1. What is LLI?
2. Who is LLI for?
3. How do I find the instructional reading levels of the lowest-achieving students to know where to place children in LLI?
4. How long is LLI?
5. Which LLI system should I use?
6. What are the key features of the LLI lessons?
7. I am just starting to read about this program? Could you please tell me where this fits in with Reading Recovery and guided reading?
8. How does the F&P Text Gradient Levels equate with Basal, DRA, Rigby and Reading Recovery Levels?
9. What funding options may be available for purchasing the Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention System?
10. Since the LLI Green System covers levels A-J, can I just use it for both my Kindergarten and first grade children instead of purchasing the Orange System just for Kindergarten?
11. Why is it important for Kindergarten children to spend so much time at the beginning levels?

Who is LLI for?
LLI is designed to be used with small groups of young children who need intensive support to achieve grade-level competency. Participants include low-achieving children who are not receiving another supplementary intervention. English language learners can also benefit from LLI. Each LLI lesson provides specific suggestions for supporting English language learners.

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How do I find the instructional reading levels of the lowest-achieving students to know where to place children in LLI?
We recommend using the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System 1 to determine the instructional level of your students. Both the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment Systems and Leveled Literacy Intervention are based on the Fountas & Pinnell A-Z Text Gradient which is correlated to grade level. The Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System provides critical information on a child’s reading strengths and needs in the areas of processing strategies, comprehension, and fluency.

Visit www.fountasandpinnellbenchmarkassessment.com to learn more.
For ordering information, click here.

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How long is LLI?
LLI is a short-term program designed to bring children up to grade-level performance in as little as 18–24 weeks.

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• Orange System: Levels A to C
• Green System: Levels A to J
• Blue System: Levels C to N

• Orange System: 70 books
• Green System: 110 books
• Blue System: 120 books

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What are the key features of the LLI lessons?
Lessons across the three systems progress from beginning reading in Kindergarten or Grade 1 (Level A) to beginning reading for Grade 3 (Level N). Supported by Fountas & Pinnell’s Continuum of Literacy Learning, LLI’s lessons include the following:

• A combination of reading, writing, phonics and word study
• Emphasis on comprehending strategies
• Attention to the features of nonfiction and fiction texts
• Specific work on sounds, letters, and words in activities designed to help children notice the details of written language and learn how words “work”
• Help for students in expanding their vocabularies
• Explicit teaching for fluent and phrased reading
• Opportunities to write about reading to learn a variety of writing strategies.

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I am just starting to read about this program? Could you please tell me where this fits in with Reading Recovery and guided reading?
Please click here to review an excerpt from the Program Guide.

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How does the F&P Text Gradient Levels equate with Basal, DRA, Rigby and Reading Recovery Levels?

Click here to view a printable PDF of the Grade Level Equivalence Chart.

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What funding options may be available for purchasing the Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention System?

The following funding sources would be appropriate for the purchase of Leveled Literacy Intervention:

• Title I (both parts--regular and Reading First)
• Title III
• Title V
• Optional Extended Day Programs
• Summer School Funds
• Accelerated Reading Instruction (ARI - Texas)
• Dyslexia funds
• Other state intervention funding
• Early intervention funds - state and national

Since the LLI Green System covers levels A-J, can I just use it for both my Kindergarten and first grade children instead of purchasing the Orange System just for Kindergarten?

We do not recommend that. The LLI Orange System is specifically designed to help kindergarten children who are having difficulty in the beginning phases of learning to read and to prevent further difficulties by establishing a strong foundation in early literacy.

The Orange System provides three levels of instruction, with multiple weeks of lessons at each level A-C. It includes 70 carefully leveled books and 70 lessons specifically designed to match the trajectory needed by the kindergarten child. These original, high-quality leveled books feature topics, illustrations, and storylines that provide strong support in the beginning phases of learning to read.

After the first 10 days of "Getting Started" lessons, which include shared reading at levels A through C, children will read books and have systematic phonics lessons over a period of 20 days for Level A, 20 days for Level B, and 20 days for Level C.

Why is it important for Kindergarten children to spend so much time at the beginning levels?

