Reading Program

As a 10-year veteran of the LAUSD, I have used the Open Court reading program for eight years. Kirk Jordan (letter, July 5), a second-grade LAUSD teacher, asserts that the tight structure of the Open Court reading program does not allow for singing and rhyming words. On the contrary, the Open Court Phonics Review Kit contains phonemic awareness cards, many of which have rhyming songs on the back that are sung to teach the emerging readers sounds and words.

I am not affiliated with Open Court in any way. I suggest that teachers carefully review the reading programs offered by their schools in order to maximize their teaching and to improve the reading levels of students in their classrooms.

MARLA GUESS

Los Angeles