Program Overview

What Type Of Reading Program Is This?

Sound City Reading is a systematic, sequential phonics program. It uses direct, multisensory instruction to teach students about the sounds in words and the letters and letter patterns that represent those sounds. Beginning students are taught to be aware of the individual sounds in words (phonemic awareness skills) so that they can learn to spell and read words with confidence. As soon as possible, students apply their knowledge to read sentences and decodable practice stories.

As students work through the program, they will be able to read eleven children's picture books at level four, and eighty-one children's books at level five. These are regular trade books available from the library or bookstores, at reading levels from kindergarten through early grade four. The text in each book has been carefully screened so that only the phonics patterns already taught will be included. This makes all of the books decodable by the students.

Who Will Benefit From This Program?

Beginning students who are just learning to read and older students who need to strengthen their word recognition skills and comprehension skills will benefit from this program. It can be used with individual students, small groups, or a full classroom. This program has worked well in my first grade classrooms that included students who came into first grade already reading and those who entered first grade needing a lot of support. At the first grade level, when this program is taught to a full class, most dyslexic students and other students who are getting off to a slow start will be able to make good progress on grade level within the regular classroom, while the more advanced students will also thrive and typically end the school year reading ahead of grade level.

What Teaching Materials Are Available From Sound City Reading?

The Sound City Reading program includes student books and workbooks on five different levels. Instructions for the teacher are included at the end of each book. The program also includes flashcards, sound charts, learning activities, and games. They will provide most of what you need to use this program. All materials are available as free PDF files that can be downloaded from this website by teachers, parents, tutors, schools, school systems, and tutoring programs. The books are copyrighted but permission is granted to print any of the PDF files to use with the students you teach, including online teaching. Materials are not to be printed for commercial sales.

What Other Materials Will I Need?

You'll need the following additional items.

Children's picture books - The books you will need for the students to read are listed in the level four and five student books. If you are working with a single student, you may be able to check one book at a time out of the library. If you're working with a class, it would be wonderful if you could order enough books so that there would be enough for each student to have his or her own book to read during the small group rotations. If that is not possible, you could have each pair of students in the small group share a book, so that you would only need a few. Otherwise, students could pass around a single book. Get all of the recommended books for level four and the earliest books for level five, if possible. It is not necessary to get every single book at level five if that is beyond your means. Choose as many as you can.

Small plastic letters for spelling words - This website has letters at a very good price. You'll be able to purchase all you need for a classroom. You don't need the letters with magnets; the plain ones are fine and they are less expensive. For levels one and two, I recommend purchasing one set of capital letters and one set of lower case letters for each student in the largest small group you will teach . For levels three, four, and five, you will only need lower case letters. Purchase two sets of red lowercase letters and two sets of purple lowercase vowels for each student in the largest small group that you teach. Each set of letters should be placed together in a small plastic box with a lid, like the small sandwich sized boxes found at the grocery store. If you can find boxes that are rectangular rather than square that will make it easier for students to find the letters they need.

Pencils - The links below are for pencils that are triangular shaped instead of round. I highly recommend them. Using these pencils makes it much easier to hold the pencil and keep it steady while writing. These pencils don't have erasers, and that is a good thing. During the daily dictation period, if students make a mistake, have them put brackets around the error, and then rewrite the letter, letter pattern, or word. Model how to do this at the beginning of the year. This saves an enormous amount of time and prevents torn paper from erasures.
Try-Rex Pencil B21, Extra Thick, Red, use this pencil for younger students.
Try-Rex Pencil, Regular Thickness, B23, use this pencil for older students.
If you prefer to use regular pencils, I recommend the Ticonderoga brand, which is readily available.

Lined Handwriting Paper - For early elementary students, you will need paper with a top line, middle dashed line, and bottom line. The youngest students will need the lines to be widely space. In first and second grade the lines should be closer together. For these students the papers will be shorter than they are wide. Older students will write on regular lined notebook paper. However, when entering the program for the first time, they may need handwriting instruction to get started, using lined paper with a dashed line in the middle.

