Vocabulary

All or most of our Kindergarten students receive small-group instruction using the ERI program.  This is in addition to Saxon Phonics they receive whole-group at a different part of the school day.  ERI targets letter names, sounds and phonics/reading skills (first and last sound isolation, segmenting, blending, and sight words).

All or most of our Kindergarten students receive small group instruction using Reading Mastery.  All of our first grade students are taught Reading Mastery in small groups. Reading Mastery is also used in 2nd grade for students reading below grade level (during the Tier II reading intervention time).  Reading Mastery targets decoding skills. 

Corrective Reading Decoding is used to help students reading below grade level in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.  Corrective Reading Decoding is for students needing help with decoding and fluency. 

Phonics for Reading: Phonics for Reading (old version Level 3 and Level C) is typically used after students complete Corrective Reading Decoding B2 to provide additional support with accuracy and fluency.  Phonics for Reading is focused mainly on phonics and word parts, and also includes a spelling component. However, with the 2023 version of Phonics for Reading we would give the placement test to students to see where they would place in Levels A, B,or C, and begin instruction at their level. Phonics for Reading 2023 is in some cases being used in place of Corrective Reading, wherein it is more current and aligns well with the Science of Reading.  

Read Naturally is a program created to build fluency.  There is also a small comprehension component. Students read stories (typically informative non-fiction passages), are timed on a cold read, practice the story, answer some questions, and are then timed again (on a hot read).  Students set goals to read faster and must have high accuracy, also, to pass each story.

REWARDS teaches reading by word parts (vs. sound by sound) and targets decoding multisyllabic words. It is a challenging program (typically reserved for 4th-5th graders), but very effective in improving accuracy and spelling.

Reading For All Learners is typically used in grades K-2 as in intervention to help with fluency.  In first grade, our students typically receive 30 minutes of reading mastery instruction and 20 minutes or more of Reading For All Learners instruction.  Reading For All Learners builds Fluency by slowly adding new sounds and sight words to each book building upon what has been mastered in previous books.  

This program uses a diagnostic test to identify specific phonics skill deficits and then places students into the library strategically to target those skill deficits. Although it is predominantly used in 3rd grade, we utilize it in our 1st-6th groups as well as needed.