Direct Instruction Materials

HEC Reading Horizons offers a wide range of direct instruction materials to meet your unique classroom needs. Age- and level-appropriate manuals and instructional aides ensure your instruction is right on target for the students you serve. Read on for more information about our effective direct instruction materials.

This Discover Intensive Phonics Teacher’s Kit is designed for use with elementary students in grades 1–3. The kit includes a two-volume Teacher’s Manual with lesson plans and a new Sound Essentials manual containing materials for reinforcement, enrichment and activities, practice pages, revised games and activities, and black-line masters. A new Word Builder, for letter identification, word formation, and phoneme manipulation and substitution, is also included. Kit components include:

• Teacher’s Manual (two volumes) with lesson plans and a new 30-page Phonemic Awareness supplement, which includes lessons on rhyme, syllable identification, oral segmentation, and oral blending plus all new, phoneme manipulation and identification of words in sentences, activities, and assessments.
• Sound Essentials manual.
• 616 Reverse Listening Cards.
• 13 wall-size posters (42 Sounds of the Alphabet, Blends, Five Phonetic Skills, Key Vowels, and nine Most Common Words).
• Two flipcharts.
• Enrichment CD with teacher aids and reproducible student aids and activities.

Click here to view the Recent Additions or click here to order this kit.

The Kindergarten Discover Intensive Phonics Teacher’s Kit is designed for use with students who have not yet reached the first grade. The kit includes a two-volume Teacher’s Manual with lesson plans and a new Sound Essentials manual containing materials for reinforcement, enrichment and activities, practice pages, revised games and activities, black-line masters, and a new Word Builder for letter identification, word formation, and phoneme manipulation and substitution. Kit components include:

• Teacher’s Manual (two volumes) with lesson plans and a new 30-page Phonemic Awareness supplement, which includes lessons on rhyme, syllable identification, oral segmentation, and oral blending plus all new phoneme manipulation and identification of words in sentences, activities, and assessments.
• Kindergarten Sound Essentials manual.
• 792 large-print Reverse Listening Cards.
• Four Kindergarten Most Common Words posters.
• Two flipcharts.
• Enrichment CD with teacher aids and reproducible student aids and activities.

Click here to order this kit.

The Special Education Discover Intensive Phonics Teacher’s Kit is designed for use with special-education students and older students who have learning disabilities or other special needs. The kit includes a two-volume Teacher's Manual with lesson plans and a new Sound Essentials manual containing materials for reinforcement, enrichment and activities, practice pages, revised games and activities, black-line masters, and a new Word Builder for letter identification, word formation, and phoneme manipulation and substitution. Kit components include:

• Teacher’s Manual (two volumes) with lesson plans and a new 30-page Phonemic Awareness supplement that includes lessons on rhyme, syllable identification, oral segmentation, and oral blending, plus all new phoneme manipulation and identification of words in sentences, activities, and assessments.
• Sound Essentials manual.
• 1,656 large-print Reverse Listening Cards.
• 13 wall-size posters (42 Sounds of the Alphabet, Blends, Five Phonetic Skills, Key Vowels, and nine Most Common Words).
• Two flipcharts.
• Enrichment CD with teacher aids and reproducible student aids and activities.

Click here to order this kit.

The Intermediate and Adult Teacher’s Kit includes a two-volume teacher’s manual enriched with ESL/ESOL aids and an appendix containing games and activities to enhance learning. Other kit components include:

• Student Involvement Material book with black-line masters of student worksheets.
• 192 Reverse Listening Cards.
• Five Phonetic Skills poster, vowels poster, and two wall-size posters showing alphabet sounds and blends.
• Enrichment CD with teacher aids.
• Optional flipcharts may be purchased separately.

Click here to view the Recent Additions or click here to order this kit.

The latest addition to the Discover Intensive Phonics methodology is the condensed Decoding Strategies for Literacy Development teacher's manual. Teachers, paraprofessionals, tutors, institutions of higher learning, and parents may use this manual for classroom instruction or self-study. It contains all of the skills taught in the larger Teacher’s Kit manuals. Instructional emphasis of this Decoding Strategies manual is focused in three areas: kindergarten-third grade, fourth grade-adult, and ESL/ESOL, meaning it can be used with any age group. The sequence is the same as the Intermediate/Adult Teacher’s manuals, but there are suggestions for teachers of younger students contained throughout.

There are four supplements that augment the learning process for all students. The General Supplement has helps for teachers that can be used with any age or ability level. It contains letter-formation guides, games and activities, a glossary of terms, and Word Banks of practice words by skill. The Intermediate/Adult Supplement contains a correlation to the skills taught in the Reading Horizons software. The Elementary Supplement has materials that are specific to younger students. It contains time frames; B/D reversal tips; modifications to the content and sequence for younger students; specific Word Banks for younger students; and correlations to Kindergarten and First Grade and Above Reverse Listening Cards and the Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself software. The final supplement is the ESOL Supplement, which contains many helpful tools for teachers of ESOL students, including pronunciation guides for the 42 Sounds taught in the course, correlation to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and Minimal Pairs activities.

• Decoding Strategies Manual
• 192 Reverse Listening Cards
• 2 wall-size posters (42 Sounds of the Alphabet, Blends)

Click here to order this kit.

The ESL Student Workbook is designed for English for Speakers of Other Languages students and is correlated with Discover Intensive Phonics course materials. Features of the workbook include:

• Contains pronunciation guides, cultural lessons, and student worksheets.
• Takes learning beyond simple language skills to vocabulary development and cultural education.
• The ESL Sound CD correlates with the ESL Workbook practice sheets to provide practice with the 42 Sounds, slides, words, and Minimal Pairs exercises.

Click here to order the ESL Student Workbook.

Two sets of flashcards with words on one side and pictures on the other allow students to practice reading, pronunciation, and vocabulary skills. Set 1 begins with three-letter words and progresses through words using the Five Phonetic Skills. Set 2 includes words with more-advanced letter combinations, multi-syllabic words, contractions, and pronouns.

Click here to order the ESL Flashcards.

The Little Books are designed to sequentially follow the phonics skills and Most Common Words taught in each section of the Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself program. The Little Books are cleverly illustrated and provide an excellent opportunity for students to use and practice the phonics, grammar, and reading skills they have learned in each of the lessons. The set is color-coordinated with the section skills in the Teacher’s Manual. This supplement is a must for all elementary users.

Click here to order the Little Books.