The iDeaL Approach for Specialists in a School Setting
This series of snippets shows what using the iDeaL Approach for Specialists can look like in a school context – where routines, session lengths, and support structures may differ. Through these sessions, we’re learning what works: adapting lesson length, incorporating modelling books, building in more review, and using student insight to shape what comes next. And we're sharing the journey with you as we go.
Contents
1. Exploring the iDeaL Approach for Specialists in a School Setting
Hugo is 9 years old and is in Year 5. He’s curious, eager to learn...
2. Reflection of Sessions 1 and 2
Session 1 focused on setting up routines – introducing the lesson structure...
3. Reflection of Sessions 3 – 5
By Session 3, Hugo’s teacher had already noticed a boost in his confidence...
4. Session 6: Regression, Retrieval, and a New Planning Routine
After a two-week holiday break between sessions, Hugo returned for Session 6...
5. Confidence, Clarity and Continued Growth
It was an amazing session. Hugo was engaged, focused, and moved through...
6. Confident, Focused, and Ready to Learn
Choosing the next concept involves more than simply following the scope...
7. Home Learning & Parent Observation
We know that developing automaticity takes multiple, meaningful exposures...
Exploring the iDeaL Approach for Specialists in a School Setting
Hugo is 9 years old and is in Year 5. He’s curious, eager to learn, and the focus of a new journey we’re sharing as we explore how the iDeaL Approach for Specialists can be adapted and delivered in a school-based intervention setting.
Background
Hugo’s school has had a school-wide Structured Literacy approach in place for the past three years. He previously received support through an external agency, but this was discontinued after it was determined he had made sufficient progress. However, his principal remained concerned and put Hugo’s name forward for further assessment, recognising that, despite gains, there were still additional needs to be addressed.
That’s where this journey began
Ange, one of our team members, completed the Mini Literacy Assessment with Hugo and began working with him using the iDeaL Approach for Specialists. This has given us a valuable opportunity to explore how these specialist resources, originally developed for 50–60 minute lessons in a private tutoring setting, can be adapted for use in schools, where sessions may be shorter and shaped by timetable constraints. In Hugo’s case, all sessions with Ange are 30 minutes long and occur twice per week – providing a consistent structure as we observe and reflect on his learning journey.
Assessment Results
Results from the Mini Literacy Assessment indicate that Hugo has a secure understanding of basic consonant and vowel sounds, as well as strengths in rhyme identification and syllable blending. A personalised, multisensory, cumulative and structured intervention will enable him to strengthen his phonological awareness and deepen his understanding of how letters and letter combinations represent sounds. A key focus will be on enhancing his ability to generate rhymes and manipulate phonemes – including beginning sounds, end sounds, and blends. Hugo also requires explicit instruction in all syllable types and spelling rules, which will improve his accuracy and help reduce the cognitive load that currently affects his writing.
Why We’re Sharing This?
This journey is about more than just one student. It’s an opportunity to show what using the iDeaL Approach for Specialists can look like in a school context – where routines, session lengths, and support structures may differ.
We’re learning what works: adapting lesson length, incorporating modelling books, building in more review, and using student insight to shape what comes next.
Reflection of Sessions 1 and 2
Session 1 focused on setting up routines – introducing the lesson structure, where to write, how to highlight, and how marking would work. With so much to establish, time was tight, but Hugo’s enthusiasm was obvious from the outset.
By Session 2, Hugo was already making discoveries. While highlighting the consonant after the short vowel in a closed syllable word list, he paused and said, “Hey, there are a, e, i, o, u in every word here!” A great opportunity to talk about vowels and syllables – one of those authentic moments of learning you can’t plan for but can build from.
When planning Sessions 3 and 4, Ange realised a fifth session would be needed to tie together open and closed syllables. More review, more exposure – key to retention. This reflects one of the most important principles of explicit instruction: frequent and purposeful practice.
We’ll continue sharing Hugo’s story as it unfolds – highlighting what’s possible when evidence-based teaching meets personal, responsive instruction.
