CREATIN

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ENVIRONMENT

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IMPORTANCE OF CREATING A LITERATE ENVIRONMENT

Creating a literate environment in a classroom helps students to become better and successful readers and writers.

HOW DID I CREATE A LITERATE ENVIRONMENT?

• Get to know the students

• Determine their reading levels

• Expose students to different prints

• Read stories or informational texts

• Select materials based on student needs and interest

• Read aloud

• Use technology to enhance literacy

FRAME WORK FOR LITERACY INSTRUCTIONThis Framework for Literacy Instruction helped me build a literacy environment.

It helped me greatly in creating my lesson plansLearners Affective and cognitive aspects of literacy learning

TextsText structures, types, genres, and difficulty levels matched to literacy learners and literacy goals and objectives.

Instructional PracticesDevelopmentally appropriate research-based practices used with appropriate texts to facilitate affective and cognitive aspects of literacy development in all learners.

Interactive PerspectiveReading and writing accurately, fluently, and with comprehension.Being strategic and metacognitive readers and writers.

Use a variety of informal and formal assessments to determine areas of strength and need in literacy development.

Determine texts of the appropriate types and levels of difficulty to meet literacy goals and objectives for students.

Use instructional methods that address the cognitive and affective needs of students and the demands of the particular text.Promote students’ independent use of reading strategies and skills.

Critical PerspectiveJudging, evaluating, and thinking critically about the text.

Find out about ideas, issues, and problems that matter to students.Understand the learner as a unique individual.

Select texts that provide opportunities for students to judge, evaluate, and think critically.

Foster a critical stance by teaching students how to judge, evaluate, and think critically about texts.

Response PerspectiveReading, reacting, and responding to the text in a variety of meaningful ways.

Find out about students’ interests and identities.Understand what matters to students and who they are as individuals.

Select texts that connect to students’ identities and/or interests and that have the potential to evoke an emotional or personal response.

Provide opportunities for students to read, react, and formulate a personal response to the text.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS

Getting to know your students is the first step in creating a literacy environment. As I have students from different backgrounds, they have different cultures, and speak different languages, so it is important to find out their interests and needs.

Activities that I use to know my students:

• Observation

• Conversation

• Dolch Words/sight words

• DAR- Diagnostic Assessment for Reading

• Rigby-Oral Reading Fluency Assessment

DAR AND DOLCH WORDS

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go”.

-Dr. Seuss

As a teacher I want my students to read more, and to make them read It is important to select books that interest students and are easy for them to read. Research has shown that students become motivated to read if they choose books or other texts that they understand and enjoy reading (NCTE, 2009). If the books are too hard for them their love for reading will vanish. For my literacy classroom I try to pick books that interest students and engage them in reading. I have both information and narrative books in my class.

SELECTING AN ENGAGING TEXT

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN SELECTING A TEXT

T E X T D I F F I C U LT Y

• Readability

Sentence length

Number of syllables

Concept density

Singletons

• Text length

• Size of print

• Visual Support

T E X T S T R U C T U R E

Informational

Descriptive

Cause/effect

Problem/solution

Compare/contrast

Poetic

A Matrix is a tool that helps selecting a text

• Genre

• Features

• Linguistic

• Semiotic

ANALYZING AND SELECTING A TEXT

I AM SPECIAL!P A M A N D S A M

O U R B E S T D A Y S

B Y : N A N C Y T U F A R I

These texts were selected for my Beginner student. As the student is ELL, the story has pictures that they can refer while reading and by recalling high frequency words. I chose these books as she liked to play. On the matrix continuum it falls under the narrative and semiotic quadrant (Laureate Education Inc.). Information texts give information about real people and things.

TWIN TEXTS CHOSEN FOR MY EMERGENT READER

C A R L Y C A N E M I L L I C E N T M C G H E E

The twin books that I chose for my emergent reader were Time to Eat! by Carly Cane, illustrated by Diane Paterson and Food for a Day by Millicient McGhee. My student really enjoyed the books as it had one sentence per page that went with the picture. I chose these books as my student loved to eat.

SELECTION OF TEXT FOR MY TRANSITIONAL STUDENT

For my transitional student, the twin books that I chose were; First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg , and Tina’s Try-Out Day written by Amy Helfer

ONLINE LEARNING

T E C H N O L O G Y I S C H A N G I N G V E R Y F A S T , O U R S T U D E N T S A R E A H E A D O F U S W O R K I N G W I T H T H E S E A D V A N C E S I N T E C H N O L O G Y . S T U D E N T S L O V E T O W O R K O N C O M P U T E R S , T H E Y P A Y M O R E A T T E N T I O N , I N T E R E S T , A N D L E A R N P L A Y I N G G A M E S O N I T . I T R Y T O I N T E G R A T E T E C H N O L O G Y W I T H L I T E R A C Y , T O K E E P U P M Y S T U D E N T S ’ I N T E R E S T , T O M A K E T H E M G O O D R E A D E R S A N D H E N C E L I F E L O N G L E A R N E R S .

Online Reading programs

• Destination Success• FCAT Explorer• United streaming• Accelerated Reading • Listening centers• Online Math

programs• Go Math• Destination Success

WAYS I USE TECHNOLOGY IN MY CLASSROOM

The online texts that I chose for my three students came from

www.starfall.com/n/me/me/load.htm?f

And

www.magickeys.com/books/patrick/index.html

The stories were interactive and easy to read along with. My students took a lot of interest in them, as they can hear and see the words as they read.

