Open Court Reading



The Open Court Reading Program is a core Language arts/English series used in a large number of elementary schools classrooms. It was one of two reading programs adopted for use in California schools when textbooks were last chosen in 2002. The other was Houghton-Mifflin Reading. For the 2008 Edition, Open Court Reading's name was changed to Imagine It!.

The series is published by McGraw-Hill Education.

There is both praise and criticism of the program among educators. Proponents of Open Court Reading believe that its focus on phonics and reading comprehension strategy use, both taught with very explicit instruction, benefit children. Some critics dislike the explicit nature of instruction, suggesting that it leaves little room for child exploration or teacher creativity, as constructivist models of reading instruction such as whole language.