Untitled
One of the reading programs District 100 has used for many years is a program called SLANT. For some students, SLANT is a very familiar reading program. District 100 has used SLANT for students still developing their emergent reading skills and strategies. SLANT is typically used daily for 40 minute sessions.
During SLANT sessions, students learn new sounds systematically. Students are not expected to know a reading skill that has not been taught. They are taught new sounds and spellings by hearing and seeing the new sound, repeating the sound, and then saying the sound(s) while writing it on a whiteboard or some other tactile object such as a screen.
Students then practice reading the new sounds in word lists and sentences. After reading the new sound in words, students move on to spelling the words. Students also practice reading "Martian Words" which are single syllable nonsense words. Students also learn "Gotta Know" words, which are high-frequency words that are nonphonetic in spelling. And finally, students then practice reading stories based on the new sounds and all sounds taught so far, this is called Connected Text. While students read connected text they are also learning comprehension skills and strategies that great readers use to help them become active readers and thinkers.
