Classical Phonics Curriculum for Grades K-3

Readers In Rhyme is a classical phonics curriculum for Pre-K through Grade 3, built on Orton-Gillingham methodology and delivered through 80 decodable, illustrated rhyming readers, scripted ELA teacher guides, and reading intervention kits. RIR teaches children to read through systematic and explicit instruction with stories that form character virtues such as courage, honesty, and kindness, so learning to read and learning to be good happen in the same lesson.

Schools and classical educators need a reading program that works and belongs with the content, methodology, and aesthetics of the classical school. Readers In Rhyme was built for these classical schools. This guide explains what makes the RIR phonics curriculum truly classical, how Readers In Rhyme is structured, whom it serves, and how to bring it into your school or classroom.

 

Curriculum at a Glance

• Grades: Pre-K through Grade 3 (ages ~4-8)

• Method: Orton-Gillingham structured literacy:  explicit, systematic, sequential, multisensory

• Readers: 80 decodable, illustrated rhyming books across 8 color-coded sets

• Levels: 4 (Level K, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3)

• Teacher materials: Scripted, open-and-go ELA Teacher Guides covering the full language arts schedule block

• Best for: Whole-class core instruction, small groups, ESL/ESE learners, and MTSS/RTI Tier 3 intervention

• Try it free: Complimentary school sample shipped to your campus with no commitment

 

What Is Classical Phonics and Why Does It Matter for Schools?

Classical phonics is systematic phonics instruction anchored in virtue-forming content, beautiful illustration, and respect for the dignity of the child as a rational being capable of real effort. Phonics instruction was contested in education for decades, but research has settled the argument: the science of reading is unambiguous that children learn to decode print through systematic, explicit phonics instruction, and children who receive phonics instruction read with greater fluency, comprehension, and confidence.

Classical schools never chased the whole-language experiment. Systematic, sequential reading instruction has always been a part of the classical school renewal. Classical teachers know how a child acquires the ability to read, and that reading is the necessary academic tool that makes everything else in the curriculum possible.

Classical phonics rejects the idea that learning to read must be made entertaining through cartoonish novelty. Instead, Readers In Rhyme makes the materials themselves worth the child's serious attention. The readers contain genuine stories, restored vintage artwork, and themes of courage, kindness, and perseverance that reinforce the other lessons within the school curriculum.

Every rigorous Orton-Gillingham reading program must develop five pillars: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Readers In Rhyme addresses all five within a single, coherent scope and sequence, so teachers are not assembling literacy lessons from different textbook sources. The Readers In Rhyme program is a complete literacy program.

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How Is Readers In Rhyme Built?

The Orton-Gillingham Foundation

Readers In Rhyme is built on Orton-Gillingham (OG) methodology — the standard for literacy instruction, and the approach most thoroughly supported by the research findings of the science of reading. OG instruction is explicit, systematic, sequential, and multisensory. It teaches phonograms directly rather than asking children to infer them from context, and it moves through skills in a deliberate order so that each lesson builds on the last.

Four distinct features are woven throughout the curriculum:

• Color-coded phonograms. Vowel sounds are marked in red and consonant sounds in blue. This visual distinction is a direct OG tool that gives students a consistent reference as they meet new phonograms and helps them self-monitor as they decode.

• Multisensory activities. Lessons engage sight, sound, and movement. Students hear a phonogram, see it, say it, and write it — reinforcing the link between printed symbol and sound through several channels at once.

• Mastery-based progression. Students do not advance to the next level until they have demonstrated fluency at the current one. The scope and sequence is not a pacing guide; it is a mastery ladder.

• Scripted, open-and-go lesson plans. Every ELA Teacher Guide includes fully scripted lessons a teacher can pick up and deliver without extra preparation  so new teachers, substitutes, and paraprofessionals can teach with fidelity from day one.

 

The Color-Coded Level Progression

Readers In Rhyme spans 80 decodable books across eight color-coded sets, organized into four curriculum levels:

Readers In Rhyme scope: levels, color sets, phonogram range, and grade.

