Overview Of The Teaching Levels And Books In Sound City Reading

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Level One -
​Learning The Alphabet

Students learn to recognize the letters of the alphabet and give their sounds.  They practice tracing large and small letter patterns to learn the correct letter formation for each letter.  They do exercises with the teacher to develop oral blending and segmenting skills.  They become familiar with the concepts of beginning and ending sounds in words. ​ 

Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words

Students review the letters of the alphabet and their sounds.  They continue to practice letter formation by tracing large and small letters on lines paper.  Students at level two are expected to be able to write the letters independently, given the letter sounds.  Working with the teacher, students identify pictures and write the letter that shows the beginning or ending sound.  Students begin to spell simple short vowel words with plastic letters by saying the sounds in each word and placing the letters from left to right accordingly. 

Optional - To use to develop beginning and ending sound awareness with students who have not completed Learning The Alphabet, Books 1 and 2.

Level 3 - Short Vowel Words And Sentences

Students begin spelling and reading short vowel words. 
​They learn a few sight words (I, is, his, as, has, was, a, A) and begin reading sentences that contain only these sight words and short vowel words.

Kindergarten Level

First Grade Level

Short Vowel Review

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Level 4 -
​Phonics Patterns

 These books teach phonics patterns using word lists in which all of the words contain the same new pattern.  Students spell and read the words to become familiar with the new pattern, and then apply their knowledge by reading practice stories that contain the new patterns.  After students have learned enough patterns, they will also be able to read several "beginning to read" children's books, which are listed in the sequence charts.  There are three different sets of books that can be used at level four.  Each set teaches the same phonics patterns in the same sequence and uses the same set of practice stories. 

Choose one set of books to study.  If desired, two sets may be used together to compliment each other.  All three sets teach the same phonics patterns in the same order, and they include the same illustrated practice stories.  However, each set is printed in a different format.
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​      PHONETIC WORDS AND STORIES
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This set of eight books has extra-large print.  The vowels and vowel patterns are printed in specific colors to indicate the vowel sound and to make the vowels stand out in words.  Students do two oral blending exercises with the teacher to prepare them to read each set of ten new words.  Then students read the words and find the matching picture.  Students practice reading words with new and review patterns as they read easy decodable practice stories. 

Best for beginning readers and older readers who need to develop word recognition skills.

​            BASIC PHONICS PATTERNS
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This set of eight books is printed in all black print.  For most of the phonics patterns, there are more than ten words in each new word list.  Each word is shown with a small picture to show its meaning.  In addition to the word lists and practice stories, these books also include a set of illustrated sentences for extra practice with each new pattern. 
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These books can be used with beginners or as a review with students who are already reading.

​          KNOW THE PHONETIC CODE
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In this set of books, the eight phonics patterns books at level four are divided into three separate volumes.  The word lists contain both one and two-syllable words.  The words are not illustrated.  The same set of illustrated practice stories are included. 


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These books can be used with younger students as an extra challenge and as a review with older students.

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This workbook can be used with books one through four of any of the Level Four books shown above.

This workbook can be used with books five through eight of any of the Level Four books shown above.

This book contains word lists only for all of the phonics patterns taught at Level Four. The lists are presented in the same order in which the phonics patterns are introduced in the Level Four books. The vowels and vowel patterns are printed in specific colors as a cue to the correct sound.

Level 5 -
​Advanced Phonics Patterns

At Level 5, students read lists of words with advanced consonant patterns, with a few review vowel patterns, and with advanced ending syllables.  Each new set of words introduces one new pattern.  After studying the words, students read a set of sentences which contain words with the new pattern.  As they work through this book, students will be able to read selected children's picture books, available from bookstores or local libraries.  The books are arranged so that all the stories are decodable by the students.  They will have studied all of the phonics patterns and syllable patterns needed to read each book with confidence.