If you are currently using SIPPS Third or Fourth Editions, your transition to the new edition will be seamless as much remains the same. However, in SIPPS, Fifth Edition you will notice several updates to support your instruction, including the following.
Sight Words and High-Frequency Words
The term sight words has been updated. In the past, the terms sight words and high-frequency words were used interchangeably, but as we have continued to refine our knowledge and our terminology, we are now using the term high-frequency words to describe the words that are used most commonly in English written text. The term sight words has been refined to mean all words that are able to be read by sight. Proficient readers turn most words into sight words, rendering our previous usage of that term outdated.
High-Frequency Words Scope and Sequence
The high-frequency words scope and sequence has been adjusted to help support the mastery of foundational skills in Beginning Level. The high-frequency words are introduced at a slower pace, which results in Beginning having six fewer high-frequency words than previous editions.
Sound-Out Support
The read-spell-read routine for introducing high-frequency words has been enhanced to include sound-out support. This promotes orthographic mapping by calling attention to both the sounds and letter patterns in high-frequency words.
Sounds in the words that are regular and have been taught are shown in the lesson margin and on the educator-facing side of the high-frequency word cards to support your instruction.
Letter Formation
In Beginning Level, stroke sequences for letter formation have been added to the guided spelling steps when new spelling-sounds are introduced. The stroke sequences can also be found in the “Instructional Support” section of the Implementation Handbook.
The stroke sequences are aligned to those in Being a Reader and Being a Writer to help support instruction across tiers.
Language Support
At the beginning of certain lessons you will find new Lesson Notes that provide specific suggestions on how to adjust or enhance instruction to support learners with language-related difficulties.
Articulatory (pronunciation) supports are also included to help newcomer language learners in producing sounds not found in their first language.
To learn more, read Support for English Learners in the “Program Overview” section of the Implementation Handbook.
Challenge Vocabulary
Challenge Vocabulary is a new supplement that consists of morphemic analysis activities based on the meaningful word parts taught in Challenge Level. This supplement also includes practice reading passages that use the word parts that have been taught. Each Challenge Vocabulary lesson should take 15–20 minutes and should be taught after the corresponding lesson in Challenge Level.
Note: The instruction in Challenge Vocabulary overlaps significantly with instruction in the grades 2–5 Word Study strand in Collaborative Classroom’s Being a Reader program. If your students are already receiving Word Study instruction in Being a Reader, we do not recommend using Challenge Vocabulary.
To learn more about the Challenge Vocabulary component, complete the Challenge Vocabulary activity in the Teacher Learning System (coming soon): (Learning Portal > Professional Learning tab > Teacher Learning System > SIPPS > Challenge Level > Challenge Vocabulary).
Decodable Texts
Some of the decodable texts in Beginning Level and SIPPS Plus have been updated.
In Beginning Level, the illustrations in the Little Books have been updated and two new recurring characters have been added to the stories.
In SIPPS Plus, seven of the selections in Dreams on Wheels have been replaced with new selections. There are also 22 new review selections that can be used for reteaching or for additional reading practice. Instructional support for using these review selections can be found in Appendix E of the Plus Teacher’s Manual.
Assessments
SIPPS, Fifth Edition includes three different grade-band-specific Placement Assessments (the Third and Fourth Editions included two grade-band-specific Placement Assessments). Having a separate Placement Assessment for grades K–1 and grades 2–3 will allow you to more easily place students into the appropriate level and lesson.
- The “K–1 Placement Assessment” places students in Beginning and Extension Levels.
- The “2–3 Placement Assessment” places students in Beginning, Extension, and Challenge Levels.
- The “4–12 Placement Assessment” places older students in SIPPS Plus and Challenge Level.
The Placement Assessments, Mastery Tests, and Progress Assessments can be found on the Learning Portal and via ClassView Pro.
You can learn more about the assessments in SIPPS, Fifth Edition in the “Assessment and Placement” section of the Implementation Handbook.
Implementation Handbook
The SIPPS Implementation Handbook comes with your program materials and can also be accessed digitally on the Learning Portal. It includes essential information that was previously included in the Teacher’s Manual Introductions and Appendices in earlier editions. There is one handbook for all four levels of the program. It includes the following sections:
- Program Overview
- Theory and Research
- Scope and Sequence
- Assessment and Placement
- Instructional Support
You will want to refer to the Handbook often as it includes support and resources for instruction.
Lesson PDFs
The Lesson PDFs are still on the Learning Portal, but are now grouped by Mastery Test or Progress Assessment to allow you to print these in bulk. To access the Lesson PDFs, go to the Level chiclet, then the Lesson PDFs tab.
Word Counts
Word counts are now provided for the selections in Extension Lessons R1–24 and all the lessons of SIPPS Plus. The word counts are printed in the Teacher's Manuals where the text is reproduced.
Note: We do not provide word counts for the second half of SIPPS Extension or SIPPS Challenge because students are reading trade books at those points. We also do not provide word counts for the Little Books in SIPPS Beginning since we do not recommend monitoring rate in that level.