Creating a Literate EnvironmentApril WheatleyThe Beginning Reader, P-3

I. Getting to Know Literacy Learners

A. Cognitive Assessments

B. Non-cognitive Assessments

Cognitive Assessment:Aimsweb

Aimsweb is a progress monitoring system that assesses fluency and comprehension levels of individual students.

By determining the fluency and comprehension levels of the students, I can determine which stage of reading development in which they are performing (Tompkins, 2010).

Non-cognitive Assessment:Elementary Reading Attitude Survey

In order to determine reading preferences and general attitudes toward reading, I administered the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey.

By determining students preferences, I can develop lessons that heighten interest amongst the students, therefore increasing student motivation to read (Clark and Foster, 2005).

II. Selecting Texts

Selecting appropriate texts is an important part of developing a literate environment.

A. Non-fiction texts

B. Narrative texts

C. Online texts

Non-fiction Texts

It is important to begin non-fiction reading in the early years in order to introduce vital components that make up nonfiction texts (Laureate Education, Inc., 2014b).

For my students, I chose a text that I felt was on their reading level and provided them with opportunities to explore headings and diagrams.

The students will read What Makes Day and Night? By Franklyn M. Brantley.

Narrative Texts

Narrative texts open up a world of opportunity for writing and other creative outlets.

For this type of text, I chose Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, by Eric Carle.

This text is of an appropriate level of difficulty for the readers I am instructing because of its large print and easy readability (Laureate Education, Inc., 2014b).

Online Text

Online texts engage students in the use of technology while reading.

For an online text, I chose Beautiful Moon by Dawn Jeffers. This is a longer text that incorporates a higher use of singletons, or new words repeated only once in the text, and will be used as a read aloud (Laureate Education, Inc., 2014a).

III. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective

In order to meet the ideas of an interactive perspective, I chose to incorporate vocabulary and comprehension through use of the narrative text by Eric Carle.

Comprehension

In order to assess comprehension, students will formulate questions related to the text.

For example: How far is the moon from Earth?

This will help them to remember details and construct new knowledge (Educational Resources Information Center, 2000).

Vocabulary

In order to assess vocabulary, students will assist the teacher in adding unfamiliar words to a word wall.

For example: sliver, disappeared

The word wall will serve as a reminder of new vocabulary meanings, as well as spelling of the new words (Tompkins, 2010).

IV. Literacy Lesson:Critical and Response Perspectives

By incorporating activities that activate the critical and response perspective, I will provide students with more rigorous and meaningful experiences that will enhance their reading. We will continue with the Eric Carle text for these areas as well.

A. Critical Perspective

B. Response Perspective

Critical Perspective

Tompkins describes his Sketch to Stretch method as a way to elaborate on how the story relates to the students, rather than just summarizing a character or event (Tompkins, 2010). I used this method for my students because I thought they could all relate to various aspects of the story, such as family and wanting things that are sometimes out of reach.

This activity required the students to not only understand what happened, but to relate the story to an overall theme.

Response Perspective

The response portion of the lesson involved students going a step further and developing a paragraph that compared the event to something from their personal experience.

By each student being able to bring about a personal connection to the story, they were able to each develop unique meaning that related to personal experiences or qualities (Laureate Education, Inc., 2014c).

A Literate Environment

Through implementation of these ideals, I believe I have created a literate environment that:

promotes high self-esteem amongst students

increases motivation

develops personal identities

helps students recognize differences amongst each other

encourages respect towards one another

fosters curiosity related to differences in culture

With all these things considered, the classroom can serve as a

welcoming place that encourages exploration and

discovery.

References

Clark, C. & Foster, A. (2005). Children’s and young people’s reading habits and preferences: The who, what,

why, where, and when. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED541603.pdf

Educational Resources Information Center. (2000). Strategic processing of text. Retrieved

from http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/e599.html

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

Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). Analyzing and selecting texts. [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard

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Laureate Education (Producer). (2014b). Informational text in the early years. [Video

file]. Retrieved from

https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard

%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4857785_1%26url%3D

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014c). Response perspective. [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard

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