ONLINE TEXT

• Interactive• Critical• Response

As Dr. Almasi said that “using these perspectives we can create well-rounded readers that can not only read, but who are motivated to read and who can think critically”.

Interactive perspectives deal with teaching students how to read and teaching them strategies to better understand the text. The Critical perspective deals with teaching students how to examine and judge the text. Response perspectives deal with giving students space to experience the text; this can be done by journal writing, dramatic response, and artistic response.

THREE PERSPECTIVES OF LEARNING

Choral Reading

Pre Reading Plans

Interactive read aloud

KWL chart

Mini lessons

Guided reading

Book talks

Making Words

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES USED TO PROMOTE INTERACTIVE PERSPECTIVES

INTERACTIVE LESSON PLAN

Example of lesson plan from First Day Jitters

Students will retell a story that they have heard before, discuss with the students why they are special, and what they do that makes them a special person. Write it down on a piece of chart paper. Ask the students the same questions and write their response on the chart paper. Divide students into 3 groups

Applying Knowledge (Knowledge/Comprehension Activity)

This student has trouble reading the words to the story. She will need help reading the story with the teacher. After reading the story with her so that she looks at the words and sentences on the index card, ask the questions concerning character relationships

For my second group I will show the picture and tell them, and have them repeat that this boy is going to school. And ask how does he feel?

For the third group, I will let the students discuss the photo and their experiences of going to school. As students speak, I will restate what they say in more descriptive terms. I will discuss the different feelings that come up in the discussion.

Beginning Readers (Application/Analysis Activity)Take turns reading the story together. Discuss the story, especially the idea presented that some

people can do certain things that make them special. Now make two large circles; label the first one "You" and the second one "Me."Put all the activities that the character "You" does in the first circle and all the activities that the

character "Me" does in the second circle. In the space between the circles, suggest the ways and put the similarities in between the two

circles. Be ready to share your circles with the whole group.Transitional Learner (Synthesis/Evaluation Activity) The student read the story First Day Jitters to herself. In a group, talk about the setting,

character, and plot. Write three more events of the story. Closure/AssessmentActivity:Students discuss the parts of a story using a question cube.1. Teacher will Place text and question cube at the center. Provide each student with a student

sheet.2. The students will read the text.3. Taking turns, roll the question cube, read the question, and answer it in relation to the text.4. Discuss and write or illustrate the answer on the student sheet.5. Continue until student sheet is complete.6. Teacher evaluation.

CRITICAL AND RESPONSE LESSONIntroduction:

1. The teacher will share the following information with the students:

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong did something new. He was the first man to walk on the moon.

2. Building Background: the teacher will then ask;

A. Do you like to learn or do new things? Why or Why not?

B. How do you feel when you do something new?

3. Introduce the story:

The teacher will ask a volunteer to read aloud the question in the student book on page 11 and describe the picture:

A. What is the boy in the photo doing?

B. How do you think he feels?

For the emergent student I will tell them and have them repeat that this boy is going to school, and ask how does he feel?

For beginner students, the teacher will let the students discuss the photo and their experiences of going to school. As students speak, the teacher will restate what they say in more descriptive language. The teacher will discuss the different feelings that come up in the discussion.

For transitional students, the teacher will encourage them to use more complex structures: Going to school is fun because you get to make friends.

4. Continue activating student’s schema:

A. How do you feel about new people?

B. How do you feel about new places?

C. How do you feel about new things?

Students write their predictions and anything else they want to know about the story.

Preview and Predict:

The teacher will ask the students to read the title, preview the illustrations, and note questions and predictions about the story.

The teacher will ask the following questions:

A. What do you think the title of the story means?

B. Do you think this story will be funny? Why?

Analyze story structure:

After the students finish reading the story ask the following questions:

A. Sarah tumbles down to the end of her bed. Why is this Funny?

B. What kind of a person is Mr. Hartwell? How can you tell?

C. How does Sarah feel being new to the school? How do you know? Use examples from your own experience and from the story to answer.

D. Mr. Hartwell asks Sarah what everyone will think if she does not show. Why is her answer funny?

E. How does Mr. Hartwell feel about Sarah’s attitude?

F. What kind of a person is Mr. Burton?

Review the students’ predictions and purposes.

Synthesis/ Closure/Assessment

I will ask the students to write their own experiences on the first day of school. Have them compare their experience with that of Sarah’s in First Day Jitters. Ask the students how they feel when they go to school. How do think their feelings changed after being there awhile?

REFERENCES

Danneberg, J., (2007). First Day Jitters. Treasures: a reading/language arts program. (pp. 1-48). New

York: Macmillan McGraw-Hill

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011a). Critical perspective [Webcast]. The Beginning

Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011b). Response perspective [Webcast]. The

Beginning Reader, PreK-3.

"Magic Keys." Magic Keys. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 July 2011.

<http://www.magickeys.com/.>

www.magickeys.com/books/patrick/index.html

Prior knowledge: Framework for literacy instruction. (2011). [Study Notes]. Retrieved June 26, 2011, from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5362594&Survey=1&47=7339149&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Starfall's Learn to Read with phonics. (n.d.). Starfall's Learn to Read with phonics.

Retrieved July 16, 2011, from http://starfall.com

www.starfall.com/n/me/me/load.htm?f

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