Annotated List and Abstract

Within my school literacy lesson will be planed by the teachers, the teacher will go over the

In the primary grades, children should have a well-designed phonics program that promotes knowledge of letters, sounds, words, and phonological units (Dorn, Soffos. 2001. P. 21). The literacy coach should help the classroom teachers prepare for their literacy lessons by providing literary resources needed, modeling to show how certain components of the literacy block should look and making sure the teacher understands how to teach the skills they are working on at the time. For example, if a teacher is unsure how to effectively teach reading groups to beginner kindergarten readers, the literacy coach can model how to do so, provide the teacher with additional help and support, and even let the teacher observe other teachers teach. The literacy coach should also make sure the teachers have everything they need to assess students and that the teachers understand the importance of the assessments and how to get information from them to lead new

In every school across America, effective practices of reading instruction are being discussed. Calkins (2012) suggests that over 85% of students being tested on grade level literacy standards are non-proficient. Research suggests that students, who are unable to read proficiently by third grade, are not predicted to ever learn to read or have successful lives when they reach adulthood (Martinez, 2008). For these reasons, it is important that districts implement literacy models and instructional reforms that have been well researched and shown to be successful. The instructional reform method of Balanced Literacy is being used throughout the country to meet the challenging standards of the Common Core. Teachers will need

Creating and implementing effective lessons for a literacy learner who is struggling with reading and writing takes much effort and appropriate resources. Throughout the Literacy Development course, I have gained much insight and resources that have become valuable tools in addressing students’ literacy needs. Each week, I conducted lessons and activities that targeted the needs of many students, but my initial focus on was on one particular student. His individual reading level, spelling development, and writing abilities were analyzed and the recorded data was used

For this assignment, I completed a survey to assess my school’s literacy program by using a survey that was adapted from by Patty, Maschoff, & Ransom (1996) to analyze the instructional program and the school’s infrastructure. To be able to answer my survey, I needed to go colleagues of mine in the English Department and to my administration to help with these questions. Being a math teacher, we hardly ever discuss the literacy and the students’ acquisition of it in our department meeting during staff development days. Since I am not truly current with literacy acquisition in education, I am hoping to understand more from this process so I can help all my students. I want them to be able to read texts related to math and find

Most of the other students in her 2nd grade classroom are able to read classroom text and complete work independently. They also read books for enjoyment on their own. The reading time in her classroom consists of a block during which the teacher works with small groups and the children are expected to work quite independently when they are not working directly with the teacher. The class uses a trade book format and this is utilized across the curriculum. Students are provided with short skills building lessons in large and small groups. Most of the time spent during explicit reading instruction is targeted to helping students develop reading fluency.

Reading happens to be the most important factor in everyone’s live. Every subject and every aspect of a person’s life involves reading. According to Shanahan and Shanahan (2008), “Reading is commonly viewed as a basic set of skills, widely adaptable and applicable to all kinds of texts and reading situations.” Teachers have a responsibility to ensure that each student that enter their present have a strong foundation in reading. The bible identifies teacher’s roles in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is breathed out of God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and

Two strategies I witnessed firsthand in my field placement, but were deemed ineffective were Teacher Read-Alouds and Round-Robin Reading. Choosing these to as unsuccessful is polarizing, because Teacher Read-Alouds are usually characterized as effective, whereas Round-Robin Reading is considered an outdated method. In fact, McLaughlin states that one of all educators’ main goals should be to eliminate this “dated method of reading” from all classrooms (141). While these strategies were both deemed ineffective, they were used in very different scenarios and the Read-Aloud was not the teacher’s choice.

To begin my period of volunteering, I sign in at Pine Meadow Elementary; I immediately report to Cathy Elwell’s room after signing in. I typically arrive before her morning fourth grade group departs; however, I do not work with these students. Ms. Elwell’s room is quite small when compared to standard classrooms. However, the size of the group is proportionate to the room size. Paraphernalia consists of language posters, one large table with several seats, and my volunteer poster. At approximately 8:35, a group of two first graders arrives. These students are each six years of age. This particular group of first graders is severely behind their peers in terms of both reading proficiency and comprehension. As a result, their curriculum is entirely based around reading, with emphasis in vowel structure. Typically, their first task is to form and write down words that either Ms. Elwell or I read to them. The words are typically comprised of four letters and emphasize usage of long vowels. Much guidance is usually required during this activity. This activity is followed by a reading comprehension activity in which the pupils are required to read paragraphs or small stories; correction with minimal assistance is provided by the supervisor. The students are then usually asked to verbally answer comprehension questions based on the reading. The material may be reread if the pupils struggle with questions. At 8:55, the students return to their regular classes; their departure is

Balanced literacy is an approach for teaching literacy that is widely used in classrooms across the country. It involves several methods of teaching and learning reading and writing, whole class instruction directed by the teacher with independent work in reading, writing, and

Creating a classroom atmosphere that promotes literacy will enable English language learners (ELLs) to use reading and writing in English as a learning tool. The first step in promoting literacy within the classroom context is to teach students how to process different and increasingly difficult types of texts. Authors/educators Suzanne Peregoy and Owen Boyle suggest the following tacks: establish a purpose for reading (whether efferent or aesthetic), teach text structure, focus on metacognition, and match students with appropriate reading materials (2008). These criteria are potentially daunting, but fortunately the authors help us with some great pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading strategies to make these necessary goals become realities.

Textbooks are expensive and eventually become outdated over the years while a newspaper is fresh and comes alive, reporting all of the latest information. For classrooms all over the United States, newspapers, otherwise known known in the classroom as, the “living textbook” have been added to teaching curriculums, and for good reason. Newspapers can enhance a learner’s vocabulary as well as improve their reading and writing skills. It also offers critical thinking and bolsters conversations regarding the latest current events.

There are a variety of approaches teaching students to read, such as: the basal reading approach, literature based instruction approach, integrated language art approach, language instruction approach, and technology based approach. Which approach or combination of them a teacher will use in the classroom depends on the teacher’s beliefs and students’ needs. It is not easy to find out which approach would work best for each child; the teacher’s responsibility is to find alternative approaches to help each child reach the literacy goal – to help students become independent readers.

Literacy is one of the single most important aspects of a student’s elementary career. Literacy is a huge stepping stone for the real world, and it is vital to introduce students to different types of texts in order to familiarize them with different types of readings and build their confidence in order to prepare themselves for the real world. In order to reach full literacy, one must focus on four main aspects of balanced literacy instruction. These are reading, writing, oral language and assessments. Factors that also affect the success of students are classroom environment, and lesson delivery.

Now that we have the background of the five components I want to hone in on the topic of differentiating instruction for reading comprehension. Children have always come to school with a wide variety of literacy experiences and abilities. Teachers have struggled for years to meet the needs of all of their learners. Historically, teachers have grouped their students in attempts to arrange their instruction to meet the different needs of individuals. They have attempted various types of grouping arrangements during the literacy block, including needs-based homogeneous groups, interest-based groups, or individualized instruction. However, it has become clear that it is not the grouping arrangement that matters; it is what the teacher does with each group of children that makes the difference. (Taylor, 2000) Differentiated instruction can only occur if the teacher possesses a deep knowledge of the reading process, an understanding of the strengths and needs of her students, and the ability to adapt their teaching to the students’ needs.