Smarty Ants is a program of Achieve3000 which can build foundational reading skills in an interactive and adaptive learning environment. This program is designed to build a love of reading for students in PreK-2. There will be a personal and guide which will lead students through animated lessons and activities while providing encouragement along the way.
Smarty Ants Lessons
Smarty Ants program is aimed for PreK to second grade. In the list below, you are able to see what the students will learn based on their class.
- PreK
Levels 1 – 2
There will be 19 lessons.
The things that students learn are Upper & Lower-case Letter Names and Simple Word Building.
- Kindergarten
Levels 3 – 6
There will be 37 lessons.
The things that students learn are Letter Sounds, CVC Words, Silent ‘e’, Consonant Blends, and Consonant Digraphs.
- First Grade
Levels 7 – 11
There will be 30 lessons.
The things that students learn are R-Controlled Vowels, Letter Combinations, Vowel Digraphs/ Diphthongs, Compound Words, Suffixes and Prefixes, and Pronouns and Possessives.
- Second Grade
Levels 12 – 18
There will be 27 lessons.
The things that students learn are Reading Comprehension and Oral Fluency, Authentic Literature from Candlewick Press, and Nonfiction Science Texts including Life Science, Earth Science and Physical Science.
What Does Smarty Ants Offer?
The existence of Smarty Ants is of course to help kids to learn. Here are Smarty Ants offers for you.
- Foundational Literacy to Last a Lifetime
Smarty Ants program is available not only in English but also in Spanish. In Smarty Ants, there are independent practice, foundational skills instruction, and embedded assessment which are combined in a single program with teacher supports. With Smarty Ants, students will be able to master complex phonics skills when they learn to decode phonemes and words and at the end they can read stories.
- Multisensory Learning for Every Students
Since students are still young, so they will learn about their world but through sensory exploration. They will also do that for language acquisition, especially for students who are struggling with dyslexia and other learning challenges. Students like singing, recording and listening to their own read aloud practice and develop fine motor skills when they follow Coach through their personalized reading adventures.
- Personalized and Supportive Pathways Develop Confidence and Skills
Students will start the journey of their reading by taking an adaptive assessment. It places students on their own personalized learning path. Students will start with explicit instruction and interactive teaching videos. They will be introduced to a new concepts and sounds before they are given rewards with the chance to work independently by playing a series of fun learning games. Do the students need additional support? When they need it, they do not need to be worried because there are opportunities for guided practice which are provided for them before they take an assessment. It is done to evaluate their skill and confidence skills.
- Dual and Spanish Language Instruction Right From the Beginning
As explained earlier that Smarty Ants is also available in Spanish. In the Spanish version, young learners will get foundational Spanish literacy learning in preschool through first grade. Students from every background will be able to enjoy singing songs and playing games. They can do that while supporting their Spanish literacy growth.
- Instructional Insights that Keep Teachers Informed
The progress of students can be easily monitored by teachers while they are in the classroom or when they have to teach remotely via reports that highlight specific skills that have completed by students and those that are still worked on by the students. There are Recommendations. It indicates how much time students need to ‘play’ every week to be able to reach their goals. Teachers will be able to save valuable lesson planning time by the help of lesson ideas for whole and small group instruction. Teachers also will be able to stay connected to their students even though there are the current challenges of balancing remote and onsite instruction.
- Learning to Read and then Reading to Learn
If you are an educator who uses Smarty Ants, you will get complimentary access to a variety of lessons in Achieve3000 Literacy. The lessons are created to be able to help young readers who have mastered their foundational and decoding skills transition to sharpen their reading comprehension. If the students graduate from Smarty Ants, they will be able to transition easily to expanding their vocabulary and getting content-area knowledge through their fiction and non-fiction reading assignments in Achieve3000 Literacy.
In the Smarty Ants page, there are free printable packets that you are able to download. These mini-printable versions of Smarty Ants lessons are created by Achieve3000 for families and educators in response to the corona virus pandemic. So, families and educators are still able to enjoy the lessons with their students while they are at home. There, you are able to download these lessons.
- Practice Pages for PreK (Levels 1-2)
Level 1: Uppercase Letters
Level 2: Lowercase Letters
PreK Answer Keys
- Practice Pages for Kindergarten (Levels 3-6)
Levels 3: CVC Words
Level 4: Silent ‘e’ Words
Level 5: Consonant Blends
Level 6: Consonant Digraphs
Kindergarten Answer Keys
- Practice Pages for Grade 1 (Levels 7-11)
Level 7: R-Controlled Vowels
Level 8: Word Families, Soft ‘c’ & ‘g’
Level 9: Vowel Patterns
Level 10: Multi-syllabic Words
Level 11: Possessives, Contractions & Pronouns
- Practice Pages for Grade 2 (Fiction)
Level 12: Houndsley and Catina
Level 14: Houndsley and Catina and the Birthday Surprise
Level 16: Houndsley and Catina and the Quiet Time
Level 18: Houndsley and Catina Plink and Plunk
- Practice Pages for Grade 2 (Science)
Level 13: Life Science
Level 15: Earth Science
Level 17: Physical Science
Besides, there are also the other resources that you are able to download for free including Hands On Activities, Coloring Sheet, Student Help Cards, Student Progress Chart and Award Certificates.
Just access Smarty Ants in Achieve3000 to get more information about the lessons and everything. If you need a demo about Smarty Ants or the other programs of Achieve3000, you are able to register by accessing Demo page. There, you can choose the schedule to watch the demo.
