The goal is to teach students the relationships between the most common letter combinations and sounds and to promote in them an understanding of the alphabetic principle. In-class instruction involves having students learn the rules that govern the recognition and spelling of 20 new words each week. Computer games provide practice in spelling and word use. Teachers supervise group reading of young adult novels to promote oral reading accuracy. Its primary purpose is to improve students' ability to recognize words and their meanings.
Students receive word lists each week.
Computer activities and games teach word usage. Novels are used for oral reading to enhance fluency. The goal is to increase students' knowledge of word meanings in order to improve their comprehension. They learn 10 new words each week. In-class instruction includes discussing definitions and how to use words in sentences, reading informational texts that include the target words and concepts, and completing writing assignments that promote independent vocabulary acquisition.