Welcome to our Summer Throwback series… Every Thursday June - August, we will revisit some of the articles that launched our platform…
While your here visit the Literacy Underground… this is a place where I post print and go lessons, and an occasional PD… but that’s not the exciting part… the Literacy Underground is a grassroots movement that quietly funds student access to explicit literacy instruction. It’s where the real work happens.
This June, we’re kicking off the the Literacy Underground year of learning with a foundational theme: How skilled reading actually develops. If you’ve ever sat in a meeting and wondered how to explain the gap between decoding and comprehension—or how to align your instruction with the research—you’re not alone. This month’s bite-sized learning series is built to equip you with clarity, confidence, and classroom-ready tools.
Let’s break down each week’s focus:
Week 1: The Reading Rope – An Overview
If there’s one image that captures the Science of Reading, it’s Scarborough’s Reading Rope. But beyond the colorful strands, what does it really tell us?
The Reading Rope illustrates how word recognition and language comprehension develop side-by-side—and how they eventually weave together to form fluent, skilled reading.
On one side, students build automatic word reading through phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition.
On the other, they build understanding through background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, and reasoning.
Early readers often rely heavily on the word recognition strand. As fluency grows, comprehension takes center stage. But both strands must be intentionally taught and supported over time.
Key takeaway: We don’t teach “reading” as one skill—we build it strand by strand.
Week 2: The Simple View of Reading
The Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986) gives us a clear formula:
Decoding × Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension
This model helps us identify where breakdowns occur.
If a student can decode but struggles to understand, the issue lies in language comprehension.
If a student understands language well but can’t read the words, the issue is decoding.
If both are weak, intervention must target both strands.
This week’s focus is about moving beyond guessing or vague instruction. When we understand what’s not working, we can deliver the right type of support—not just more of the same.
Key takeaway: Every RTI or IEP conversation should start with this question—Where is the breakdown: decoding, comprehension, or both?
Week 3: What Is Decoding, Really?
Decoding is often misunderstood. It's not guessing, memorizing, or jumping to conclusions based on context clues. At its core, decoding is the process of matching graphemes (letters) to phonemes (sounds)—and blending those sounds into words.
Strong decoders:
Have solid phoneme awareness
Know sound-symbol relationships
Can apply that knowledge flexibly to decode unfamiliar words
This week, we unpack how decoding develops, how to spot it in student work, and why it’s not optional—even in the upper grades. We also clarify the role of orthographic mapping and how repeated exposure helps words move into long-term memory.
Key takeaway: Decoding is a teachable skill that lays the groundwork for fluency and comprehension—it’s never just about “sounding it out.”
Week 4: Comprehension Is the Goal
Too often, comprehension is treated like a “test” instead of a skill set. But true comprehension is active, layered, and developmental. It involves:
Connecting new ideas to background knowledge
Understanding sentence and text structure
Making inferences
Holding and organizing information across paragraphs or chapters
This week, we look at how to support comprehension beyond just asking questions at the end of a story. We explore knowledge-building, text structures, and language routines that help students make meaning—not just decode words.
Key takeaway: Fluency frees up cognitive space, but comprehension is the reason we read. Let’s teach it like we mean it.
Wrapping Up: What Comes Next?
This month’s content lays the groundwork for everything that follows in your structured literacy journey. Whether you're new to the Science of Reading or refining your craft, June’s tools and training are designed to give you the why behind the what—and practical ways to apply it right away.
July will take us deeper into phonological awareness—with screeners, routines, and demos you can use in any grade.
💡 Join us on Thinkific for access to all video tutorials, printables, and community learning as we decode structured literacy—together.
👉 thedyslexiacenter.thinkific.com/courses/take/summer-literacy-pass-2025
#ScienceOfReading #ReadingRope #StructuredLiteracy #Decoding #Comprehension #TeacherPD