LTR

What is LTR?

Leading to Reading, or LTR, is a systematic and sequential approach to teaching phonemic awareness and phonics/word attack skills. It is a supplement to classroom reading instruction for students in grades K-2. Stages 1-5 will focus on phonemic awareness skills such as rhyming and blending phonemes (sounds). Stages 6-13 will focus on phonics and word attack skills.

How is my child placed within the program?

The program begins with diagnostic testing of all students to determine which stage group is appropriate for each individual. Based on these results, students are then placed in appropriate groups. Placement into a stage group is based on specific knowledge of phonemic awareness and phonics patterns. A firm grasp of all phonemic awareness and phonics skills is important to ensure that no holes exist in the foundation of your child’s reading.

How does LTR fit into the school day?

Five days a week for 30 minutes, students will be immersed in their skill, with direct instruction on their phonics pattern as well as plenty of time for application and independent practice. Each skill is taught in a variety of learning styles. Lessons are created with auditory, visual, tactile and kinesthetic activities. This type of instruction ensures long-term retention of skills.

How can my child advance to the next level of LTR?

Every week, students will receive a homework sheet to practice skill reinforcement at home. Parents, please note that practice at home is essential for successful progression through that skill group! We have six stage rotations throughout the year, each one lasting for 5 weeks. At the end of each rotation, students are tested for mastery of their phonemic awareness or phonics skill. They will also be responsible for spelling words that contain the phonics pattern they've been working on. If students achieve mastery, they will progress to their next area of need. If mastery is not achieved, the student will repeat the skill group for another 5 week period. You will be notified of your child's progress. The more practice they get, the better! When they are more familiar with application of phonics patterns and rules, students will be able to apply them to new words.

What are the 13 stages in LTR?

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT STAGES 1-5 DO NOT DEAL WITH LETTERS AND PRINT, ALL THE ACTIVITIES ARE DONE ORALLY OR WITH PICTURES.

Stage 1- Print Concepts & Organization of Print

This stage works on the very basic understanding of print, reading left to right, learning the difference between a letter and a word, etc. Students will also learn to identify the title, author, illustrator, spine, front and back of a book.

Stage 2- Syllables

In stage 2 we work on helping kids "hear" words in chunks. Beginning with compound words, students move up to dividing up multi-syllabic words. Knowing how to do this will help speed up the decoding process.

Stage 3- Rhyming

In stage 3, students learn how to identify as well as generate rhyming words. This helps them notice and work with sounds within words, as well as helping them predict words and eventually read with expression.

Stage 4- Blending & Segmenting

This stage focuses on both blending individual sounds together (orally) such as /c/ /a/ /t/ says "cat," as well as segmenting the sounds of a spoken word into individual phonemes (sounds) such as "dog" is /d/ /o/ /g/.

Stage 5- Phoneme Manipulation

In this stage, students will add, subtract and manipulate individual phonemes (sounds) in words. For example, if you say the word "hit" and change the /t/ to /p/, what is your new word? This helps students explore the sounds and visualize the order in which they are heard in a word.

Stage 6- Short Vowels a & i

This is the stage at which we begin looking at letters and print. Students will work on identification and discrimination between the short /a/ and /i/ sounds. We will also begin reading and spelling short a and i words.

Stage 7- Short Vowels a, e, i, o, u

In stage 7, students will identify and discriminate between all 5 short vowel sounds. They will also read and spell CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words.

Stage 8a- Beginning Blends & Diagraphs

Now that students have mastered short vowels, in stage 8 they will begin to read and spell words with beginning blends (two consonants before the vowel that each make their own sound, as in "grab.") Students will also read and spell words with digraphs (two consonants that work together to make one sound, th, sh, ch, wh).

Stage 8b- Ending Blends & 3 Letter Blends

While the focus of the previous stage was on blends located at the beginning of a short vowel word, in stage 8b they will read and spell words with blends located at the end of a short vowel word. They will also learn to read and spell words with 3 letter blends (such as splat).

Stage 9a- Long Vowels a & i, Silent e

In this stage, students will read and spell words with common vowel teams that make the long a & i sound (ai, ay, eigh, a_e, ei, ie, ye, i_e, igh, uy, y). They will also learn the "magic e rule" (words with a silent e at the end help the vowel say it's name, as in "take").

Stage 9b- Long Vowels a, e, i, o, u

Stage 9b focuses on reading and spelling words with all 5 long vowels, with the introduction of long e, o, & u vowel teams (ee, ey, ea, e, e_e, oa, oe, ow, o_e, ue, oo, ui, ew, u_e).

Stage 10- R-Controlled Vowels

In this stage, students will learn about "bossy r" who doesn't always let the vowels say their sound, like in "shirt." Students will read and spell words containing ar, er, ir, or, and ur.

Stage 11- Irregular Vowel Combinations

This stage teaches students to read and spell words with irregular vowel combinations (oi, oy, aw, au, al, ow, ou, both sounds of oo)

Stage 12- Irregular Consonants & Inflected Endings

In this stage, students will learn to read and spell words with hard and soft c & g, irregular diagraphs (ph says /f/, ch says /k/), and silent letters (as in "climb" or "knob"). The hard and soft c & g rule is as follows: when the letter c is followed by an e, i or y, it will make the soft sound /s/ as in "city." When the letter g is followed by an e, i or y, it will make the soft sound /j/ as in "gym."

Stage 13- Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots

In stage 13, students will learn to read and spell words with prefixes and suffixes, as well as understand how these prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of the root word.

Stage 14- Enrichment (comprehension and literature skills)

The goal of Enrichment is to take students' knowledge of phonics skills, and have them apply these skills by exploring multiple texts within their level through a different genre study for each rotation. After reading books within each genre, students will work on book reports and present them to the group.