First Grade

Training for First Grade Teachers

Johnny Can Spell

Learn how to integrate instruction and practice in phonemic awareness, phonetics, penmanship, and spelling, supporting development of encoding and decoding skills.
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Johnny Can Write

Learn how to integrate sentence writing, vocabulary building activities, and grammar instruction.
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How We Write

Learn how to use sentence writing in to teach anchor lessons about the writing process, the vocabulary of writers, and the skills for drafting, conferring, revising, and editing.
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Spell SMART

Instead of assigning word lists and testing words lists, teach students how to Think to Spell–a word analysis process that focuses on phonograms, syllables, morphemes, and rules of language.
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Sentences under Construction

Do not think about right or wrong; just play with sentences.  Zoom-in and zoom-out, creating long flowing sentences or very short skeleton sentences. Use puppets, sentence codes, and drama to understand the different kinds of sentences–
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More Training for First Grade Teachers

The Sounds and Symbols of English

Examine the basics of teaching systematic, explicit phonics with handwriting for a multi-sensory approach.
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Handwriting

Learn the basics to successfully teach students how to hold a pencil and how to form letters. Examine the habits of handwriting and ways to help students improve.
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Write with Color

Think out of the box. Using the five senses, think descriptively about common things and common places. Use these ideas to create a “color poem.”
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Products for First Grade Teachers

Johnny Can Spell Phonogram Card Set

A laminated, class-sized (5.5 x 8.5 inches) set of the 70 common phonograms. Front of card has large image of phonogram.
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Practicing the Phonograms with Alice Nine (Audio CD)

An audio CD designed to facilitate practice of the correct pronunciation of the isolated speech sounds associated with the 70 common phonograms.
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Johnny Can Spell Teacher’s Guide

A nongraded guide for the teaching of phonemic awareness, phonics, handwriting, and spelling in an integrated approach.
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Johnny Can Write Teacher’s Guide

A nongraded reference book for teaching word grammar (parts of speech), sentence grammar (sentence composition and fluency, sentence elements, punctuation), vocabulary (dictionary skills, word derivation, word relationships, multiple meanings).
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Johnny Can Spell/Write Lesson Planner, Book 1:1

Day by day guide for the first grade teacher, 1st semester. Provides 75 lessons (Lessons 1-75) that integrate phonemic awareness, phonics, handwriting, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, sentence composition.
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Johnny Can Spell/Write Lesson Planner, Book 1:2

Day by day guide for first grade teacher, 2nd semester. Continues from Book 1:1. Provides 75 lessons (Lessons 76-150) that integrate phonemic awareness, phonics, handwriting, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and sentence composition.
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Alphabet Sounds Song with Tommy Turtle (Audio CD)

A song with a catchy melody. The song links — in alphabetical order — letter names to their common sounds.
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Johnny Can Spell Objectives in First Grade

The first grade student using Johnny Can Spell will learn…

  • Correct penmanship habits and proper use of tools
  • To form manuscript letters correctly
  • The names of letters
  • Capital and lower case correspondents
  • Alphabetical order
  • The common sounds of the alphabet phonograms
  • A few common spelling rules
  • Additional multi-letter phonograms beyond the alphabet letters
  • Over 450 high frequency, easy words

The first grade student using Johnny Can Spell will be able to…

  • Match capital and lower case correspondents
  • Alphabetize spelling words to any letter
  • Write phonograms from isolated dictation
  • Give sounds for phonograms in isolation
  • Recognize phonograms in printed text
  • Use phonograms to sound out new words in print, reading
  • Use phonograms to write new words, spelling
  • Count syllables in a word
  • Count sounds in a word or syllable
  • Count words in a sentence
  • Blend sounds into words he/she recognizes
  • Analyze words by syllables and sounds in order to write them, spelling
  • Learn how to sound out words in print, reading
  • Write words from dictation
  • To spell grade appropriate words correctly
Johnny Can Write Objectives in First Grade

The first grade student using Johnny Can Write will learn…

  • Common inflectional forms, -s and –es with nouns, -ed and –ing with verbs, -er and –est with adjectives
  • The forms of common irregular verbs, e.g., go, going, went, gone
  • What is a subject and what is a predicate
  • How to begin and end a written sentence
  • How to add descriptive words to a sentence

The first grade student using Johnny Can Write will be able to…

  • To identify and create rhyming and alliteration patterns
  • Identify common homophones, homographs, antonyms, and synonyms
  • Use words with multiple meanings
  • Identify the beginning and end of a sentence in print
  • Write complete sentences
  • Classify sentences as declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory
  • Use descriptive words and phrases to answer the adjective questions—Which one? What kind? How many?
  • Use descriptive words and phrases to answer the adverb questions—How? When? Where? Why?