Let’s start a conversation! Contact us to request a free sample today.

A Reading Readiness Program With Children’s Literature at Its Heart

Happily Ever After is a reading readiness program designed to give children the foundation they need to be successful when they begin formal reading instruction.

Well-known, beautifully illustrated selections of children’s literature are the basis of the ten units in the program.

View Brochure

Why Happily Ever After Works: Four Program Principles

Happily Ever After is built on the following principles:

1. Early reading skills are most effectively taught when integrated with the other language arts.

Reading instruction works best when it keeps children constantly engaged in writing, spelling, listening, and speaking. This is the integrated approach used in Happily Ever After. Children listen to stories and discuss them. Children see the teacher write and write themselves by dictating ideas to the teacher. Children begin to understand that written words stand for spoken thoughts and that communication is the goal of all the language arts.

2. Explicit instruction supports children at every step.

3. A multimodal approach engages all children.

4. Motivation is key to children’s success.

Download Effectiveness
Studies Summary

A Rich Curriculum of Early Literacy Skills

Happily Ever After teaches a rich curriculum of early literacy skills. It focuses on four areas:

Development of language and vocabulary

To succeed across curricula in future years, children must develop concepts and vocabulary to comprehend written and spoken language. Happily Ever After builds this foundation by anchoring instruction in classic stories from children’s literature. Children listen to a well-known story in the first lesson of each unit and return to it again and again as they move through the other lessons in the unit. The story gives them a common framework for new words and concepts.

In addition, new vocabulary, skills, and concepts are first introduced in a concrete way through a game that relates them directly to the familiar, physical world. In this way, instruction proceeds from the concrete to the abstract.

Fine-motor skills

Direction-following skills

Listening skills

Download Skills Overview

Download Sample Lessons

Comprehensive Lesson Plans for Ten Units of Instruction

Units are designed to take about two weeks, depending on the length of the school day and children’s abilities. From unit to unit, lessons follow a consistent, predictable sequence.

Each unit is built on a selection of children’s literature and divided into ten lessons that include these elements:

Lesson Overview—Summarizes each step of the lesson
Daily Routines—Focus on print awareness and working with sounds
Step-by-Step Instruction—Helps teacher move smoothly through the explicit lesson parts
Ten-Minute Tuck-Ins—Differentiation activities to reteach, reinforce, and extend instruction
Lasting Lessons—Relate key concepts in the story to behavioral choices children make in their own lives
Project Corner—Cross-curricular activities that relate to the story

Program Materials

The teacher and student materials below form the complete Happily Ever After program.

Big Books—The Big Book for each unit contains a classic, richly illustrated story. Big Books for Units 1–5 contain pictures only, and Big Books for Units 6–10 have limited text. Audio story narrations are provided on CDs and in MyZBPortal.com.
Concept Boards—The large laminated Concept Boards are used to introduce the new unit concepts such as a color, a shape, and key vocabulary words.
Group Activity Boards—These large laminated boards provide games, puzzles, and other activities for developing social skills such as sharing.
Student Activity Pages Pad—Activity pages and take-home storybooks are sold in pads for eight students. Students color, trace, cut, fold, and glue on these pages, and activities relate to the unit story.
Teacher’s Binder—The Teacher’s Binder includes Teacher’s Guides, Letter Cards, Tactile Cards, Color Squares, Blacklines Masters Book, and more.
MyZBPortal.com—MyZBPortal.com provides lesson-planning tools, on-demand professional development videos, digital versions of print materials, and other helpful online resources for teachers.

Super Magazines. 8 Magazines to use year after year.

Everything You Need to Ensure Children Learn Happily Ever After !

Request more information about Happily Ever After or visit our online store today.

Request Information

Online Store