Why Is Literacy Is A Secondary Goal?

Scaffolding for this student would include activities to develop the technical vocabulary necessary to understand the reading materials, or having the teacher provide reading materials appropriate to the child’s reading level. Additional instruction may be needed in reading skills, to support the student in a reading activity. The zone of proximal development explains the need for student and task to match, making the task of learning attainable (p87). Teaching to one zone of proximal development is likely to leave some students frustrated and confused, while others can coast through the lesson (p88). It is not so important for the teacher to know exactly what the student’s status is, rather to be aware when the students are becoming frustrated, and are in need of more practice, or when the task is just right for the individual (p89).

An Informal Reading Inventory is a great tool for teachers to use with their students to assess multiple concepts. One purpose of the IRI is to monitor the growth of a student’s word recognition, oral reading, and comprehension to determine the reading level of independent, instructional, and frustration. The frustration level is when the passage is too hard for the student even with help from the teacher. The instructional reading level is when a student can read the text with the assistance from a teacher, parent, or peer. Independent means that the student can read the passage alone with no outside assistance. When teachers administer these tests they can pick the level of the passage given and use the results to help decide how to further instruct the student. Later on, test the student on the same level to measure the growth of the student.

| |literacy skills are not confined to the language arts classroom, but are embedded in the school curriculum. Language arts programs are | |

Many students who struggle with reading ask why should we read, what is the point? The point is that being able to read opens you up a whole new world of knowledge and imagination. But to have that new world opened up you need to be able to comprehend what you are reading. The primary goal of reading is to determine the meaning of

Students will receive the lesson in small groups. The highest ability group will receive the lesson first and be released to work on the independent practice alone while the teacher works with lower ability groups on completing the practice

is a skill-based program that begins with simple concepts and moves to more complex. The scope and sequence is based on giving students multiple practice opportunities and spiraling concepts in order to gain mastery. At each level for each skill in the scope and sequence, students read words, sentences, and stories in their reader to apply and reinforce concepts taught for that level and reinforce previously taught skills.

additional groups to work independently, reading at their own specific level. The roles of the teacher

Rayen enjoys listening and participating in literacy activities. He often makes personal connections to shared experiences and takes risks by sharing them in the large group. Rayen writes in a small group that focuses on sounding out words and recording ideas in ways that make sense. He has demonstrated growth this term in being able spell some high frequency words and uses them in his writing. Rayen is able to communicate his ideas and experiences through illustrations and oral discussions. He uses sentence starters to organize his ideas and produces simple sentences with support. Also with support, he is able to create a story with a beginning, middle and end. Rayen continues to work on consistently using finger spaces in his writing for

Young children imitate what they see adults do in society. On such thing is reading. Children will take up any form of literature and pretend that they are reading. To enhance and cater for this behaviour parents and teachers can:

It provides a clear guideline for what every student should know and be able to do in math and in English language arts at the end of each grade (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2010a). The English language arts and literacy standards were written to help students meet the particular challenges of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language in their respective fields, such as science. Great emphasis is placed on literacy skills within the context of science learning characterize “science teachers as sharing responsibility for literacy acquisition” (Scruggs, Brigham, & Mastropieri, 2013, p.50). However, it is important to note that “literacy standards in history, social science, science, and technical subjects are meant to supplement content standards in those areas, not replace them” (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2010b, p.

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.

With knowledge gained from previous experience, I knew that the students I would be teaching were comfortable with a variety of learning methods, but work more effectively when a practical or group task is set. I shall therefore tailor my resources to promote this type of learning within my teaching group.

Literacy is the cornerstone to all learning; it is imperative to future academic success. (Tracey and Morrow, 2012). Due to the significance of literacy instruction, there are a myriad of ways to teach literacy. Literacy is a complex subject, honing in on balancing reading, writing, speaking, and listening. As a result of the complexity of literacy instruction, we arrive at the age-old debate of what is the best literacy instruction. My philosophy of literacy instruction centralizes around the Whole Language Theory and Balanced Literacy; however, I also blend in additional theories/approaches to teach effective literacy.

Literacy has changed the way that people live since the beginning of time. From cavemen communicating with drawings and hand signals to the earliest form of Latin. At that time reading was a skill that very few had. It was believed to be that only the wealthy and the noble class were taught this skill. Peasants did not need it in their everyday life. Reading was considered a privilege and was also used to suppress the lower class. Knowledge is power. For me, this knowledge has molded the way that I live and communicate.

A progressive classroom looks different, and a progressive teacher inspires unique thinking in individual students differently, as well. Instead of being strict with a set curriculum and specific subject to cover, teachers find their students’ present interests, abilities, and needs. Developing individualized education plans based on student interests and