Reflection of Sessions 3 – 5
By Session 3, Hugo’s teacher had already noticed a boost in his confidence with reading. His accuracy with open syllables had improved and he was decoding more fluently. When tired, Hugo would sometimes revert to short vowel sounds – reinforcing the need for regular, spaced review.
Session 4 was a real turning point. Hugo was engaged, confident, and applying his learning. He was able to distinguish between open and closed syllables and successfully read unfamiliar words like mascot and vortex using syllable division strategies.
In Session 5, the focus was applying this knowledge to spelling multisyllabic words like fantastic, volcano, and elastic. Hugo was proud of his success – working one syllable at a time, using sounds to guide spelling. Ange noted he sometimes used letter names rather than sounds, so regular practice of the sounds during the letter formation section of the lesson will help to address this.
What’s Happening Beyond the Lessons?
Hugo’s classroom teacher has noticed positive shifts, not just in Hugo’s reading confidence but in how he’s applying syllable division strategies during instructional reading. His parents are also seeing change: “He’s feeling more confident with sounding out letters like a and u,” they shared. “We’re so pleased with how enthusiastic he is.”
What’s next…
The next concept Hugo will be taught is the /sh/ digraph. This will be his first lesson using a decodable text, so it will be interesting to observe both the lesson timing and his engagement with the text. The current 30-minute lesson structure is also under review to determine whether any changes are needed.
Session 6: Regression, Retrieval, and a New Planning Routine
After a two-week holiday break between sessions, Hugo returned for Session 6 — and, we noticed some signs of regression. He was once again mixing up short vowels like a and u, and showed confusion with similar-looking letters d and p.
But this is all part of the process. Gaps after breaks are common, and they offer us valuable insight into what needs revisiting, what’s sticking, and where we can strengthen routines for long-term retention.
Phonological Awareness Focus
To support Hugo’s phoneme manipulation, Ange introduced Elkonin boxes with counters, helping him scaffold the process of identifying and manipulating initial sounds. This hands-on approach continues to be a powerful tool for supporting Hugo’s developing phonological awareness.
Retrieval in Action
Today’s review of open and closed syllables looked a little different. Instead of leading the review, Ange used it as a chance to check Hugo’s independent recall, inviting him to retrieve the concept himself.
At first, Hugo couldn’t remember. But with some guided prompts, he got there: “In open syllables the vowel says its name… closed syllables have a consonant blocking the vowel.” These moments are a reminder of how powerful retrieval-based practice is, and that cued recall can be just as effective when free recall isn’t yet within reach. This will now become a key part of lesson planning going forward.
Introducing a New Planning Template
This session also marked a trial of a new two-session planning template designed specifically with school settings in mind.
The current iDeaL Approach for Specialists Phase 1 session plans are 60 minutes in length, which we have been adapting into two 30-minute sessions across the week. Initially, lessons were divided into two sessions, with half the content taught in each. The new structure instead breaks the lesson into two 30-minute blocks, ensuring that all elements of a Structured Literacy lesson are included consistently, with built-in review and decodable reading in every session.
Key Features
Instruction aligns tightly with what Hugo has explicitly been taught — supporting mastery and avoiding cognitive overload.
Every session includes reading — progressing from small snippets to reading a full passage with comprehension questions in the second session. For students who would find this too challenging, the lesson could easily be stretched into three to ensure the passage is read as a whole.
Elements like morphology, letter formation, and irregular word review are evenly distributed for repetition and reinforcement.
The lesson design is adaptable for school use, offering specialists flexibility to choose what best fits their students’ needs. These templates will be available on the specialist platform soon — watch this space!
Looking Ahead
Although time was tight today, the structure held, and Ange is confident that, with familiarity, all components can be taught within a 30-minute lesson. We’re excited to see how this new format supports Hugo’s progress over time.
We’ll continue sharing Hugo’s journey because behind the planning templates and lesson structures is a student building confidence, skill, and a love of learning that grows stronger every week.