Here Is A Short Explanation Of The Five Teaching Levels In This Program

Level One, Readiness - Students begin by learning the alphabet while they develop handwriting skills. They learn to recognize the letters of the alphabet and associate them with the sounds they represent. They are introduced to the concept of beginning and ending sounds and rhyming words. They do oral blending exercises, in which they listen to individual syllables or sounds and put them together mentally to form words. They do segmenting exercises in which they listen to words and break them apart into their individual sounds.

Level Two, Advanced Readiness - Students review the alphabet and learn to write alphabet letters independently. They continue oral blending, segmenting, and rhyming exercises, and write letters to show the beginning and ending sounds in words. They learn to pronounce two-letter combinations consisting of a single short vowel and a single consonant. They begin spelling short vowel words with plastic letters.

Level Three, Short Vowels - Students learn to spell and read short vowel words. The learn a few sight words in which some of the letters have unexpected sounds: a, was, as, has, is, his, I. As soon as possible they begin reading and writing easy sentences.

Click on the step chart shown below to enlarge it. Click escape on your keyboard to return to this page.

Level Four, Phonics Patterns - Students learn the basic phonics patterns and syllable patterns, one at a time. The patterns are presented in a logical sequence to help students master them quickly. Students spell and read words and sentences with each new pattern. They review the patterns daily from sound cards and sound charts. Any words that contain patterns that don't represent the usual sound are taught as sight words. Sight words are taught as exceptions to phonics patterns that have already been taught. As they progress, students read easy decodable practice stories to apply the patterns they have learned. They also read eleven children's trade books, obtained from a bookstore or a library.

Level Five, Advanced Phonics Patterns - Students study words with advanced phonics patterns and syllable patterns. As they work through the advanced level, they will be able to read eighty-one children's picture books, from the first through fourth grade level, available from the library or bookstores. The books are arranged in a specific order so that all of them may be read phonetically, using only the phonetic patterns that students have already learned.

