Reading instruction and practice includes work on letters, sounds, and blending sounds. Students learn to blend letters and sounds to form new words. Learning new words and their meaning is an important part of instruction. Students have daily spelling practice and weekly spelling tests. The connection between reading and writing is taught on a daily basis.
Students write daily.
Papers are corrected and returned to the students. By the end of second grade, students write final copies of corrected papers. Corrected papers are sent home for parents to see. All students are read to each day from different kinds of books. Students discuss what they read with teachers and other students.