Literacy For The 21st Century A Balanced Approach

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

In the prior Literacy Action Plan, the material, resources, and information used and found were done for specific reasons. These reasons were found by using data from state assessments and district assessments from Okeechobee School District. Janice Greenberg stated “Tony Wagner goes on to say that children will need seven basic survival skills to succeed in the world that awaits them which are as follows: 1) Critical thinking and Problem Solving, 2)Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence, 3) Agility and Adaptability, 4) Initiative and Entrepreneurialism, 5) Effective Oral and Written Communication, 6) Accessing and Analyzing Information, and 7) Curiosity and Imagination” (Greenberg, 2011). These are also reasons why students should be proficient in reading and writing and why we have to write a Literacy Action Plan so we have action set into place to help our students achieve proficient scores in Reading and Writing.

America has an ever so slowly changing literacy rate; 32 million people in the US cannot read. High poverty countries have lower literacy rates and stricter countries have a proficient gender difference in literacy rate. The United States is a booming country, surrounded by new technology and communication. The impact this new generation has on illiterate people is so devastating, it comes to the point where you can’t fully live because verbal communication is not always available. Some people are unable to read drug labels, or have access to healthcare. It is also costing taxpayers 20 billion dollars a year. Parents who are illiterate are having a huge impact on their children; without having being exposed to books outside of school their

This paper is an academic critique of a research article by Karen L. Gischlar and Joanne P. Vesay entitled: Literacy Curricula and Assessment: A Survey of Early Childhood Educators in two States. I was attracted to this article because being an early educator myself, I know how important literacy instructions is in the early years. It intrigued me to read about the types of curricula and assessment used by other educators to assess young children learning. The purpose of the article was to survey early childhood educators regarding their literacy practices and the assessments implemented in their classroom. However, the goal was to determine to what extent preschool teachers addressed literacy skills areas through classroom instructions. (Gischlar & Vesay 2014, p. 298). The authors believed that teachers should be using literacy curricula to teach literacy skills and get proper training in how to monitor students’ progress. If such curricula are not being implemented, then explicit instructions in early literacy instruction should be conducted daily. This paper will provide a critical review of the methods used, the result of the study and the authors discussion of the article.

“Literacy learning has a profound and lasting effect on the social and academic lives of children. Their future educational opportunities and career choices are directly related to literacy ability. Since early childhood is the period when language develops most rapidly, it is imperative that young children are provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate literacy experiences throughout each day, and that the classroom environment is rich with language, both spoken and printed. Early childhood teachers are responsible for both understanding the developmental continuum of language and literacy and for supporting each child’s literacy development.

I’ve never put much thought into what defines reading or literacy. I know that they are life skills that are necessary for a person to have a functional place in the world. Growing up it was expected that you learned how to read, write, interpret, clarify, summarize, and question based on what is presented to you. It used to be based on textbooks, novels, and newsprint. As of now, I’ve lost count of the different ways that we can communicate.

It is therefore difficult to determine that indeed, a certain method of teaching is effective compared to another (Burke et al., 2015). A teacher is therefore required to employ multiple methods aimed at guiding the children how to read and understand in

Literacy is one of the most important and sometimes difficult part of education. Many children have no interest in reading and others struggle. Both of these groups of children are often pushed aside so teachers can focus on the children that do not give them a hard time. These children need more attention,

The ultimate goal for any reader should be to understand the text. While a student might be able to correctly decode a sentence if he or she did not comprehend what was read the student’s literacy skill did not increase. It would be hard for a student to fully enjoy a book if he or she didn’t understand what was being read.

As a future teacher of the Early Childhood level it is essential to teach literacy in the early years of children’s schooling. According to the U.S Department of Education, it is said that children who do not start reading early enough in their school career struggle through the rest of their educational years. Some people believe that students will eventually catch up in school. However, this is false “out of 50 first graders who struggle with reading, 44 of them will still be struggling in the fourth grade (United Way). The only way that children can avoid this is by beginning to read early and learning the basics of

Teacher assessments are paramount in allowing the teacher to find out what the student requires for their individual process of learning. Literacy levels need to be diligently assessed, recorded and acted upon repeatedly. Just as you teach to the individual, so too must your assessment be flexible (University of Wisconsin Green Bay, n.d.), particularly in the early learning years. Whether using a running record an informal reading inventory, reading logs in a portfolio or a rubric, (University of Wisconsin Green Bay, n.d.), the scaffolded learning components, of the emergent learning stages are the quintessential requirements necessary for the learning journey towards becoming a fluent compressive reader, therefore it is important no child falls behind. In later middle Primary Schooling year levels, as the children progress, the children are introduced to more formal structures of assessment so as to become accustomed to a uniformed style of assessment. Such assessments may differ depending on if the school follows State or Federal curriculum structures, however the most structured is the NAPLAN (Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority, 2016)

The authors decipher the most useful 15 principals that will help guide reading instruction for educators. For example, Principal 13 is the process of encouraging self-direction and self- monitoring. The authors clarify how good readers are able to decide when they don’t understand a passage, and are able to figure out ways to better decipher the material. It is evident that principal 13 is extremely important for us as educators to use when teaching our students. Self-direction, and self-monitoring are important because they help teach the reader that it’s okay to not understand what they have read. It pushes them to reevaluate what they read, make inferences, and figure out a way to break down the passage on their own in order to better understand it. This is important for the students as they grow because they’ll be able to read difficult passages, and self-direct themselves to decode it. Furthermore, Principal 13 teaches readers how to go on, and figure it out themselves, to ultimately expand their cognitive thinking. Even for adults, there are readings that may need to be broken down for them to better understand. When, and if taught Principal 13 as a child, they can clue in on that skill they learned, and break down the difficult parts of the reading. In conclusion, Principal 13 is important for overall student growth as a

Finally, as a life-long learner and literacy teacher, I intend to continue researching effective literacy teaching practices and assessments. The most recent academic sources I have added to my personal library are Snowball and Bolton (1999), Hill, (2012) and Wing Jan (2009). This ongoing research will, I hope, ensure that I continue to be informed of current theory and research about literacy to meet the needs of my

Use formative and summative instruments to determine student learning, and self and peer assessment of

Literacy and language development in the primary grades is integral to student success and understanding of the world around them. “Several aspects of language development, such as vocabulary and phonological awareness, are important predictors for learning to read and write during primary school” (van Druten-Frietman, Strating. Denessem, Verhoeven, 2016, p. 212). “Low literacy skills have been related to poorer outcomes in school achievement, measures of self esteem, physical and mental health, housing, employment, socio-economic status, community participation, illicit drug use and criminal activity” (Heppner, 2016, pg. 460). Therefore, teachers have an essential responsibility to support, motivate, and encourage students to develop in their language skills and abilities. School activities provide a significant opportunity to enhance language development in the primary grades. Through the implementation of school activities teachers are able to differentiate and accommodate various types of learners within their unique classrooms. Social, emotional, physical, and intellectual needs of of every student can be met through the use of school activities. School activity strategies support differentiation and modifications within the classroom while effectively engaging students who do not require additional support. Morrow (2009) states that “no single method or single combination of methods can successfully teach all children to read” (p.28). Therefore, school