Effective literacy instruction empowers children.

The Basic Code level is for first grade.

Students learn the complete code of 40 speech sounds, and their corresponding letter teams. We introduce all the two-letter ‘digraphs,’ including: th th sh ch ng qu oo oo ow er oy a-e ee i-e o-e & u-e. Once these digraphs are learned, students are able to read SO much more! Also, they’re able to write phonetically, which is a wonderfully empowering skill.

The Basic Code gives students the power to write anything they can think of. Using a phonological strategy, students can write things others can read, even if it isn’t proper spelling. Students are congratulated when they do this, and encouraged to keep doing it. They know they’ll be slowly building their knowledge of proper spelling every time they study and write.

The Basic Code level is the proper foundation for building knowledge of the complex code. Each of the 40 graphemes (letter symbols) in the Basic Code are the most common spelling of that phoneme (speech sound). There are many alternative spellings for each one. Once students learn the Basic Code reflexively, they begin learning to map these spellings to the Basic Code.

The Basic Code level comes with an additional multisyllabic level. It’s very important to give students strategies for reading words with two syllables. Many students do not automatically understand how to do this, and need to learn how to ‘chunk’ words that are more than one mouthful.

RFL’s Simple Code Curriculum is for kindergarten.

We teach 24 speech sounds and their single-letter correspondences. This is a subset of the complete code of 40 sounds, which young children use to get their reading and writing skills off the ground.

Children are carefully guided to discover how their bodies produce each speech sound. As they learn the sounds they’re learning to associate them with the corresponding letterforms. Students are taught the correspondence to both capital and lowercase letters. They’re taught to produce the sounds cleanly, without a ‘pesky uh’ sound attached to consonants.

Letter names are strictly forbidden from use by teachers and students. We speak as if the letter SOUNDS are the new names of the letters. There are a couple good reasons for this.

First of all, when we simply refer to letters by sounds, children are actually learning the code. We want that instant reflex to be the sound of the letter - that’s what helps them read and write!

Secondly, when children are taught that the letter ‘a’ is /a-e/ as in ‘gate,’ they’re going to be thrown off from decoding all the words at this level that contain /a/ as in ‘man.’

They learn 5 vowel sounds at this level - the so-called ‘short vowels.’ These are /a/ as in apple, /e/ as in elephant, /i/ as in igloo, /o/ as in octopus, and /u/ as in umbrella.

Students learn the difference between ‘open sounds’ (vowels), and ‘closed sounds’ (consonants). They learn to blend and segment one syllable words with a CVC, CCVC, CVCC, and CCVCC pattern

Teachers use a wide range of multi-sensory materials and techniques to help children learn the simple code reflexively. Students use clay, mosaic projects, dot markers, drawing, painting, and bread dough to make letterforms. The sky’s the limit for creative teachers! At the kindergarten level, students get so much benefit out of doing crafts. When they have fun doing it, they learn better.

Children learn to write each letterform, from the simplest to the most complex. Children learn mnemonic devices for writing each letter, until their formation becomes reflexive. Writing is used as a tool for learning the code, as students are trained to ‘say the sound’ as they write each letter. Doing this ingrains phonemic awareness as we make the logic of the code perfectly clear.

Students learn to draw along with handwriting skills. Drawing is a valuable skill in itself, and also one that lends skill to neat and efficient writing. Directed drawing lessons strengthen a vocabulary of visual orientation and discrimination, involving lines, directionality, position in space, and proportionality. Drawing also makes writing more meaningful and fun.

The Complex Code level is for second grade.

RFL’s Curriculum tackles the code’s complexities in two ways: Spelling Variation, and Code Overlap. Students study the entire spelling code, with the 40 sounds of English as the foundation. They study it systematically, week to week, mapping spelling alternatives to the Basic Code, the logical foundation for our phonological code.

All materials and instruction are designed to teach students to use the logic of probability. We teach them to recognize spelling patterns, and how to practice and retain their knowledge of the code. They learn to recognize which spelling patterns are mapped to which speech sounds, and which are the most likely for each and every spelling pattern.

Spelling Variation: Almost all of English’s 40 phonemes - 15 vowels and 25 consonants - have multiple spellings. The phoneme /a-e/ has 9 ways to spell it: a-e ai ay ea ey eigh a ei & aigh, as in the words rake, pain, day, break, they, eight, navy, veil, and straight. The phoneme /n/ has 5 spellings: n nn kn gn & pn, as in the words nut, dinner, knife, gnaw, and pneumonia.

