Maxine Stewart-ForbesEDUC 6706

Walden UniversityInstructor: Dr. Denise Love

‘Learning to read and write is critical to a child’s success in school’ (IRA & NAYEC, 1998). Tompkins, (2010. pg. 111) aptly noted that “literacy is a process that begins in infancy and continues into adulthood, if not throughout life.”

When teachers create a literate environment students are encouraged to participate in the many learning experiences at school. It also enables them to become successful and motivated readers and writers. When designing an effective literacy classroom, one must ensure that there is fidelity to our students and we must have their best interest at heart (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a).

INTRODUCTION

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS

The better a teacher knows her students, the better they can be connected with texts that will impact them in profound ways (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a).

Engaging students in conversation gives teachers a better insight as to the background knowledge and experiences, motivation, interests and what they bring to the classroom.

To better understand our students as literacy learners, we conduct assessments that provide information to guide our instructional planning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010c).

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS (continued)

Afflerbach (2007. pg. 28) noted that “assessment that helps us understand and appreciate the diverse growth that students experience and the reading challenges that they face must be a priority in each classroom.”

Conducting assessments provide teachers with opportunities to assess and evaluate the cultural and diverse needs of students’ reading level. The assessments conducted must be both cognitive and non- cognitive or “the other” (Afflerbach, 2010. pg. 153).

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS (continued)

Some cognitive assessments include: Concept About Print (Tompkins, 2010). Developmental Reading Assessment

(Tompkins, 2010). Literacy Autobiography (Laureate

Education, Inc., 2010d).Reading inventories (Laureate

Education, Inc., 2010 c).Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early

Literacy Skills (DIBELS), (Tompkins, 2010).

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS (continued)

Some non-cognitive or “the other” (Afflerbach, 2007) forms of assessment include:

Observation.The Reader Self-Perception Scale (Henk &

Melnick, 1995).Me Stew(Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b).Assessing Motivation to Read (Gambrell, L.

B., Palmer, B., Codling, R., & Mazzoni, S. 1996).Conversations.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS (continued)

Using both the cognitive and non-cognitive forms of assessment is crucial in the bolstering of students’ literacy development. Each must work in tandem with the other. Maintaining a balance between assessment of learning and assessment for learning is critical.

The data gathered will serve as a catalyst to planning instructions, as well as, selecting appropriate texts and materials that will serve the needs of the readers.

Selecting and Analyzing Appropriate Texts

Texts come in many forms and have a place in the classroom (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010e). The Literacy Matrix (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010e) is a tool used for analyzing text. Texts are placed into four quadrants of the Literacy Matrix.

Linguistic (words)

Narrative Informational

Semiotic ( pictures)

Selecting and Analyzing Appropriate Texts

Text difficulty is a crucial factor to consider when analyzing text. Some other factors to consider also are:length of text, structure of text, size of print and sentence length (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010e).Text selected for use can be informational, narrative and online. Frequent usage of informational text help to alleviate the ‘fourth grade slump’ (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010f) which occurs because not enough knowledge was provided in early years.

Selecting and Analyzing Appropriate Texts

Analyzing and selecting appropriate text is critical for the development of literacy in students, as well as, fostering motivation and interest in reading.

Teachers who make informed decisions, plan strategies and activities that are best suited for the learning needs of students, create within these students a life-long love for reading.

Interactive PerspectiveTeaching students to become strategic processers

and thinkers and readers(Laureate Education, Inc., 2010g) is a critical component of the interactive perspective.

Strategic processing therefore, must be threaded on the five pillars, namely; phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Some instructional activities that reinforce the interactive perspectives are: read aloud, sight words, KWL charts and engaging in conversation with students.

Interactive PerspectiveThe lesson I chose focused on identification

of sight words from the story ‘Safari’ (Tuchman, 2010). Students read the story and noted frequently occurring words. These were then recorded on the whiteboard and repeated words after the teacher. They were then instructed to draw legs under the word caterpillars that had the correct word.

The instructions were altered for two other students who are at the emergent and transitional stage of reading.

Critical and Responsive Perspectives

The critical perspective teaches students how to “ critically examine text and thinking about who wrote the text” and the responsive perspective gives students the “opportunity to experience and respond to text” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010 g).

Engaging students in critical perspective encourages them to use their background knowledge and experience and connect with the new knowledge being acquired. When students respond to text they share their deep feelings and emotions as they share their experiences.

Critical and Responsive Perspectives

Using the critical and responsive perspectives in the lesson conducted with the three students selected gave students the opportunity to use higher order thinking skills such as analyzing, judging and questioning.

(Molden, 2007) postulated that critical literacy gives the reader or student the power to aptly understand the text from all angles, while the responsive perspective is also crucial and fosters growth and development in students.

Feedback from Colleagues and Family Members

What insights did you gain about literacy and literacy instruction from viewing this presentation?

How might the information presented change your literacy practices and/or your literacy interactions with students?

In what ways can I support you in the literacy development of your students or children? How might you support me in my work with students or your children?

What questions do you have?

ReferencesAfflerbach, P. (2007). Understanding and

using reading assessment, K–12. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Gambrell, L. B., Palmer, B., Codling, R., & Mazzoni, S. (1996). Assessing motivation to read. Reading Teacher, 49(7), 518.

Henk, W. A., & Melnick, S. A. (1995). The Reader Self-Perception Scale (RSPS): A new tool for measuring how children feel about. Reading Teacher, 48(6), 470

References(continued)Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer).

(2010a). Getting to know your students. [DVD]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD; Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Getting to know your students. [DVD]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD; Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010c). Reading inventories. [DVD]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD; Author

References (continued)Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer).

(2010d). Assessing word knowledge. [DVD]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD; Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010e). Analyzing and selecting texts. [DVD]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD; Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010f). Informational text in early years. [DVD]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD; Author

References (continued)Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer).

(2010g). Perspectives on literacy learning. [DVD]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD; Author

Molden, K. (2007). Critical literacy, the right answer for the reading classroom: Strategies to move beyond comprehension for reading improvement. Reading Improvement, 44(1), 50–56.

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1998).Learning to read and write: developmentally appropriate practices for young children.

References (continued)Tompkins, G. (2010). Literacy for 21st

century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Tuchman, G. (2010). Safari. Scholastic Inc.