So, What Does a Science of Reading Lesson Plan Look Like?

As teachers around the globe are gearing up for back-to-school, plans are being created left and right. Whether you do your lesson planning digitally or "old school-style" in a lesson plan book, seeing the blank slate for another school year is exciting and full of possibility. (And maybe a tad overwhelming!)

Having a plan for any kind of goal you set is key for being successful. When it comes to planning for your reading instruction, however, the importance cannot be overstated.

If we want our students to become strong readers, we need to have a prescriptive plan for how we're going to do it. This is where the importance of lesson planning comes in. 

Now, I'll be the first to admit that when I was a classroom teacher, I struggled with consistently planning for my small groups in reading. You see, I had been trained in the balanced literacy approach, so my lesson planning for small groups went something like this: (Eek!😩)

➡️ Assessed students with the BAS to determine their "level"
➡️ Studied their running records to see what types of errors they were making (M/S/V)
➡️ Headed to my school's bookroom
➡️ Browsed the shelves of book boxes, reading and flipping through multiple sets
➡️ Chose a book that seemed like it had a good teaching point (usually comprehension related)
➡️ Repeated this for all of my groups, then left the bookroom with more book sets than I could carry
➡️ Got back to my classroom, read each book and then carefully did the following:

1. Planned a strong book introduction, introducing challenging words my students would probably stumble over 
2. Tried to find a phonics pattern that was repeated in the book, so I could use that as a teaching point after the book was over (sometimes there was one, sometimes there wasn't!)
3. Chose a comprehension skill to focus on (problem/solution, cause/effect, etc.)
4. Wrote comprehension questions to discuss after the book was over

➡️ Hoped for the best 🤞

Whew... that was exhausting just thinking about! 🥱

No wonder I wasn't consistent in planning for my groups. It took ages to plan for just one group, let alone the 5-6 that I usually had.

After becoming a reading specialist and going through the Orton Gillingham training, I learned about structured literacy and the Science of Reading. I remember sitting in one of my 8-hour trainings that first week thinking, "Boy, was I doing reading instruction ALL wrong!"

All of us in the training were beating ourselves up over how we'd taught reading in the past, and our instructor said something that I still carry with me today- "When you know better, do better." And that's exactly what I promised myself then and there. That I would do better and help other teachers do the same, too!

Fast forward to today, and planning for my reading instruction looks ENTIRELY different. Instead of assessing for a reading "level", I use specific assessments to determine the following: 

📋 Phonics skills that are mastered/not yet mastered in my scope & sequence of skills

📋 Oral reading fluency (rate and accuracy)

📋 Level of phonological awareness

Then, once I know what each student needs, I group them based on where they are at in the scope & sequence of phonics skills.

I plan the lesson around a specific concept or pattern, and then find a decodable text that reinforces that pattern. We work on reading and coding words, spelling words, writing sentences, and reading a story with the new pattern.

I have to say, planning for reading groups isn't a mystery anymore. That's how I used to feel, standing in the bookroom looking out amongst the sea of book boxes. Now, it's specific and sequential. I know exactly where we're going.

Having a great lesson plan that is aligned to the Science of Reading makes all the difference when planning for your reading groups. That's why I want to share the one that I use with you! This lesson plan isn't for a certain amount of days, but instead for a concept that you'll be teaching. You can stretch the lesson out over 2, 3, 4, or 5 days. (1 day would be more appropriate for a one-on-one tutoring session.)

To download a free copy of the template, click the image below. From there, you'll be prompted to enter your first name and email address, so we can send it directly to your inbox!

If you'd like to learn more about each part of a SoR lesson plan, be sure to check out our course for teachers, The Science of Reading Revealed! In it, we walk you through each step of the lesson plan and show you what it looks like and sounds like. You'll get how-to videos, printable resources, and more so that you can implement the Science of Reading right away!

To learn more about the course, click the image below. We'd love to see you inside!