Transforming Reading Instruction: How Slant System Revolutionized My Classroom and My Approach to Teaching

The following was submitted to us from Sabrina Breault, a first grade teacher in Downers Grove, Illinois.

At the beginning of the year, 53% of Mrs. Breault’s 1st grade students were reading below grade level expectations, and by the end of the year 89% were reading average to above average after a year of implementation of Slant System instruction.  

​I am a first grade teacher with 22 years of experience, and for the past three years, I have been using Slant System in my classroom—a program that has completely transformed the way I teach reading. Early in my career, I taught third grade, and when I transitioned to first grade, I did my best to teach students how to read. However, it wasn't until my Slant System training that I truly understood the systematic approach needed to effectively teach young children to read. Before Slant System, I lacked confidence in my ability to guide students through the intricacies of reading, but this training provided me with the essential knowledge and tools I needed.

Slant System’s comprehensive program has equipped me with everything necessary to support my students, from sound cards to decodable word lists, sentences, and stories. The explicit, direct instruction is manageable and immediately implementable, allowing me to walk into my classroom the very next day with all the materials required to start teaching. Now, my six- and seven-year-olds are passionate about learning to read. They don’t just guess at words; instead, they carefully examine letters, identify patterns, and apply the phonics rules they’ve learned to decode and read accurately.

This transformation has been incredibly rewarding. Parents are often amazed by the rapid progress their children have made in reading. What used to be a program designated for our tier 3 intervention students has now become an integral part of our RtI block for all first graders, ensuring that every child has access to these powerful reading strategies. As both a teacher and a parent, I’ve witnessed the profound impact of Slant System—not only in my classroom but also in helping my own child, who struggled with reading, to develop essential literacy skills. Slant System has given me the confidence, tools, and passion to provide effective reading instruction, and the results have been nothing short of remarkable.