Literacy

Literacy is the ability to use reading and writing

for a variety of tasks both in and outside of school

(Tompkins, 2010).

The goal of literacy instruction is to ensure all

students’ achieve their full literacy potential.

Educator:“Effective Instruction”

oCompetenceoCaring

oCapability

Reading Instruction:“Selecting Text”

oTypes of textoAssessment

oProfile

Readers:“Getting to Know Students”

oCultureoHome EnvironmentoNeeds & Interests

oSocioeconomic Status

Reading:“Interactive Perspective”

oFluencyoComprehension

oWriting

Vital Signs of Literacy

Getting to Know Literacy Learners

It is not what we are teaching, rather who we are teaching (Laureate Education Inc.,

2010).

Assessing both cognitive and noncognitive aspects is crucial in teaching students’ because for students to become effective life-long learners they must have both the skill and the will to read (Johns & Lenski, 1994).

Assessing the “other” is just as important as assessing a students’ cognitive abilities. Factors such as motivation, interest, and attitudes toward reading are helpful in improving a student’s ability to read. These assessments help fill the gap in a teacher’s understanding of high-quality teaching of reading, resultant student learning, and student growth that compliments cognitive achievement (Afflerbach, 2007).

Activities for Getting to

know Literacy Learners:

Noncognitive: Me Stew

Literacy Autobiographies Interest Surveys

Cognitive: Repeated Readings (fluency) DRA (Developmental reading

assessment Sight Word Assessments

Getting to Know Literacy Learners

Selecting Text

Teachers must choose engaging text that appeal to students’ identities; cultural,

community, gender, developmental (Laureate

Education Inc., 2009).

Selecting text is a crucial part of reading. Selecting text that is too difficult can frustrate students while selecting a text too easy can lose the reader’s attention (Laureate Education Inc., 2010).

Text must be engaging, at a student’s ability level and connect to their multiple identities for students to achieve success (Laureate 2009).

* Dimensions of Difficulty* Readability Text Length

Text Structure Size of Print

Visual Supports

*These dimensions of difficulty help teachers choose appropriate

text for each student.

Literacy Matrix:Helps to balance reading

material presented to students. (Laureate

Education Inc., 2009). Students need to be

exposed to a variety of text and text structures.

Linguistic

Narrative + Informational

Semiotic (pictures, icons).

Selecting Text

Literacy PerspectivesInteractive

CriticalResponse

All three perspectives are key components in creating a literate environment

(Laureate Education Inc., 2009).

Once teachers know their students, they need to determine what they’re going to do with those texts, and for those students

to help them become literate learners (Laureate Education Inc., 2009).

Interactive Perspective

Teaching students how to read and become strategic

processors and thinkers (Laureate Education Inc.,

2010).

Strategic processing must be threaded through all “Five Pillars of Literacy,” (Laureate Education Inc., 2009).

The Five Pillars include; phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, & comprehension. Each of these components is crucial for effective reading instruction (Allington, 2005).

Teach students to be reflective and self-regulating, becoming independent readers that process text (Laureate Education Inc., 2009).

*Students learn to*1. Choose most effective

strategy when reading,2. Use different strategies for

different types of text.3. Make predictions, visualize,

make sense of text.

Activities for teaching Interactive Perspective:

Word recognition activities

Comprehension activities (answering

questions, story maps, diagrams).

Interactive Read-Alouds

Reader’s Theatre Choral Reading

Interactive Writing activities

Critical Perspective

Teaching students to critically examine text. To

look at text from a different perspective

(Laureate Education Inc., 2009).

In the Critical Perspective students are required to look at text through

a different perspective. Students look beyond the text (Laureate

Education Inc., 2009).

Critical literacy is a way of being that challenges texts and life, as we know it. Critical literacy focuses on

issues of power and promotes reflection, transformation, and

action (Molden, 2007).

Critical literacy encourages readers to be active participants in the reading process: to question, to dispute, and to examine power

relations (Molden, 2007).

Being able to have a discussion with others about the different meanings a text might have and teaching the potentially critically-literate learner how to think flexibly about it.

Activities to incorporate

Critical Perspective:

Author’s Chair Open-Mind

Portraits Question-Answer

Relationship activities

Response Perspective

This perspective gives students the opportunity

to experience and respond to text (Laureate

Education Inc., 2009).

Reading, reacting, and responding to text in a

variety of meaningful ways. Students’ formulate a

personal response to text (Laureate Education Inc.,

2009).

Students’ interests and identities are used to select

text.

The reader’s lived experiences are primary

importance (Laureate Education Inc., 2009).

A student who is responsive to a book can be transformed

by its message (Laureate Education Inc., 2009).

Activities to incorporate Response

Perspective

Grand Conversations

Reading Logs Hot Seat

Double-Entry journals

“Comprehension is the goal of reading; it’s the reason people read. Students

must understand what they’re reading to learn from the experience, they must make sense of the words

in text to maintain interest; and they must enjoy reading to become life long readers” (Tompkins, 2010).

Resources Afflerbach, P. (2007). Understanding and Using Reading Assessment K-12. Newark, DE:

International Reading Association. Allington, R. L. (2005). The other five “pillars” of effective reading instruction. Reading

Today, 22 (6), 3. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org Johns, J., & Lenski, S. (2009). Improving reading: strategies and resources. Dubuque, IA: Kendall

Hunt. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Critical perspective. Baltimore,

MD: Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Perspectives on literacy.

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

MD: Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Perspectives of literacy education.

Baltimore, MD: Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Research highlights. Baltimore,

MD: Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Literacy autiobiography.

Baltimore, MD: Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Engaging text. Baltimore, MD:

Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Strategic processing. 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.

Reading Horizons. The five pillars of literacy. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.readinghorizons.com/research/five-pillars.aspx

Stahl, K.A.D. (2004). Proof, practice, and promise: Comprehension strategy instruction in the primary grades. Reading Teacher, 57(7), 598-608.

Tompkins, G.E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.