere else.
The Word You Lean On [H]	Choose which word to stress, and know what stressing it tells a listener.
Reading a Character's Voice [H]	Say only the quoted words in the character's voice, the way the tag says.
A Line Is Not a Sentence [H]	Read a poem by its punctuation instead of stopping at every line break.
Catching Yourself and Going Back [H]	Notice when what you read stopped making sense, and find the word to fix.
What Smooth Reading Is Made Of [H]	Name the five parts of fluent reading and tell which one a reader missed.

Grade 1 Reading Workshop · 8 topics

Who It Is About, Where, and When [M]	Name the person a text follows, the place it happens, and the time - even when the text never says them out loud.
What Happened First, Next, and Last [M]	Keep events in the order they happened, even when the text mentions them in a different order.
The Problem and How It Gets Fixed [M]	Name what is standing in a character's way, and name what finally moves it.
How Someone Feels, and How You Know [M]	Name a character's feeling from what the text shows, and notice when the feeling changes.
What the Whole Text Is About [M]	Say what a whole text is about instead of naming one detail from inside it.
Key Details, and the One That Proves It [M]	Go back and find the small fact a question asks for, then learn to pick the part of a text that proves a claim.
Why It Happened, and Why the Writer Said It [H]	Give the reason something happened, say why the writer put a part in, and use a reason the text gave you on a case it never mentioned.
A New Word or Phrase You Can Work Out [H]	Work out an unknown word - or a whole phrase - from the sentences around it instead of stopping.

Prerequisite material - taught automatically when the diagnostic finds gaps

Context Clues (Grades 2-3) · 1 topics

When the Sentence Just Tells You

Find a word's meaning written into the sentence itself.

Main Idea & Supporting Details · 3 topics

Topic or Main Idea?	Tell what a text is about from what it says about it.
Finding the Main Idea	Say in one sentence what a whole text is telling you.
Details That Back It Up	Find the fact in a text that supports a particular idea.

Sentence Types, Fragments & Run-Ons · 2 topics

Spotting a Fragment	Tell when a group of words stops before it is a sentence.
Spotting a Run-On	Notice when two sentences have been jammed into one.

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