Balanced Literacy (NOT SOR BASED): This approach to reading is sometimes called whole language. The focus is on meaning and being strong in certain skills can make up for being weak in other skills and still produce readers. This approach has the reputation that if you give the students good books and teach them strategies such as looking at the pictures or using context they will learn to read. This approach is outdated and not evidence based. 

Structured Literacy: This approach focuses on systematic, explicit instruction in all of the parts of reading. There is a heavy focus on decoding skills, teaching students the rules of our language so they can apply them when they are reading independently. This approach relies heavily on the continued body of research with learning to read. This approach is evidence based and can be proven effective. 

Phonemic Awareness: The understanding that a word is made up of a series of discrete sounds. Many teachers think that phonemic awareness should not include print and only sounds, but there is some talk about there not being any research to support this theory so it is something you could definitely look more into.

Phonics: The relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. The goal of phonics instruction is to teach students the most common sound-spelling relationships so that they can decode, or sound out, words. This is the connection of oral to print.

Word Wall: A collection of words displayed on a bulletin board typically organized alphabetically and includes sight or high-frequency words and sometimes vocabulary.

Sound wall: Display to help match articulation of speech sounds/phonemes to the letters/graphemes that represent those sounds. These sounds are organized in a way that matches their characteristic in how they are made.

Phoneme: The individual sounds that make up words. Some letters have more than one phoneme (e.g., long and short vowel sounds). Some phonemes can be represented by more than one letter (for example, a /k/ sound can be written with the letter C or the letter K, or even CK).

Grapheme: This is a symbol to represent a phoneme (or sound). This can be one letter or multiple, it just has to make a sound.

Virgules: The slash marks used to indicate a sound in print. So the /’s in /s/ are the virgules.

Breve: The curved line that goes above short vowels to indicate that they are short vowels. Breves is added in the text by inserting Latin symbols (they are preloaded into the symbols system on your computer most likely).

Macron: This is the straight-line above a word that indicates that letter makes a long vowel sound. To make a macron you can use the same symbol method above or on your computer you may be able to just hold down the letter you want and a menu will appear that has that option.

Stop: A sound characterized by a puff of air caused by blocking part of the mouth. These sounds can not be stretched. An example would be the sound /b/.

Nasal: A sound characterized by it going through the nose. An example is the sound /m/.

Fricative: A sound characterized by friction from either the lips, tongue, teeth. An example would be the sound /f/.

Affricate: A sound characterized by starting by blocking part of the mouth (a stop) and ending with friction from the lips, tongue, or teeth (a fricative). An example is the sound /j/.

Glide: A sound characterized by gliding from one phoneme to another. An example is the sound /w/.

Liquid: A sound characterized by the tongue creating a partial closure of the mouth with a stream of air pushing the sound out. An example is the sound /r/.

Voiced Sounds: Require the use of the vocal cords to produce their signature sounds such as /b/, /d/, /e/. With voiced sounds, you can place your hand on your throat and feel the sound. All vowels are voiced.

Unvoiced Sounds: Do not require the use of the vocal cords to produce their signature sounds such as /ch/, /f/, /k/.

Consonant: A sound that is made when some part of the mouth where the air is constricted by the tongue, teeth, or lips.

Vowel: A sound that is made when the mouth is wide open and air flows out.

Digraph: When two letters represent one sound.

Fluency: Reading with accuracy, appropriate rate, and prosody (expression). The goal of fluency is to read in a natural way.

Vocabulary: The understanding of words and word meanings.

Comprehension: The understanding of the connected text, but it is more accurately the goal of reading.

Working Memory: the part of short-term memory that is concerned with immediate conscious perceptual and linguistic processing. Working memory is one of the brain’s executive functions. It’s a skill that allows us to work with information without losing track of what we’re doing. 
Think of working memory as a temporary sticky note in the brain. It holds new information in place so the brain can work with it briefly and connect it with other information. 

Executive Functioning: Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. This is a skill that includes your working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. Students with executive functioning issues may have trouble completing tasks or focusing on the skill you are trying to teach.

Dyslexia: A term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols. There is research that says 1 in 5 people have dyslexia so these kids are in your class. Dyslexia can be identified as early has the age of 4 and systematic, explicit instruction in skills such as phonemic awareness and phonics can help these kids learn to read just like the rest of the kids in your class.

Auditory Disorders: There is a whole range of auditory disorders that can effect a students ability to read – auditory processing disorder and recessive/expressive language disorders are some examples. Explicit instruction in skills such as phonemic awareness and phonics can help these kids learn to read just like the rest of the kids in your class.

As teachers, we can stay as informed as possible through district professional development, book studies, training, and research on our own.

Credit: Simply Kinder
Peg Rosen
Harvard University

The Meadows Center at the University of Texas identifies the following as making an effective literacy lesson:

The Meadows Center also provides the following examples of explicit vs implicit instruction:

Explicit: “The first sound in man is /mmm? Everyone, say the first sound in man, /mmm/.”

Implicit: “Man starts with the same sound as the first sound in mountain, mop, and moon. Does anyone know any other words that begin with the same sound as man?”

The National Center on Intensive Instruction offers a simple example of explicit instruction in the 8-minute video “Example of Explicit Instruction: Cutting an Onion.” In another helpful video, “Utilizing Explicit Instruction” offered by Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Dyslexia, Anita Archer provides the rationale and overview of explicit instruction and its benefit to students.

Direct, explicit, and systematic instruction are the hallmarks of Pearson and Gallagher’s 1983 Gradual Release of Responsibility model, often referred to as the “I do it, we do it, you do it” approach to teaching. Click here to see a previous post I wrote about this model.

The Colorado Department of Education notes that the effectiveness of direct instruction for teaching literacy is well-supported by research, as demonstrated by Adams & Englemann’s comprehensive review and meta-analysis of 30+ studies on the effectiveness of direct instruction, as well as in the findings of the National Reading Panel. The report from this panel (NICHD, 2000) notes that there is compelling evidence for explicit, systematic instruction for each of the five essential components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension): “Explicit instruction in reading makes a difference in students outcomes, especially for those who are low achieving.”

Structured literacy is a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction that research shows is effective for all students and essential for students who have difficulty with reading. This approach addresses all the foundational elements that are critical for reading comprehension. It is characterized by the provision of systematic, explicit instruction that integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Click here to see a previous post I wrote about this topic, including Nancy Hennessey’s explanation of structured literacy in a video offered by the Center for Dyslexia at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).

Credit: by Joan Sedita | 1 December 1, 2022 | 0 Comments

Direct, explicit, and systematic instruction has been recognized as an essential strategy for teaching reading and writing. The Florida Center for Reading Research defines these terms as follows: