The strongest classrooms aren’t crammed with flashy materials, they’re grounded in structured routines that prioritize skills aligned to how the brain learns to read.
The Must-Have Elements
- Phonemic Awareness (10 min – Heggerty or similar)
- Phonics (25–30 min – UFLI, Fundations)
- Decodable Texts (15 min – Connected reading)
- Vocabulary and Comprehension (20–30 min – Direct + text-based)
- Writing (10–15 min – Encoding, sentence construction, response to reading)
Planning Checklist
- Are your materials aligned to a clear scope and sequence?
- Do your routines include frequent review and cumulative practice?
- Is your small group time targeted and data-driven?
- Are students getting daily decoding and encoding practice?
- Are your assessments informing instruction?
Bonus Tip:
Create a visual schedule to help students anticipate and own their learning.
A well-structured literacy block is the difference between hope and mastery. Use this checklist to ensure every minute in your day is accelerating reading success.