Literature Environment Analysis

PresentationSubmitted by:

Charisse Robinson

Submitted to:Dr. Lin Carver – EDUC 6706 Beginning Reader

PreK-3Walden University

Literate Environment Analysis Presentation Continue

“the ability to use reading and writing for a variety of tasks at school and outside of school” (Tompkins, 2010).

Peter Afflerback (2007) describes reading as a dynamic, strategic, and goal-oriented process.

Literacy is…

Research supports the following for an enriched literacy classroom:

Print-Rich Environment Charts that support literacy Functional print used for classroom

communication Classroom libraries (variety of genres) Displaying of student writing

Literacy Enriched Environment

Literacy Enriched Environment

Assessing and getting to know my students is a critical component in gathering data in order to select appropriate texts, plan effective instruction, motivate my students to read for enjoyment, and provide books that match students’ personal interest.

Getting To Know Literacy Learners

“successful readers must be motivated, of positive attitude, of good self-concept, and capable of reading accurate attributions for their performance” (Afflerbach, 2007, p. 155).

In getting to know my students and foster an effective and enriched literature environment, I administered assessments for both noncognitive and cognitive factors.

Noncognitive Assessments

• Motivation to Read Profile

• Elementary Reading Attitude Survey

• Teacher-created reading inventories

Reading inventories provide us as teachers with valuable information about our students’ literacy interests, as well as their reading performance and growth (Afflerbach, (2007).

Cognitive Assessments

DIBELS Benefits of using DIBELS

DIBELS created by Dr. Roland Good and Dr. Ruth Kaminski (2005) (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). DIBELS is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills from K-6th grade. The seven measures DIBELS is comprised of are:

◦ Phonemic Awareness◦ Alphabetic Principle◦ Accuracy◦ Fluency with connected text◦ Reading Comprehension◦ Vocabulary

DIBELS has helped me to monitor my students reading progress especially my students reading progress, especially for my students who are reading below grade level. In addition, I can use DIBELS data to plan and drive my literacy instruction.

Cognitive Assessments - Continue

TRC Benefits of Using TRC

TRC (Text Reading and Comprehension). TRC assesses a students ability to read with comprehension.

TRC has been beneficial in helping me with crucial data on my students reading levels, word accuracy, and comprehension of text.

Selecting the appropriate texts for students is important in having an effective literacy program and supporting a rich literacy environment. Motivation to read is an important factor in enhancing students’ love of reading. I learned selecting books that match students’ personal interests is just as important as selecting texts that match students’ reading levels. In addition, I found the Literacy Matrix, presented by Dr. Hartman (2008) to be very critical and useful in creating a balance when selecting and using various texts.

Selecting Texts

Literacy MatrixDr. Hartman’s Literacy Matrix is divided in four

quadrants consisting of: Linguistic, Semiotic, Narrative, and Informational

Dr. Janice Almasi (2008) adds another important dimension to the Literacy Matrix emphasizing that teachers must also take into account the difficulty of the text too. In examining the difficulty of text teachers must look at the readability (sentence length, number of syllables, the text’s length, structure (informational, descriptive, cause/effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast, poetic) its use of connective words or signal words, the size of print, and the visual support (Laureate Education, Inc.).

Learning activities should be relevant and meaningful and students should be engaged throughout the learning process. Teaching in an urban school district can be challenging. Far too often students come to school with little to no prior knowledge and experiences. Another important factor to add to this mix is the fact that a lot of students also enter with very low motivation for learning and reading. To combat this, I work to provide learning activities that are authentic in nature; learning actively engages the learner; students are given opportunities to construct and reflect on their learning in various ways. For example, guided reading, interactive read-alouds, word study/vocabulary foldables, interactive writing, inquiry/investigation, graphic organizers, literature circles, drama, and reflective journals. Etc.

Interactive Perspectives

The goal of the Interactive Perspective of literacy is not only to teach students how to read, but how to become strategic processors as well (Laureate Education, Inc.).

In reflecting on my literacy program, I realized that I employ more Interactive activities. Teaching students to think critically about a text can be challenging. I do provide activities in which students are required to think critically, evaluate, and respond to the text; however, there is room for me to provide many more activities on the higher-end of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Critical and Response Perspectives

I require students to make inferences and draw conclusions. Students are asked to evaluate a text, make connections, and provide support for their reasoning. In responding to text, students respond in journals, create “thick-questions”, respond to various stance questions, and use graphic organizers.

The critical perspective teachers students to examine a text, think critically about it, and judge that text (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b). In the Critical Perspective students are required to look at a text through a different perspective. Students look beyond the text (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).

Gunning, (2005) states that one thing that all teachers can do to further their development is to generate an environment that promotes active reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Afflerbach, P. (2007). Understanding and using reading assessment, K-12. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Good, R., & Kaminski, r. (2005). Dynamic indicators of basic early literach skills (6th ed.). Eugene, OR: Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement.

Gunning, T.J. (2005). Creating literacy: Instruction for all students. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Analyzing and selecting texts [DVD]. The beginner reader Prek-3. Baltimore, MD: Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer) (2009). Critical perspective. Baltimore, MD: Author

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Perspectives on Literacy Learning [Webcast]. The beginning reader, Prek-3. Baltimore, MD: Author

References