Even the most educated, well prepared teacher has faced the issue of what to teach when. Working with emergent readers—readers anywhere from k-3rd grade can be overwhelming. Because you have the task of teaching them HOW TO READ, probably the most important thing they will ever need to know, you must do it effectively and for your own sanity, efficiently. And let’s face it, even when you know what to do, finding/making/stealing the materials takes a ton of time and paper. All this activity takes time away from what you really should be doing-- what you love to do, the reason you get up every morning--teaching your kids. I developed a plan and created all the materials to go with it, as a kit for my emergent teachers. It helped them organize their long term plans and showed them the explicit steps of reading instruction. What surprised me was that pretty soon all my teachers were using it because it saved so much time and hassle. The one book soon became two as we concentrated on a balanced approach to literacy instruction. The first book focuses on phonics and word families; the second on fluency and comprehension. Taken together they really do provide what you need to teach a sold, but balanced literacy program.