Structured Literacy

Hi, it's Allie Davis, one of the reading teachers at

Harold Martin School in Hopkinton.

I'm here to talk to you about the importance of

structured literacy in our classrooms.

So, first of all, what is structured, literacy?

Structured literacy is when educators of literacy focus on the

phone Oh, effective aspect that helps students learn to read

and write it explicitly teaches systematic word identification and decoding

strategies, and that's from the dyslexia organization.

So unstructured literacy, the basic foundational elements of language work

together. As you can see in this info graph, um,

the structures of literacy work together.

They're semantics, syntax, morphology, syllables, sound syllables and funnel log

chronology. And all of those work together can all at

the same time, in order to help our students become

readers. So structured literacy, the basic foundational elements of language

just work together.

These those who teach structure literacy understands that these elements

air how students acquire language.

When teachers go to teach their students, they need to

use a few principles in order to guide them.

So as teachers of structured literacy, we need to make

sure that we use systematic instruction and that our instruction

is cumulative meaning that we teach them in order.

That's logical.

So we teach basic elements first, that become progressively more

difficult. These elements build onto one another, making each step

cumulative. Our instruction must be explicit that these concepts air

directly and clearly taught in a concise manner.

And, as always, we as educators make need to make

sure that we're diagnostic teachers, air constantly using formal and

informal observations and assessments, and are meeting the students instructional

needs. So, like I said before, effective reading instruction for

most students happens in this way.

So on the outside circle those air, the teaching principles

that I just discussed that we need to be systematically

cumulative, explicit and diagnostic waas while the inner circle, um,

all works together in order to make sure that our

students become readers.

So you've probably heard a lot about the difference between

structured literacy and balanced literacy, uh, something often referred to

as the literacy wars.

So balanced literacy, um, is another way that teachers use

literacy in order to teach their students.

So in this type of instruction, um, we focus more

on shared reading and guided reading.

So phonics air, not a huge part of this, um,

they're only really done through words.

Studies. Lucy Calkins is a proponent of balanced literacy, and

she argues that not everyone needs the same amount of

explicit instruction and that balanced literacy can allow for the

freedom to instruct our students on the level of their

need. So if a student is needs those phonics lessons,

then we can meet them there if they need more

fluency instruction.

We can do that as well.

To bounce literacy allows a lot of freedom.

It involves a lot of interactive read, allows shared reading,

independent reading and reading conferences and in structure, literacy, knowledge

and practice.

Practice standards are skills that teachers of reading must possess

in order to teach students.

It's explicit and focuses on funnel effectiveness in helping students

learn all students, including ones with learning disabilities, learn how

to read and write so which is better structured or

balanced? I found this quotes that really resonated with me,

expecting Children to independently discover the rules of Britain.

Language is like expecting them to independently discover the rules

of differential calculus, so structure literacy helps students who are

struggling if you don't have a strong foundation in reading,

you will see the cracks in a students foundation when

they learn to read and write.

And as a former fourth grade teacher, this really resonated

with me because some of my students in fourth grade

I could really tell that they didn't have those building

blocks of phonics instruction and other aspect ce of literacy

that that are so cumulative.

If they don't have the bottom base, Then when they

go to read, it really crumbles, and it really shows

in their reading and their writing and their spelling.

So who benefits from structured literacy?

Let's take a look at this little info graph here.

So here's a picture of the latter reading.

It's from Dr Young.

So she says, um, the top.

So she split up, you know, 100% of students into

these boxes.

So 5% of the top readers the top of the

top they can read.

No problem.

They can just pick up language, and it just is

very effortless for top.

5% of readers know all students now, for 35% of

our students learning to read us pretty easy with broad

instruction, they can pick up language they understand, you know

they can.

Just reading becomes second nature today's students as well.

So that's a mix of about 40% of our students.

Now, for these bottom 60% literacy instruction is essential.

So it's estimated that 40 to 50% of our students

really require code based, explicit and systematic sequential instruction.

So that means that they will not learn how to

read and write easily without learning.

Um, different rules of phonics.

And for 10 to 15% of our students are estimated

to be dyslexic.

