Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill uses fun and engaging nursery rhymes to teach spelling skills and introduce new words. Nursery rhymes tell a story, helping students develop an understanding of simple narrative sequences and provide expanded opportunities for vocabulary development. Easy to say and easy to learn, nursery rhymes add an indispensable auditory component to this level.

Jack and Jill is designed to move your student from the Phonetic Stage into the Skill Development stage. This level capitalizes on the skill of phonemic awareness and builds the emerging reader’s skill of fluency using nursery rhymes. Rhymes give a student an enormous amount of wordplay and aid a student in distinguishing sounds that are similar but not exactly the same. They expand a student’s vocabulary as their reading confidence builds.

This level:

  • Uses a nursery rhyme theme to introduce words in an engaging yet meaningful format
  • Nursery rhymes introduce words and ideas that students might not otherwise hear and help students distinguish sounds that are similar, but not exactly the same. Easy to say and easy to learn, nursery rhymes add an indispensable auditory component during the Phonetic and Skill Development Stages of spelling

Is my child ready for Jack and Jill?

If you can answer “Yes” to all of these  questions, your student is ready to begin Jack and Jill:

If you answer “No” to any of the questions above, try the readiness guidelines for the previous level, Listen and Write.

Lessons contained in Jack and Jill

Lesson 4: Details in Print, Reading the Words Back, Short u

Activities Include:

  • Practice Writing Letters
  • Practice Writing Words From Dictation
  • Reading Words Aloud and Together

A Typical Week:

Part 1:

Student focus on one Rhyme per week using the following daily activities:

  • Read the Rhyme Together
  • Practice Writing Letters
  • Small Amount of Copywork from the Rhyme
  • Practice Writing Words From Dictation Using Letter Boxes

Part 2:

Days 1-3:

Parts A-C

  • Read the Rhyme Together
  • Mark Letter Patterns (Chunking)
  • Student Copies Passage for 10 Minutes and Chunks Their Work

Day 4:

Part D

  • Read the Rhyme Together
  • Mark Letter Patterns (Chunking)
  • Complete No Rules Day activity which is designed for creative self-expression to get students excited for the comfortable with writing

Day 5:

Part E

  • Read the Rhyme Together
  • Mark Letter Patterns (Chunking)
  • 10 Minute Dictation

Jack and Jill Set

Includes everything you need to move your student from the phonetic stage to the skill development stage of spelling, with 36 lessons of Jack and Jill:
  • Instructor’s Handbook
    • Introduction to the philosophy of Spelling You See
    • Getting Started guide
  • Student Pack
    • 2 Student Workbooks
    • Erasable colored pencils
    • Guide to Handwritin

Jack and Jill Individual Items

The Student Pack includes two Student Workbooks, a Guide to Handwriting, and a pack of erasable colored pencils. One daily lesson consists of two facing pages. Each of the 36 lessons is divided into five parts, A through E. Students and instructor read the week’s rhyme together. In Jack and Jill Student Workbook Part 1, students copy a short phrase or sentence and then fill in a set of letter boxes, focusing on short vowel sounds. Jack and Jill, Part 2 continues the nursery rhyme theme, but the student will begin to find vowel and consonant patterns in each passage (“chunking”), and also begin more extended copywork.
The Instructor’s Handbook contains an introduction to the philosophy behind Spelling You See and the five development stages of spelling. The Handbook also contains a “Getting Started” guide with an overview of the organization of the 36 lessons and information about the important skills and concepts that will be learned in this level. At the back of the Handbook there is more information about letter chunking, “no rule day”, dictation, answers to frequently asked questions, and a collection of helpful resources including passages for dictation.