Lesson One for each unit features a picture walk of the new book. Following the picture walk, teachers read the book aloud twice. Response activities focus on key story elements, such as main character, setting, and main idea.

Lessons Two, Three, and Four focus on introducing one of the three signs from the unit’s book. Students learn to identify the sign by color and any pictures on the sign. Then they learn the sign’s meaning. Kinesthetic actions for each sign’s meaning and student role-plays are included in each scripted lesson.

Lesson Five focuses on reviewing the three signs from the unit. Hands-on activities using the Student Sign Strip and Student Signs allow students to demonstrate sign comprehension.

Lesson Six focuses on the unit’s book. Language arts standards, including print concepts, main character, and main idea, are all addressed in a page-by-page scripted guided reading lesson.

Lesson Seven includes retelling the story using the Retell Mat and three Sequence Cards. Students also complete their first two Activity Sheets, retelling the story and answering comprehension questions that feature SymbolStix®.

Lesson Eight helps students generalize the unit’s signs in a setting other than the unit’s book. A full-color poster depicting a community scene incorporates the unit’s three signs. Activity Sheets further help students generalize the meaning of the signs.

The first part of Lesson Nine incorporates review of the current unit’s three signs as well as signs from previous units using posters and activity sheets.

The second part of Lesson Nine provides suggestions for a community-based instruction activity involving the unit’s three signs. The class finds the three signs in the community and acts out each sign’s meaning in the real world.

Teachers assess both short- and long-term retention of the signs and the key elements of the book during Lesson Ten of each unit. Progress monitoring checklists are provided to record assessment results.