What makes a lesson structured

The International Dyslexia Association describes structured literacy teaching as:

• Explicit: you explain each concept directly and give guided practice.
• Systematic and cumulative: you follow a planned sequence from easy to hard.
• Hands-on and multimodal: students listen, speak, read and write.
• Diagnostic and responsive: you adjust based on student responses.

Use this template for a 30 to 45 minute lesson.

Lesson details

Teacher: ________ Grade or group: ________ Date: ________ Lesson number in sequence: ________

Today's target skill: ________ Example: short vowel a in closed syllables.

What students learned last lesson: ________

1. Review (5 minutes)

Quick practice of past sounds and words.

• Sound cards to review: ________
• Words to review: ________

2. Phonemic awareness warm-up (5 minutes)

Oral only. No letters.

• Activity: ________
• Example: Say "mat". Change /m/ to /s/. What is the new word?

3. New concept (5 to 10 minutes)

I do. Teach the new skill directly.

• Key point in one sentence: ________
• Example words: ________
• Hands-on tool: ________ (letter tiles, mirror, tapping)

4. Guided practice (5 to 10 minutes)

We do. Practise together with feedback.

• Words to read: ________
• Words to spell: ________
• How you will correct errors: ________

5. Independent practice (5 to 10 minutes)

You do. Students practise on their own.

• Decodable sentence or text: ________
• Dictation sentence: ________

6. Meaning and language (5 minutes)

Link words to meaning.

• Vocabulary word: ________
• Prefix, suffix or root to notice: ________
• Sentence to build or expand: ________

7. Check for understanding (2 minutes)

• Exit task: ________
• Students who mastered the skill: ________
• Students who need more practice: ________

Planning checklist

• Skill follows the next step in my scope and sequence.
• Every new word uses only taught sounds.
• Students see, say, hear and write the skill.
• I model before students practise.
• I give immediate, kind correction.
• I recorded errors to plan the next lesson.

Reflection

What worked: ________

What to change: ________

Next lesson target: ________