Creating a Literacy-Rich Environment

March Focus GroupPresented by: Tonya Kepner

Perks of attending today…

ACT 48 hours if you combine today’s hour with two more focus group hours this year.

Reading engagement + motivation = MORE MILES ON THE PAGE!

$25 Gift Card

Drawing!!!

Research says… Components of literacy-rich

environment- Room Arrangement & Materials- Teacher’s Role- Student’s Role- Motivation (key component)

Agenda for today:

On a notecard, record how many minutes you think elementary students read during the language arts instruction block each school day.

The language arts instruction block was estimated as an average of 90-120 minutes in an

elementary classroom.

8 minutes per day!!!

Research shows students read an average of…

• A student in the 20th percentile reads books .7 minutes per day ***This adds up to 21,000 words read per year.

• A student in the 80th percentile reads books 14.2 minutes per day***This adds up to 1,146,000 words read per year.

• A student in the 98th percentile reads 65.0 minutes per day

***This adds up to 4,358,000 words per year

Cunningham & Stanovich

Correlations:

LITERACY-RICHENVIRONMENTS!

Let’s start our tour…

Research ALSO shows good readers can be fostered through:

To have students engaged in language,literacy-rich classrooms often include itemsfrom the next few slides.

Please feel free to take notes ofitems you would consider adding to your environment on the provided organizer.

(Pencil icon side)

PRINT MATERIALS:

•Labels•Word Walls•Signs •Charts •Posters •Calendars •Job charts •Daily schedules

READING MATERIALS:

•Phone books •Menus •Cookbooks/Recipes•Books (Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry)

•Magazines •Pamphlets •Catalogs•Class-compiled books

•Children’s dictionaries •Atlases •Newspapers •Store flyers

* Classrooms with varied, often-refreshed books in close proximity had a 60% increase in students reading.

~Susan Neuman, 1999

WRITING MATERIALS:

Utensils • Pencils • Markers • Crayons • Paint brushes and paint • Dry erase markers • Chalk • Letter stamps &

inkpads• Shape sponges

Surfaces • Different types of paper • Easel & Chart Paper• Dry erase board • Chalkboard • Pavement • Envelopes • Clipboards

OTHER EVIDENCE OF LANGUAGE OPPORTUNITIES:• CD players • Headphones • Music and Books on CD • Computers/iPads• Felt board with flannel story pieces • Magnetic board with magnetic letters • Modeling clay or dough • Wikki stix• Puppets • Containers with labels/logos • Stamps • Personal book baskets or baggies• Defined reading “nook” or area

Quick Write:As a table, make a

Word Splashof any words or phrases that remind you of a literacy-rich

classroom.

TEACHER’S ROLE: 50% Fiction, 50% NonfictionInstructional Purpose: Text level:

Read Alouds/Modeling •Choose & scaffold complex texts •Model metacognitive strategies, as well as comprehension strategies•Model fluency, intonation, volume

Guided Reading GroupELO Group

(Skill & Strategy Practice)

•Comfortable to instructional level•Observe/support students & prompt to use strategies: highlight unfamiliar words, sticky notes to record text-to-self /text-to-text/text-to-world connection or character trait, “word walk” to transact with text *Post-it flags!!!

Independent Reading •Very comfortable text level•Students use strategies independently or with partner

TEACHER’S ROLE: Providing purpose; Accountability Alphaboxes

Students provided with sheet with individual alphabet letters in boxes.

Can be a pre-reading, during, or after reading activity for students to generate questions, highlight key concepts, make connections, list unfamiliar words, etc.

Discussion Webs Graphic organizer for students to examine both sides of an

issue before agreeing on a conclusion. (Open-ended ?, I agree…, I disagree…)

Individual students think of own response to an open-ended question; Pair & discuss viewpoints; Join another pair; Choose a reporter to present final feelings to class

Encourages collaboration, thinking, listening, reading, writing, higher order thinking, & is aligned with the Common Core.

CHANGING GEARS FROM TEACHER-LED TO…“What can the students do independently while

the teacher is busy with other students?”

“Perhaps workbooks and worksheets should be required to carry a warning: Caution. Sustained use of this product may cause reading/learning difficulties.

Conversely books might carry a label that said: Research has demonstrated that regular reading of this product can reduce the risks of acquiring a reading/learning disability.”

-Richard Allington, 2006

Magic Spoons…

STUDENT’S ROLE: Students read, write, and speak about topics and

participate in cooperative learning activities daily.To work independently, centers initially need practiced for

up to one month. Then, rotations need established. Students can be taught a “whisper voice” by being shown

that your vocal cords do not vibrate if talking at the proper volume.

“Use pass & don’t ask” rule in which you acknowledge students showing you a bathroom pass with a head shake to help decrease interruptions.

Another rule: Ask three friends before asking an adult.

Feel free to use the other side of your organizer to record your responses/thoughts as you watch the following video about centers:http://www.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-google&gl=US&hl=en&v=mYhiZah8vgE&nomobile=1

(Video icon side)

JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF LITERACY-BASED ACTIVITIES (Could be a whole focus group!!!):

• Graphic organizers for accountability (SSR/buddy reading)• Shopping lists, thank you notes, old calendar pages,

icons/clipart, 6-word memoirs, handwriting practice (writing)• “Guess the Reader”-Audacity recordings (listening)• “Right Brain Reading” – Partner reading in which one student

sits to the right and a little bit behind another student. The student in the back reads while the partner follows along.

• “Headbandz,” “Guess Who?,” hidden pictures or “I Spy,” retells with props/puppets (oral language)

• Charades, use all words in a story to be turned into an overhead

transparency, memory match (vocabulary)http://www.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-google&gl=US&hl=en&v=aThOZNFrCEM&nomobile=1

(Writing as simple as icons to spark ideas)

Sheer volume of reading was a distinguishing feature of the high achievement classrooms.

-Richard Allington , 2006

For the love of reading…

Let’s put more miles on the page!!!(14.2+ minutes worth a day per student,

to be exact)

Thank you for attending…

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