The Code Is The Key - Year 1

Unlock structured, evidence-proven literacy instruction with The Code Is The Key! 

Dive into engaging and effective teaching with fast-paced lessons that target foundational skills by teaching the alphabetic code from speech-to-sounds-to-print. The Code Is The Key honours the language students bring to the classroom and makes the alphabetic code easier for them to learn by working from the known (words) to the unknown (letters). 

Research aligned and backed by evidence, our approach accelerates achievement for all. Comprehensive teacher support is built in to elevate student learning. Join us on the journey to literacy success, where no child—or teacher—is left behind.

The Code Is the Key for Year 1 teaches students to pronounce, isolate, and pronounce all the sounds of English. It does this by using students' oral language to teach phonological and phonemeic awreness skills, to introduce all the sounds of English, and to expose students to different ways of writing each sound.

Components include:

• Lesson Book
  150 10-minute lessons with engaging, game-like instruction plus daily routines, learning centres, and practice activities

• Practice Activities
  Downloadable activities for additional student practise that support the skills taught in each lesson

• Code Cards
  100 durable, double-sided cards with the sound animal on one side and a grapheme on the other

• Sound Hunts
  40 vibrant illustrations, where students hunt for words containing the focus sound

• Sound Rhymes 
  45 catchy rhymes for reading aloud, with the focus sound in different positions

• Sounds and Words Cards
  One A2-size card and 25 student cards containing animal names that create mnemonic links between sounds and graphemes

• Class Sound Dictionary
  Large-format book for recording sounds, words, and graphemes (consumable)

• Elevate & Evaluate
  Professional development for teachers, valid and reliable (11) assessments and achievement expectations

The Code is the Key has its roots in research and is evidence-proven, showing its ability to accelerate literacy achievement.

Throughout the [Shine Literacy Project] extended study, the same pattern emerged. The evidence showed that regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or prior knowledge, this approach levelled the playing field and accelerated achievement for all students.

More Information and Samples