Duolingo ABC Scope and Sequence: English (2022)
Scope and Sequence • English
Updated November 2022
Background
Our Scope and Sequence provides a map of where concepts and skills are included in the app. On the Duolingo ABC home screen, each Level is represented by a building. For example, the lessons in Level 1 are found inside “The School.” Within each building, lessons are represented by steps on a learning path. Learners begin with the lessons in Unit 1 at the “bottom” of each building and proceed up the path. When they go through a “doorway,” they cross into the next unit.
Pre-K / Kindergarten
This grade level provides a strong foundation in phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding. Learners practice rhyming, segmenting, and blending. They learn the primary sounds of letters and practice decoding CVC words. Along the way, they identify lowercase and capital letter shapes and the most common sight words like “a” and “the.” Narrated interactive stories invite learners to notice targeted letters and words in context while building fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.
LEVEL 1: THE SCHOOL
Intro to rhyming, blending sounds, and decoding (sounding out) CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words.
| Unit | Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter sound | Decoding | Sight words | Stories featuring target letters | Character-driven stories | |
| 1 | m | CVC words with Level 1 letters | - | Mad Monkeys | Fresh Lemonade The Snack Museum Bad Morning Hat Hair Playing Pretend Need a Hug? New Shoes |
| 2 | a | - | Three Apples | ||
| 3 | t | - | Hello, Turtles | ||
| 4 | s | see | What Do You See? | ||
| 5 | i | - | What Is It? | ||
| 6 | f | is | Five Fish | ||
| 7 | d | a | Dex the Duck | ||
| 8 | r | the | Read, Read, Read |
LEVEL 2: THE APARTMENT
| Unit | Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter sound | Decoding | Sight words | Stories featuring target letters | Character-driven stories | |
| 1 | g | CVC words with letters from Levels 1-2 | go | Go, Goats, Go | Hide and Seek Shadow Puppets Sandcastles The Perfect Barrette |
| 2 | o | I | Am I On? | ||
| 3 | l | look | Lost Lion | ||
| 4 | h | have | Hats | ||
| 5 | u | one | Under the Umbrella | ||
| 6 | c | come | Cat Car | ||
| 7 | b | to | Bats | ||
| 8 | n | am | A Nice Home |
LEVEL 3: THE GROCERY STORE
Decoding CVC words with less common letters.
| Unit | Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter sound | Decoding | Sight words | Stories featuring target letters | Character-driven stories | |
| 1 | k | CVC words with letters from Levels 1-3 | no | Kicks | Picture Day I Spy Eddy's First Catch Hold that Pose! Piece of Cake Where's the Water? |
| 2 | v | are | My Vest | ||
| 3 | e | do | Do You Ever? | ||
| 4 | p | my | Pink Pets | ||
| 5 | w | we | A Walk in the Woods | ||
| 6 | j | of | Jem eats Jam! | ||
| 7 | y | you | Yo-Yo Anywhere | ||
| 8 | x | all | - |
LEVEL 4: THE BURGER JOINT
Decoding 1-syllable words with digraphs and consonant blends.
| Unit | Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter sound | Decoding | Sight words | Stories featuring target letters | Character-driven stories | |
| 1 | q | 1-syllable words with digraphs & blends | be | Be Quiet! | Rainy Day Runaway Race Car Bedtime Story The Big Sandwich Problem |
| 2 | sh | she | Shelia the Shy Sheep | ||
| 3 | ch | was | Choose One | ||
| 4 | th | they | What's a Thermos? | ||
| 5 | Consonant blends | now | - | ||
| said | - |
1st Grade
This grade level continues building a strong foundation in phonics and decoding. Learners practice decoding and encoding 1- and 2-syllable words with the most common spelling patterns: vowel teams, tricky blends, and common verb inflections. Learners also gain knowledge of very common sight words like “what” and “some.” Narrated interactive stories invite learners to notice targeted letters and words in context while building fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.
