I Think Educators Should Be Teaching Literacy

Summary of chapters: Tompkins, E Gail. (2014). Literacy for the 21st Century A Balanced Approach

When students learn about subjects they are familiar with, it allows the content area being taught to become meaningful. As mentioned in Chapter 6, on page 149, motivation to read can come because they are interested in the content. When students are interested in the content they are reading, their needs are being met, and they will be well prepared for a successful literacy experience.

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

For this reason, careful research and understanding of what the standards are asking educators to teach is required. Houck (2008) informs balanced literacy is a combination of teaching methods and strategies involving both whole language and skill development. Used correctly, balanced literacy has the potential to meet the needs of all students at their own individual level. All components of reading, including phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, speaking and listening, and writing are taught using this framework. Balanced literacy provides instruction by various methods. The use of read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, word study, and writing are all used to provide students with a release of responsibility model in which they go from guided to independent work (Frey, 2005). The need for all components of reading to work together in order for comprehension to take place makes balanced literacy an instructional reform plan worth implementing (Beringer & Abbott, 2010).

The need for basic literacy skills is vital in order for our nation to continue to operate successfully. With approximately 5 million students, graduating below the National Standard for Literacy and unable to read, we must take a look at the curriculum and teaching techniques to assess whether the current systems need to be revised to better assure ALL students are successful. (Adolescent Literacy: A Policy Research Belief p. 1) The issue begins first with the definition of “Literacy”, and the fact that there are several aspects of literacy which are not currently included in the curriculum. Another issue is the “old” standards which are in place do not support the level of diversity which is now seen in many school systems. Then

Throughout my first year as a middle school Language Arts teacher, I have developed a theoretical understanding of what I believe are the necessary components to providing a meaningful and generative environment in which students develop and expand literacy skills. The teaching of literacy needs to include a balance of reading, writing, speaking and listening activities, and needs to be a social endeavor that provides a variety of instructional strategies to meet the needs of all diverse learners. My teaching strategies, beliefs and personality that I bring to my classroom can be characterized as a blend of two types of philosophical theories: social constructivism and relational teaching and

I am from Alabama, so I learned to read with the Sally, Dick, and Jane reading books. Oh of course, I can’t forget about Spot the dog. I think back then the teachers did a lot to get us reading. I have been reading about all of the new ways to teach kids phonics awareness, but when I was a child, the teachers taught phonics just like they do now. We all learned our letter sounds associations then we started to put sounds together to make words then we did the word lists and spelling words etc. We broke words down in syllables. We did rhyming, poems, and songs and all kinds of phonics activities just like how reading is taught today. Back then the only difference I notice is that, we did the group lessons where we had to do a lot of repeating which of course everyone today knows as “rote,” but let me tell you “rote” worked pretty well for us.

In this age of development, it was stunning for me to learn that countless children around the world are being denied an education because it is not affordable, their country is war torn, or they are not male. According to UNICEF data, the number of illiterate youths (15-24) is at 115 million with the most concentrated in the least developed countries and 59% of the illiterate youths being women. Around the world, 91% of youths are literate, but is simply having the ability to read and write equate to education?. Learning to read and write is necessary, but should the goal not be bigger than that?. In teaching children to simply absorb information and repeat, what will they gain? It is the application, the practice, and the understanding of the why and how that makes information important. Critical thinking skills are the key to solving the world's problems; understanding that

Educators are charged with not only teaching the content of their subject, but also responsible for creating a learning environments that fosters communication, engagement, and reflection so that the students will be prepared for their future careers and learning. Creating a classroom that fosters reading and writing is one way to engage students while promoting that they reflect on the material and communicate their understanding or misconceptions of the content. In order to form a literacy-rich classroom educators need to increase the amount of time students interact with all forms of print and literacy and the classroom environment is an essential key to setting the precedent and model behaviors that will make students more successful and capable of high level learning. (Tyson, 2013)

Over the years there have been many theories and practices of teaching and learning literacy across preschool, elementary, middle and early high school. A few of the theories and practices of teaching and learning literacy are Freebody & Luke’s (1990) Four Resources Model, a cognitive-constructivist view of reading (Graves, Juel, & Graves, 2007), and a complex theory of the reading process (Clay, 2013).

Chapters six in Do I Really have to Teach Reading details strategies that aid students in focusing their thinking while reading, as well as remembering and reusing information in order to become an active reader. This chapter outlines the importance of assisting students in making connections and becoming active, independent readers, by utilizing a variety of tools and methods to hold thinking during reading. Highlighting, sticky notes, double-entry journals, and questioning are some of the devices also presented throughout the text to catch students thinking and assist in comprehension of different materials. As I read through chapter six, I evaluated what I was reading, and implemented some of the strategies Tovani discussed in the section.

A curriculum can be defined as a written plan that describes the goals for children’s learning and development, and the learning experiences, materials and teaching strategies that are used to help children achieve those goals (Head Start, 1998; National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2005c, as cited in Bredekamp, 2011, p. 299). This course focused on the balanced literacy approach. A balanced approach to literacy is combining an array of topics in literacy which caters to the students’ individual needs and interest. This approach focuses on theories, strategies and topics that must be employed to be an effective teacher of reading and writing.

One insight that I gained about literacy and literacy instruction from view this presentation is that students’ literacy would be much enhanced through “hands-on” experience, which provides students with an enjoyable learning environment where students feel comfortable to share their feelings and thoughts about the

However, the second method being discussed in this paper, the whole language approach, focuses much of its attention on making sure the student understands and enjoys what he or she is reading. Whole language instruction occurs when a student acquires language rather than learning it through direct instruction (Brooks 35-36). This method is more child centered than teacher dominated, because the objective is for the student to learn how to read through talking and doing rather than through passive listening. Unlike phonics, whole language uses a variety of ways to give students the opportunity to interact with the text they are reading. Questioning, discussing, problem-solving, listening, writing, drawing, and dramatizing are among the ways students interact with text. Students are also encouraged to implement simple strategies while reading such as: reading the sentence and guessing what word will come next, looking at the picture on the page to help figure out the sentence, and also rereading the sentence for clarification. This method also does a good job in allowing the students to engage in text at their own speed and often in their own ways (36).

“Directly/explicitly teaching reading means imparting new information to students through meaningful teacher–student interactions and teacher guidance of student learning” (Rupley, etc… 2009). There are five aspects of direct/explicit/intentional teaching, that will help improve student learning, they are; establishing a purpose, modeling for students, guiding students through the use of questioning techniques, providing group work, and providing students with opportunities to work independently. In this paper I will discuss how each of these has a positive impact on student learning and how it can be used in my school.