Confidence, Clarity and Continued Growth
Session 7
It was an amazing session. Hugo was engaged, focused, and moved through the lesson with momentum – even finishing with time to spare!
All lesson elements were completed, including phonological awareness, review, and decodable reading. For the handwriting component, the focus was only on letters a–m. This is still an area where Hugo is learning the process, so things were slowed down to give him more support.
To help with letter formation, Ange introduced a sky, grass, dirt handwriting template – with the letter models printed above. Previously, Hugo had been using a letter strip, but he was finding it tricky to keep his place while copying. The new layout helped provide clarity and kept him anchored during the task.
(This resource is currently being updated and will be available on the platform soon)
Session 8
This session served as a wrap-up for the week’s focus: reviewing open and closed syllables and explicitly teaching the /sh/ sound.
Knowledge of open and closed syllables are foundational for reading and spelling multisyllabic words – so they’ll continue to be a focus moving forward.
The lesson included a re-read of the decodable text, as well as spelling and reading multisyllabic words. One pattern Ange has noticed is Hugo’s tendency to add extra letters when spelling longer words. However, when he slows down and works syllable by syllable, his accuracy improves significantly. This is something that will continue to be built on.
Whānau Feedback
It was lovely to receive feedback from Hugo’s whānau.
They shared that Hugo is genuinely enjoying the sessions and feels they’re helping him understand things more clearly. His positivity came through during their chat, which was great to hear.
He also expressed pride in his learning, even asking if his parent could come and watch a session sometime.
This kind of self-reflection and ownership is such a valuable part of the journey.
Looking Ahead
Hugo has made some good progress – especially in his confidence, motivation, and ability to apply concepts like syllable division and targeted sound knowledge.
The focus will remain on strengthening his ability to spell multisyllabic words, while also increasing opportunities for retrieval practice and review.
Confident, Focused, and Ready to Learn
Session 9
Planning the Next Concept
Choosing the next concept involves more than simply following the scope and sequence. The specialist platform’s sequence should always be personalised to ensure explicit instruction is provided where it’s needed most. Some concepts may already be mastered and only require review, while others need explicit teaching. A personalised scope and sequence for each student ensures instruction is both targeted and effective.
In Hugo’s case, the next concept in the Phase 1 scope and sequence was the /ch/ digraph. However, his assessment results showed that he had already mastered this concept, so we moved on to the next one: the two sounds of /th/. The /ch/ digraph will still be reviewed throughout this and subsequent lessons.
Ange has glued the student version of the Phase 1 scope and sequence into the front cover of Hugo’s workbook. This gives him a clear view of his progress and the concepts he has already secured — a simple but powerful visual of his personalised learning journey.
Choosing the Text
For this session, ‘Seth Had a Fall’ was selected as the decodable text. Although it included more irregular words than the other text for this concept, ‘Maths Was Fun’, it was the better fit for breaking the learning across two sessions. With explicit teaching of the irregular words, Hugo would be set up for success, even if extra review was needed due to the number of new words introduced.
Deciding how to split the passage into two sessions – and ensuring all concept words, irregular words, and other elements were explicitly taught before Hugo encountered them in the text – involved the following steps:
Highlighting concept words in pink: This made it easy to see where the words were introduced and how they were distributed throughout the passage.
Highlighting new irregular words in yellow: Some words identified as review words on the 60-minute plan were new for Hugo, as we had skipped the /ch/ concept.
Drawing a line to split the reading into two lessons: This ensured each section had a manageable number of words to teach explicitly.
A Strong Start to the Term
When the session began, Hugo was on fire. He had practised his word-level fluency sheets over the holidays, re-read the /sh/ text, and even revised the night before. This preparation meant he came in confident, focused, and ready to learn.
The session was voice recorded to capture how long each element of the lesson took, helping refine planning and pacing using the new template.
Demonstrating Recall
The recording also captured Hugo’s ability to independently recall previously taught concepts. When prompted with the words ‘Hugo’ and ‘relax’, he confidently explained open and closed syllables.
