Read-to-Me (RTM)

What is an RTM Reader?

Readers at the Read-to-Me level are not yet ready to learn to read. They still have more work to do at the listening levels and sometimes just need time to grow a little older. Before moving to the Yellow levels, readers need to understand how books work and why people enjoy reading them. They need to have developed one-to-one correspondence when counting. They must enjoy sitting by themselves, pointing to words in picture books as they “pretend read” the books to themselves. There is no shortcut to the vocabulary, background knowledge, language experience, reading identity, attention span, genre exposure, and phonemic awareness that come through being read to, one-on-one, for the 1–2 hours per day that is typical of the child ready to learn to read.

Standards-based Objectives for RTM

Wide Reading and Motivation

• Enjoys being read to in school and at home; is attentive during group read-alouds
• Holds book correctly (i.e., the cover is front and right-side up, and reader turns pages from left to right)
• Can retell a basic story using the book and “pretend” reading

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics/Word Solving Strategies

• Recognizes words that start with the same sound (e.g., a word that starts with the same letter as the beginning of my name)
• Hears the different sounds in a word (/c/ /a/ /t/ = cat)
• When “reading” alone, points to the words and pretends to read them
• Points to some letters and says their names
• Points to some letters and gets his or her mouth ready to make their sounds

Vocabulary and Background Knowledge

• Has enough background knowledge to name and talk about the pictures common to beginning books

Comprehension of Informational and Literary Text

• Finishes the sentence in a predictable book
• Demonstrates an obvious understanding of the materials (e.g., laughs at funny parts, comments on the material); is able to talk about the content of the book (e.g., summarizes, makes connections to his or her experiences)