Word Warm-ups Live is an explicit and systematic phonics program with audio-supported lessons, which includes support in fluency, spelling, and phonemic awareness. Word Warm-ups Live consists of three levels. Level 1 provides nine sections with six to nine exercises in each section covering specific English phonics patterns, including long and short vowels, vowels with the consonant r, advanced vowel sounds, consonant blends and digraphs, soft sounds of c and g, and silent consonants. There are 69 total exercises in Level 1. Level 2 contains 68 exercises in 8 sections, focusing on two-syllable words, and Level 3 consists of 48 exercises in 7 sections, focusing on multisyllabic words. A scope and sequence for Word Warm-ups Live is found at: Word Warm-ups Live Scope and Sequence by Level.

Students are initially placed by their teacher within a particular level and section based on the results of the Word Warm-ups Live Phonics Assessment. Within each lesson, the narrator guides students through a series of highly structured steps to scaffold knowledge and skills:

Getting Started

1. Introduction: a narrated introduction to the featured sound, syllable, or affix.
2. Select an Exercise: The student clicks an exercise to work on.

Steps for Word-List Exercises

3. Look, Listen, and Respond: a multisensory step where a student responds to sounds, images, and text to segment and then read several words along with the narrator, learning to decode the featured sound or phonics pattern through instruction and teacher modeling.

4. Decode & Read Along: a student develops decoding skills by reading through a word list consisting of words with the lesson’s featured phonics pattern. The program provides teacher modeling through audio narration and a decoding animation for each word in the list.

5. Practice Word List: a student proceeds with a timed practice of the word list. The narrator instructs students to click any word they don’t know to have it read to them. This step is repeated until the student can read the list independently and at the goal rate (goal rate is established by teacher prior to beginning lesson, based on earlier assessment and monitoring).

6. Spelling: a student reinforces new phonics skills through encoding five words containing the featured phonics pattern.

7. Pass the Word List: the teacher listens to the student read the word list, providing immediate feedback about rate and pronunciation. The teacher and student review the student’s work, and if necessary, teacher assigns remedial work based on student performance.

Steps for Story Exercises
3. Read Along: The student reads the story along with an audio recording for a predetermined number of times, vocalizing quietly with the narration. Stories in Word Warm-ups Live use the phonics patterns taught in the same section. This step helps students review the patterns and practice difficult words. It encourages proper pronunciation, expression, and phrasing.

4. Practice the Story: The student practices reading the whole story, without audio support, several times until they can read it accurately. Students are encouraged to read carefully in order to answer the Quick Quiz about the story in the next step. As they read, they again encounter the phonics patterns from the current section in the story text.

5. Quick Quiz: The student answers a comprehension question as they choose the correct word for each blank in the question’s text.
6. Pass the Story: The student reads the story to the teacher and then they review the results together. Based on the teacher’s expectations, they will choose either Exceed expectations, Met expectations, or Did not meet expectations. To pass, the student must have Exceeded or Met expectations and answered all Quick Quiz questions correctly.
While waiting for their teacher, students play Phontastic, a word game that includes a variety of multiple-choice questions involving phonics patterns. Students interact with words, images, and sounds to answer each question. Phontastic questions include the phonics patterns from the student’s current section in Word Warm-ups Live.

For more information about the development of this program, please see the Word Warm-ups Rationale and Research white paper.

Word Warm-ups Live is a component of Read Live and cannot be purchased separately from a Read Live Subscription. Read Live is an online platform purchased as individual licenses for a 12-month subscription.