Guide

When to review a skill and when to move on

Structured literacy programs spiral: skills come back on their own. Review is for the skills that did not stick the first time. The hard part is deciding which those are without stalling the whole sequence.

In short

Decide review at the moment you rate the lesson. Secure: move on and let the program's spiral handle it. Developing: move on and bring the skill back after about three sessions. Needs support: move on but revisit the skill at the very next session. Two Needs support in a row on one skill means change the approach, not repeat the lesson.

The rule in one table

Secure: no review item. Next lesson.
Developing: review after three sessions (adjust to two or four to taste).
Needs support: review at the next session, before the new lesson.
Two Needs support in a row: pause and check the skill underneath.

Why not repeat the lesson

Repeating a whole lesson costs a session and rarely fixes the specific skill. A five-minute review routine on the skill, inside the next lesson, keeps momentum and usually does the job. Most scripted programs include such a routine.

How many open reviews is too many

More than three open review items for one student means the pace is wrong or the entry point was too far along. Slow down, or step back a unit and mark the earlier lessons as taught so the sequence still reads correctly.

Review by skill, not by lesson number

A lesson number is where the skill was introduced; the skill is what you review. Recording the concept (the sound or pattern) with each lesson lets review be about "digraph sh" rather than "Lesson 39", which is also what makes sense to a parent.

In Literacy Trail

The rating you tap creates the review item on the right date. The review queue lists what is due, Today shows it beside the next lesson, and the attention list flags a skill that has stayed at Developing too long. The Developing interval is a setting.

Questions people ask

Yes. It is a setting per account; three sessions is the default.

A review item with the skill, the date it was due, and the outcome when you resolve it (reviewed or dismissed). It appears on the calendar and the instruction log.

No. The next lesson is always available; review sits beside it.

Keep reading

Let the ratings schedule review

One tap after each lesson, and the queue takes care of itself.

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