The Dyslexia Express Learning Path
The Dyslexia Express Learning Path organizes reading and spelling skills into a systematic, cumulative progression, from hearing sounds in spoken words to reading complex, multisyllabic text.
The DE numbers are an organizing system, not a race. Structured Literacy instruction is diagnostic: start wherever assessment shows a student needs support, and keep earlier skills spiraling into later practice. Students don’t all move through the levels in the same way or at the same pace.
The Learning Path is an original, program-neutral sequence based on widely recognized Structured Literacy principles and the structure of English.
- Sounds and lettersDE 1–2
- Syllable patternsDE 3–9
- Longer wordsDE 10–11
- Word partsDE 12–14
- Meaning and fluencyDE 15–17
Longer words DE 10–11
DE 11Inflectional Endings & Suffixing45 games
Adding common endings and applying the spelling changes they require.
Play 5 games for DE 11.1 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Play 5 games for DE 11.2 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Play 5 games for DE 11.3 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
including its three pronunciations
Play 5 games for DE 11.4 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Play 5 games for DE 11.5 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Play 5 games for DE 11.6 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Play 5 games for DE 11.7 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Play 5 games for DE 11.8 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Play 5 games for DE 11.9 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Sounds and letters DE 1–2
DE 1Phonological & Phonemic FoundationsComing soon
Hearing and working with sounds in spoken words, before and alongside print. Many activities are oral or auditory.
word awareness, compound words, syllable identification, syllable counting, syllable blending, syllable segmentation
Games coming soon About Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
rhyme recognition, rhyme production, onset-rime identification, onset-rime blending, onset-rime segmentation
Games coming soon About Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
initial sound, final sound, medial vowel sound, phoneme isolation
Games coming soon About Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
two-phoneme sequences, three-phoneme sequences, progressively complex sequences
Games coming soon About Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
two phonemes, three phonemes, four or more phonemes
Games coming soon About Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
addition, deletion, substitution, initial position, final position, medial position
Games coming soon About Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
Word parts DE 12–14
DE 12Morphology: Prefixes, Suffixes & Base Words40 games
Building and analyzing words from meaningful parts.
un-, re-, dis-, mis-, pre-, non-, in-/im-
-ful, -less, -ness, -ment, -ly
Play 5 games for DE 12.3 About Suffixes & Inflectional Endings
Sounds and letters DE 1–2
DE 2Alphabetic Principle & Basic Closed Syllables20 games
Connecting sounds to letters and reading and spelling simple closed-syllable words.
common consonant graphemes, consonant phoneme identification, letter-sound automaticity
Games coming soon About Short Vowels & Closed Syllables
short a, short i, short o, short e, short u, vowel discrimination
Play 5 games for DE 2.2 About Short Vowels & Closed Syllables
real words, decoding, encoding/spelling, word-to-picture matching, vowel discrimination
Play 5 games for DE 2.3 About Short Vowels & Closed Syllables
mixed CVC words, decoding automaticity, spelling discrimination, word recognition
Play 5 games for DE 2.4 About Short Vowels & Closed Syllables
controlled sentences, CVC-heavy text, sentence comprehension using taught patterns
Play 5 games for DE 2.5 About Short Vowels & Closed Syllables
Word parts DE 12–14
DE 13Roots & Advanced Word Study40 games
Using Latin and Greek word parts and word origins to understand and spell unfamiliar words.
analyzing unfamiliar words through meaningful parts
Syllable patterns DE 3–9
DE 3Complex Closed Syllables49 games
Building longer closed-syllable words with digraphs, blends, and common spelling conventions.
sh, ch, th, wh, ph when developmentally appropriate
s-blends, l-blends, r-blends
nd, nt, mp, st, sk, ft, lt, lk
combining known consonants, vowels, digraphs, and blends
Play 5 games for DE 3.4 About Short Vowels & Closed Syllables
increased phonemic and orthographic complexity with controlled patterns
Play 5 games for DE 3.5 About Short Vowels & Closed Syllables
ng, nk, ang, ing, ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, unk
Play 5 games for DE 3.6 About Spelling Patterns & Conventions
ck, tch, dge, final consonant conventions, short-vowel spelling generalizations
Play 5 games for DE 3.7 About Spelling Patterns & Conventions
high-utility exceptions taught explicitly and categorized accurately
Play 5 games for DE 3.8 About Short Vowels & Closed Syllables
words, phrases, controlled sentences, automatic word recognition
Word parts DE 12–14
DE 14Advanced Orthography & Spelling45 games
Tackling the less predictable parts of English spelling with structure and morphology.
Syllable patterns DE 3–9
DE 4Vowel-Consonant-E45 games
Recognizing how a final e changes the vowel sound, and contrasting VCe with closed syllables.
contrasting closed syllables with vowel-consonant-e
a_e
i_e
o_e
u_e
discriminating among vowel sounds and patterns
structural contrasts such as hop/hope and kit/kite
high-utility exceptions and advanced patterns
words, phrases, controlled sentences
Meaning and fluency DE 15–17
DE 15Vocabulary & Semantics40 games
Deepening word knowledge and the relationships between words.
Syllable patterns DE 3–9
DE 5Open Syllables30 games
Recognizing syllables that end in a vowel and contrasting them with closed and VCe syllables.
Meaning and fluency DE 15–17
DE 16Syntax & Sentence Structure50 games
Understanding how sentences are built and how structure carries meaning.
Syllable patterns DE 3–9
DE 6Vowel Teams & Complex Vowels45 games
Learning common vowel teams in instructionally sensible groups rather than all at once.
ai, ay
ee, ea, other appropriate patterns
oa, oe, ow where applicable
common long-i spellings
common long-u spellings
Meaning and fluency DE 15–17
DE 17Fluency40 games
Dedicated fluency practice. Fluency is also built into every earlier level.
Syllable patterns DE 3–9
DE 7R-Controlled Vowels40 games
Reading and spelling vowels followed by r, including the er/ir/ur spelling choice.
DE 8Diphthongs & Other Complex Vowel Patterns35 games
Reading and spelling gliding vowel sounds and vowels with several common spellings.
DE 9Final Stable Syllables25 games
Recognizing reliable final syllables, starting with consonant-le.
Longer words DE 10–11
DE 10Multisyllabic Word Reading50 games
Using known syllable types and useful division patterns to read longer words.
VCCV, VCV, VCCCV, compound-word boundaries — taught as useful patterns, not rigid rules