Structured Language

St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School adopted the Structured Language approach to Literacy near the beginning of this year (2020). Before taking on my role in Term 3 as a teacher in the Kakano hub (year 0-2) I was fortunate enough to attend a Professional Development course directed by Liz Kane on this approach to teaching Literacy. Since attending this PD course I have taught this approach for over a month to a small group. In this post I will share a brief overview of the Science of Reading that has informed the Structured Language approach. As well as some personal thoughts and insights into my experience with observing and teaching/facilitating the programme. 

The Structured Language approach is directly based on the Science of Reading and what we know about how the brain works. The Science shows us that learning to read and write is not a natural process. The written code has not existed long enough for us to be 'hard wired' to read. In contrast to this spoken language has been around for much longer, this means our brains have developed to the point where it is a more natural process to learn to speak. This research and evidence directs us to the fact that to teach students to read we must provide explicit, systematic and intensive instruction. (Castles, Rastle, & Nation, 2018; Gough & Hillinger, 1980; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000; Seidenberg, 2017). 

Did you know that there are 44 speech sounds/phonemes in the English Language?

The Structured Language approach focuses on teaching students these sounds and how they interact with each other. This learning assists students in developing critical phonemic awareness which enables them to decode any given word. Therefore providing students a strong foundation from which they can progress in their reading.

The Science and evidence points towards this approach to teaching Reading and after listening to Liz Kane speak, doing my own reading and teaching it myself, I can see that this approach makes sense and works. I can also see that this method of teaching works particularly well for students who struggle in reading as it is extremely systematic and explicit.

I have been teaching Structured Language with a small group for other a month now. At the beginning students were focusing on learning the first 8 sounds, (m,s, f,a,p,t,c,i) this progressed to them blending and segmenting these sounds to read words. They have also learnt to form all of these letters using the terminology from Casey Caterpillar. This language helps to guide students so that they form the letters correctly (starting in the right place and going in the right direction.)

Some of the students in this group have mastered the sounds, formations and blending and therefore are moving on to reading the books. The amazing thing about the books is that they only use sounds that the students have learnt and they don't have pictures that aid students to read the text. This means they rely solely on their knowledge of the sounds and the phonemic awareness they have developed in order to decode the text. Witnessing the students use their learning to decode the text is exciting, it is also extremely exciting for the students themselves.

I am new to this programme therefore I am constantly learning and seeking advice/ways to improve my practice/better meet needs of students. I am eager to see the students continue to progress and I am enjoying teaching this approach.

Have you used this approach to teaching Literacy? Feel free to share your thoughts with me.

Below are some images of wall displays about Structured Language that are in the Kakano Hub at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School.

Ngā mihi nui

Marielle