For ‘Hugo’, he underlined the vowels and said, “This (‘Hu-’) is open because there’s nothing blocking the ‘u’, so the line goes straight down here. And this (‘-go’) is open too.”
For ‘relax’, he underlined the vowels, placed a syllable break after the ‘e’, and said, “re-.” He then explained that the two syllables were “open and closed.” When asked why the second syllable was closed, he replied, “There’s an ‘x’ blocking it.”
Asking Hugo to recall previous concepts with minimal prompting is a useful way to gauge how well he has understood and retained the explicit teaching. The more responsibility he takes for recalling prior learning, the greater the impact on his progress.
Established Routines
Hugo now knows the lesson structure inside out, which helps reduce cognitive load. He notices details such as when the wrong counters are used, or something hasn’t been highlighted correctly, and he’s quick to speak up. His sense of ownership is really shining through.
Another milestone: this was the first session where Hugo didn’t ask how much longer the lesson would be. Instead, he was surprised when the session wrapped up early, a real sign of engagement.
Looking Ahead
The focus will continue to be on consolidating the two sounds of /th/ through the selected text, reviewing the new irregular words, and providing opportunities for spaced review and retrieval.
With Hugo’s growing independence and well-established routines, the goal is to build his fluency, reinforce accuracy, and continue connecting new learning with what he has already mastered.
Home Learning & Parent Observation
Session 10
Home Learning Resources
We know that developing automaticity takes multiple, meaningful exposures, far more than what is possible in just two one-on-one sessions a week, even when paired with effective classroom instruction.
The home learning tasks on the specialist platform provide targeted opportunities for practice through concept word review, sentence-level reading and writing, and the ever-popular Roll and Read game.
Hugo has shown growing motivation to "beat his time" on the word-level fluency reading tasks. Before beginning each set, we draw attention to the focus concept, for example, all words containing the /sh/ sound. Words featuring previously taught concepts are left blank or shown in a different colour to reinforce prior learning. This repeated, purposeful practice is strengthening his word-level automaticity.
Session Reflection
Hugo is absolutely flying. Routines are well established, and we are working at pace through each lesson. Now that the structure is second nature, Ange is turning her attention to refining key elements of delivery. The plan is to revisit the modelled lesson for letter formation on the platform to ensure instruction is aligned and precise.
iDeaL Approach for Specialists users can access this resource in the iDeaL Instruction area.
Parent Observation
Hugo’s mum observed this session, and it was wonderful to see how proud Hugo was of his work. The smiles and quick glances her way said it all.
After the lesson, Ange spent some time with Hugo’s mum, who shared:
She was impressed by Hugo’s pace and productivity throughout the session.
His focus stood out.
At home, both parents have noticed a real shift in Hugo’s willingness to learn. He is now asking to read and is currently enjoying Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which is a huge milestone given he has never asked to read at home before.
This enthusiasm has even inspired his younger sibling to join in with bedtime reading.
During home learning, Hugo prefers to self-correct, asking his mum to simply point to a word he read incorrectly rather than give the answer. This is a wonderful sign of ownership and growth.
They have both noticed improvements in his ability and confidence, and Hugo himself has said he can feel the difference the sessions are making.
The family expressed deep appreciation for the opportunity and for the communication around Hugo’s learning. They can clearly see the positive impact of the intervention.
Hugo’s classroom teacher has also noticed clear gains in his reading. Recently, when asked to re-read a text from the Catch-Up Reader series that he had previously completed, he expected he would manage only a few chapters. Instead, Hugo read the entire book from cover to cover with minimal errors, demonstrating both fluency and confidence.
Next Steps
Moving forward, Ange will continue to refine the delivery of the lessons, ensuring each element in taught explicitly and for the greatest impact. The next focus area will be phonological awareness to ensure that these vital foundation skills are being taught effectively.
For Hugo, the focus will be on trying to maintain this great momentum, enthusiasm and focus.
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