More Information

The goal of this program is for as many students as possible to be successful. The teaching format is direct instruction. Students are actively involved in the lessons. The skills are taught in a step-by-step fashion so that concepts are easy to learn and there is little chance for confusion. At the same time, the lessons are rigorous. In a phonics based program, the students knowledge increases exponentially. Everything new thing that is learned fits together with students' previous knowledge like pieces of a puzzle. The big picture ends up being far more than the sum of its parts.
The students are supported every step of the way so that they never have to give a wrong answer. If a student is unsure, the teacher immediately provides support by giving extra instruction, hints, direct modeling, or a quick demonstration. Students feel safe, so they are able to relax and think clearly. When students experience success, they feel excited, and they are eager to learn more.
Sufficient time is allowed each day to complete a number of different activities. Students learn in a variety of ways to reinforce each day's learning. This allows students to make rapid progress. At the same time, it is important to take frequent minibreaks stand up and stretch, sing a song, or even take a quick walk. The entire day's lesson does not need to be completed all at one time. The parts of the lesson that require close attention by the whole group should be done early in the day. Other parts of the lesson which are more relaxed, such as small group rotations and reading aloud to the group, can be done afterwards.
It is wise to end the school day with a "center time" period. During this time students can interact freely with the other students and choose their own activities. The can read independently or with a partner, write, draw, do file folder activities, play with small sets of dinosaurs and animals, and build with construction toys. They might also do some type of special project. Students know that after they get their work done for the day they will have this reward period. It helps them to stay on track during the formal lessons, knowing that if they do their best work they can look forward to self directed period.
Teachers will find it relatively easy to use this program. Each level uses a teaching outline that's just right for that level. When new skills are introduced, the teacher follows the same outline every time. The only change is that the teacher will plug in the new concepts to be learned. This provides security for the students, who get used to the routine and know what to expect. It allows the lesson to move quickly, since everyone knows what to do. On the other hand, students don't get bored because they are learning something new every day. Using this process, it is not necessary to have separate teaching instructions for each new lesson. The teacher follows the regular teaching outline and plugs in the new material to be learned.
The program uses multi-sensory teaching techniques. Students hear, say, write, and see letters, letter patterns, words, and sentences as part of the learning process.
As students learn new letters and phonics patterns, they review them daily. They say the sounds for letters and letter patterns from illustrated sound charts and also from flashcards. They also write letters and phonics patterns as a review during the daily dictation period.
To learn to write the letters of the alphabet, students trace large letter patterns multiple times on the chalkboard and on paper, while saying their sounds.
Alphabet letters are taught one at a time. The sequence in which they are introduced is carefully thought out, so that students will be able to learn successfully. The letters that are easiest to write are taught first. This way, students master the basic handwriting strokes before going on to more complicated letters that are more difficult to write. The teacher introduces each letter by reading a section aloud from a sound story. Each section introduces a new sound in the English language, along with a picture that represents that sound, and the letters that represent that sound in words.
Phonological awareness, including phonemic awareness skills, are taught systematically in levels one and two. Skills taught include rhyming, beginning and ending sounds, oral blending, and segmenting. At level one, students are introduced to conventions of print through a series of eight lessons, read aloud and demonstrated by the teacher. If older students have not been exposed to the these exercises taught at the earlier levels, they can be introduced to them in a separate book, Phonemic Awareness Picture Pages.
Students spell phonetic words by saying the individual letter sounds, one at a time, as they write each letter or letter pattern in the word. In other words, students segment each word as they write it. Students do not spell phonetic words by saying the letter names.
For each new letter pattern, students spell words before they read words with that pattern. As they spell the new words, they listen carefully to the sounds and write them. Analyzing words in this way prepares students to read the same words successfully.
After a series of new phonetic patterns has been taught, students read a short practice story that contains words with those patterns. With very few exceptions, the stories contain words with phonics patterns and sight words that have already been taught. This allows students to read the stories with confidence.
The words studied at the short vowel level are not limited to common, high frequency words. Words that may not be in the student's speaking vocabulary are also taught. The reason for this is so that students will be exposed to words with as many different beginning and ending sound combinations as possible for each short vowel. At the short vowel level, students are learning to read words for the first time. It is necessary for them to coordinate what they see, a sequence of three or four letters, with speech. Not only must students say each sound in the word in the correct order, they must also slide the sounds of the letters together smoothly. Mastering this task is important for beginning and remedial readers. The physical movement of the student's mouth, tongue, and throat is different for each letter or combination of two or more letters. This is something that has to be practiced, like riding a bike or dribbling a basketball. Reading many different short vowel words will help students develop confidence and fluency. This prepares students to be successful when they reach level four, phonics patterns.
At level four, students learn one new phonetic pattern or syllable pattern per day. Because they already know how to decode and spell words phonetically, students will be able move quickly through the material. Students spell and read words with the new pattern so that they will be able to remember and apply the pattern with confidence. The most common patterns are taught first. Similar patterns, such as ai/rain, ay/play, and a_e/safe, are taught close together. The same lesson outline is used each day to introduce the patterns. Students are able to remember the patterns that have been taught because they review them daily.
At the phonics patterns level, some uncommon words are included, but as far as possible the most common words with that pattern are introduced. In this way, students are soon able to recognize a large number of high frequency words. Because students learn the words phonetically, they are able to remember them easily. The don't have to learn them by rote memory. In some programs, many phonetic words are taught early as sight words because the patterns they contain haven't been taught yet. In this program, students are not introduced to phonetic words until they have learned the necessary phonics patterns to read them.
Sight words are taught as exceptions to the rules. For example, students learn the sight word "been" after they have studied words with the ee/feet pattern.
To help them learn to read new words, students work in small groups with the teacher to spell words with plastic letters. Each student in the group works with a box of letters and a sheet of construction paper to use as a work mat. Two complete sets of the alphabet are included in each box, so that students will be able to spell words with two of the same letter, for example fill, dad, sash, feet, and book. This activity is especially important at level two and level three, when students begin working with short vowel words, but it is also very helpful when students are learning phonics patterns at level four. If students spell a new set of words with plastic letters first, they will then be able to read the words much more easily. They will also be able to write the words during the spelling dictation period more easily. There is something about physically moving the letters into position as they spell a word that helps students understand the basic phonetic principle - that words are made up of sounds, and each sound in the word can be shown with letters, going from left to right.
There is a continuing emphasis throughout the program on the meanings of new words. Less common words are discussed so that students will learn their meanings. This will enlarge students' speaking and reading vocabulary. Many of the books include pictures to illustrate new words.
The color-coded books at levels three and four include an oral blending activity call the "Robot Game." This three-step activity is used to introduce each new set of words. The activity is simple but it has an amazingly positive effect on the ability of students to learn to read new words. It works well for all students but is particularly helpful for students who do not learn decoding easily. To do the activity, students look at two pages in their books, with ten pictures on the left side in random order, and ten words on the right side. For step one, the students look at the pictures. The teacher pronounces the sounds for one of the pictures, pausing slightly between each sound. A student is called on to look at the pictures and find the picture that matches the sounds. He or she points to the picture and pronounces the word normally. The class repeats the word. This continues in the same way until all of the pictures have been found. For step two, the students look at the words. The teacher pronounces the sounds for one of the words, pausing slightly between each sound. A student is called on to find the matching word. He or she points to the word and pronounces the word normally. The class repeats. This step continues in the same way until all of the words have been found. For step three, students read the ten words, going down and back up the column. An optional step four can be done last. The teacher gives a hint or description for a word. A student must look at all of the words, find the answer, and read it aloud. This continues in the same way until all of the words have been found. To do the activity as a group, the pages can be displayed from a PDF file on a screen using a projector. Alternately, picture/word charts printed on 11 inch by 17 inch ledger paper are available. They can be placed on an easel to work with a group seated nearby. The game can also be played with the worksheet pages. In this case, the words are in a list in the middle of the page, with pictures on both sides.
As they continue to master new patterns, students will be able to read a few "easy reader" children's picture books during the second half of the phonics patterns level. At the advanced phonics patterns level, students will be able to read eighty-one popular children's picture books, with reading levels from first grade through the fourth grade. Recommended books are listed in the teaching materials when students are ready to read them. The books have been carefully screened and sequenced so that, with very few exceptions, students who have studied all of the phonics patterns taught, up to that point, will be able to decode all of the phonetic words in the book.

