Scarborough’s Reading Rope is one of the most widely shared visuals from the Science of Reading movement—but what does it look like in real classrooms?

If you’ve ever seen that colorful rope diagram and thought, “Okay, but what do I actually do with this?”—you’re not alone. While it’s great for understanding what reading is made of, it doesn’t always explain how to teach it.

So let’s break it down—and talk about what it actually looks like in a real-life classroom.

Scarborough’s Reading Rope was developed by Dr. Hollis Scarborough. This blog post shares an interpretation of the framework based on publicly available research and educational best practices.

What Is the Science of Reading Rope?

Scarborough’s Reading Rope is made up of two main strands: Word Recognition and Language Comprehension. Each strand includes specific, teachable skills that work together to create skilled, fluent reading over time.

Word Recognition

This strand helps students decode and recognize words automatically.

• Phonological Awareness – hearing and manipulating sounds in words
• Decoding – using phonics to sound out unfamiliar words
• Sight Recognition – automatically reading high-frequency or familiar words

Language Comprehension

This strand helps students make meaning from what they read.

• Background Knowledge – understanding the world and topics in the text
• Vocabulary – knowing word meanings and how to use them
• Language Structures – understanding grammar and sentence patterns
• Verbal Reasoning – making inferences and understanding figurative language
• Literacy Knowledge – understanding how texts work (genres, structure, etc.)

As students develop these skills, they become more automatic and strategic—and the strands tighten together like a rope. That’s what leads to fluent, skilled reading.

P.S. If you’re confused on the difference between phonics vs phonemic awareness vs. morphology, I have a blog post to help understand each category- make sure to give it a read!

Why It Matters in the Classroom

Scarborough’s Reading Rope gives us more than just a visual—it gives us a blueprint for effective reading instruction. It reminds us that skilled reading isn’t built on just one thing like phonics or comprehension. It’s the intertwining of both Word Recognition and Language Comprehension—and each of those has multiple parts that must be taught explicitly and systematically.

If a student is only strong in one area—say, they can decode but don’t understand what they’re reading (or vice versa)—they’ll still struggle. That’s why our instruction has to be balanced, not in the “do a little of everything” sense, but in the intentional way we support both strands.

To do that, your daily reading block should include:

• Explicit decoding practice
  (phonics, word reading, fluency, and morphology to support multisyllabic word reading)
• Vocabulary instruction and morphology work
  (understanding word parts builds decoding and meaning at the same time)
• Comprehension strategy instruction
  (skills like summarizing, questioning, predicting—taught explicitly and modeled often)
• Opportunities to build background knowledge
  (use science and social studies content, rich read-alouds, and discussion to support comprehension)

These aren’t just “extra” activities—they’re ways to make sure the essential skills in the rope are taught, practiced, and applied in ways that are meaningful and engaging for your students.

How to Use the Reading Rope in Your Instruction

You don’t need to teach the rope itself—but you can use it to guide your reading block. It helps you see which skills to target and how to support both strands—word recognition and language comprehension—every day.

Here’s what that might look like in action:

• Teach prefixes and suffixes to strengthen decoding and vocabulary (I use a Morphology Notebook with weekly routines for this.)
• Use high-quality read-alouds to build background knowledge, model comprehension strategies, and expose students to rich language.
• Provide daily fluency work using decodable texts so students build automaticity and confidence.
• Reinforce strategy use with color-by-number comprehension passages or interactive notebooks
• Review with games like Reading Strategies Jeopardy to keep practice fun and purposeful.

These tools work best when layered onto strong, explicit instruction. They’re not fluff—they’re reinforcing key skills in ways that are clear, consistent, and fun for kids.

Want Ready-to-Use Resources?

If you’re looking for practical, no-prep ways to strengthen each strand of the rope, here are a few favorites:

• Morphology Notebook Supports: Word Recognition + Language Comprehension – Helps students decode and understand word parts with weekly routines and Google Forms assessments.
• Color-by-Number Reading Passages Supports: Language Comprehension (with connected decoding practice)– A fun way to check comprehension with fiction and nonfiction passages students love.
• Reading Strategies Jeopardy Supports: Language Comprehension – Makes review meaningful and exciting during small group or whole-class lessons.

All are designed to fit right into your reading block.

Final Thoughts

Scarborough’s Reading Rope isn’t a checklist—it’s a framework that helps you see what skilled reading involves and where your students might need support. Once you understand how the strands work together, it’s easier to plan instruction that meets students where they are.

Looking for something to reinforce comprehension in a fun, no-prep way?

Grab my free color-by-number reading passage—just drop your email below, and I’ll send it straight to your inbox.