Top 10: Resources for Getting started
In this Top 10 List, we provide key resources to start your journey in the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy. You may be familiar with many of these resources or just love other resources not on this list, both of which are wonderful. The key thing is to dive in. If you can explain to your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving what Structured Literacy and the Science of Reading is and he replies, “Well duh, of course that’s how kids learn to read.”, then you are good!
Number One: The Frameworks
Start with the Simple View of Reading, then graduate to Scarborough’s Rope (see a video from PaTTan giving insight to both models) and then gander a bit at IDA’s structured literacy infographic and the latest IDA Framework that really brings the Science of Reading together with Structured Literacy. We’ve tried to add links to original work but most Science of Reading overviews will reference one or all of these frameworks. Getting a sense of these and reviewing constantly keeps you grounded in what really is The Science of Reading (evidence) and Structured Literacy (the application of that evidence to your practice).
Number Two: Teaching Reading is Rocket Science
This free pdf book and key work is a great overview of the complexity and possibility of teaching reading. There are many podcasts out there from the wonderful Louisa Moats too if you want to hear her speak to this work, but this is one of the first and most important works in all of SoR/SL.
Number Three: The Reading League
The Reading League is the unofficial broader organization that supports Structured Literacy practice and the Science of Reading. Amazing resources, pathways to join local chapters or attend national conferences and endless tools can all be found on this site, which is an organization all structured literacy practitioners should be connecting with constantly. Their Science of Reading Defining Guide is a great place to start.
Number Four: FCRR and UFLI
Just because they’re both Floridian, we put them on the same line, but they are two separate wonderful organizations. The Florida Center for Reading Research has been driving structured literacy change since 2002 and is responsible for so many key pieces of research, documentation of key practices and much more. UFLI is best known for their amazing free/low cost materials that are amazingly helpful for organizations especially in the early days when changing over materials seems like an endlessly expensive task.
Number Five: How to Plan Differentiated Instruction
I feel like if you were alone on a desert island with 20 students, a full library, but only one resource to learn and implement structured literacy, this might be the book to go to. This is a practitioners book where you can build a system of one to start providing instruction that optimizes outcomes.
Number Six: The Sold a Story Podcast
The podcast that relaunched the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy movement is a compelling listen from Emily Hanford, who has helped so many educators and the broader community understand the current literacy situation and how we can move forward.
Number Seven: The Right to Read Movie
Building and sustaining structured literacy systems needs logic and emotion to constantly drive practice forward. The Right to Read, in addition to other movies like Hopeville and The Truth about Reading, lay out the case for SL/SoR in a way where the methodology and urgency is clear.
Number Eight: Science of Reading Facebook Groups
To stay on top of ongoing discussion, issues and perspectives in the broader field, there are several Science of Reading Facebook Groups including: SoR: What I should have learned in college, SoR: The Community, and The Reading League’s Facebook page.
Number Nine: Other key orgs/items to know
IDA, DIBELS, Orton-Gillingham, IES Practice Guides
Number Ten: Keep going
See our Resources for Top 10 lists on Podcasts, Training, Curriculum Evaluation, Assessments and much more.