Open Court Reading consists of three parts, the green band, the 
red band, and the blue band.  The green band consists of phonemic 
awareness, phonics, and word knowledge.  During this time, students 
learn letters, sounds, root words, suffixes, and decoding.  Older 
students learn word origins such as Greek and Latin root words to 
help them build vocabulary.  
    The red band is the reading and responding part of Open Court.  
Younger students use predecodeables and decodeable books.  They are 
simple text with many sight words.  Students then transition to 
anthologies which are filled with story and article excerpts.  During 
the red band, teachers focus on reading strategies and skills which 
support reading comprhension. 
    The blue band is the writing band.  Students learn the steps of 
the writing process as well as the 6+1 writing traits to ensure for 
an outstanding writing selection.  Teachers also discuss the three 
purposes for writing, to inform, persuade, or entertain.