What is interleaving?
What Is Interleaving in Literacy?
You may have heard the term interleaving and wondered what it means, especially in literacy. Interleaving is a well-documented study technique, but how does it apply when we’re teaching reading, writing, and spelling in a structured way? Let’s break it down.
Breaking Down the Word
The word interleaving has three parts:
Inter-: a prefix meaning “between” or “among.”
leave: the base word. This relates to ‘leaf’ and draws on the pages in a book.
-ing: a suffix that shows ongoing action.
Together, interleaving means placing or inserting things between others in an ongoing way.
Why Interleaving Works
Interleaving is a learning strategy where students mix multiple topics during study, instead of focusing on one at a time (known as blocked practice).
Research shows this approach strengthens memory, improves categorisation, and develops problem-solving skills. The reason is simple: interleaving forces the brain to continuously retrieve and connect information, which makes learning “stick” more effectively.
Interleaving in Structured Literacy
So how does this apply to structured literacy?
Structured literacy teaches from simple to complex, following a clear scope and sequence. By weaving previously taught skills into new learning, students are encouraged to make connections across concepts, which deepens their overall reading, writing, and spelling proficiency.
For students who are catching up or learning these skills for the first time, interleaving can be especially powerful.
Practical Examples
Here’s how I use interleaving in lessons:
Silent e + digraphs: When teaching digraphs, I revisit silent e words (e.g., shake, whale, chose) so students keep both concepts active.
Digraph review: Each time I introduce a new spelling pattern, I “roll back” to earlier ones (e.g., chow, show, coach, chain).
Suffix -ed: Instead of teaching the three sounds of -ed once and moving on, I keep adding -ed to new base words week after week.
This constant weaving means students don’t just learn skills once, in effect they keep practising them in new contexts until they’re truly secure.
Key Reminders
Teach thoroughly first: Each skill must be given enough attention before moving on.
Don’t avoid challenges: Interleaving isn’t about skipping hard tasks, it’s about revisiting them later.
Use spaced practice: Rotate and return to skills over time so learning is reinforced.
This balance between challenge and variation is what makes interleaving so effective.
Why It Matters
Interleaving leads to more robust learning outcomes and helps students build a strong foundation in literacy. In fact, interleaving was the very reason I created Yeet—to make this strategy fun and accessible in the classroom.
Further Reading
If you’d like to explore the research further:
