By Judy Ameline, Judy Chyung, and Emily Thompson
Explicit Instruction and Direct Instruction are distinct but related High Impact Instructional Strategies; the following link is one approach to clarifying and defining these terms: What is DIRECT, SYSTEMATIC and EXPLICIT Instruction?
We hope you enjoy this reading list, curated by librarians at the TDSB Professional Library in the Library Learning Resources and Global Education Department of the Toronto District School Board.
Links to the TDSB Professional Library Catalogue have been provided for informational purposes, but the items are accessible to TDSB staff only.
Chovanes, J.,& Sharp, E. Structured Literacy: Teaching K–12 Students to Read Using the Science of Reading and Explicit Instruction. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Print book (on order)
This book is designed to prepare pre-service teachers to effectively teach reading through structured literacy, based on current research in the science of reading. It offers a step-by-step guide for assessing students and creating instructional routines across all three tiers of instruction. Rather than being a collection of research or scripted lessons, it equips teachers with the knowledge and strategies needed to implement structured literacy, including diagnostic assessments, instructional strategies, and practical examples. The book also includes hands-on activities and suggestions for differentiating instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners, including students with disabilities, English learners, and students of color.
Serravallo, J. (2024). Teaching reading across the day: Methods and structures for engaging, explicit instruction. Corwin. Also as eBook
Teaching Reading Across the Day draws on the latest research to offer practical, high-leverage strategies for reading instruction ensuring that teachers can consistently deliver impactful lessons. In this resource Serravallo presents nine research-based lesson structures that help teachers streamline their planning and focus on effective instruction. These lesson structures—such as read aloud, phonics and spelling, vocabulary, shared reading, are adaptable across different subjects and curricula. The book also provides valuable resources for simplifying lesson planning while maximizing student engagement and learning time, and helps educators leverage their expertise to make quick, effective decisions that enhance student outcomes.
Zach, G. (2024). Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching. John Catt Educational,
Print book
This book emphasizes the significance of explicit instruction and clear, effective explanations in classroom teaching. Drawing on the science of learning, the author examines key methods for showing, telling, demonstrating, modeling, and presenting, making even the most complex concepts accessible to all learners. With this resource teachers can explore the art and science of simplifying instruction to see how a direct, explicit approach to instruction can greatly enhance student success.
Engelmann, K E. (2024). Direct instruction: A practitioner’s handbook. John Catt. Print book
This book provides a practical guide for teachers and school leaders looking to effectively implement Direct Instruction (DI) to accelerate student learning. The author, a strong advocate for DI, clarifies common misconceptions surrounding DI and offers strategies for its optimal implementation. The book is organized into three sections. Part one details the core components of DI and their underlying rationale, equipping educators to implement programs with fidelity. Part two offers a step-by-step implementation guide. Finally, part three addresses common challenges and provides solutions for successful DI adoption.
Willms, H. (2024). Bridging the reading gap: Explicit instruction that supports spelling, phonics, morphology, and vocabulary development in grades 4-8. Pembroke Publishers eBook
This book is a valuable resource for upper elementary and middle school teachers to support struggling readers. The author demonstrates how teachers in grades 4-8 can effectively teach reading using research-based, explicit instruction. The explicit instruction practices in the book address key components of reading –phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension – within chapters on vocabulary, morphology, spelling, and multi-syllable words, enabling teachers to target specific student needs. Designed for busy educators, the lessons in the book can be easily integrated into daily classroom instruction.
Hochman, J., Wexler, N., Maloney, K., & Lemov, D. (2024). The writing revolution 2.0: A guide to advancing thinking through writing in all subjects and grades. John Wiley & Sons. eBook
This book describes the Writing Revolution approach that takes the guesswork out of teaching writing, providing a clear path to improving student writing skills. This program, the book explains, provides a structured, explicit step-by-step approach, enabling students’ writing to progress from sentence construction to multi-paragraph essays while learning content. By breaking down the writing process into manageable steps and providing repeated practice, students master writing skills while simultaneously deepening their content comprehension. Applicable to any subject or grade level, the strategies in this program better equip students to demonstrate learning through their writing. This second edition features expanded student examples and a reorganized activity sequence for even easier classroom implementation.
