Whats the difference between READ and phonics programs or balanced literacy programs?
A. READ is Whole Code Instruction (WCI), where the Code is the Alphabetic Code. WCI contrasts with Phonics which is almost always incomplete Code instruction (iCi). READ makes no use of “leveled readers”; children only read books in which they have been previously taught how to use the Code that the text uses. Most phonics programs designed for whole class instruction spend a few days or a week on a new phonic pattern, such as /sh/, for example. READ cycles through every possible one of these phonic patterns, IN MLT text, to the point of mastery, or what is known as internalizing the code.