Click Materials to see more information about each level in the Sound City Reading program.
Click here to see information about all of the Sound City Reading books in the order in which they are taught.
Click PDF Files to see links to PDF files for all of the books and teaching materials available on this site.

What Other Teaching Elements Are Used In This Program?

To create the best possible results, the Sound City Reading program uses elements from whole language instruction in addition to the phonics instruction.

For this program to be effective, the teacher should read aloud to the class daily from a variety of fiction and nonfiction books, including children's literature, and books related to science and social studies. I recommend thirty minutes of read-aloud time per day. It works well to integrate the books read aloud with the science and social studies curriculum.
As they work through this program, students will be able to read variety of regular children's picture books. It is recommended that the teacher reads these books aloud to the students on a regular basis before it is time for the students to read them on their own. Being familiar with the stories will allow the students to recognize and decode words in the story more easily.
When students reach a new practice story in level four, the teacher should first read the story aloud to the whole group, asking appropriate questions to help students understand and think about the story. Then the teacher should echo read each sentence or each page of the story again, taking turns with the students, who have their own books in their laps. The same procedure can be done with stories from basal reading programs and other literature selections when they are being used.
Some students will enter first grade already reading. At the beginning of the school year, the teacher should invite each student individually to read a page or two from several books, using an extra easy book, moderately easy book, and more advanced book. Students should put those students who are already reading together during the small group rotations. Their group can begin reading the suggested literature selections from the beginning of the year.
It is suggested that teachers create graphic organizers on the board daily with the students input to analyze and visualize information from the stories and books read aloud. Diagrams, concept maps, timelines, and others can be used. Students can then copy or expand upon the board work during the small group rotation time.
In the same way, it is suggested that the teacher and students work together to prepare students for easy writing assignments. For example, the teacher might solicit information from the students to create a graphic organizer on the chalkboard on a selected topic. Beginning students can copy the organizer during an independent work period, perhaps drawing pictures as well to illustrate the concepts. More advanced students can use the organizer as a reference point to write and illustrate a short essay or story related to the topic.

