Seven Components of Effective Core Literacy Instruction

Thanks to its partnership with publisher Eye on Education, EducationWorld is pleased to present this teaching tip adapted from Improving Adolescent Literacy: An RTI Implementation Guide by Pamela S. Craig and Rebecca Sarlo.

This tip describes key recommended components of effective literacy plans designed by Literacy Leadership Teams (LLTs) to improve instruction and student achievement.

These components include:

1. Extended time for literacy instruction
2. Direct/explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction
3. Direct/explicit vocabulary development instruction
4. Opportunities for academic writing in response to reading and learning
5. Rigorous tasks, activities, and assignments aligned with standards and benchmarks
6. Access to both independent-level and grade-level content area texts and materials
7. Differentiated instruction and support determined by ongoing progress monitoring

Extended Time for Literacy Instruction.  One of the essential elements of effective literacy initiatives is providing students with extended time for literacy instruction. Reeves (2003) suggests that student achievement improves when schools focus on intensive literacy instruction for up to three hours a day. Biancarosa & Snow (2004) also suggest that students should be engaged in two to four hours of literacy-connected instruction across disciplines per day.

Direct/Explicit Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction.  Reading strategies can be defined as "deliberate, goal-directed attempts to control and modify the reader’s efforts to decode text, understand words, and construct meanings of text" (Afflerbach, Pearson, & Paris, 2008). Directly teaching reading comprehension strategies, modeling how to use the strategies effectively, and providing students opportunities to practice applying the strategies daily over an extended period of time leads to increased reading achievement (Biancarosa & Snow, 2004; Pressley, 2001).

Direct/Explicit Vocabulary Development Instruction.  Effective vocabulary instruction is necessary as a means of providing students with the background knowledge they need to comprehend text. Pre-teaching academic vocabulary not only supports students’ understanding of the text and the material but also reinforces their ability to read more complex academic texts across the disciplines.

Opportunities for Academic Writing in Response to Reading and Learning.  Engaging students in regular academic writing activities reinforces academic thinking as well as academic writing. Writing is a learning tool that, when implemented effectively, provides students opportunities to organize and clarify their thoughts on essential topics, which leads to deeper understanding (Vacca & Vacca, 2008).

Rigorous Tasks, Activities and Assignments Aligned With Standards and Benchmarks.  Far too often, we observe students engaged in basic rather than rigorous tasks that meet the expected levels of standards and benchmarks. We recommend schools reference Webb’s Depth of Knowledge levels, to determine the complexity levels of benchmarks and the corresponding required instructional rigor.

Access to Both Grade-Level and Independent-Level Text.  Schools must work to significantly intensify literacy instruction within core content areas and to encourage students to read in all classes throughout the school day. An intervention-focused plan in the absence of strong core instruction and student engagement in reading across content areas will not result in remediation of students who are significantly behind in reading.

Differentiated Instruction and Formative Assessment.  We have found that many teachers cringe when the words "differentiated instruction" are mentioned. This reaction is related to the mistaken assumption that providing differentiated instruction requires teachers to design individual lesson plans for every student in their classroom. What we are asking teachers to do now is to formalize the process so they can target identified students, utilize appropriate data to understand student needs, and provide appropriate scaffolding strategies to help students when they are presented with new information and/or skills.

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