1.3 Principles of Structured Literacy & TEKS Integration
Key Takeaways
- Structured Literacy is defined by explicit, systematic, cumulative, diagnostic, and multimodal instruction that directly teaches the structure of language without relying on guesswork.
- The Gradual Release of Responsibility model ('I do, We do, You do') structures instructional delivery to ensure students receive high support during initial learning before transitioning to independent practice.
- The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for ELAR embody an integrated, recursive model where listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking develop symbiotically across all grade levels.
- Assets-based pedagogy treats emergent bilinguals' primary language and cultural assets as foundational cognitive bridges, leveraging cross-linguistic transfer to accelerate English reading.
- Critical instructional factors—including prioritizing decodable readers over predictable three-cueing texts and utilizing active multisensory practice—directly enhance foundational reading outcomes.
1.3 Principles of Structured Literacy & TEKS Integration
The Core Principles of Structured Literacy
Coined by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), Structured Literacy is an evidence-based pedagogical approach grounded in the Science of Reading. It explicitly, systematically, and cumulatively teaches the structure of language, benefiting all learners and serving as an essential intervention for students with dyslexia.
Explicit, Systematic, and Cumulative Instruction
- Explicit Instruction: Concepts are explained directly and modeled unambiguously by the teacher. Lessons leave nothing to student guesswork or incidental discovery. The teacher directly states objectives, demonstrates skills, guides practice, and provides immediate corrective feedback.
- Systematic Instruction: Content follows an intentional, research-validated scope and sequence that mirrors linguistic complexity. Skills progress methodically from simple, high-utility elements to complex structures (e.g., short vowels $\rightarrow$ consonant blends $\rightarrow$ digraphs $\rightarrow$ silent-e $\rightarrow$ vowel teams $\rightarrow$ syllable division $\rightarrow$ morphology).
- Cumulative Instruction: Every lesson builds directly upon previously mastered skills, reinforcing past learning through daily distributed practice to prevent skill decay.
Diagnostic Teaching and Multimodal Engagement
- Diagnostic and Responsive: Instruction is continually guided by formal and informal assessment data. Teachers monitor student performance, analyze error patterns, adjust pacing, and immediately remediate misunderstandings.
- Multimodal (Multisensory) Engagement: Instruction simultaneously engages visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile (VAKT) pathways to strengthen neural memory traces. For example, when learning the digraph sh, students view the grapheme card (visual), say the sound /sh/ (auditory/articulatory), and skywrite or trace the letters in a sand tray (tactile-kinesthetic).
The Gradual Release of Responsibility ("I Do, We Do, You Do")
Structured Literacy lessons utilize Pearson and Gallagher's (1983) instructional framework:
- Direct Modeling ("I Do"): The teacher introduces and demonstrates the target skill, thinking aloud and modeling accurate execution.
- Guided Practice ("We Do"): The teacher and students practice the skill collaboratively. The teacher provides scaffolds, observes every student, and delivers corrective feedback at the point of error.
- Independent Application ("You Do"): Students apply the skill independently in controlled decodable text and encoding tasks once 85–90% guided accuracy is achieved.
Alignment with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
Under 19 TAC Chapter 110, Texas mandates an integrated, recursive literacy model across Kindergarten through Grade 6 and the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.
The Integrated, Recursive Model
The TEKS reject teaching literacy skills in isolated blocks. Instead, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking develop symbiotically:
- Oral language interactions directly build comprehension and vocabulary.
- Reading authentic, structured text models syntax and organization for written composition.
- Encoding instruction reinforces decoding accuracy.
Literacy acquisition is recursive: students revisit foundational skills, comprehension strategies, and writing processes across subsequent grade levels with increasing text complexity and analytical depth.
The Seven Interconnected TEKS Strands
- Foundational Language Skills: Oral language, phonological awareness, print concepts, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary.
- Comprehension Skills: Metacognitive strategies, predicting, questioning, inferring, and summarizing.
