Course Description

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This course is part II of a two-course series, Structured Literacy I and II. Spreading the content over two courses offers us the luxury of focusing more in depth, first on the teaching of literacy and then on teaching literacy to students with learning difficulties. Both courses are required for the Certificate in Educational Therapy, and are more closely aligned to the requirements of the Association of Educational Therapists. Together, they provide a foundation of the skills and knowledge base necessary to adequately teach all of the students who will come to you in your practice. 

Structured Literacy II builds upon the Structured Literacy I groundwork to explore how to teach, remediate and support students with learning difficulties, whether due to dyslexia, speech and language disability, ADHD, ASD, a mismatch between home and school culture, learning English as a second language, or a number of other challenges. The course emphasizes the neurobiological and neurocognitive underpinnings of literacy, the science of reading and structured literacy, best practices of instruction, using informal and formal assessments to guide instruction, and the development of materials and skills to teach literacy to a broad range of students.

Topics Include

• The who, what, when and why of literacy instruction
• Structured Literacy: what it is and why it is even more important for students with disabilities
• Understanding differential diagnoses to align instructional practices with the specific needs of individual students
• How socio-economic, cultural and a wide-range of identity issues affects literacy acquisition and instruction; and their interconnections with identification and treatment of language-based learning disabilities
• Assessments for literacy difficulties and dyslexia