Literate Environment Analysis

Amber White

EDUC 6706

The Beginning Reader,

Pre-K – 3rd grade

Walden University

December 2014

Getting to know Literacy Learners, P-3It is important that teachers assess both the cognitive and noncognitive

aspects of their students reading abilities. Data on the noncognitive aspects of students should be gathered and used to inform instruction. Information on students attitudes towards reading, likes and interests, and their self-perception as a reader can be used to tailor cognitive instruction to each student’s individual needs (Afflerbach, 2012).

In the video, Literacy Autobiographies (Laureate education, n.d.), adults shared stories of the teachers that affected and shaped their love of reading. Teachers have the power to create positive reading experiences that will effect students throughout their lives.

Getting to know Literacy Learners, P-3, continued

In order to gather data on the attitudes of my Kindergarten ESOL students towards reading I used a reading interest survey created by a Kindergarten teacher. In order to meet the language needs of my ELL students I chose a survey that allowed my students to point or give simple one words answers. This is a sample of the questions I asked my students:1. Do you like to read?2. Do you like when someone reads to you?3. Does someone read to you at home?4. Do you have books of your own?5. Do you like school?

Students answered the questions by coloring in a smiley face (for yes), a straight face (for sometimes) or a frown face(for no), pointing to one of the faces, or answering yes, no, sometimes.

Getting to know Literacy Learners, P-3, continued

Reading Interest Survey (Lucas, n.d.)

Letter sound and recognition assessment (Cox, n.d.)

Selecting Texts

In order to meet the needs of all students, teachers must provide a variety of texts and text structures. Using the text matrix as a tool provides a continuum to plot texts and a visual to ensure that teachers are providing an appropriate variety of types of text and text structures. Narrative, informational, linguistic, and semiotic texts in both easy and hard levels are imperative so that all learners are challenged and engaged during reading instruction (Laureate Education, n.d.a).

While creating a unit on the study of the autumn season, I used the text matrix to ensure that I was including a variety of texts and varying text structures at different levels of difficulty.

HARD

EASY

LINGUISTIC: word oriented

SEMIOTIC: picture/image oriented

NARRATIVE: story

INFORMATIONAL: provides information

Teachers can use the text matrix as a tool to see the kinds and levels of difficulty of the texts they use during instruction.

Literacy Lesson: Interactive PerspectiveThe focus of the Interactive perspective is to teach students how to read using the five pillars: phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. The goal of the interactive perspective is for students to become strategic readers and writers who can be metacognitive and use strategic processing while reading a text. When students encounter a problem during reading, they need to think about how they are going to confront it. Students need to be able to choose and use the best and most efficient strategy to solve their problem. When students can use strategic processing and think metacognitively about reading strategies they will become successful, independent readers (Laureate Education, n.d.c.).

In order to support students as they learned to be metacognitive about reading, I implemented the use of a KWL chart. Using a KWL chart encourages students to think about their thinking and activate their prior knowledge as a base to build new information on.

Literacy Lesson: Interactive

• An important aspect of learning to read in kindergarten includes students being able to recognize high-frequency sight words. To promote mastery of this skill, I implemented an activity where students search for “hidden” sight words. This activity also provides young students with the opportunity to get up and move around the room.

Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives

• The critical perspective challenges students to think critically, evaluate, and make judgments about texts (Laureate Education, n.d.b.).

To implement the critical perspective, students read two fall themed texts: “Fletcher and the Falling Leaves” and “Leafy, The Leaf who wouldn’t leave.” Students shared their favorite parts of each story with the class.

Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives

• After reading both texts, students used a Venn diagram to compare and contrast things that were similar and different in both stories. Using a graphic organizer helps students to organize their thinking, making it easier to evaluate texts.

Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives

• The response perspective encourages students to connect personally and or emotionally to the text. (Laureate Education, n.d.d.).

After filling in the Venn diagram, students were asked to respond to the text. Students drew pictures or wrote letters offering advice to either of the main characters. Using reader’s response journals encourages students to share their feelings and make an emotional connection to the text.

When creating a literate environment it is important for me to:

• Get to know both the cognitive and noncognitive needs of my students.

• Select a variety of texts that will both challenge and engage my students.

• Implement the components of the interactive perspective by teaching students how to read and how to use strategies that will make them good readers.

• Teach students to evaluate text based on different viewpoints, opinions, and sources.

• Encourage students to make emotional connections with the text and respond to the text with their thoughts and feelings.

References

Afflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and using reading assessment, K–12 (2nd ed). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Bridewell, Norman. (1997). Clifford’s first autumn. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

Cox, Karen. (n.d.) Pre-K assessment forms. Retrieved on September 10, 2014 from: http://www.prekinders.com/assessment-forms/

Hahn, J. and Striga, N. (n.d.) “Leafy,” the leaf who wouldn’t leave. Retrieved on September 17, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mil_i4VB358

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.a).Analyzing and Selecting Texts. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.b). Critical perspective. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.c..Interactive perspective: strategic processing. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.d). Response perspective. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Lucas. (n.d.) Reading interest survey. Retrieved on September 9, 2014 from: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=reading%20interest%20inventories%20for%20kindergarten%20students&source=web&cd=15&ved=0CFwQFjAO&url=http://lucaskindergarten.wikispaces.com/file/view/Reading%2BInterest%2BSurvey.docx&ei=ifcOVOL8Mo-2yAS0uIHgDw&usg=AFQjCNFuLCAPgqrXCLVLvJok33IyMnTrYg

Mizuno, H., Mizuno, K. and Ogawa, Y. (2008) Autumn Colors of Kyoto: A Seasonal portfolio. Tokyo: Kodansha International.

Rawlinson, Julia. (2006). Fletcher and the Falling Leaves. New York, NY: Haper Collins, Inc.

Rustad, Martha E. H. (2009). Los animales in otono = Animals in Fall. Mankato: Capstone Press.

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