Ashman, G. (2021). The power of explicit teaching and direct instruction. Corwin. Print book
In this book, the author makes a strong argument for the use of direct instruction and explicit teaching as the most effective methods for student learning. The author defines direct instruction as a specific form of explicit teaching characterized by scripted lessons, within a broader explicit teaching framework. Drawing on studies of cognitive overload and process-product research, he demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach in boosting student achievement, contrasting it with the unsubstantiated claims of skills- or interest-based methods. The author’s advocacy for explicit teaching stems from his own frustrating early teaching experiences where, despite prevailing recommendations, direct instruction and explicit teaching proved essential. Key takeaways at the beginning of each chapter provide helpful summaries of important concepts.
Stockard, J., Wood, T.W., Coughlin, C. & Khoury, C R. (2020). All students can succeed: A half century of research on the effectiveness of direct instruction. Lexington Books. eBook
Written by a multidisciplinary team (two psychologists, a historian, and a sociologist) this book aims to both critically examine and champion the effectiveness of Direct Instruction (DI). It represents the culmination of more than ten years’ work, being a quantitative meta-analysis of more than 50 years’ worth of DI research, covering more than 500 studies. The authors’ statistical analysis unequivocally demonstrates that DI has a strong, positive, and consistent impact on student outcomes—across time, settings, samples, and curricula—over and above any other type of academic approach.
Hollingsworth, J. & Ybarra, S. (2018). Explicit direct instruction (EDI): The power of the well-crafted, well-taught lesson. Corwin Dataworks Educational Research. eBook
Taking as its first principle that students learn best from a “well-crafted, well-taught lesson” (as noted in the subtitle), this book aims to support educators with concrete, workable examples of Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) for inclusive and diverse classrooms. Starting with a detailed overview of EDI and ending with a sample lesson, the authors take educators step-by-step: from outlining student engagement norms through to checking for understanding, activating prior knowledge, differentiating, scaffolding, and more. Resources at the end of the book ground the given EDI approaches in established research.
Tyson, K.A., & Peery, A.B. (2017). Blended vocabulary for K-12 classrooms: Harnessing the power of digital tools and direct instruction. Solution Tree Press. eBook
At its heart, this title is focused on vocabulary development and ways to build a culture of literacy for elementary, secondary, special education and multilingual students alike. However, one of the key ways of building vocabulary is through direct instruction, as teachers “carefully plan content about words in addition to strategy and skills instruction so students can grow toward becoming more independent word learners” (42). As such, information about direct instruction may be found throughout this book; see in particular Chapter 4: Effective Instruction and Assessment.
Archer, A.L., & Hughes, C A. (2011). Explicit instruction: Effective and efficient teaching. Guilford Press eBook
In the preface, Archer and Hughes define explicit instruction as “instruction that is systematic, direct, engaging and success oriented,” noting that its effectiveness “has been validated again and again in research” (vii). Over eight chapters, the authors explore the foundations of explicit instruction and detail how to design lessons, organize and deliver instruction, and foster appropriate independent practice. End materials give educators quick reference to the sixteen elements of explicit instruction and the six principles of effective instruction, alongside charts and checklists, techniques for providing feedback, and more.
Judy Ameline is a librarian at the Toronto District School Board Professional Library with almost 30 years experience providing reference service. She is passionate about providing TDSB teachers and leaders access to current, cutting edge information in the field of education to support their professional development needs. Check out the Library’s Pinterest Boards and follow her on Twitter @AmelineJudy
Judy Chyung has extensive experience providing Education Reference and Online Services to the educators and leaders of Toronto District School Board at the TDSB Professional Library. She enjoys reading and learning about the trends in education literature, and assisting TDSB educators with their information needs whether for their classroom support or for their professional learning. One of the initiatives that she leads is the curated Resource Guides for Heritage Months celebrated by TDSB. Currently she is deeply involved in developing Subject Guides to support TDSB educators and students with their curriculum resource needs. These Subject Guides can be found in the TDSB Virtual Library under the FIND tab.
Emily Thompson is a Reference and Digital Resources Librarian with the Toronto District School Board Professional Library. Prior to joining the TDSB this year, she spent nearly a decade in public librarianship and is passionate about early literacy. She is excited to be a part of the TDSB Professional Library team, connecting users of all ages with digital resources through the Virtual Library. Follow the TDSB Virtual Library on Twitter: @tdsbVL