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Pre-K / Level K Goldenrod (1-0) + Apricot (11-20) Foundational phonograms, short vowels Pre-K & K

Level 1 Teal (21-30) + Olive (31-40)Blends, digraphs, short-vowel patterns

Level 2 Bluebonnet (41-50) + Plum (51-60) Long-vowel patterns, vowel teams

Level 3 Silver (61-70)+ Cherry (71-80)Advanced phonograms; cursive writing introduced

Each set is a complete unit: ten illustrated, rhyming decodable books written at the phonogram range for that set, with vocabulary controlled so that every word a student meets is either decodable at their current level or a sight word they have been explicitly taught.

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The Decodable Readers Themselves

The books are not flashcard exercises bound together. They are stories: short, illustrated, written in rhyme featuring characters navigating moments that call for courage, honesty, or kindness. The artwork is restored vintage illustration: detailed, beautiful, and entirely distinct from the clip-art aesthetic that fills most early-reader sets.

This matters for classical schools because reading instruction and character formation are not separate programs. When a first-grader reads a story about a child who tells the truth even when it is hard and reads it fluently because the phonograms are within her reach — two things happen at once: she is becoming a reader, and she is receiving formation. That is the classical integration.

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The ELA Teacher Guides

Each curriculum level includes a spiral-bound ELA Teacher Guide that covers the full language arts block:

• Scripted phonics and phonemic-awareness instruction

• Handwriting practice (cursive introduced at Level 3)

• Grammar and mechanics instruction

• Fluency passages tied to the readers

• Poetry and picture study

• Comprehension discussion questions

The guides are written for real classroom use. Every lesson is scripted so the teacher's attention stays on the student, not the page, and the sequence within each guide mirrors the reader sets at that level — so the phonics taught in the guide is reinforced in the decodable books students read the same week.

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Who Is Readers In Rhyme For?

Whole-Class Core Instruction

Readers In Rhyme was designed as a core reading program for the classical school classroom. The scripted lessons, grade-level reader sets, and classroom sets (20 books per level) are built for a teacher delivering instruction to a full class. Schools using it as their primary K–3 reading curriculum can implement it across whole-group, small-group, and independent practice on a single consistent scope and sequence.

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Small-Group and Pull-Out Instruction

The mastery-based structure makes Readers In Rhyme equally effective in small groups. A reading specialist or paraprofessional pulling a group of three to five students for targeted instruction can begin at the level appropriate for that group without a separate program. The color-coded system makes it easy to see where a student is and what comes next.

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ESL and ESE Students

The OG methodology that underpins Readers In Rhyme was developed specifically for students who struggle to learn to read through incidental or implicit instruction — including students with dyslexia, students with language-processing differences, and students acquiring English as a second language. The explicit phoneme–grapheme instruction, color-coded phonograms, and multisensory approach are precisely the scaffolds ESL and ESE populations need, delivered within content that does not condescend.

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MTSS / RTI Tier 3 Remediation

Schools implementing a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) or Response to Intervention (RTI) framework can use Readers In Rhyme Intervention Kits for Tier 3 intensive instruction. Each Intervention Kit bundles the ELA Teacher Guide with the full reader set for that level into a complete, self-contained remediation package. The scripted lessons ensure implementation fidelity even when instruction is delivered by a paraprofessional or intervention specialist rather than the lead teacher.

 

Which Classical Schools Use Readers In Rhyme?

Readers In Rhyme is in active use at classical schools across the country. A few of the communities that have adopted the program:

• Great Hearts Academies 

• Ascent Classical Academy 

• St. Jerome Academy 

• Cornerstone Classical Academy 

• Christ Classical 

• And many, many more...

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How Does Readers In Rhyme Align With Other Phonics Programs?

