To support our partner districts, TLA has developed a four-year phonics program (K – 3) with a systematic scope and sequence, daily written lesson plans and our own special blend of training, support and encouragement for teachers, coaches and administrators. In addition to phonics instruction, TLA’s program includes explicit phonological awareness instruction (especially in Kindergarten) where children play with, segment, blend and otherwise manipulate the sounds of oral language using voice and pictures. TLA’s program also includes direct instruction in high-frequency words that include words that are difficult to decode (ie., said) and in the early grades, words that may be phonetic in 2nd or 3rd grade, but are high-frequency words needed by kindergarten and first graders to read (such as “look.”)
TLA believes that phonics, phonological and high-frequency word instruction should consist of daily, whole-class lessons that follow an established scope and sequence and has created a joyful, program that promotes true word curiosity among children with daily 20-30 minute lessons written out for grades K – 3. Although our lessons are “scripted,” the values that drove them include:
- Active Teaching
- Gradual Release of Responsibility
- Multi-sensory approaches
- Strategies connected to actual reading and writing
- Aimed at developing automaticity, fluency and comprehension
- Teacher choice and judgement
- Linking Research and Practice
