Structured Literacy: An Explicit, Systematic, and Cumulative Phonics-Based Approach
Using a Structured Literacy approach, I identify each student’s unique learning needs and plan individual lessons that explicitly build foundational skills while nurturing a love of reading. Through a variety of engaging activities and games, I make the learning process both effective and enjoyable, helping students grow into confident readers and writers.
What Are the Two Main Approaches to Teaching Reading?
In Canada and the United States, two primary methods are commonly used to teach reading:
Structured Literacy
Balanced Literacy
I teach using Structured Literacy—an evidence-based approach that has been extensively researched for over two decades. It aligns with findings in neuroscience about how the brain learns to read.
Balanced Literacy, once popular, has been debunked as the most effective method since the 1990s. Despite this, many schools and educators continue to use it due to longstanding habits, training, and investments.
What Is Structured Literacy?
Structured Literacy is a systematic, explicit, and step-by-step method of teaching reading and writing.
How Structured Literacy Works — Step by Step:
Sound-to-Letter Connection
Students learn the sounds letters make (e.g., "m" makes the /m/ sound) and how to match sounds to letters.
Blending Sounds into Words
They practice blending individual sounds into words—like c-a-t becomes cat—and gradually move to more complex words.
Logical Skill Progression
Skills are taught in a clear, cumulative order—from simple to complex. Nothing is left to chance.
Integrated Reading, Spelling, and Writing
These skills are taught together. For instance, when learning the sound /sh/, students read words like ship and write them too.
Repetition and Practice
Students get plenty of review and hands-on practice to reinforce what they’ve learned.
Understanding Word Structure
Instead of memorizing, students learn why words are spelled a certain way—like why knight has a “k” and a “gh.”
Mastering Multisyllabic Words
Students learn prefixes, suffixes to confidently read and spell longer words.
Why It Matters
Structured Literacy builds the strongest foundation for learning to read and write. It’s effective and beneficial for all students and essential for those with reading difficulties or dyslexia.