Strategic lessons help students explore spellings, by exposing them to words grouped by sound. Students learn to manage these spelling patterns through repeated exposure and varied practice with them. Along the way, students learn new vocabulary, parts of speech, and writing conventions.

There’s a set of word cards for each phoneme, plus sets for ‘r teams’ OR and AR. Students are provided with all the tools they need to systematically study all of English’s spelling variation from week to week.

Spelling Overlap: There are 27 code overlap sets in the English language. The grapheme ‘ea’ has 3 sounds associated with it: /ee/ /e/ & /a-e/, as in the words jeans, thread, and bear. The grapheme ‘ou’ has 4 associated sounds: /ow/ /o-e/ /u/ & /oo/, as in the words mouse, four, touch, and soup.

Students read and sort words, and do writing dictation with sets of words based on spelling patterns. They learn to automatically associate the sounds with the spelling when reading and writing. All English overlaps are included, so that students can study all of them.

Students systematically study all of English’s spelling variation and code overlap. Week by week, they complete lessons with sets of word cards. Through varied practice, students learn to recognize and remember spelling patterns for thousands of distinct words.

The teacher’s manual gives the sequence for instruction, making it straightforward and easy for teachers to plan.

The Advanced Code level is for third grade.

Students continue their journey by studying ALL the spellings for each of the 40 phonemes. Students learn the probability structure for all the patterns through repeated meaningful practice. They also learn spelling techniques for remembering the spellings of unique words.

(More details are forthcoming)

Our curriculum comes with everything you need to teach literacy skills at each grade level, K-3rd grade, whether 1:1 or in small group settings. There are code charts, sets of word cards, worksheets, and a teacher’s manual. The teacher’s manual gives step-by-step instructions for conducting all the lessons that go with each level. We explain how every lesson can be adapted so that children with differing abilities experience success.

Once students know how to do the worksheet activities, they’re able to study the code independently. The teacher’s manual lays out the sequence of instruction - just follow along from day to day, week to week. With our materials, and your guidance and support, students complete lessons that help them learn and practice every part of the English alphabet code.

Word cards are the perfect way for students to study the code. We know that young children learn best when movement is involved. When the hands help the brain sort words into logical categories, students are more engaged and able to remember the lesson. Each set of words in the RFL curriculum is printed on 1”x4” paper cards. Students are asked to read them, one word at a time, then sort them.

Students who struggle to read books find it less stressful to read one word at a time, with a logical framework supporting their efforts. They categorize words as they move them under different headers. Once sorted, students are led to see the spelling patterns. There’s no ‘rules’ for teaching spelling - only patterns that reveal themselves when the cards are sorted.

Our word cards are carefully curated to reveal spelling patterns to young learners. When students make logical groupings of words on a table, they’re able to feel as if they’re discovering the patterns of English themselves. This is a more empowering way for children to learn than being directly taught by a parent or teacher.

Word cards can be reread on subsequent days, and different lessons can be done based on these sets of words. Repeated practice builds reflexivity and confidence with reading and writing that part of the code. Teachers and parents know that different kids need different amounts of practice to learn, and can adjust expectations accordingly.

Worksheets make it straightforward to practice the code, until students can automatically recognize it while reading, and reflexively recall it while writing. There are ten different activities, all involving writing: Read and Sort, Writing Dictation, Sentence Writing, Fill in the Blanks, Word Search, Word Drawing, Write and Draw, Graphic Story Writing, Definitions, and Synonyms. Each of these can be used for any of our word card sets.

Out of these worksheet options, students can do just the ones they’re ready for. Each worksheet has clear instructions written at the top, and teachers can adapt expectations for different ability levels.

Teachers can use our curriculum as a springboard for a range of language arts learning objectives. For example, it can be used to teach about parts of speech and writing conventions.

The Reading For Life curriculum is perfect for remediating older struggling students, including students with dyslexia, learning disabilities, and sensory processing disorders. It’s often the case that dyslexic kids have never been properly taught the code. Or if they have, it’s been presented in a confusing way. Our curriculum provides materials to practice reading and writing any part of the code a student needs to learn.

Other times, kids have deficits in their reading sub skills, which can be worked on and overcome. In our teacher’s manuals, we teach you how to identify and address blending and segmenting deficits.

Children and adults learning English as a second language will love our curriculum. It’s the only one that teaches literacy with a linguistic foundation. Studying English with the Reading For Life curriculum will aid the development of fluent speech production and comprehension, as well as reading and writing skills.

(More details are forthcoming)