Creating a Literate Environment

By: Karen Allen

There are many ways to help create a literate environment.

In order for students to become successful they need to be provided affective and cognitive aspects of literacy learning, text that is meaningful and matches the many levels of the students, and developmentally appropriate researched based practices (Laureate Education, 2010b).

Assessments Assessments are vital tools that are needed in the classroom so that you can provide appropriate instructional decisions (Tompkins, 2010).

They are used to provide immediate feedback so that you can differentiate your instruction to meet the individualized needs of your students (Tompkins, 2010).

There are two types of Assessments Formal assessments Informal assessments

Kindergarten Skills Assessments (conducted at the beginning of the school year and then quarterly)

•Letter and letter sound knowledge•number recognition•sight word recognition•patterns•graphing•simple addition

Formal Assessments

Sample of the assessment is on the next slide.

Sample Assessment

Developmental Reading Series (DRA)(conducted at the end of the Kindergarten year) • Assesses my students reading performance using fiction and nonfiction books.• Assesses my students comprehension of the text that they are reading.

Reading Street Benchmark Assessments (conducted at the beginning and end of the year)

• Phonological Awareness• Phonemic Awareness• Comprehension

• Writing• Word Knowledge

Elementary Reader Attitude Survey (ERAS)(Conducted at the beginning of the year)

Teacher Observation (Conducted throughout the school year)

Performance Assessments (Conducted throughout the school year)

Informal Assessments

Elementary Reader Attitude Survey (ERAS) (conducted at the end of the Kindergarten year

Gives valuable information on the student's attitude toward school and readingOnce this survey is conducted and the results are reviewed you can now conduct more personalized interviews which will share the nature, strength, and origins of your students values and beliefs (McKenna, 1990).

I like to

read!

(Conducted throughout the school year)Teacher Observation

Observations can be conducted in whole group settings, small group settings or in individual settings.

(Conducted throughout the school year)Performance Assessments

Performance assessments allow students to showcase their knowledge and comprehension through using

their talents.

It is very important to find text that will engage and motivate students to read.When analyzing and selecting text you need to follow the literacy Matrix.The literacy matrix will help you move form narrative to informational and linguistic to semeiotic.

Analyzing and Selecting Text

Max Takes the Train, by Rosemary Well, is a narrative text and introduces students to animal fantasy and communicates the text through pictures more than words. This text also focuses on realism and fantasy and will engage students because Max and his sister Ruby are popular cartoon characters that come on television.

Narrative Text

Mayday, Mayday, by Chris Demarest. This text is an informational text and fits into the literacy matrix by being more linguistic than semeiotic; meaning it communicates to my students using more words than pictures (Laureate Education, 2010a).This text focuses on the comprehension skill of cause and effect and has many singletons which are unique new words and can make reading more difficult.

Informational Text

Guided reading groups are very useful and will help you focus on individual reading and comprehension skills. Individualizing student’s learning will build on the skills and prior knowledge that the students already have and once those skills are mastered the students will move on to new skills and strategies.

Guided Reading Groups

With our reading series (Reading Street) it not only provides the students with leveled readers but a leveled reader database, which can be assessed through their website.

Online Text

• Using the interactive perspective, students will strategically become metacognitive readers and writers.

• This lesson will help students learn strategies on recalling details and comprehending what they are reading or listening to as they are reading the text.

Creating Literate Environments with Lesson Plans (Interactive Perspective)

• It is important to teach and model strategies early on to focus on comprehending and recalling details of a story (Tompkins, 2010).

• Comprehending a story takes explaining what comprehension is and why it is important and modeling how to do this strategy by thinking aloud when reading text (Tompkins, 2010)

• Students need to identify events in the text by using games. Creating games such as the who, what, where, when spinner will have students constantly asking question about the text and recalling important details.

• When using these two perspective with your lesson students will find a deeper meaning and emotional connection to the text.

• If students do not comprehend or create a connection to the text then they are not understanding or learning form the experience of their reading (Tompkins, 2010)

• Students can question the author and the authors purpose of the text and the characters that are in the text.

• They can do this by filling out the authors purpose graphic organizer and the character graphic organizer.

• Students can also use the 3, 2, 1, strategy graphic organizer in which students are required to write down 3 important facts they learned, 2 things they found interesting, and 1 question that they still had about the text.

• By having the students questioning the text and the authors purpose will encourage them to use a higher order of thinking and become more independent when they are using these strategies.

Creating Literate Environments with Lesson Plans (Critical & Response Perspective)

ReferencesMicrosoft Clip Art Guided Reading Group Image - http://jenniferpteaching.com/guidedreading.aspx http://www.mrscowan.com/schedule.htm

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Analyzing and selecting text. [Webcast]. The beginning reader, preK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010b) .Framework for literacy instruction. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.comMcKenna, M. C. & Kear, D. J., (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: Anew tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 626-636.

Tompkins, G. E., & McGee, L. M. (1993). Teaching reading with literature. New York, NY: Macmillan.

Zimmermann, S. & Hutchins, C. (2003). 7 Keys to Comprehension. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.