2. +
Getting to Know Literacy Learners
Getting to know each learner in my classroom involves several research-based
practices. Classroom assessment allows me to collect significant information
about what individual students know and are able to do. “Throughout these
critical years, accurate assessment of children’s knowledge, skills, and
dispositions in reading and writing will help teachers better match instruction
with how and what children are learning,” (National Association for the
Education of Young Children, 2009). My classroom runs more efficiently
because assessment has helped me determine students’ reading levels,
monitor progress, identify strengths and struggles, and record student learning.
I have also taken a closer look into assessing “the other” (Afflerbach, 2012, p.
171) using a reading attitude survey to know how to build self-concept and a
positive attitude toward reading. Administering this survey differentiated
students’ educational reading and leisure reading. “The recent emphasis on
enhanced reading proficiency has often ignored the important role played by
children’s attitudes in the process of becoming literate,” (McKenna & Kear,
1990). As students learn to read and write, my goal is to know about my
students’ literacy development, understand them individually, and implement
texts that will engage them in learning.
3. +
References
Afflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and
using reading assessment K–12 (2nd
ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading
Association.
McKenna, M. C., & Kear, D. J. (1990).
Measuring attitude toward reading: A
new tool for teachers. The Reading
Teacher, 43(9), 626–639.
National Association for the Education of
Young Children. (2009). Retrieved from
http://www.naeyc.org
4. +
Selecting Texts
“What readers know and do during reading has a tremendous impact on
how well they comprehend, but comprehension involves more than just
reader factors: It involves text factors,” (Tompkins, 2010). My teaching has
changed toward a concentrated focus on book selection based on text
factors that will be engaging and promote comprehension. “Using a literacy
matrix allows us to see the overall pattern for text types we are using and it
helps to ensure that we are getting a balance of the kind of material our kids
should be engaging in,” (Laureate Education, n. d.). Selecting a variety of
texts from the spectrum can also be supported by using technology to
engage today’s literacy learner. My classroom has engaged in author study,
comprehension quizzes, and research projects to incorporate an expansion
on traditional reading practices. Selecting texts with a balance of linguistic,
semiotic, narrative, and informational will help students reach reading and
writing goals.
5. +
References
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.).
Analyzing and selecting text [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the
21st century: A balanced approach (5th
ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
6. +
Literacy Lesson: Interactive
Perspective
“Nothing is more important than teaching people to use
and recognize the power of their own minds,” (Harvey
& Goudvis, 2013). As an educator it is my job to teach
students how to be aware of their thinking, think
strategically, and recognize the power of their own
thinking. Metacognition strategies allow students to
come an understanding as to when and why these
skills enable them to monitor reading progress. My
classroom is a literate environment because have been
taught how to use different reading strategies for
narrative and informational text. Instruction that is
carefully modeled and scaffolded teaches literate
learners how to navigate that text autonomously. The
interactive perspective focuses on the teaching of
basic reading skills like phonemic awareness, fluency,
comprehension, and writing to master strategies that
allow them to make sense of that text. Using the
interactive perspective in my classroom has given
students the opportunity to use reading strategies or
“attempts to modify the reader’s efforts to decode text,
understand words, and construct meaning,”
(Afflerbach, Pearson, & Paris, 2008). These strategies
are then used to practice skills “that are automatic
resulting in comprehension with speed, efficiency, and
fluency,” (Afflerbach, Pearson, & Paris, 2008).
7. +
References
Afflerbach, P., Pearson, P., & Paris, S. G.
(2008). Clarifying Differences Between
Reading Skills and Reading Strategies.
Reading Teacher, 61(5), 364-373.
Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2013).
Comprehension at the Core. Reading
Teacher, 66(6), 432-439.
doi:10.1002/TRTR.1145
8. +
Literacy Lesson: Critical and
Responsive Perspective
“Critical literacy helps make an equal relationship between the
author and the reader by allowing us to see the texts from all
angles,” (Molden, 2007, p. 52). Teaching with the critical
perspective in mind drives students to think critically, value
different perspectives, and judge the power of a text. My lessons
include interactive read alouds, guided reading, reciprocal
questioning, and running records. These instructional procedures
provided clearly stated steps to achieve a deeper level of critical
thinking. Planning instruction allows for student responses as
starting points for dialogue and journal writing. Then, time is given
for reflection and we make connections between the text, self, and
others. This allows for reflection on previous reading and
experiences to help students discover a new text or writing
opportunity. When “students are given space, support and safety
to respond personally to a text, their reading identity changes,”
(Laureate Education, n. d.).
9. +
References
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.).
Response perspective. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Molden, K. (2007). Critical literacy, The
right answer for the reading classroom:
Strategies to move beyond
comprehension for reading improvement.
Reading Improvement, 44(1), 50-56.
