Structured Literacy UnConference

The Structured Literacy UnConference today was really inspiring and backed up many of the things that I am currently doing in my classroom.  

Big Ideas

Structured literacy is most important for those learners in the orange and red zone in the Ladder of Reading.    

Lesson Ideas

• Struggling learners need to interact with the sounds and ideas ideally 2 - 3 times a day - how can this be incorporated into my timetable?
• A4 laminated sheet with the 5 vowels and picture visible during all lessons

Structure of the lesson is always:

• Review (the letters/sounds from previous levels)
• Explicit Teaching
• Student Practice
• Application

Explicit teacher always includes I Do, We Do, You Do and is specific, clear and direct.

Ideas for Review:

• Zip through the sounds from earlier packs quickly
• Heart words - say and spell and say again e.g. my  m_y  my
• Word cards from previous levels/teaching

Ideas for Specific Teaching:

• Use of Google Slides (even on the iPad to support lessons, particularly with higher levels)
• Use different colours for new spelling patterns and underline each sound with a dot and new sounds with a dash
• Use of your full arm for blending - going down the arm
• Use of a metal tray with the magnetic letters - red letters for vowels
• Introduce only one new sound each day
• For new letters, picture cards starting with that letter e.g. yak, yellow, yoghurt

Ideas for Student Practice:

• Student practices words (encoding)
• Ensure explicit teaching on how to write a sentence as part of dictation (from approx. level 3)
• Mix this up each day e.g. dictated sentences/read a book

Ideas for Application:

• Read and sort words - could do this via Seesaw
• Pictures to encode - again, could be done via Seesaw
• Speed words - these could be sent home

Ideas for Sending Home for Further Practice:

• Speed words e.g. from the back of the books sent home for further practice
• Heart words
• Word building sheets (to be shared)
• Games to play at home (with notes on specific teaching)
• Little Learners Love Literacy app - stage 1 is free but rest can be purchased
• Reading fans

Further Readings and Research

• Gough & Tumner - Simple View of Reading
• The Reading League website
• Milo's Birthday Surprise - a great book to introduce letters 
• The Science of Reading
• Heggarty Hand Actions
• How the Brain Learns to Read - Professor Stanislaus Dehaene
• Sunnyhills School - Presentation to Families
• Lifting Literacy Aotearoa - case studies