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SPIRE Lesson Procedures & Instructional Routines

Inside this article:

Step 1: Phonogram Drill 

 

  • Shuffle the cards.
  • Students provide letter name and sound for phonogram cards. (Cards may be named as a group in unison or one at a time progressing around the group.) 
  • If a student makes a mistake, correct and have him/her say the name and sound correctly.
  • Teacher explicitly provides explanation for new sounds introduced using the Key Concept Picture.
Step 1: Word Card Routines 
  • When beginning a new level of S.P.I.R.E., add 5 Red Sight Word Cards a week until all words have been introduced. 
  • When teaching the first Reinforcing Lesson for a concept, introduce all the Decodable 1 (green) or Decodable 2 (yellow) word cards for the concept. 
  • Continue to practice the Decodable 1 or Decodable 2 set of word cards in Step 1 of every lesson until students read the words with 80% accuracy


Step 2: Phonological Awareness 


  • Students are explicitly guided through a hierarchy of activities and respond to verbal questions and directions. 
  • Teacher follows written script for one or more of the following  activities: 

    • Rhyming 

    • Sound providing 

    • Sound Categorization 

    • Blending 

    • Segmenting 

    • Deletion and/or 

    • Substitution
Step 2: Phoneme Segmentation 

  • Students place six white and three green sound circles in the gray box at the top of the worksheet. 
  • Teacher orally says a word: “ ”  
  • Students tap/count the sounds in the word 
  • Students repeat word and place a sound circle on the line at the bottom for each sound in the word, using green circles for vowels and white circles for consonants. (brush: white white-green-white) 
  • Students touch each circle and say the sounds in the word slowly and then quickly blend the word. 
  • Teacher says, “Change to ” while touching old to new. Students repeat and make changes to word.
Step 3: Word Building- Magnetic Board
  • Teacher dictates word. 
  • Students count the sounds they hear. 
  • Students spell the word with the letter magnets making sure to use the appropriate magnet for vowel teams and patterns. 
  • Students point and say the sounds in the word slowly, sound by sound, then blend  the word quickly. 
  • Students replace the letter magnets or change one sound in the existing word  according to teacher directions. 
  • Teacher may ask students to use word in a sentence.
Step 3: Word Building- Phoneme/Grapheme Sheet 

  • Sound circles are placed in the gray box. 
  • Teacher dictates a word. 
  • Students repeat the word and count the sounds. 
  • Students place a sound circle in each sound box for the sounds in the word. 
  • Students point to the circles and say the sounds in the word. 
  • Students push up the circles and write the letter(s) that make the sounds in the  word.
Step 4: Word Decoding

  • Teacher directs student to look at the
  • Students look carefully at the vowels and patterns in the words and underline vowels and mark other patterns in the word they have learned (digraphs, vowel teams, and syllables).
  • Students read the words by saying the name of the vowel then the vowel sound and then decoding the word (ex: “i, /i/, ship,” “a, /a/, tack”, “a consonant e, /a/, lake.)
  • Vocabulary is discussed as needed, focusing on multi-meaning words, synonyms, homonyms,

Best Practices and Author’s Suggestion: Require students to read the word as follows: saying the name of the vowel, then the vowel sound, and finally decoding the word. (see bullet 3). This decoding strategy moves students away from glancing-and-guessing and increases accuracy.

Step 5: Pre-Reading Written Script
*script will vary depending on concept

Write the target word on the board.
  • This is the word. What is the word?
  • In the word, what letter says / /?
  • In the word, what two letters say / /?
  • In the word. what letter says / /?
  • In the word, what do the two letters      say?
  • In the word, what does the letter      say?
  • In the word, what does the letter  say?
  • How many sounds do you hear in the word?
  • Say____. Say____ again, but instead of / / say / /.
Step 6: Word Find and Sentence Reading (Introductory Lesson)

  • Students circle the words that have the target
  • Students may highlight the target sound in the
  • Each student says a word, discusses meaning, and uses the word in a Other students check the word off on their word find sheets.
  • Teacher writes sentences from Teacher’s Guide on the
  • Students read sentences and discuss

 Best Practices: Write sentences on the board (SMART Board, white board) to use with students during teacher-directed instruction. Then, direct students to their workbook to code words as needed. 

Step 6: Passage Reading and Comprehension (Reinforcing Lesson)
 

  • Teacher follows the script for explicit story comprehension.

  • Teacher and students fill out a comprehension graphic organizer together. (optional)

  • *Students reread the passage for (optional)
  • Students refer to reading passages when completing the workbook pages during independent activities.

Best Practices: To maximize time, the teacher fills out a class Graphic Organizer while students provide answers. The goal of Step 6 is to build students’ general understanding through oral discussion following reading of the text and deepen comprehension skills with use of the Graphic Organizer. 

Steps 7-10: Dictation
  • Students may complete five to ten
  • Students should write all patterns they have been introduced to that have a particular
  • Teacher led learning activity; this is not a daily spelling
  • Vocabulary and meaning are embedded into the dictation
Step 7: Sound Dictation

  • Teacher says: “What letter(s) says //.”
  • Students repeat sound, give letter
  • Students may trace letter in their
  • Students write letter, naming the letter as they
Step 8: Phonemic Awareness Pre-Spelling

*Be sure to follow the script

Teacher says:

  • Say ____.
  • What sound do you hear at the beginning of ____?
  • What vowel sound do you hear in ____?
  • What is the last sound you hear in ____?
  • How many sounds do you hear in ____?
Step 9: Spelling

  • Students may complete 5 to 10 examples
  • Teacher says the word and uses it in a sentence, pronounces word again
  • Students repeats word and sounds it loud
  • Students name letters to spell the word
  • Students write word, naming the letters as they write
  • Students read the word aloud (proofreading).
  • After entire spelling list is dictated, teacher goes back to the beginning of list and students reread all words.
Step 10: Sentence Dictation

  • Teacher says a sentence making a dash on the board as each word is said.
  • Student says the sentence as the teacher points to each dash
  • Student says the sentence again making a dash on the paper for each word.
  • Student points to each dash and says the sentence
  • Student writes the sentence saying each word aloud as it is written
  • Student rereads the sentence checking for errors
  • Errors are bracketed and the correction is written above/below the word.