Many classical schools adopt Readers In Rhyme alongside or after an existing phonics program. Free alignment guides are available for the four most commonly paired programs:

• Spalding the Writing Road to Reading method, used widely in classical and traditional schools

• Logic of English (LOE)  a comprehensive phonogram-based language arts approach

• UFLI Foundations  the University of Florida Literacy Institute's structured-literacy curriculum

• Literacy Essentials a foundational reading program used across a range of school settings

Each alignment guide shows, sequence by sequence, how the Readers In Rhyme readers map to the phonogram scope of the paired program  so schools can introduce the readers without disrupting their existing instructional sequence.

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Download a Free Alignment Guide

Already using Spalding, LOE, UFLI, or Literacy Essentials? Download the free alignment guide to see exactly how Readers In Rhyme integrates with your current curriculum.

Download a Free Alignment Guide

What Does the Scope and Sequence Cover?

The full Readers In Rhyme Scope and Sequence is available as a free PDF download. It shows every phonogram introduced at each level, the order in which skills are taught, and how the progression moves from foundational phonemic awareness through the advanced phonograms introduced in Level 3.

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Download the Free Scope & Sequence

See the full phonogram progression from Pre-K through Grade 3.

Download the Scope & Sequence PDF 

What Should Your School Order?

For a single classroom: Start with the ELA Teacher Guide for your grade level and the corresponding Reader Set. The Teacher Guide covers the full language arts block with scripted lessons; the Reader Set gives every student access to decodable books at the current phonogram range.

For a full school or grade-level adoption: Order Classroom Sets (20 books per level) for whole-class use. Schools may apply for a dedicated school account for access to school pricing and tax exemption.

For intervention: Intervention Kits bundle the ELA Teacher Guide with the full Reader Set for that level into a single package designed for Tier 3 or pull-out use.

• ELA Teacher Guides  all levels

• Reader Sets Level K through Level 3

• Classroom Sets Level K through Level 3

• Intervention Kits” Pre-K through Level 3

 

Frequently Asked Questions

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What grade levels does Readers In Rhyme cover?

Readers In Rhyme spans Pre-K through Grade 3, covering ages approximately 4 through 8. The curriculum is organized into four levels: Pre-K/Kindergarten (Goldenrod and Apricot sets, books 1–20), Level 1 (Teal and Olive, books 21–40), Level 2 (Bluebonnet and Plum, books 41–60), and Level 3 (Silver and Cherry, books 61–80). Each level corresponds to the phonogram range appropriate for that grade.

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Is Readers In Rhyme aligned to Orton-Gillingham?

Yes. The program is explicitly built on OG methodology: color-coded phonograms (red for vowels, blue for consonants), multisensory activities, a sequential and mastery-based scope and sequence, and scripted open-and-go lesson plans. Free alignment guides are also available for Spalding, Logic of English, UFLI Foundations, and Literacy Essentials, showing how Readers In Rhyme integrates with each.

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Can it be used for Tier 3 MTSS or RTI intervention?

Yes. The OG-aligned, scripted lessons make Readers In Rhyme suitable for intensive intervention settings. Intervention Kits (ELA Teacher Guide plus Reader Set, bundled per level) are available specifically for schools using the program in a Tier 3 or pull-out context. The mastery-based structure means intervention students begin at the level appropriate for their current phonogram knowledge, not their chronological grade.

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How do schools order, and is there a discount?

Schools may submit a sample request to receive complimentary curriculum materials before purchasing. For orders, schools can apply for a dedicated school account that includes school pricing and tax exemption. Contact info@classicalschoolsolutions.com or submit the school sample request form to get started.

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Is there a sample available before a full school purchase?

Yes. The school sample program exists precisely for this. Submit a sample request with your name, job title, school name, address, and email, and complimentary curriculum samples will be shipped to your campus at no charge.

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See the Curriculum for Yourself

Readers In Rhyme was built by classical educators for classical schools. Its methodology is rigorous. Its content is beautiful. Its scope and sequence is designed to carry a student from the first sound-symbol connections in Pre-K all the way to fluent, expressive reading in Grade 3.

If you are evaluating phonics programs for your school, the best next step is to hold the books. Request a sample — it ships free, it requires no commitment, and it will tell you more than any description can.

• Request a School Sample →

• Download the Scope & Sequence PDF

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