Module 5 Section 3

Summary

This module delves into structured literacy, an educational approach emphasizing explicit, systematic, and cumulative instruction. It advocates for differentiating teaching to meet diverse student needs, using diagnostic assessments to tailor instruction. The method covers letter-sound correspondence, syllabication, and morphology, ensuring equitable access to literacy fundamentals. It benefits all students, not just those with reading difficulties, aligning with scientific teaching practices.

Takeaways

• 📚 Structured literacy is an approach to teaching reading and writing skills that is suitable for all students.
• 👨‍🏫 Explicit instruction is crucial, involving teacher-led teaching of concepts broken down into small steps.
• 🔄 Systematic instruction follows a defined sequence, starting with easier concepts and progressing to more complex ones.
• 🔁 Cumulative instruction ensures that previously learned concepts are reintroduced and integrated throughout the learning process.
• 🔍 Diagnostic assessments are used to inform instruction and identify specific student skill strengths and weaknesses.
• 👥 Differentiation is necessary to meet the needs of all students, which can occur within content, process, product, or environment.
• 🔢 Structured literacy includes teaching high-frequency skills first, such as letter-sound correspondence and syllabication.
• 🔠 The instruction is sequenced to start with single consonants and vowels, moving to more complex patterns like multisyllabic words.
• 🧩 Morphology is taught using a logical sequence based on the frequency of morphemes in language, starting with common endings and building complexity.
• 🔄 Structured literacy allows for multiple repetitions, which are necessary for students to master reading skills.
• 🌟 Structured literacy is beneficial for all students, not just those with reading difficulties, and is supported by research and recommendations from practice guides.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of educators according to Anita Archer and Charles Hughes?

The primary goal of educators is to help students make the maximum possible academic gains in a positive, respectful environment that promotes their success and nurtures their desire to learn.

What does structured literacy include?

Structured literacy includes the high priority skills students must acquire as they learn to read and write. It's an approach to teaching, not a specific program.

How is the content delivered in structured literacy instruction?

The content is delivered in a carefully structured approach that is explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic.

What is explicit literacy instruction?

Explicit literacy instruction is teacher-led, with concepts directly taught, often broken down into small steps, clearly explained, and skills sequenced from simple to complex.

What does systematic mean in the context of structured literacy instruction?

Systematic means having a defined scope and sequence built around the structure of the English language, starting with high frequency, easier concepts, and building to the more complex.

How does structured literacy instruction approach the teaching of letter-sound correspondence?

It starts with single consonant and moves to vowel sounds, followed by blends and digraphs, silent-e and two syllable words, vowel teams, R-controlled sounds, affixes, and finally to multi-syllabic words.

Why is it important to separate easily confused letter sound associations?

Separating easily confused letter sound associations and auditorily or visually similar letters, such as D, B, and E, I, prevents confusion and supports clear learning.

What is the purpose of introducing syllabication instruction?

The purpose is to introduce high frequency and less complex skills first, allowing students to visually parse longer words into syllable chunks for easier decoding.

How does structured literacy approach the teaching of syllable types?

It categorizes most English words into six syllable types, providing a common vocabulary for teachers and students, with the goal of recognizing patterns that support reading and spelling.

What is the significance of a cumulative approach in structured literacy instruction?

A cumulative approach allows for multiple repetitions of previously learned concepts throughout instruction, enabling students to master the concepts.

How does structured literacy instruction use diagnostic assessments?

Diagnostic assessments are used to inform instruction that is responsive to students' needs, identifying specific skill strengths and weaknesses, and adjusting the intensity of instruction accordingly.

Why is structured literacy beneficial for all students, not just those with word reading difficulties?

Research shows that the majority of students need significant support to learn to read, making structured literacy essential for 60% of students and beneficial to the other 40%.

How can instruction be differentiated within a structured literacy approach?

Differentiation can occur within the content, the process of accessing or interacting with content, the product students produce, or the learning environment.