What Is Explicit ELA?

Explicit ELA is a structured, mastery-based approach to reading and writing instruction. It focuses on teaching skills directly and intentionally—moving from word-level, to sentence-level, to paragraph and text-level tasks so students clearly see how everything connects.

The framework blends:

• Explicit writing and reading instruction
• Engaging Routines
• High-Rigor Instruction
• R.I.P.E. (my ECR writing structure)

Students learn not only what to do, but how to think—building metacognition, confidence, and independence. Over time, this leads to stronger STAAR performance and critical thinkers.

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Research shows that explicit instruction in language, sentence structure, and metacognitive discussion dramatically improves reading comprehension and writing quality (Graham & Perin, 2007; Fisher & Frey, 2014).

Sharing a Lesson: Discussing Figurative Language

To show Explicit ELA in action, I’m sharing a lesson where students explored figurative language by:

• Identifying examples in a text
• Explaining meaning using clear stems
• Comparing academic and everyday expressions
• Discussing whether the author’s choices were effective

This quick routine shows how Explicit ELA helps students think more deeply, talk with purpose, and connect language to real writing decisions.

If you’re interested in learning more about Explicit ELA, or would like to schedule professional development focused on this approach, feel free to email me at:

📩 thephenomenalstudent@gmail.com

Jeremiah Short
Educator & Developer of Explicit ELA (Chat, do I need to add more to this article?)