Structured literacy is an approach to teaching reading that is based off the science of reading. This term originated from the International Dyslexia Association and encompasses certain principals when teaching literacy instruction. Structured literacy is science-based, explicit, systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic. In today’s blog post we are going to focus on systematic and cumulative instruction and what that looks like in the classroom.
Systematic instruction is instruction that presents concepts to students in a logical way, progressing from easiest to most complex. In a kindergarten classroom you see students working on alphabet letters and sounds, and that is not an accident. It is the most logical starting point for young learners. In first grade students review alphabet letters and corresponding sounds before moving on to phoneme grapheme correspondences for more complex patterns like long vowels represented by the vce pattern and diphthongs (ex. oi and oy).
You may have heard the term “scope and sequence” in your journey to understanding and implementing structured literacy and the science of reading, and systematic instruction is the principle of structured literacy where our scope and sequence falls. A scope and sequence is the order in which new concepts are introduced to students. No concept is thrown haphazardly into a lesson, but rather introduced in a logical fashion that is consistent across grade level classrooms. There is no set scope and sequence for structured literacy instruction, but a variety of scope and sequences that will work. The purpose of the scope and sequence, though, is to make sure students are being introduced to the concepts they need to become literate in a way that makes sense, but that also allows for building and reviewing.
This is where cumulative comes in. Structured literacy is cumulative which means each lesson we introduce builds off of the previous lesson(s).
Students in a kindergarten classroom are introduced to the letters p, a, n, d, c, and t. This would take a couple of weeks, depending on the different scope and sequences plus the assessment of the teacher on how well students are mastering the skills. Once these letters have been taught students will be able to read and spell words like pan, can, tap, cap, at, an, cat, and pat. The words are spelled using only the letter-sound correspondences the teacher has taught. We would not expect students to read words like hat or hen because they have not been taught the letter h or the letter e. This means our worksheets, spelling test, decodable books- really anything we put in front our our students- should only use the letters p, a, n, d, c, and t.
With cumulative instruction we build our lesson on what students already know and what we have previously taught them. We do not throw concepts into any lesson that students have not been taught. We want to make sure the content we expose our students to is intentional, making sure the learning is not casual nor incidental.
In a first grade classroom, systematic and cumulative instruction will look virtually the same, but with more advanced skills. More than likely a scope and sequence will start with an alphabetic letter/sound review with the reading and spelling of vc and cvc words like at, in, cat, and ten. The next concept introduced may be blends like gr, cl, and st. We would expect students to read words like grin, clap, and stop because all five short vowel sounds have been taught, along with the most common sound for each of the consonants in the alphabet.
After blends may come digraphs and this is where things start to get a little tricky. Students in first grade may be learning about digraph sh and a common picture associated with digraph sh is shark. The problem with using the word shark is that ar, when placed together in a word, do not make the /a/ and /r/ sound taught with alphabetic letters. Ar is called an r controlled vowel and it makes the /ar/ sound, like in star or barn. Students have not been taught this skill and therefore cannot read or spell the word shark.
Though we are following the scope and sequence for introducing digraph sh, it is not a word that uses skills previously taught to students. Words that would be more appropriate to use in this lesson are words like ship, shop, shin, crash, or trash. These words focus on the five short vowel sounds that have been taught, include blends that have also been taught, and the new digraph sh that students are practicing.
When students go to read and spell these words they are relying on knowledge they already have. They have the ability to decode and encode the words in the lesson, either on their own or with prompting from the teacher. Not only are they learning a new sound but continually reviewing previously taught skills.
We want to set students up for success in our classrooms. We want students to feel confident in what they know, have an ample amount of opportunity to practice the skills and concepts they’re learning, and we want them to feel confident to try, even if they do not know.
The best way to make sure students feel confident and prepared to practice and participate is using sounds, letters, words, and concepts they are familiar with. Just think about how frustrating it would be to be asked to build a house, yet receive no training, no guidelines, no instructions, and be left to your own devices on where to start.
Reading feels natural to you and me because we are already fluent, but students can feel like they’ve been tasked with building a house with no sense of direction. It is our job as teachers to give them that direct instruction on how sounds and letters come together to create meaningful words, and we do that best in a systematic and cumulative approach.
So What Now?
We know we need to be systematic in our instruction and we know our lessons need to be cumulative, but what is the next step?
First, make sure you’re following a scope and sequence. Your curriculum may have one, and if it does you’ll want to follow it. If your curriculum does not have a scope and sequence, here are a couple of options you can look at!
Next, print off the scope and sequence and keep it handy. Remember, this is going to be your blue print for all of your lessons from here on out.
Then, check your resources and lessons to make sure the words and phrases being used align with that scope and sequence. If you’re using a worksheet or activity with your students to work on digraph sh we do not want students reading or spelling the word shark UNLESS your scope and sequence has taught ar at that point. Decodable books are the same- make sure the words they are using (including those pesky trick words or irregular words) are words your students are prepared to decode.
Finally, be an informed consumer. There are SO many great resource out there, but not all resources are created equally. Even the best resource creators will use words in resources your students aren’t ready for. It doesn’t mean the resource is bad, it simply means it is not the right resource for your classroom!
You are the gatekeeper of your classroom. You can choose what material is placed in front of your students, and it’s our job to make sure that material is going to help them learn and grow. The best way to make sure that happens is through systematic and cumulative instruction.
