We're Not in Kansas Anymore

Vowel teams such as vowel digraphs present a challenge to struggling readers. Some researchers assert that phonics generalizations such as the “two vowels go walking and the first one does the talking” rule do not hold often enough to be reliable for children. Others suggest that some vowel teams are highly regular and that children can apply their knowledge of vowel sounds to decode unknown words containing vowel teams. The TOTO Strategy provides a means for students to systematically use information about vowel sounds and the frequency of these sounds to “ T ry O ne and T ry the O ther” in order to decode words that make sense in context.