The systematic approach of LLI is designed to prevent reading difficulties. As they begin to read, young children must acquire and bring together a range of very basic understandings; including:

• Hearing the sounds in words. They must become aware of the sounds (phonemes) in words in a general way, and then learn to hear and distinguish the individual sounds. Phonemic awareness is considered to be a critical element in their ability to associate sounds and letters (see National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). The lessons in the LLI Orange System provide a systematic approach to the development of phonemic awareness at an intensity level designed to help children who are having difficulty hearing sounds in words.
• Learning to look at letters. Children must also acquire the ability to distinguish letters by their distinctive features (the features that make a letter different from every other letter) and to associate them with letter names. Before children can associate letters and sounds, he or she must be able to notice and use these distinctions. The task requires learning how to look at letters. This ability must become automatic. The LLI Orange Systems provides systematic, "hands on" instruction to help children learn how to look at letters.
• Learning letter-sound relationships. At the same time they are learning how to hear sounds in words and recognize letters, children begin to make connections between letters and sounds (phonics). Children must understand the alphabetic principle (that there is a relationships between letters and sounds) and to develop a solid understanding of simple relationships. The LLI Orange System lessons provide systematic instruction to help children understand the relationships between consonants and sounds and to learn simple phonograms (with endings such as -an and -at).
• Using letters and sounds to solve words. As children learn letter-sound relationships, they begin to apply them to solve simple words. LLI provides a great deal of systematic instruction to help children understand how words are constructed using letters and letter patterns. They read and write words that are in continuous text.
• Learning how print "works." Beginning readers must develop a sound of understanding of how to use print. For example, you read left to right and match one spoken word with one word in print. You return to the left margin each time you read a new line. These complex early reading behaviors must be under the reader's control before he or she starts working on complex print. The LLI Orange System lessons provide 10 days of highly supportive shared reading in the Getting Started lessons to help children begin to understand how the system works. Then, children experience instruction over several weeks (if needed) at Level A. Here, beginning readers can establish control of voice-print match and left to right reading of very simple texts in which there is only one line of print on each page. If needed, the reader can spend several more weeks on texts that have only two or three lines of print. This strong instruction at very simple levels helps the young children develop automatic control of these important early reading behaviors.
• Developing a core of high frequency words. It is very advantageous to beginning readers to have a core of words that they know and can recognize (and sometimes write) rapidly and automatically. Knowing important high- frequency words (such as the, and, is, and it) fuels reading and writing growth. The certainty of a known word makes it easier to monitor one's reading; the known words free attention for new words that are not yet known. The LLI Orange System provides for the systematic acquisition of over 50 high frequency words.
• Understanding and using the structure of written language. Knowledge of language syntax (grammar) is a powerful source of information for beginning readers. Since written language patterns are somewhat different from spoken language, young readers need many opportunities to process simple sentences. Once they become aware of the kinds of language patterns they will meet in written sentences, they can make better predictions and can monitor their reading to be sure that it "sounds right." The LLI Orange System provides for a great deal of practice reading up to 70 stories and informational texts.
• Understanding simple stories and informational texts. Beginning readers need to understand simple stories and to notice important information in texts. They need many opportunities reading texts with familiar content and themes so that they experience excellent comprehension of texts daily. The LLI Orange System provides many highly engaging texts on a range of topics that appeal to children. In addition, teachers engage children in conversation about the meaning of these texts and they extend their understandings through writing and drawing.

The LLI Orange System is especially designed to provide a firm foundation for beginning readers. The combination of instructional elements and engaging texts makes it possible to clear up basic confusions and to prevent reading difficulties in later grades.

By mid-year, your assessment will reveal those kindergarten children who have confusions about print. A series of LLI lessons from the Orange System, as needed, will help these children learn how to process print, use phonics, and understand their reading.

"Learning to read is a complex task for beginners. They must coordinate many cognitive processes to read accurately and fluently. Readers must be able to apply their alphabetic knowledge to decode unfamiliar words and to remember how to read words they have read before. When reading connected text, they must construct sentence meanings and retain them in memory as they move on to new sentences. At the same time, they must monitor their word recognition to make sure that the words activated in their minds fit with the meaning of the context. In addition, they must link new information to what they have already read, as well as to their background knowledge, and use this to anticipate forthcoming information. When one stops to take stock of all the processes that readers perform when they read and comprehend text, one is reminded how amazing the act of reading is and how much there is for beginners to learn." (Report of the National Reading Panel, p. 2-99)

National Institute of child Health and Human Development. 2000. Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read, An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction: Reports of the Subgroups. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH Pub., No. 00-4754.