What is Structured literacy anyway?
Structured literacy seems to be a buzzword today but not everyone understands what it means. It is a term coined by the International Dyslexia Association. It is an evidence-based approach to teaching reading and language that is based on reading, learning, and brain research.
Isn't Structured Literacy just about phonics?
The first common misconception about Structured Literacy is that it is just another phonics program. According to the International Dyslexia Association, Structured Literacy comprises 6 key features that work together: semantics, syntax, morphology, phonemic awareness, phonics, and orthography. This approach covers all important components of literacy.
semantics: meaning at the word level (ie. vocabulary), sentence level, paragraph level, and longer text
syntax: sentence structure
morphology: meaningful word parts such as roots, prefixes, and suffixes
phonemic awareness: awareness of sounds in spoken words and the ability to manipulate those sounds
phonics: knowledge of letter sounds and ability to decode printed words
orthography: knowledge of common spelling patterns in English
Isn't Structured Literacy just for students with dyslexia?
Another common misconception is that Structured Literacy is a program created only for students with dyslexia. Structured Literacy is not a program. It's an approach backed up by years of reading research which is effective for all readers but is especially vital for students will dyslexia.
Is Structured Literacy just a fad like Whole Language, Guided Reading, or Balanced Literacy?
There have been a lot of reading fads that have come and gone during the past 20 years that I have been teaching; however, our students' reading scores are in trouble. The science of reading and reading research on effective instruction has been around for a while, but recently people are finally taking notice of it. People across the U.S. are finally looking at the research, getting rid of ineffective practices, and making a change. Therefore I believe that Structured Literacy will not be a fad or temporary buzzword because it gets results.
There are a few approaches that Louise Spear-Swerling highlighted in her book, Structured Literacy Interventions, that are not compatible with Structured Literacy even though they have been very popular in schools.
giving lots of independent work
having children choose most of their instructional tasks and texts
a heavy constructivist approach that encourages kids to induce important skills with little or no explicit or systematic instruction
cueing systems that encourage kids to figure out a word through guessing (based on pictures, context, or parts of a word) rather than sounding out all parts of the word.
Is Structured Literacy different from what teachers have been doing in school?
As a teacher myself, I can tell you that there are aspects of structured literacy that effective teachers are already doing. However, many teachers have been taught ineffective approaches, and many schools required that they teach using ineffective methods or curriculums that were not backed by reading research. All Structured Literacy approaches share a core set of features no matter what curriculum or program is used. These include:
Explicit teaching (Uses an "I do", "we do", and "you do" approach)
Systematic and cumulative teaching (follows a planned scope and sequence)
Attention to prerequisite skills
Targeted, prompt feedback
Planned, purposeful examples of tasks, and texts
Synthetic-phonics approach at grapheme-phoneme level for initial phonics and spelling instruction.
Consistent application of skills and teaching for transfer
Data-based decision-making (teacher uses student data to plan and adjust future instruction)
What Structured Literacy Program is best for my child?
There isn't only one golden program that works for all children, however, I recommend the Wilson Reading System for Tier III students, especially those with language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Wilson also offers Tier I and Tier II programs that are excellent as well.
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