Overview
We use Scott Forseman and Open Court series.  I also incorporate The Four Blocks learning framework. 
Scott Foresman features two stories a week in which some of the following skills are taught:

Comprehension- A few of the concepts included are main idea, summarizing, drawing conclusions, cause and effect, and making judgments. 

Phonics & Word Study-  This teaches children how to decode and encode words.

Vocabulary-   I introduce new vocabulary words each week before we read the story.  This helps children develop vocabulary for their reading.  We use a lot of graphic organizers to help build the children's vocabulary to transfer over to their writing. 

Spelling-  words we need to be able to spell to use in our reading and  writing.  First graders are still developing their reading and writing skills so expect to see inventive  spelling. Each week our 10 spelling words are taken from the two stories we read. Being able to spell the words correctly aides the children in their writing

Writing- We use "Writer's Workshop" to teach the students writing. We focus on Writing routines provide modeled writing, purposes for writing, and penmanship.

Guided Reading Instruction: small groups of students read with me and each other to develop comprehension skills.
Self-Selected Reading: reading time for students to choose their own books using the "Just Right Book" method.
Word Work: written and oral practice with letters, word families, and spelling.
Our reading and language arts instruction is taught in The Four Block framework.
Reading Workshop- While I am meeting with small groups, the other children are participating " Workshop".  These are independent activities that reinforce our curriculum.

Word Families we use in 1st grade
These are the word families we use in 1st grade. They go along with our reading series and make up part of our weekly spelling list. Word families are groups of words that have a rhyme or pattern. They have the same kind of letters in them and a similar sound. Knowing word families help make reading and writing easy. For example: I tell the children "If I know at, then I know hat. If I know hat then I know bat. etc.

ack	ad	ag	ail	air	ake
back black crack pack quack rack sack snack stack track	bad dad glad had lad mad pad sad tad	bag drag flag gag lag nag tag wag	fail hail mail nail pail sail snail tail trail	air chair fair hair pair stair	bake brake cake fake flake lake make quake rake shake snake take wake

am	ame	an	and	ank	ap
clam ham jam ram Pam Sam slam	came game flame game name same shame tame	can Dan fan man ran Stan tan van	band expand hand land sand stand	bank blank drank plank prank rank sank tank thank yank	cap clap flap lap map nap rap strap tap wrap

art	ast	at	ate	aw	ay
cart part start tart	blast cast fast last past	bat cat chat fat flat hat mat pat rat sat that	ate crate date fate grate mate plate state	claw draw flaw jaw law paw raw saw straw thaw	away day hay lay may pay play pray say spray stay tray way

eat	ed	eet	en	est	et
beat cheat eat heat meat neat seat wheat	bed fed led red wed	feet fleet greet meet sheet sleet sweet	den hen men pen ten	best guest nest pest rest test vest west chest	bet get let met set wet yet

ice	ick	ide	ig	ight	ill
ice dice nice mice rice slice	brick chick flick kick lick pick sick stick trick thick quick	hide ride side slide wide	big dig fig pig twig wig	bright delight fight flight fright knight light might night right sight tight tonight	bill chill drill fill grill hill ill pill sill still thrill will

in	ine	ing	ip	it	oat
bin chin fin grin pin shin skin spin thin twin win	dine fine line mine nine pine shine spine vine	bring cling fling king ring sing sling spring sting string swing thing wing	chip dip flip hip lip rip ship skip slip tip trip	bit fit hit lit pit quit sit spit	boat bloat coat float goat gloat moat throat

ob	ock	og	oil	oke	old
blob job knob mob rob sob slob throb	block clock dock flock lock mock rock sock stock	bog cog clog dog fog frog hog jog log smog	boil broil coil foil oil soil spoil toil	awoke broke choke joke poke spoke stroke woke	bold cold fold hold mold old sold told

ool	oom	ope	op	ot	ow
cool pool spool stool tool wool	bloom boom broom doom gloom loom room zoom	cope hope nope rope scope	bop cop crop drop flop mop pop stop top	blot cot dot not plot pot shot spot tot	blow crow flow glow grow low mow row show slow snow throw tow

ub	ug	ump	un	ut	_y
cub club grub rub scrub stub shrub tub	bug dug hug jug lug mug pug rug tug	bump dump hump jump lump pump stump trump	bun fun run sun spun	but cut hut nut rut shut	by cry dry fly fry my shy sky sly try why

Letter Blends-
These are a few of the letter combinations we see in the English language. The English language is not easily sounded out. It then becomes critical for children to learn these letter combinations and the sounds they make. Easy recognition of these combinations promotes reading success. These are the main blends used in the Open Court Series. Here are some example of  letter blends we use in our reading.

Consonant Blends and Digraphs

ar = /ar/  = jar, car, star  ir = /er/  =  fir, stir    ur  =  /er/  =  turn, curl er  =  /er/  =  germ, her ge  = /j/ = page, gentle   gi = /j/ = magic, giant  ce = /s/ = cent, place     ci = /s/ = circus, city wr = /r/ = wreck, wrong ph = /f/ = phone, photo dge = /j/ = edge, fudge ck  = /k/ = cake, check (the vowel before ck will make a short vowel sound)

y  & ie = long e  = baby, shy, field,    y  &  ie =long i  =  shy, cry, pie,    ai & y  = long a  = day, play, pail, aim   igh  =  long  i  =  high, right   oe  =  long o  =  toe,  Joe   ow  = long o  =  show,  grow   oa  =  long o  =  boat, groan   ew  =  long u  = few, chew,  flew   ow & ou =  /ow/  =  cow, how, shout,   aw  = /aw/  = draw,  claw, straw   oy & oi  = /oi/  =  boy, toy, soil, coin