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Episode Guide

What to Expect Across Early Reading and Reading Comprehension Episodes

Throughout Headsprout’s early reading and reading comprehension episodes, students are continually introduced to new concepts, while simultaneously reinforcing others. The program begins as early as a non-reader level, but students can start the sequence at any point that is right for them. It is designed to adapt to each specific student’s skill level, and begin instruction based on his or her preliminary reading skills. Prior to beginning Headsprout, students can be placed into any part of the early reading sequence, the beginning of the reading comprehension component, or the beginning of the advanced reading comprehension component.

Early Reading Episodes

Episodes 1-23: Cracking the Code

Students are introduced to basic phonemic elements and words. Throughout these episodes, students:
  • Find sounds in words (segmenting)
  • Say contiguous sounds (blending)
  • Incorporate blended sounds to form words and begin to read for understanding through short, decodable stories

Episodes 24-40: Making Sense out of Reading

Students are introduced to new concepts at an accelerated pace. Throughout these episodes, students:
  • Formulate basic sentences
  • Read stories increasing in length and complexity
  • Increase their reading vocabulary to up to 500 words

Episodes 41-56: Accelerate and Diversify

The pace continues to pick up as students are introduced to multiple sounds in each episode. Throughout the episodes, students:
  • Practice segmenting and decoding with compound and nonsense words
  • Begin using basic comprehension strategies
  • Read stories that introduce new vocabulary, decodable words, and themes

Episodes 57-100: Reading for Meaning and Enjoyment

Students are introduced to poetry and expository text as they work towards moving on to more complex skills. Throughout the episodes, students:
  • Experience more challenging comprehension and critical thinking activities
  • Extend passage-reading fluency
  • Increase their reading vocabulary up to 5,000 words

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Reading Comprehension Episodes


Episodes 1-25: Mastering the Basics

Students are introduced to, and begin to develop, core comprehension strategies that help them follow and interpret text. Throughout the episodes, students:
  • Answer four types of comprehension questions
  • Identify which comprehension strategy is appropriate to answer a question
  • Begin reading longer passages, including expository text and multi-chapter stories

Episodes 26-39: Applying New Skills

Students continue to apply various comprehension strategies to answer questions across increasingly complex texts. Throughout the episodes, students:
  • Formulate answers from increasingly complex text
  • Answer diagram-based questions
  • Use information found in the text to develop complete hierarchical, Venn, sequence, and cluster diagrams

Episodes 40-50: Moving Towards Proficiency

Students’ answers begin to require more complex reasoning and prepare them for classroom and standardized testing environments. Throughout the episodes, students:
  • Use prior knowledge to answer inferential questions
  • Work with increasingly complex illustrations that accompany text, such as cross-section diagrams
  • Learn to check their answers before moving on as immediate feedback is withdrawn

Advanced Reading Comprehension Episodes

Episodes 1-23: Mastering the Basics

Students are introduced to and apply core comprehension strategies that help them follow and interpret texts. Throughout the episodes, students:
  • Answer four types of comprehension questions
  • Identify which comprehension strategy is appropriate to answer a question
  • Work with new vocabulary, including synonyms, idioms, and prefixes

Episodes 24-40: Extending the Strategies

Students continue to apply various comprehension strategies to answer questions across diverse texts. Throughout the episodes, students:
  • Read and answer questions about folktales, dramas, poems, advertisements, persuasive essays, and instructional texts
  • Compare and contrast different texts







My students test scores went up this year. They really were excited with using the program. Each day they couldn’t wait to log in, and competition with their names being posted boosted their self-esteem. Thanks!
-Yvonne Johnson, Special Education Teacher, Paulina Elementary School, Thibodaux, LA