Code Reviews with Target Codes — Quick Reference

Purpose: daily review of taught codes to ensure retention and automatic pattern recognition in reading and spelling.
Method: hold up code cards, students say the code and its sounds; teacher models or prompts; aim for very quick, familiar responses.
Focus: reinforce mapping from codes to sounds, with emphasis on starting sounds for some patterns and handling increasingly complex, multi-letter codes.

Daily Review: revisit previously read/spelled words to prevent forgetting; covers core patterns (e.g., vowel-consonant, CV C) and sometimes include letters like X.
Practice: continuous blending; coral reading (all read together); use a pointer or finger to guide
New Weird Words: irregular words introduced to practice before owning the full pattern; highlight what is unusual about them (e.g., Y representing a different sound).
Example approach: teacher reads, students read, and the class highlights the irregularities to learn alternative spellings.

After priming with codes, students practice reading words using those codes.
Teaching cue: keep voice in continuous blending to map sounds to letters smoothly.
Coral reading: read together with the group to reinforce decoding patterns.
Presenter view shows the teacher-read words while students see only the prompts.

Process: teacher reads the word; students finger-spell, say the sounds, write the codes, and then read the word.
Classroom routine: on whiteboards, students spell and then read back; use a hover cue to prepare responses (3-2-1 chin it).
Hover-3-2-1-CHIN-IT: students hover their boards, teacher gives the cue, students respond simultaneously; then check with the next slide.
“Tick it or fix it”: students check their work; correct errors as needed (e.g., D vs B differences).
Error-correction tips: explain D vs B formation and starting shapes (circle vs straight line) to reduce mis-spellings.
Clear your board and park your board: routine to prepare for the next word.

Structure: new learning segments followed by practice with previously taught patterns.
New learning: introduce codes and then practice reading words with those codes.
Examples: practice reading and spelling with younger learners and familiarization with older patterns.
Weird words (double-O): introduce irregular spellings (e.g., zoom, spoon) where the pattern isn’t yet learned; use letter names to spell these words when necessary.
Double-O focus: emphasize the two O’s when reading and spelling, e.g., zoom vs spoon, highlighting that two letters produce a longer vowel sound.
Additional year-appropriate examples: words like up, Yes, and other short words to demonstrate how codes map to sounds and how to spell them.

When introducing new weird words: teacher says the word, students read it, then spell it on whiteboards.
Example approach: by, my, why; discuss how Y can contribute a different sound (YEIE) in certain words.
Spelling demonstration: teacher shows how to spell a word from its sounds using the corresponding codes; students write and then read to verify.
Revisit routine: after new words, circle back to review existing codes to maintain fluency and accuracy.

Tools: present code cards, whiteboards, and a projector/presenter view to guide instruction.
Core routines to internalize:
- Quick daily code review for retention.
- Coral reading and continuous blending for fluency.
- Finger spelling, sounds mapping, and writing the corresponding codes.
- Hover-3-2-1-Chin-It for rapid, simultaneous responses.
- Tick it or fix it for immediate feedback and error correction.
- Clear and park boards to ready students for the next item.
Key ideas: start with known patterns, introduce irregulars (weird words) early to build reading/spelling flexibility, and gradually expand into more complex codes while maintaining rapid review cycles.

Coral reading = everyone reads together.
Continuous blending = keep sounds flowing to form the word.
Hover-3-2-1-Chin-It = prepare, respond, then confirm quickly.
Tick it or fix it = self-check and teacher-check for accuracy.
Weird words = irregular spellings taught before full pattern mastery.
Year 1 extension = introduce complex patterns like double-O and corresponding spellings (e.g., zoom, spoon).