Structured Literacy I introduces you to the theories, issues, strategies, and materials related to literacy instruction and assessment for both reading and writing. While not focusing on students with learning difficulties, in this literacy course you will learn foundational skills for supporting all your students.

We will emphasize the science of reading and structured literacy, as well as best practices of instruction and informal assessment. You’ll also practice developing materials and gain the skills to teach literacy to a broad range of students.

A two-part series

While Structured Literacy I (formerly Reading I) focuses in depth on the teaching of literacy, Structured Literacy II (formerly Reading II), focuses on teaching literacy to students with learning disabilities, speech and language disabilities, ADHD, ASD, and other challenges.

Both courses are required for the certificate in Educational Therapy and are closely aligned to the requirements of the Association of Educational Therapy.

You’ll master the skills and knowledge you need to help all the diverse students who will come to you in your practice.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, participants will be able to:

Neurobiology of Literacy Learning
• Differentiate brain processes used for oral language from those used for written language
• Describe the main components for mastery of literacy
• Define key terms—phonological processing, phonemic awareness, and phonics—and explain how each one contributes to the development of literacy

Structured Literacy
• Define the components of structured literacy and describe their importance
• Apply the current science on reading to assess the quality of reading and writing programs
• Create and implement effective lessons based on best practices in structured literacy instruction

Speech to Print
• Compare and contrast speech-to-print and print-to-speech approaches
• Evaluate quality programs following each approach
• Describe the bidirectional influence of spelling on reading and vice versa
• Apply current science behind best practices to design an effective spelling intervention

Comprehension
• Explain Scarborough's Reading Rope and its implications for comprehension
• Compare and contrast the effects of decoding and oral language proficiency on reading comprehension
• Evaluate and implement programs and techniques to build comprehension

Assessment
• Describe and justify the components of a quality assessment for literacy
• List and describe both informal and formal literacy assessments
• Describe the assessment to instruction cycle and how best to use assessment to inform teaching

Topics Include

• The neurobiological underpinnings of literacy learning
• Structured literacy: what it is and why it is important
• Speech to print: an important update in the science of reading
• Teaching writing from bottom to top
• Scarborough's Reading Rope and comprehension
• The stubborn persistence of the reading wars

Working knowledge of:

• Communication and collaboration tools such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, or LibreOffice
• Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Canvas including navigation links, modules, etc.

Additional Information

Please review section notes to view the full schedule.

Formerly titled "Educational Therapy: Reading I”

As a hybrid class, the expectation is that students will make every effort to attend each zoom class meeting as well as complete independent reading and written assignments. Assignments have specific due dates each week, so please make sure to keep up.