Caregiver Letter

Grade K • Unit 3

Partnership between schools and caregivers is essential for your child’s education.
As a caregiver, you are an important resource. Your continuing support of literacy development
throughout elementary school has positive effects on your child’s reading ability. These tips provide
information and ideas to help extend foundational learning at home.

Unit Summary
In this unit, your child will identify and say the beginning sounds and final sounds of simple words. They will
learn to orally delete the beginning sounds of words, such as taking the c sound from cat to say at. Your
child will also learn to identify the middle sound of simple words, like tag. They will learn to read words with
the phonograms, or sounds, -in,-am, -ip, -op, -ug, and -ag, such as pin, yam, tip, pop, rug, and tag.

Module Skills and Connected Text

Module 1: Introduce consonants k, v, and y. Introduce that the letter y can be a vowel, such as in fly, or a
consonant, such as in yell. Read words with the phonograms, -in and -am, such as bin and ram.
High-Frequency Words: can, ran, said
Module 2: Introduce consonants q(u), x, and z. Introduce that the letter x can have different sounds, such
as in xylophone, box, and x-ray. Read words with the phonograms, -ip and -op, such as zip and hop.
High-Frequency Words: and, hot, not, top, you
Module 3: Introduce consonants g and c. Introduce that the letters g and c have hard sounds, such as
gum and cap, and soft sounds, such as gem and city. Read words with the phonograms, -ug and -ag, such
as hug and bag.
High-Frequency Words: is, was, us
Module 4: Review consonants introduced earlier in the unit, as well as read words with the phonograms,
-in, -am, -ip, -op, -ug, and -ag, such as tin, ham, yip, top, bug, and rag.
High-Frequency Words: review all words listed above

Caregiver Tips for the Unit

• Hear and recognize that words are made up of sounds: Children can identify the beginning, final, and
middle sounds in simple words. Have your child read simple words with letters learned, such as nap, tap,
pat, mat, sit, sip, did, sad, pot, and pod, and tell you the beginning, final, and middle sounds in the words.
• Look for and play games with patterns: Have children draw pictures for words with hard and soft g and
c sounds. For example, draw a giraffe for the soft g sound and a piece of gum for the hard g sound.
• Practice skills in connected text: This unit does not include connected text, but there are many ways to
practice skills in text. Ask your child to point to words in text, like printed advertisements or books, that
include words with the letter y as a consonant and as a vowel sound and high-frequency words.
• Practice high-frequency words: Using the unit high-frequency word flash cards, practice reading and
writing the words with your child.
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