PCI Reading Program- Level Two

Designed as the next step for students who have completed Level One. It teaches 140 additional words, advancing students from a 1.0 reading level to a 2.0–2.5 reading level. While Level Two’s focus is still on teaching words through visual discrimination, it also introduces students to wrapped text, common inflectional endings, such as –s, –ing, and –ed, and compound words.

Words Taught in Groups of Ten
Level Two uses the same five-step lesson cycle that students became familiar with in Level One, but it teaches the words in groups of ten rather than five. Level Two includes 14 full-color books, one for every ten words learned. Each book features a different character in a typical everyday setting. Books range in length from 12 to 16 pages and move from one paragraph per page to up to three paragraphs per page.

View PDF of Level Two Word List

New Instructional Components
A set of 14 reproducible stories is provided to help students review all 140 words they learned in Level One. In addition, Level Two features a new instructional step in the Guided Word Practice lessons called Skill Discovery. The Skill Discovery Lessons Book offers scripted lessons that teach students how to read wrapped text, interpret end punctuation marks, identify and read inflectional endings, and identify and read compound words. Word Strips and specially designed Word Windows are also included to help students practice reading words with inflectional endings and compound words.

• Takes Beginning Readers from a 1.0 Reading Level to a 2.5 Reading Level

• Same Lesson Cycle as Level One

• Provides Building Reading Skills Lessons in Environmental Print, Fluency, and Writing

To prepare for Level Two, students read 14 short stories that use only the 140 words taught in Level One. Each of the 140 Level One words appears at least once in these stories, and many words are used multiple times. A word assessment chart has been provided so that teachers can easily track students’ retention of the Level One words. Any words not retained should be reviewed before the student begins Level Two. 

Like Level One, Level Two includes a Building Reading Skills binder which introduces students to new literacy skills that are critical for reading success. The units in Level Two are:

• Building Print Recognition
• Building Letter-Sound Knowledge
• Building Fluency
• Building the Writing Connection
• Building the Home Connection

Within the units, 38 lesson plans incorporate research-based strategies and differentiated instruction to build each skill one step at a time. 62 reproducible student pages include environmental print samples that use the words from the program; sight word lists, sentence lists, and reading samples to build fluency; and writing practice sheets. Three different assessment charts to track rate and accuracy are included in the Fluency unit. The final unit features five reproducible, take-home books to build the school-home connection.

To introduce new print concepts and decoding skills in Level Two, some of the Guided Word Practice Lessons incorporate a Skills Discovery Lesson. These lessons are fully scripted and provided in a separate book in the Level Two box. Seven skills are covered, in the following order:

• Text Wrapping
• End Punctuation Marks
• Inflectional Ending Noun-s
• Inflectional Ending Verb-s
• Inflectional Ending Verb-ing
• Inflectional Ending Verb-ed
• Compound Words

Once students have been introduced to text wrapping and end punctuation marks, Level Two books and materials begin incorporating paragraphs. Inflectional ending lessons and compound words incorporate decoding, expanding students’ reading skills and preparing them for Level Three of the program. Both lesson plans and reproducible student pages are included in the Skill Discovery Lessons book.

The Word Windows and Word Strips add a new hands-on component to Level Two. Integrated into some of the Guided Word Practice lessons as part of the read-aloud section, the 40 Word Strips provide reading practice with the inflectional endings presented in the program and with compound words. There are four Word Windows:

• Word Window for –s
• Word Window for –ing
• Word Window for –ed
• Word Window for Compound Words

Once a Word Strip has been introduced in a Guided Word Practice Lesson, students can continue to use it for review and independent practice.