LEVEL 5: THE POST OFFICE
Decoding & encoding 1-syllable words with digraphs, tricky blends, and plural -s.
| Unit | Phonics & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spelling Pattern/Affix | Sight words | Stories featuring target patterns | Character-driven stories | |
| 1 | bell | what | What Do You Hear? | Buried Treasure Spotless The Fascinating Hat Extreme Spin 3000 Summertime Snowman Where's My Cupcake? Cookie Climb Left Out |
| 2 | puff | there | Biff and the Coffee | |
| 3 | grass | her | Time for Class | |
| 4 | frizz | he | Fuzz or Buzz | |
| 5 | duck | his | Lucky Socks? | |
| 6 | cups | for | Snacks! | |
| 7 | truck | how | Let's Take a Trip | |
| 8 | drum | so | Drumming Dream |
LEVEL 6: THE MUSEUM
Decoding and encoding 1- and 2- syllable words with silent “e” and common suffixes.
| Unit | Phonics & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spelling Pattern/Affix | Sight words | Stories featuring target patterns | Character-driven stories | |
| 1 | swing | some | Ping Can Swing | Best Dance in the World |
| 2 | boxes | has | Sox's Boxes | X Marks the Spot Bike Fright |
| 3 | cake | about | Let's Make a Cake | |
| 4 | bike | me | You Can Ride! | |
| 5 | rope | your | The Rose | |
| 6 | flute | were | Tune Time? | |
| 7 | teeth | down | FoFo Peels a Banana | |
| 8 | sleeps | out | Zig and Sox |
LEVEL 7: THE ICE CREAM PARLOR
| Unit | Phonics & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spelling Pattern/Affix | Sight words | Stories featuring target patterns | Character-driven stories | |
| 1 | whale | or | What's a Narwhal? | The List The Golden Lamp The Handwashing Song Box of Wonders Draw the Line Stomp Artists A Cookie for Zari |
| 2 | leaf | water | To the Peak | |
| 3 | puppy | very | Hungry Puppy | |
| 4 | mixes | first | Oscar Style | |
| 5 | train | put | At the Fair | |
| 6 | hay | more | Hay Day | |
| 7 | light | want | Night Light | |
| 8 | pie | who | Three Fried Apple Pies | |
| 9 | fly | over | Spying on a Spy |
LEVEL 8: THE AMUSEMENT PARK
Decoding and encoding 1- and 2- syllable words with tricky spelling patterns (foot vs boot) and common suffixes.
| Unit | Phonics & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spelling Pattern/Affix | Sight words | Stories featuring target patterns | |
| 1 | eating | only | Zari and the Giganto-Pop |
| 2 | boat | little | Does It Float? |
| 3 | snow | know | Snow Day |
| 4 | toasted | think | The Perfect Sandwich |
| 5 | spoon | find | Zari Goes to the Moon! |
| 6 | stew | kind | Bubble Gum Stew |
| 7 | glue | small | The Blue House |
| 8 | bread | after | Bread Heaven |
| 9 | book | from | The Cookbook |
| 10 | Tricky spelling patterns (foot vs boot) | should, because | - |
2nd Grade
This grade level focuses on advanced phonics and fluency building. Learners get lots of practice reading leveled text with our skill-building stories. As in earlier grade levels, story activities encourage learners to monitor their comprehension, make predictions, sequence events, and infer the meaning of target vocabulary items. Learners build their grade-level spelling skills and word-reading speed with mini-games.
LEVEL 9: BEA’S WORLD
Decoding and encoding (spelling) 1- and 2-syllable words with r-controlled vowels and building fluency.
| Unit | Phonics & Word Recognition | Fluency, Comprehension, & Vocabulary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spelling Pattern/Affix | Sight words | Character-driven stories | |
| 1 | star | part, far, car, hard, start | Llama Online Snake Rescue |
| 2 | bird | first, girl, birds | Mess vs. Machine Midnight Music |
| 3 | for | or, for | Fenced In Night of the Living Doll |
| 4 | score | more, before | Bea's Super Sticky Story Volcano Face |
More levels and content coming soon!