The teachers in kindergarten through second grade use Open Court materials, a phonics-based reading program that has helped students who are acquiring English and who need to build their vocabulary. Intensive collaboration among primary and intermediate teachers gives primary students access to reading anthologies made up of both classic and contemporary literature. The reading program is supplemented, throughout the grades, by a writing component. Students' original writings are bound and catalogued so that they can be shared with others. Novels available in each classroom broaden students' reading choices after third grade.
Teachers also use creative dramatics and puppetry to bring literature to life.
In each unit of study, heterogeneously grouped students access theme-based, nonfiction books at all skill levels. The Internet also gives students access to additional study materials. One class studied China for six weeks. Although the whole class read one novel about China together during the structured reading period, students each selected a library book appropriate to their reading level to use during social studies, language arts, and creative dramatics. According to Volpe, this permits students, even those who are experiencing reading difficulty, to learn grade-level content in the core subjects.