We're learning to read requires code based, explicit, systematic sequential

and diagnostic instruction with lots of repetition.

10 to 15 is a lot of students that will

not learn how to read without they systematic aspects of

structured literacy.

And, honestly, this is show's over.

Almost 60% of our students will benefit from structured literacy.

So the question is really why not?

So how do we teach structure of literacy like, How

do I bring this to my classroom?

Thankfully, we a talking to an already do it by

using foundations.

We're giving our students the opportunity to learn literacy this

way. Sometimes it does become very frustrating.

We want our students just read, and we often hear

complaints of how found foundations isn't the most interactive.

So today I'm gonna focus on some skills and how

to make them more multisensory in order to best serve

our students.

In this survey that I gave before we began this

professional development, I asked some of the issues that our

staff had with foundations, and a lot of people mentioned

that it was very dry or that it wasn't very

engaging for their students.

So that was something that I really wanted to show

different ways of making it more exciting.

So one thing we can do is encourage small steps.

Um, there's always something new.

That this could be seen is that we need to

make sure that the information we give our students despite

sized, um, you can utilize the foundations training that you

received. Um, you can think how to make your classroom

or multisensory.

How can you add in more phonics games or extra

syllable practice?

Baby steps in this are also important.

You already have a lot of administration support and understands

the process of learning to read.

We can keep sharing our students to data In order

to creates a more positive idea towards the trends that

we're able to create a structure literacy.

We need to make sure that we stay open.

We welcome people in watch and observe and see you

teach. So I have some structured literacy ideas for kindergarten.

So, um, one aspect of literacy that will be explicitly

taught in kindergarten by using the structure literacy approach is

phonological awareness.

So these skills include rhyming, alliteration, segmentation, syllables, onset rhyme

and phone names.

Funny, um, awareness is also something that is learned at

this level.

So funny.

Um, awareness is Theobald iti to here in manipulate different

sounds and spoken words, it does not include printed text.

A student who has developed funny um awareness could take

a break can break a word down into its individual

sound parts, such as taking the word cat and breaking

it into at this could be blended back cats, and

I'll be able to find rhymes for that word.

So often, I've been doing a lot of Haggerty lessons

with our some of our kindergarten classrooms in a way

that you could work on this with them is on

top of doing the regular foundations, which has us tapping

and blending.

You could also have your students work on Haggerty lessons.

So you could, for example, have them say the word

cat. If you take out the sound, what part is

left, they would say at now, Adam the sound at

the beginning of that word.

What's the new word?

The new word is that so games like that are

really interesting and help.

Ah, lot of our learners who are more auditory be

able to access the material.

So some examples for first grade.

So our curriculum goes instruction in first grade students developed

an understanding of sound syllable relationships, and now they're trying

to look for patterns and, um, conventions of print and

certification. So understanding the patterns of letters and conventions to

help students become more effective readers and spellers.

For example, The letters C K only follow short vowels,

so when a word ends with followed by the short

vowel will be used.

This UK if it doesn't use the letter K.

So here's an example on how you could practice that

with some of your students in a more multi sensory

way. We'll play that at the end.

Okay. Okay.

So multi sensory structured literacy for second grade.

So in our foundations, lessons, syllable instruction really comes into

play with every written syllable has a vowel graphene there

six types and they're written language.

And being able to identify syllable patterns helps students chunk

larger words more complicated words and read them.

Helps them understand spelling rules.

Eso for second grade in a foundations lessons, syllable instruction

really comes into play.

Every written syllable has a bowel graphene.

There are six types in the written syllables being able

to identify syllable patterns.

You hear some examples of different syllable types that are

students we need to learn.

And here is a video.

I will link the videos in an email separately.

Now, examples for third grade morphology is the study of

the structure and form of words in language, so you

can really do a deep dive into morphology and Entomology.

Uh, more themes include prefixes, suffixes and base words, and

there are more games that you can play with.

Your third graders here is well, which I will also

link. So in conclusion, structure, literacy is the knowledge and

skills that all teachers of reading should possess to teach

all students to read proficiently.

So structured literacy is the explicit and systematic method of

teaching students the foundational skills needed to help them become

Structured Literacy

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