You’ve heard about structured literacy. It seems to be everywhere. But what is it? It is a proven, evidence-based approach to delivering instruction. A structured literacy approach has these important components:

EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION

Explicit instruction is teaching our students directly what we want them to learn. We cannot have them guessing, nor can we hint at or superficially expose students to information that we expect they will simply absorb. This can result in misinterpretation, confusion, knowledge gaps, and whole lot of wasted time.

SYSTEMATIC & SEQUENTIAL INSTRUCTION

Systematic instruction means there is a system in place. We aren’t throwing darts to decide on which skill to focus and how. We assess, observe, evaluate, and make informed decisions about how students’ instructional needs will be met, and have a system for delivering instruction to them.

Having a system in place goes hand in hand with a sequence to implement sequential instruction. A sequence allows students to learn information in a progression that supports their learning and ability to build new knowledge based on previously taught knowledge. Students will have trouble acquiring and retaining new information if the proper building blocks are out of place.

For example, we teach open and closed syllables before we expect students to decode multisyllabic words. We won’t expect students to read texts with spelling patterns they haven’t yet been introduced to. We won’t expect students to spell multisyllabic words if they’re still struggling with identifying syllables, nor will we have students write paragraphs if they are still unable to write at the sentence level.

SCAFFOLDED INSTRUCTION

I grew up in New York City. On any given day, I’d see giant steel structures around a building. I learned at a young age that they were called scaffolds. Their purpose was to provide a safe and accessible working environment at construction sites. Scaffolds are always temporary and meant to be used only during the construction period. Eventually they disappear when their intended purpose is fulfilled.

Like the scaffolds I often saw around the city, scaffolds in education function within a similar framework. Scaffolds are TEMPORARY modifications or supports that make learning content more accessible for students. They allow learning to happen more efficiently and effectively. Not all students require scaffolded instruction, but for those who do, it can be a critical part of the instruction they receive.

Instructional scaffolding, a term created by psychologist Vygotsky, was defined as “the role of teachers and others in supporting the learner’s development and providing support structures to get to that next stage or level” (Raymond 2000).

CUMULATIVE INSTRUCTION

The last component of the structured model! Instruction doesn’t just end when the information and knowledge is delivered. Cumulative instruction reinforces that practice MUST be incorporated through committed review. In cumulative instruction, new instruction is built upon previous knowledge.