Tortoise Teaches Rabbit to Read® (TTRR)
The Race is Over. The Journey is Just Beginning.
After their famous race, Rabbit finds Tortoise sitting under a tree.
“What are you doing?” Rabbit asks.
“Reading,” Tortoise explains.
“Do you read the pictures?”
“I see the pictures,” says Tortoise, “but I read the squiggles below them. They make sounds.”
Rabbit presses his ear to the page. “Tortoise, those squiggles are silent as stones!”
So begins a delightful journey into literacy. Using Rabbit’s own name as the key, Tortoise introduces phonemic awareness and phonics through speaking and listening, observing, curiosity, and inquiry. TTRR is the first and only supplemental program to integrate STEM and SEL into early literacy—replacing rote memorization with discovery-based play.
The TTRR Read&Color Booklet brings the story to life through creative play. This coloring book contains seven iterative chapters that invite children to color, play, and engage imaginatively with the journeys of the charming animal characters, while building reading skills and fostering fluency.
For a richer, more in-depth learning experience at home or in the classroom, the Tortoise Teaches Rabbit to Read Instructional Package gives educators and families everything they need to turn the story experience into a transformative conversation.
The Instructional Practice
1. Literature-Based Discovery: Narrative episodes guide children to observe phonemes and phonics within their most important words: their names.
2. Social-Emotional Connection: By comparing names with classmates or family, children build a sense of belonging while exploring how letters "behave."
3. STEM Integration: Using counting and set theory, children develop visual acuity. They move from simple "most/least" letter counts to identifying common letters and their positions, turning reading into a logic-based game.
4. Creative Engagement: A charming black and white line drawing invites children into the story in a new way, encouraging them to express what the story brings up for them through coloring and generative play.
