What is Structured Literacy?
Okay, so the term "Structured Literacy" is being used a lot lately. You may be wondering what this is and what it means.
Our brains are built to learn things in a systematic progression. That’s where structured literacy comes in. Structured literacy focuses on instruction that is systematic, sequential, and targeted, ensuring that all students have the foundation they need to succeed.
So what exactly does that mean?
Well, let’s break it down -
1. Systematic
Systematic instruction is strategically planned and intentionally organized. This means specific concepts are introduced at the right time and in a clear progression. It ensures that key skills are targeted appropriately, leaving no gaps in learning. A systematic approach makes it easier for both educators and students to stay on track and reach learning goals.
Systematic instruction is where your “scope” comes in. So again, what are the specific skills you are teaching? What types of skills are you teaching? What level of depth are you getting into?
2. Sequential
Learning is most effective when it builds on itself in a logical order. Sequential instruction ensures that foundational skills are mastered before moving on to more advanced concepts. For example, in phonological awareness, students start with sentence segmenting, then progress to syllable segmenting, and finally word segmenting. This progressive approach strengthens the foundation, making it easier for students to acquire and retain more complex skills over time.
Think of a Jenga Tower. If the foundation is solid, with tightly placed blocks on the bottom, the tower can stand tall and steady. If the foundation is weak or incomplete, the entire structure becomes unstable. Similarly, a solid educational foundation supports students as they build more advanced skills.
When you consider your sequence, you want to be thinking about how long you have with your students both over the course of your instruction and within each lesson. Are you working with students for a year? 8-weeks? How long is your literacy block or lesson?
3. Targeted
Effective instruction recognizes that not all learners progress at the same pace. A targeted approach involves diagnosing areas of difficulty and prescribing tailored interventions to address specific needs. Through assessments, feedback, and observations, you can identify learning gaps and provide the support necessary for growth. This individualized strategy ensures that every student has the opportunity to succeed, whether they are struggling with basic concepts or ready to tackle more advanced material.
We want to make sure we are targeting a full progression of skills working from the sound level through the passage level. Different students will have different strengths and areas of need throughout the progression, we want to be aware of where each student may have specific areas of need within this progression.
Building a Structured Literacy Program
A structured literacy program integrates these principles across the five core components of literacy:
Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Comprehension
To create an effective structured literacy program, skills must be progressively developed in a way that moves from simple to complex, with intentional planning behind how each skill builds upon the previous one.
For example, in phonics instruction, you might organize lessons around syllable types, starting with closed syllables before progressing to more complex patterns. Similarly, vocabulary and comprehension lessons work on a building progression of skills and include graphic organizers to create visual connections. To build fluency you want to work from the sound level and progress to the syllable level, word level, sentence level, and then finish at the passage level.
Each lesson should also follow a structured format that ensures all components are covered. This prevents important elements from being skipped or rushed, especially those that typically come at the end of a lesson when time is running out. By moving from isolated practice to sentence-level practice to connected text, students can see how skills integrate into real-world reading and writing tasks.
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