5 Science of Reading Essentials for Your Classroom

We now know that with direct instruction, and using materials based on the Science of Reading, most children can successfully learn to read by the end of 1st grade. When you think about implementing the Science of Reading in your early childhood literacy classroom, having a few solid tools can go a long way.?

Here are 5 Science of Reading essentials for your classroom.

1. A Deep Understanding Of Language Structures: Both Spoken And Written?

The best way to ensure your students are getting the most effective literacy instruction is to ensure your deep understanding of what you’re teaching. Many teacher preparation programs still don’t adequately prepare teachers for teaching foundational literacy skills. Regardless, you can still steep yourself in the language of the Science of Reading.?

Some great (free!) learning resources include:?

• The Reading League
• 95 Percent Group Insights
• Reading Rockets

2. Best Practices For All Students

Of course, it’s critical to consider students who are neurodivergent when planning your instruction. But it’s worth noting that many of the instructional practices that are best for these students are also best practices for all of your students.? One of our favorite tips to help more students reach their reading potential is using multisensory instructional strategies:? All students benefit from practices that engage more than one of their senses.? For example, when students are learning how symbols (letters) represent sounds, writing the sound and saying the sound is an effective way to anchor the new information.? Using manipulatives, like Elkonin Boxes, in your phonemic awareness instruction is another great example.* (See our Tiered Instructional Classroom Activities download for more ideas like this!) Engaging multiple senses creates multiple connections to prior learning, making new information easier to understand in the short term—and easier to remember in the long term.

3. Regular Assessment...

Regular assessment is a must for knowing when your students have mastered certain skills and where they still need more practice. Here are 2 types that help at different levels.

• Universal: A universal literacy screener (DIBELS, Aimsweb, iReady) will give you a surface overview of which students are reading at grade level and beyond, which are approaching, and which students are at risk.
• Diagnostic: A diagnostic screener can assess your students on specific skills to tell you exactly what they know and what they still need to work on to move towards grade-level reading. These can also help you with instructional and intervention planning.

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4. …And Regular Progress Monitoring

Assessing students only once at the beginning of the year gives you a baseline. But that baseline won’t help you to offer the most effective instruction from September through June. Get comfortable with regular progress monitoring—quick, frequent assessment of specific reading skills—to make the most of your instructional time and do what's best for students.

• “Just in time” instruction: Your students are going to blow through some skills and get stuck on others. It’s hard to have a grasp on everything each of your 25-30 students is getting stuck on unless you are intentionally assessing them. By doing this, you can offer “just in time” instruction: the mini lessons each of your students needs to get “unstuck” and keep moving forward towards grade-level reading.
• Student grouping: As an early childhood literacy teacher, you likely use student groups as part of your instructional day. With regular progress monitoring, you can have a truly fluid intervention model that allows students to move in and out of Tier 2 and 3 intervention groups as they are able. This helps you to know exactly what each student needs at all times.

(See our Tiered Intervention Planning Worksheet to document your interventions with your groups!)

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5. A Shared Vision That ALL Children Can Learn To Read

This one is key, and yet, it's one we hear about often. If your school or district has yet to implement the Science of Reading or structured literacy-based instruction, you may feel like you're on an island. And islands—especially in education—are lonely.

The good news is that there is a multitude of research and evidence out there that supports this work. The Science of Reading is about supporting all students in their literacy journeys. If you can find even one other person who believes all children can read, you have a partner. And from there, a space to grow a movement in your school.