Product Description

Once students in the Barton System realize they can read accurately and fluently, they’ll want to start reading books.
This usually happens near the end of Level 3.

But at that point, they only know two syllable types, Closed and Unit, plus contractions.

Reading research clearly shows that emerging readers will improve their fluency (speed) only if they read books that contain controlled text. In other words, books in which at least 95% of the words can be sounded out using the rules the student already knows.

Unfortunately, most books on the library shelf—even ones aimed at young readers—contain all seven types of syllables. So if you hand a student one of those books to read, the student will have to revert to guessing – the very habit you’re trying to break.

That’s why we hired authors to write Stand-Alone Books. Each of these 32-page books contains one long story written using Controlled Text plus the Sight Words taught in the Barton System.

These books provide Barton students with lots of decoding practice, plus the satisfaction of reading a good book from cover to cover – independently – perhaps for the first time in their life.

Right now, there are twelve Stand-Alone Books that students can read at the end of Level 3, ten for students at the end of Level 4, and five for students at the end of Level 5. Check our list of titles frequently, as it will be expanding rapidly.

Each book was written to be enjoyed by both children and adults.