Free CALT Structured Lesson Plan Design and Implementation Questions and Answers 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The principle of "diagnostic and prescriptive" teaching in a structured literacy lesson primarily means that the therapist:
- Follows a pre-written, scripted curriculum without any deviation.
- Provides a formal diagnosis of dyslexia before beginning any instruction.
- Continuously analyzes student responses to inform and adjust the immediate next steps of instruction. (Correct answer)
- Prescribes the same homework for every student learning a specific skill.
Correct answer: Continuously analyzes student responses to inform and adjust the immediate next steps of instruction.
Diagnostic-prescriptive teaching is a dynamic cycle where the therapist constantly observes and analyzes a student's performance (diagnostic) and uses that data to make immediate, informed decisions about what to teach, how to teach it, and what to review (prescriptive). It is the opposite of following a rigid, pre-determined script.
Question 2: Which component is most essential in a daily structured literacy lesson plan for building automaticity and ensuring long-term retention of skills?
- A fun, engaging opening game.
- Systematic and cumulative review of previously taught skills. (Correct answer)
- Introduction of at least three new concepts to accelerate progress.
- A twenty-minute silent reading period with a book of the student's choice.
Correct answer: Systematic and cumulative review of previously taught skills.
While all parts of a lesson are important, the systematic and cumulative review is foundational to the success of structured literacy. This constant spiraling back to previously learned material ensures that skills are solidified, moved to long-term memory, and become automatic for the student, preventing them from forgetting past concepts.
Question 3: A therapist introduces the digraph 'ch'. The therapist says /ch/, the student repeats it, they look at the letters 'c' and 'h' on a card, and then the student traces the letters in a sand tray while saying /ch/. This sequence primarily engages which sensory pathways?
- Visual and Auditory only
- Kinesthetic and Tactile only
- Auditory and Visual only, with a motor component
- Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Tactile (VAKT) (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Tactile (VAKT)
This sequence is a classic example of a VAKT (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Tactile) approach. The student sees the letters (Visual), hears and says the sound (Auditory), and feels the motion of forming the letters in the sand (Kinesthetic/Tactile). Engaging multiple pathways simultaneously creates stronger neural connections for learning.
Question 4: When designing a lesson to introduce a new grapheme, such as 'f' for the sound /f/, what is the most logical first step in the instructional sequence?
- Have the student write the letter 'f' fifty times for practice.
- Ask the student to read a list of words containing the letter 'f'.
- Elicit the phoneme /f/ in isolation and have the student identify how it is produced. (Correct answer)
- Show the student the letter 'f' and provide its name, "eff".
Correct answer: Elicit the phoneme /f/ in isolation and have the student identify how it is produced.
In a structured literacy approach, instruction typically moves from sound to symbol. The first step is to establish phonological awareness of the new sound in isolation, helping the student hear it and feel its articulation (e.g., teeth on lip, air pushing out) before linking it to the visual symbol (grapheme).
Question 5: During the 'New Learning' portion of a lesson, a student is consistently making errors and showing frustration. The most effective immediate action for the therapist is to:
- Move on to the next part of the lesson to avoid further frustration.
- Increase the level of scaffolding by providing more direct modeling and breaking the skill into smaller steps. (Correct answer)
- Tell the student to try harder and focus more on the task.
- End the lesson early and assign extra homework on the topic.
Correct answer: Increase the level of scaffolding by providing more direct modeling and breaking the skill into smaller steps.
When a student struggles, the therapist's role is to adjust instruction immediately. Increasing scaffolding—providing more support, direct modeling, breaking the task into smaller steps, and providing corrective feedback—allows the student to achieve success. This is a core tenet of diagnostic-prescriptive teaching.
Question 6: Why is the handwriting/kinesthetic discovery portion of a lesson typically placed immediately after a new grapheme-phoneme correspondence is introduced?
- To give the student a mental break after intensive auditory work.
- Because it is the least important part of the lesson and can be skipped if time is short.
- To immediately link the auditory and visual pathways with the kinesthetic-tactile pathway, strengthening memory. (Correct answer)
- To fulfill the school's curriculum requirements for penmanship practice.
Correct answer: To immediately link the auditory and visual pathways with the kinesthetic-tactile pathway, strengthening memory.
The structure of the lesson is intentional and based on neurological learning principles. Immediately practicing the formation of the new grapheme while verbalizing the corresponding sound forges a strong, multisensory link. This kinesthetic reinforcement helps to lock the new information into memory more effectively and permanently.
Free CALT Structured Lesson Plan Design and Implementation Questions and Answers 1
The principle of "diagnostic and prescriptive" teaching in a structured literacy lesson primarily means that the therapist: