Course 1 · Learn · CDE-approved
Introduction to Structured Literacy
Six modules that give every TK–5 teacher the same foundation in how children learn to read, written for California classrooms, and checked through real instructional scenarios rather than quizzes.
6
modules, about an hour each
≤15 hrs
online, self-paced
6
Instructional Scenario Reviews
TK–5
with multilingual learners at the center
Module by module
What teachers learn, and how we know they learned it.
Each module ends with an Instructional Scenario Review built from the California ELA/ELD Framework vignettes: a real classroom situation, a decision to make, and feedback on why the strong choice is strong.
01
The Science of Reading, for California classrooms
What decades of research say about how children learn to read, and what it looks like in a TK–5 classroom with multilingual learners in the room.
- The reading brain: word recognition and language comprehension working together
- Why oral language and vocabulary carry comprehension, especially for English learners
- What structured, explicit, systematic instruction means in practice
- How the California ELA/ELD Framework and Dyslexia Guidelines set the bar
Instructional scenario review
A first-grade teacher plans a small-group lesson for three students at different decoding stages. Which decisions reflect the evidence, and why?
02
Phonological and phonemic awareness
Hearing, isolating and manipulating sounds, and why this comes before letters for many children.
- The progression from rhyme and syllables to phoneme segmentation and blending
- Quick, daily routines that take minutes, not a lesson
- Spotting the student who guesses from pictures because the sounds are not yet secure
- Supporting learners whose first language has a different sound system
Instructional scenario review
A kindergarten vignette: the teacher runs a phoneme-blending warm-up and two students stall. Choose the next move.
03
Phonics and decoding
Teaching the code explicitly and in sequence, and building from it rather than around it.
- A sequence that moves from single letters to blends, digraphs and vowel patterns
- Decodable text: what it is for, and when to move on
- Connecting phonics to the curriculum you already use rather than a parallel program
- Error analysis: what a student's miscues tell you to teach next
Instructional scenario review
A second-grade reader decodes CVC words but stalls on vowel teams. Analyze the sample and select the next instructional focus.
04
Fluency
Accuracy, rate and expression as the bridge from decoding to understanding.
- Why fluency is a comprehension issue, not a speed contest
- Repeated and assisted reading routines that fit a 90-minute block
- Using benchmark data (DIBELS and similar screeners) to decide who needs what
- Fluency for multilingual learners: prosody, oral language and confidence
Instructional scenario review
Third-grade fluency data shows accuracy is fine but rate is low for a third of the class. Decide how to group and what to run.
05
Vocabulary and comprehension
Building knowledge and language so that decoding turns into meaning.
- Explicit vocabulary routines and morphology (prefixes, roots, suffixes)
- Building background knowledge through connected, content-rich text sets
- Comprehension strategies that are taught, modeled and released, not assigned
- Academic language for English learners across the day
Instructional scenario review
A fourth-grade teacher introduces a science text to a class with eight newcomers. Identify which moves give every student access.
06
Differentiation and equity
Making sure the strategies reach the students with the largest gaps: students in special education, multilingual learners and children still learning the code.
- Reading the screener and diagnostic data together
- Small-group design that is flexible and based on skill, not a fixed level
- Intensifying instruction without pulling students out of grade-level text
- Choosing your three to five focal students for Course 2
Instructional scenario review
Pull the threads together: review a classroom profile and name the focal students, the strategies and the first lesson you would teach.
How the course fits a working week.
Self-paced, inside PLC time
Modules run about an hour and can be done in a PLC block or PD day. No evening homework assumed.
Common language for the site
Principals, coaches and TOSAs take the same course, so feedback and planning use the same vocabulary.
A certificate and a cohort
Completion is tracked for every cohort and site, and leads straight into Course 2 with your focal students already chosen.
Next step
Course 1 is where the foundation is laid. Course 2 is where practice changes.
Teachers carry their focal students and anchor strategies straight into Launch into Structured Literacy.