Explicit Instruction for Struggling Readers Explained

An basic overview of explicit instruction and why it's important for struggling readers from NCIL's expert Dr. Jess Surles.

Effective instruction for students who struggle with reading should be both systematic and explicit.

Instruction for students who struggle with reading should follow a scope and sequence that builds in levels of difficulty and complexity, while also allowing time for review and practice of previously learned skills. This is called systematic instruction.

But to be most effective, it should also be explicit.

Explicit instruction that is teacher-directed has been proven to be more effective through research than less teacher-directed, less explicit instruction.

Components of Explicit Instruction

Explicit instruction involves several components:

• The teacher explanation should be short and concise. It should provide an objective or target area of learning for that part of the lesson. The quicker the teacher explanation is, the more time there is for students to respond to instruction. So, quick and concise is key with a teacher explanation.
  

• The teacher model should show students exactly what is expected for a response. Once students know what is expected, the model can be dropped to provide additional practice opportunities within the lesson.
  

• The signal is an important part of explicit instruction as well. The signal includes four parts: - Focus: Shows students exactly what they are working on in the task at hand. - Cue: A quick reminder of what they are being asked to do (e.g., sound practice).

  - Think Time: Think time is a crucial component of the signal. It allows all students to think about and formulate their response before giving it.

  - Signal to Respond: This shows that all students are ready to respond and that all students take part in the practice opportunity.

Multiple Opportunities to Respond

Another component of explicit instruction is multiple opportunities to respond, which is helped by the signal mentioned earlier. Multiple opportunities to respond could include:

• Using whiteboards or response cards for students.
  

• Having students work in small groups or pairs, such as in a think-pair-share model, where students think about their answers and share them with a partner before sharing with the whole group.

The goal with multiple opportunities to respond is that all students are practicing and engaged in the lesson.

Pacing and Engagement

Core responding is another way for students to engage, where all students respond to the questions in a quick and concise way. Pacing of the lesson should be quick and perky to allow all students the opportunity to respond to instruction and keep them engaged as the lesson moves along.

Remember to add think time for each component students are working on, ensuring that all students have time to think and practice as part of your lesson.

Immediate Error Correction Another important component of explicit instruction is immediate error correction. Errors should be corrected immediately in a non-punitive tone. It consists of two parts:

1. Error Correction: The teacher models the correct answer, and students practice that correct answer.
   

2. Part for Me: After error correction, students move on from the item they missed but will loop back later in instruction to ensure that the error correction was effective.

Checks for Understanding

Checks for understanding should be frequently embedded throughout your explicit instruction lesson. Frequent checks for understanding ensure that students are mastering the content or help identify areas where students need additional practice.

Two to three individual turns for each component of your lesson is sufficient. If all students are given individual turns for each component of the lesson, it takes away from the practice opportunities for everyone else.

As you're teaching through systematic explicit instruction, students are given multiple opportunities to practice, and they are provided with the supports they need to promote literacy development.

SUGGESTION CITATION

National Center on Improving Literacy. (2025). [Infographic title]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Retrieved from improvingliteracy.org.