Key Instructional Concepts
Learn about the essential concepts and terms related to research-based reading instruction, including what structured literacy is and how it works in the classroom.
The Reading Universe Taxonomy
Our taxonomy is a scope and sequence for teaching all the skills needed for fluent reading. This interactive tool shows how the major skills are connected — including word recognition, language comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing — and breaks the instructional process down into manageable pieces. Use it as a roadmap for ensuring students get all of the necessary, research-backed skills.

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[Music] If you teach reading, you know how rewarding it can be. But you've probably also found that in every class there will be students who really struggle with learning to read.
Reading Universe is here to help. With expert guidance we've developed a new framework to support educators everywhere. It's called the Reading Universe Taxonomy.
How does this free professional resource work? It's built upon the leading research on how we learn to read. We are born with the ability to learn oral language, but making sense of the written word doesn't come naturally; so we need to teach students that the letters on a page represent the sounds we all use to speak with each other.
The path to literacy is through word recognition. Children need to crack the alphabetic code using phonological awareness and phonics. They need to be able to hear that a spoken word like net is made up of separate sounds: /n/, /e/, /t/. That's phonological awareness. And they need to connect those sounds to the letters of the alphabet to see 'n', 'e', 't' and read net. That's phonics.
But being able to read words is just one part of the process. Students also need to understand what the words mean. That's called language comprehension. As children gain more knowledge of the world around them, they begin to recognize more of the words that they sound out. Then they can build on their knowledge through more reading. Only students who develop word recognition and language comprehension can achieve reading comprehension. It takes both to become a good reader.
Inside the Reading Universe Taxonomy you'll find everything you need to know about how to teach the reading skills your students need to master. Each literacy component is broken down into its many skills and processes. For each skill we show why it matters and how to teach it effectively, and we offer ideas for supporting students who need extra help. We don't just describe effective teaching, we show it with in-classroom video filmed in schools around the country.
Ongoing assessment is critical to effective teaching, so we provide guidance for determining what each student needs and how to tailor your instruction to meet those needs. Reading comprehension is not just one skill. It's the product of all the many skills that we teach our children.
We hope the Reading Universe Taxonomy will become your trusted go-to guide and that, together, we can give more children the chance to excel as readers and in their lives. This is Reading Universe.
Research-Based Reading Instruction Explained
Understand key concepts and strategies related to structured literacy.
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What Is Structured Literacy?
The research-based approach ensures students get the skills they need with no gaps.
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What Is Word Recognition?
Skilled reading involves instant and effortless recognition of words. To get there, students must learn to break the alphabetic code.
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What Is Orthographic Mapping?
Skilled adult readers have typically "mapped" between 30,000 and 60,000 words into their sight word vocabulary.
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The Three Learning Disabilities in Reading
Children with reading disabilities may struggle with decoding, comprehension, or a combination of both. Learn about the three disabilities and how they're related.
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How to Use Decodable Texts
Decodable texts are simple passages or books made for beginning readers that serve a specific purpose: letting students practice reading text with the phonics patterns they know.
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What is the Writing Rope?
Joan Sedita, the founder and CEO of Keys to Literacy, explains the five strands that make up The Writing Rope, a framework for writing instruction.
Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim & Donna Barksdale; the Hastings/Quillin Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (opens in new window); the AFT (opens in new window); the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation (opens in new window); and three anonymous donors.