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Routine 3: Structured Literacy

Instructional Focus: Strengthen students’ decoding, morphology, and fluency skills so that increased accuracy and automaticity support more independent access to grade-level texts during core instruction.

Use this routine when

You want to improve accuracy and automaticity with specific phonics or word patterns that appear in lesson texts.

You are intentionally building fluency so students can read more smoothly and independently during core instruction.

You want foundational skills work to directly support successful reading of grade-level texts.

Planning Note: This routine may be implemented in whole group, small groups, or both depending on instructional intent, time, and student need.

Planning for Whole Group Instruction

Step 1: Clarify the Comprehension Re-Teach Intent

Review Fundations or Acadience data to identify:

Specific phonics or decoding gaps

Morphology or word-pattern errors

Fluency challenges affecting accuracy and rate

Group students by error pattern, not by overall reading level.

Use HMH Assist as a planning partner to help analyze:

Which phonics or morphology patterns most directly support access to the lesson text

Where decoding or fluency breakdowns are most likely to occur during reading

Select one primary structured literacy focus for instruction.

Step 2: Using HMH Assist as a Thinking and Design Partner

Use the shared prompting structure outlined in

Crafting Strong Prompts for Instructional Routines⁠

to develop a prompt aligned to this routine’s instructional focus.

When developing your prompt, consider:

Instructional intent: Why are foundational skills limiting students’ access to the lesson text right now? What data or observations indicate that this routine is needed at this point in instruction?

Instructional focus: What specific decoding, morphology, or fluency pattern must be addressed to support accurate reading of the lesson text?

Lesson anchor: What lesson text or aligned decodable reader should the routine be grounded in so skill practice transfers directly to authentic reading?

Desired student shift: How should students’ accuracy, automaticity, or fluency improve as a result of this routine?

Constraints: How will the routine remain concise, embedded within core instruction, and supportive of meaning-making without overscaffolding or reducing text complexity?

AI support tip: Leverage the voice feature within ChatGPT or CoPilot to “brain dump” your thoughts and form them into a clear statement of intention.

Example:

I am planning a structured literacy routine focused on improving accuracy and automaticity with CVC words. Based on Fundations and Acadience data, students are inconsistently decoding short vowel sounds, which is slowing their reading and reducing overall fluency.

Design a short structured literacy routine that reinforces accurate decoding of CVC words using grade-level–appropriate words and simple sentences connected to the lesson text. The routine should include brief modeling, guided practice, and opportunities for independent rereading. Keep the focus on accuracy and fluency, not comprehension instruction, and ensure the routine fits naturally within the flow of an elementary HMH lesson.

You should always review all AI outputs. From there, refine prompts, revise generated activities, and make final instructional decisions to ensure alignment with students, texts, and instructional goals.

Forming Targeted Small Groups

Step 1: Analyze Data

Use student data to identify specific patterns in decoding accuracy and fluency that require differentiated support.

Review Fundations, Acadience, and classroom reading data to identify:

Consistent decoding errors (e.g., CVC short vowel confusions)

Morphology or word-pattern misunderstandings

Fluency breakdowns that limit accuracy and rate during reading

Group students by shared error patterns, not by overall reading level or benchmark status.

Identify the lesson text or decodable reader where students will encounter the targeted pattern so small-group work directly supports accurate reading during core instruction.

Step 2: Leverage the HMH Assist to for Integration into Lesson Plan

Use the same shared prompting structure to design lesson-embedded small groups. When forming small groups, the instructional focus and lesson purpose remain the same. What changes is the level of support and pathway students receive.

When developing your prompt for small groups, consider:

Instructional intent: Which students need differentiated support with this decoding or fluency pattern based on error patterns in reading data?

Instructional focus: What phonics, decoding, or morphology pattern remains consistent across all groups?

Lesson anchor: What lesson text or decodable reader should all groups use to ensure practice transfers to core instruction?

Desired student shift: What improvement in accuracy and fluency should be visible for all students when they return to the text?

Constraints: How will groups remain temporary, embedded within the lesson, and aligned to grade-level expectations while varying the amount of modeling, guided practice, or independence?

Example:

I am planning a structured literacy lesson focused on improving accuracy and automaticity with CVC words. Fundations and Acadience data show that students are inconsistently decoding short vowel sounds, which is slowing their reading and affecting fluency.

Design targeted small groups within this elementary HMH lesson that help students read CVC words more accurately using the lesson text or an aligned decodable reader. Include a teacher-supported group, an independent or technology-supported group, and an accelerated group.

For each group, describe what students will work on, the kind of support they will receive, and how the activity helps them read CVC words more accurately and smoothly when they return to the text. Make sure all groups are working toward the same decoding goal and are practicing with words and texts that match the lesson.

Planning for Whole Group Instruction

Forming Targeted Small Groups

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