Some people insist on teaching through the Bob Books with a sight word method. I, on the other hand, am emphasizing the phonics approach. I try very hard not to do sight words because I believe that English makes a lot of sense, and our students deserve to understand that from the very beginning.

The wonderful thing about Bob Books is that they lend themselves to the phonics approach, only introducing a few sounds in each book. This makes them perfect for our purposes.

So here are the lessons:

Lesson One

• Introduce new sounds: c, d
• Build some words and practice sounding them out: cat, and, mad, Mac
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 1, Book 2 (“Sam”) pp. 1-3

My binder card looked like this:

Lesson Two

• Introduce new word: O.K.
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 1, Book 2 (“Sam”) pp. 4-ff

I did not make a binder card for the word O.K. I have in the past for other students, and if you think your student needs it, make one! But this student totally got reading the initials as letters, so I felt I didn’t need to ask him to review it.

Lesson Three

• Build some words with the sounds you’ve already taught: at, mat, sat, cat
• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 1, Book 2 (“Sam”) pp. 1-4

Lesson Four

• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Set 1, Book 2 (“Sam”) pp. 5-ff

And there you have it! Another book completed. Don’t forget to add the title to your student’s 100 Books Chart.