How Was The Sound City Reading Program Developed?

Starting in the mid 1980s, I developed this program over a period of many years while teaching and tutoring elementary school students. The materials I created, starting with color-coded phonetic word lists and flashcards, followed by little printed booklets that had rhyming words, sentences, and pictures, were initially used as a supplement to the early elementary basal reading programs that were used in the schools where I taught. My goal was to find a combination of teaching techniques and materials that would help as many students as possible learn to read and write successfully. I saw first hand that learning to read could be a challenging and frustrating process for many students. I was fortunate to be able to attend a Slingerland summer teacher training program early in my career. The Slingerland program was developed as a way to use the Orton-Gillingham program with a full classroom. Both systems were designed to teach dyslexic students, and have proven to be highly successful for many years. Over a period of time, I built on that foundation, adapting and adding additional teaching ideas from other outstanding programs. With each new modification or addition, I found it even easier to teach my students to read and write.

I have incorporated teaching elements into Sound City Reading from the programs listed below.

Montessori - Teaching Montessori In the Home, The School Years by Elizabeth G. Hainstock (This link shows an out of print book that I purchased years ago. It's price is now very high. Look for newer books or find the best price available from book resellers, if you're interested.) - From this program I learned to print the vowels and vowels patterns in a different color on flashcards and word lists.
Slingerland - From this program I learned to use a structured lesson outline every day that includes alphabet and phonogram flashcards and a dictation period in which students write letters, letter patterns, phonetic words, sight words, and a sentence. I also learned to teach handwriting by having students trace large letter patterns on the chalkboard and on paper.
Total Reading - Primary Teacher Manual, By Mary Minor Johnston, Sadly, this program is no longer available. - From this program I learned that students learn more easily when they say just the letter sounds when they see letter and phonogram flashcards and when they spell words, instead of using the letter names. I also learned to sort the children's books in my classroom library by reading level, paying special attention to the earliest levels. I read the text carefully in each book, taking notes about the specific phonics patterns included in the story. I labeled each book to show the most advanced phonics pattern in my teaching sequence. That allowed me to introduce a new book to the students after they had learned all of the necessary phonics patterns. This made each of the classical children's books that we read completely decodable by the students.
Dekodiphukan - ("Decode If You Can") - From this program I learned that a sound story with pictures to illustrate all of the sounds in the English language works very well when introducing the alphabet and phonics patterns. The pictures can be used on sound charts to help students remember the sounds. I later wrote my own sound story and created my own sound pictures, introducing the letters that are easiest to write first and the letters that are more difficult to write last. This made it easier for students to learn to write the letters. The easier strokes that they learned when writing the first few letters could then be used when learning the more complex letters.
Handwriting Without Tears - From this program I learned that starting the lowercase letters a, c, d, g, o, q, and s on the middle line instead of below it makes it easier for students to learn to write those letters.
Color The Vowels - Up until I learned about this site, I only used the color-coding system I used for the vowels on flashcards and sound charts. However, the author of this site took public domain poetry and applied his own color-coded vowel system to the entire poems. I tutored a fifth grade student who was a reluctant reader using this site. Reading the color-coded text on the computer helped her read more fluently, with a high level of interest, and with better understanding. At that point I applied my own color-coding system to all of my practice stories for beginning readers, and used them with my first graders with great success.
Reading Reflex, Phono-Graphix - I read this book after I retired from the classroom and found that I agreed with their teaching approach in many ways. With a student that I was tutoring, I applied one part of their method by making lists of words that included several different phonics patterns that show the same vowel sounds. For example, one list might include these words: rain, play, game, crate, way, stay, snail, etc. I gave my student the lists for homework assignments. His job was to write the words in separate columns on a sheet of paper, sorted by vowel pattern. I like the way this provided a good review of the patterns after they had been introduced. There are many more excellent elements in this program, but I have not incorporated them into Sound City Reading because I already had similar activities that I had developed earlier.