We are excited to share the latest product updates in Lalilo. These features help support your foundational literacy core curriculum and streamline your classroom instruction.
1. Direct Instruction and Visible Learning
Research shows that students learn to read best with a direct, systematic approach to phonics. This explicit instruction provides the necessary support that develops their foundational literacy skills and allows them to become fluent readers. Teaching students letter sounds, vowel patterns, syllable types, and other phonics skills with a direct and explicit approach reduces ambiguity and ensures students are practicing decoding skills correctly, providing a more direct route to reading proficiently. This ultimately supports every aspect of their literacy, including reading rate, expression, and comprehension.
Recognizing the importance of direct, explicit instruction in foundational skills, Lalilo has recently strengthened its instructional components by introducing the lesson using visual and auditory cues, often relating new information to skills previously taught, because we know how important that connection to prior knowledge is for a student’s ultimate understanding. For example, in the lesson below, the student hears an audio instruction that explains the concept: “When the letters ‘ee’ are together, they make the long E sound like you hear in the word ‘sheep.’”
Just as important as direct instruction is the concept of visible learning. Visible learning means that teachers must educate their students about what they are supposed to learn and how to learn it. Teachers must then be able to assess student progress; in other words, learning must be as seen and apparent as possible, and not assumed. Lalilo’s first foray into visible learning is via explicit lesson transition. In between lessons, students are informed of the lesson name, ensuring students are aware as they transition from one skill to the next. Stay tuned for additional visible learning features in Lalilo!
2. Synchronize Lalilo practice with your lesson plans
Lalilo’s updated class assignment feature empowers teachers to seamlessly integrate the platform’s adaptive, engaging, and interactive exercises with their daily lesson plans. With just a few clicks, educators can easily assign specific practice lessons that perfectly complement the topics covered in class. This means students reinforce their learning in a targeted and efficient manner, maximizing their classroom experience’s impact.
The class assignment feature also informs our adaptive learning algorithms to provide even more targeted lessons to students, and once the assigned lessons are completed by the student, they will return to the automatic progression.
As shown in the following screenshot, teachers can assign a specific topic each week directly from their phone, tablet, or computer. For teachers, monitoring student progress has never been easier. This invaluable feedback not only saves time on assessment but also supports teachers in making data-driven instructional decisions.
3. Foundational vocabulary unit for English Language Learners (Emergent Bilinguals)
New to Lalilo is a vocabulary unit focused on supporting students who are continuing to develop their home language while also learning English. This unit includes 12 lessons and 4 read-aloud books that provide both instruction and practice on thematic Tier 1 vocabulary words. Each lesson focuses on six to nine vocabulary words while providing direct instruction on word meaning and usage, while also reinforcing vocabulary for color words, number words, and pronouns.
The Foundational Vocabulary unit explores how to support emergent bilinguals in their path to develop language and foundational literacy skills in English. This valuable unit allows teachers to save time using one implementation in the classroom to get targeted, and differentiated practice and instruction. The Foundational Vocabulary unit can be added to a student’s pathway on Lalilo from the teacher dashboard on the students’ page. The unit is activated by switching the toggle on for individual students who will benefit from completing the unit. Learn more about inspiring emergent bilinguals here and how Renaissance supports emergent bilinguals here.
Lalilo recognizes the need for supporting instruction in the classroom and continues to put the teacher at the center of the classroom.