Emergent Four Blocks Literacy

InstructionHow to provide opportunities for

daily literacy instruction!

Who are we? Kasey Cooneycurriculum/behavior coordinator

Lisa PierceHigh School SXI teacher

Katie PattonElementary SCI teacher

Wesley School

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Four Block Literacy Framework Karen Erickson, Ph.D.

Center for Literacy & Disability Studies,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

David Koppenhaver, Ph.D.Appalachian State University

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◈ Our literacy journey◈ Emergent literacy framework◆ Real life examples and videos of how to

implement in your school/ classrooms ◈ School wide data

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What will we do?

Literacy Journey

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- Inconsistent literacy learning throughout school- Using Unique Learning Systems or other program

- Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver’s 5 day Four Block literacy training

- Small groups of teachers would attend and start using parts of framework in their classroom (beginning in 2012)

- Inconsistent from classroom to classroom- Began school wide Core Vocabulary initiative (5 years ago)

- Saw TREMENDOUS growth in students - Teachers incorporated core vocab into their literacy activities

Literacy Journey (Con’t)

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- Began school wide Four Blocks initiative (3 years ago)- School improvement goal - Commitment to send ALL teachers, OT, PT, SLP to the 5 day

intensive training (ALL teachers have now attended training) - Continued in house PD opportunities for ALL staff - Stopped subscription to Unique Learning Systems- Created materials and supports for teachers (Four Block Report Card,

school wide monthly social studies/science themes & shared reading lessons to correlate with theme)

Four Questions

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Does the student:1. Know most of the letters most of the time?2. Engage actively during shared reading?3. Have a means of communication and interaction?4. Understand that writing involves letters and words?

Daily Emergent InterventionsShared ReadingPredictable Chart WritingIndependent Writing with access to full alphabetAlphabet & Phonological AwarenessSelf-Selected ReadingCore Words (communication)

Daily Conventional InterventionsGuided Reading (Anchor-Read-Apply)Word Study (Key Words + Word Wall + Making Words)WritingSelf-Selected Reading Core Words (communication)

No Yes

Goal: For the students to lead the interaction!● Reading WITH not TO students. ● Interact and have students talk about the book.. make it as engaging as

possible

Builds emergent literacy skills● -concept of word● -left to right; top-to bottom● -alphabet and phonological awareness

Shared Reading

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Helps Build...● Concepts of print● Word identification, spelling, capitalization, punctuation● Communication

Day 1: Write the chart Day 2: Reread/ Interact with the chartDay 3: Reread the chart finding specific words/lettersDay 4: Be the sentence Day 5: Publish the book!

Predictable Chart Writing

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Teachers Model..● Ways to write (using alternative pencils) ● How to choose a topic ● How to share what you’ve written● That writing is communication● Make it fun!● Provide personally relevant topics

Independent Writing

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● Read alphabet books● Point out letters and print in the environment● Talk about letters and their sounds when you encounter them in everyday

activities● Provide opportunities to play with letter shapes and sounds● Explicitly reference letter names and sounds in shared reading and writing

activities.

Alphabet & Phonological Awareness

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Step 1-2: letter name identification

Steps 3-4: Letter Sound Identification

Step 5: Recognizing the Letter in Text

Steps 6-7: Producing the letter Form (finding it on keyboard)

Different Teaching Cycles (Enhanced Alphabet Instruction (Jones et al 2013)

◈ Own name ◈ Alphabet order◈ Letter frequency◈ Letter/sound relationship

Letter of the Day

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Progression of Skills...● Fail to look at available book.● Look at book without touching it.● Explore book by mouthing.● Play with cover or back of book,

flip edge, not open it.● Browses book pages● Hold the book appropriately.● Independent study of book pages.

Self-Selected Reading

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Includes● Teacher read aloud- model reading a variety of text types● Mini-Lessons- how to find books of interest, use strategies and

technology to read.● Reading “on their own levels” from a Variety of Books- ● Teacher Conferencing with Students- Provide support students

need to grow in their independent reading.● Sharing What they are Reading- Communication difficulties

make this difficult, but try and find ways of sharing their reading interests with others.

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Core Words

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● 80% of what we say is made up of 100-200 Core words.

● Core word instruction is imbedded into everyday activities ● Create authentic opportunities to learn language in meaningful

ways! ● Both High and Low tech options.

Data

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20172018

85 165 185 65

Average score K-12

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THANKS!Any questions?