- Response Skills: Discussing, writing, and citing text evidence.
- Multiple Genres: Literary texts, informational texts, argumentative texts, poetry, and drama.
- Author's Purpose and Craft: Analyzing author choices, structure, and literary techniques.
- Composition: The recursive writing process across genres.
- Inquiry and Research: Formulating research questions, evaluating sources, and synthesizing findings.
Assets-Based Pedagogy and Cross-Linguistic Transfer
The Science of Teaching Reading embraces an assets-based (additive) framework, viewing emergent bilinguals' home languages ($L1$) as cognitive resources rather than deficits. Teachers intentionally leverage cross-linguistic transfer to accelerate English ($L2$) literacy:
- Phonological Transfer: Metalinguistic skills (e.g., segmenting syllables and phonemes) developed in $L1$ transfer directly to English.
- Print Concepts: Left-to-right directionality, word spacing, and the alphabetic principle transfer across alphabetic writing systems.
- Cognates: Recognizing Spanish-English cognates sharing Latin/Greek roots (e.g., activo / active, comunidad / community) accelerates Tier 2 academic vocabulary.
Environmental and Instructional Factors
- Decodable Texts vs. Predictable Leveled Texts: Predictable texts feature repetitive sentence patterns with untaught words, forcing students to rely on the Three-Cueing System (MSV: Meaning, Structure, Visual) by guessing from pictures or initial letters. Decodable texts contain explicitly taught phonics patterns and irregular words, compelling readers to look through the word and fostering orthographic mapping.
- Active Routines vs. Passive Worksheets: Active multisensory engagement (Elkonin sound boxes, choral reading, letter tiles) promotes deep articulatory motor memory, whereas disconnected worksheets foster passive completion without phonological processing.
Structured Literacy vs. Balanced Literacy
| Dimension | Structured Literacy (Science of Reading) | Balanced Literacy (Whole Language Origin) | |---|---|---|---| | Core View | Reading is unnatural; requires explicit code instruction. | Reading develops naturally through print immersion. | | Phonics Sequence | Explicit, systematic, sequential, and cumulative. | Incidental or embedded mini-lessons from leveled books. | | Beginning Texts | Controlled decodable readers aligned to taught phonics. | Leveled predictable books with repetitive text and pictures. | | Word Identification | Sequential phonemic decoding; looking through the word. | Three-cueing system (MSV); guessing via pictures/context. | | Assessment Focus | Frequent criterion-referenced progress monitoring (CBMs). | Running records tracking MSV errors and subjective levels. |
Classroom Scenario: Transforming Guided Reading
Mr. Alvarez transitions his first-grade small-group reading from balanced literacy to Structured Literacy:
- Phonemic Warm-Up: Students use Elkonin sound boxes to segment four-phoneme words with short /u/ and initial blends (/s/ /p/ /u/ /n/ $\rightarrow$ spun).
- Explicit Phonics: Mr. Alvarez models the sp- blend, explaining how both phonemes blend smoothly.
- Decodable Application: Students read a controlled decodable text (The Pup in the Mud). When a student hesitates on spill, Mr. Alvarez directs: "Look at the letters and sound it out: /s/ /p/ /i/ /l/—spill." He never prompts them to look at illustrations to guess.
- Encoding Dictation: Students write spun, spot, and "The pup can spill the cup" on dry-erase boards, cementing orthographic connections.
A first-grade teacher is planning a reading lesson on the digraph /ch/. In accordance with the principles of Structured Literacy and the Gradual Release of Responsibility model, which instructional sequence should the teacher implement?
How does the integrated and recursive design of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) impact instructional planning across grade levels?
Which practice best exemplifies an assets-based pedagogical approach when supporting an emergent bilingual student who is learning to read in English?
Why does the Science of Teaching Reading strongly advocate for the use of decodable readers over predictable or leveled readers during early phonics instruction?