Hi Giselle,
This is an interesting question. I’ll start with the disclaimer: I am not super familiar with the ins and outs of CKLA, so I am taking your question (and the context you provided) at face value.
You are reporting that your curriculum considers the word away as the combination of two graphemes, <aw> and <ay>, which, if it is presented this way in the lesson, is not accurate. This word is actually comprised of three graphemes: <a>, <w> and <ay>, representing three phonemes: /ə/, /w/, and /ā/ in most pronunciations of this word (perhaps the initial vowel is pronounced /ā/ in a dramatic “GO! A! WAY!” type exclamation, but it remains a three phoneme word regardless). So, while the word does have the letters <a> and <w>, in this case, it is not the same thing as having the grapheme <aw>, meaning a student applying their letter-sound knowledge for this digraph is unlikely to arrive at the correct word.
This happens sometimes. Consider the letters <s> and <h> in mishap; the <t> and <h> in anthill; as well as the <p> and <h> in cupholder. Mistakes like assuming these types of letter combinations are always a singular grapheme are some of the concerns that may make people wary of materials created by AI, or those created by teachers and sold online. While it is regrettable that this type of error may also be found in a commercially available, well-respected curriculum, mistakes like this can happen anywhere, and create an argument that teachers should be smarter than their programs so they can veer from the lesson scripting when need be. These sorts of words do not need to be avoided altogether, but teachers should omit them from activities practicing a grapheme that isn’t actually included in the word. Instead, teachers can provide students with strategies to remain flexible when their decoding strategies are unsuccessful on their first attempt when these sorts of words come up in other contexts.
All this said, the word away would be considered a regular, decodable word for students familiar with the grapheme <ay> and strategies to decode multisyllabic words. Students who have received instruction with syllable types and division strategies may first attempt to decode this word with a long /ā/ vowel sound, which again is not the typical pronunciation of this word. Students will then either recognize this slightly mispronounced word and self-correct, or more manually attempt other possible vowel sounds the letter <a> can represent, including /ă/ and, especially in multisyllabic words, /ə/.
I hope this response helped you trust your judgment!
