Lesson 1 is designed to be easy. If your student hesitates or struggles over the words in Lesson 1, discontinue this lesson and begin instead with Lesson A of the Pre-Unit. The Pre-Unit provides coaching in the sounds that letters make. The teaching protocol is the same for all of the lessons in this book. The procedure consists of four steps:

Step 1: Read. The first step involves having your student read aloud all of the words in a word list, starting with Roman numeral I. Be sure your student understands that, in English, WE ALWAYS READ FROM LEFT TO RIGHT! Point a sharpened pencil at the left side of each word and keep the pencil tip there until your student has read the word correctly. Pencil pointing is a non-verbal, positive way of prompting focus, controlling the pace of the lesson, and diplomatically signaling when a pronunciation must be corrected. You have the option of pointing the pencil tip at any letter or letters that your student is misreading. For example, if your student reads ran but the printed word is ram, you may want to position the pencil tip at the m. Certainly, offer verbal guidance when necessary, but do keep in mind that learners need time to process information and make their own corrections.

Step 2: Discuss word meanings. Check to be sure that your student knows the meaning of each word. Try these suggestions to test for comprehension:

• Ask what the word means “What does the word tat mean?”
• Use the word in a sentence “One way to make lace is to tat.”
• Tell the meaning “If one wants to make lace, one usually learns to tat.”
• Point to an object “This is lace made by someone who knows how to tat.”
• Illustrate with action “See how I am making this lace? It’s called tatting.”
• Look it up in a dictionary “One way of forming thread into lace is to tat.”

Establish the habit of reading for meaning. Comprehension must be insisted upon, beginning with the very first word.

Step 3: Spell. Dictate (call out) the words of a word list and have your student spell them on notebook paper. Be sure that he writes from left to right. (Cursive writing allows no other direction.) You have the option of testing your pupil per word, at the end of every list, or at the end of the full lesson. Allow him adequate time to correct a misspelled word before you move to the next spelling word. This spares your student from later having to unlearn an error. Don’t move on to the next list or lesson until your student knows how to accurately spell each word.

Step 4: Mark the completion chart. At the commencement of these lessons, you will have selected a progress (completion) chart from the options found here. You will use the chart to track lessons. Be sure to update the chart before you leave your session.