3. GETTING TO KNOW EMERGENT AND BEGINNING
LITERACY LEARNERS
• If we have the best interest of the child in mind, we will get to know them as a human
being rather than simply assigning them a random text (Laureate Education, 2014k).
• Literacy instructors need to talk to children to find out their interests, their cultural
experiences, and what they enjoy.
• Assessments such as reading inventories can be a valuable tool for finding areas of
weakness (Laureate Education, 2014q).
• Assessments such as word studies can help a teacher identify a student’s area of
instructional need.
4. GETTING TO KNOW EMERGENT AND BEGINNING
LITERACY LEARNERS (CONTINUED)
• “Whether the child is a struggling reader or an unmotivated reader, finding his/her
independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels, is just the first step in
motivating him/her to read. We must also find out his/her interests” (Mariotti, n.d.)
• Assessments should focus on both cognitive areas of skills and strategies as well as
the non-cognitive areas of motivation, attitude, and interests (Afflerbach, 2012).
• Writing, despite the stage of writing, should be a part of literacy instruction for
emergent and beginning literacy learners.
5. GETTING TO KNOW EMERGENT AND BEGINNING
LITERACY LEARNERS
HOW HAS THIS HELPED ME CREATE A LITERATE ENVIRONMENT FOR EMERGENT
AND BEGINNING LITERACY LEARNERS?
• I have made plans to model the “Me Stew” lesson at the beginning of the school
year in order to get to know my students. Allowing the students to show me and
describe to me items that are important to them will help me to build a relationship
with them as well as choose appropriate texts for their interests.
• I now use both cognitive and non-cognitive assessments more frequently. I know
that assessment before, during, and after reading will help me to make better
instructional choices for my students’ individual needs.
• I incorporate writing in every day. I know that regardless of the writing stage.
6. SELECTING TEXTS
A Literacy Matrix can be a tool for thoughtfully analyzing
and selecting texts (Laureate Education, 2014a)
Narrative Informative
Linguistic
Semiotic
(communicates through items other than words)
8. SELECTING TEXTS
Determining the degree of difficulty of a text consists of
considering:
• Sentence length
• Font size
• Number of syllables
• Context
• Length of text
• Visual support
• Text structure
9. SELECTING TEXTS
Benefits of the Literacy Matrix:
• It helps to inform instructional decisions for the specific
needs and interests of students.
• It helps to examine the balance given to the use of
different types of texts used in the classroom.
• It helps to think more about the students on a more
personal level.
10. SELECTING TEXTS
Importance of Informational Texts
• Without informational texts in the primary grades, students may face the
“Fourth Grade Slump” (Laureate Education, 2014m).
• Too much time on narrative texts results in a lack of background knowledge,
content, and text complexity that can be gained through informational texts.
• Pairing a non-fiction text with a fiction text will excite children about learning as
well as “enhance interaction with a subject” (Camp, 2000, pp. 400).
11. SELECTING TEXTS
How has knowledge about selecting texts helped me create a literate
environment for emergent and beginning literacy learners?
• I now purposefully select texts for my students based on both cognitive and non-
cognitive assessments which align with the Literacy Matrix
• I examine the text complexity that will best meet the needs of my individual
students.
• I strive to include non-fiction texts into my literacy instruction in order to avoid the
“Fourth Grade Slump.”
12. EMERGENT LITERACY LEARNER LESSON
• According to Dr. Sue Bredekamp, the lesson should be conducted in a small group to
encourage students to talk about the text. This is key to enhancing oral language
(Laureate Education, 2014h).
• A range of types of texts should be incorporated in order to help students gain schema
and knowledge in order to maintain literacy growth when they reach the fourth grade
and beyond.
• Letters and words in the text should be specifically taught.
• The environment should be rich in print in order to show value in reading and writing.
• There should be limited times of direct instruction, but plenty of time to allow students
to construct their own meaning.
13. • Pre-assessments indicated that my emergent literacy learner had an adequate
concept of print, but was weak in the areas of oral language and phonemic
awareness.
• I chose the three texts which would help me address her developmental needs:
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Lucille Coladro
Bats by Gail Gibbons
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/facts.htm
I was able to apply my new knowledge of literacy learners,
assessments, and text selections and create a lesson plan to meet
the specific needs of an emergent learner.
14. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat.
• Weakness in oral language was addressed through conducting
the lesson in a small group which encouraged discussion.
• Students read the repeating lines with me which encouraged the
use of oral language and rhythm in the text.
• Periodically the students and I stopped to examine rhyming
words and predict the rhyming words based on the previous
word and the pictures in the text.
• Students created an –at word family chart with the teacher.
15. Non-fiction Texts: Bats and
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/facts.htm
• A purpose was set for reading through a KWL and misconceptions
chart.
• We revisited the KWL/M chart frequently to confirm knowledge,
acknowledge answers to questions, and clear up misconceptions.
• We read the digital text to find more information and attempt to
answer any remaining questions on the KWL chart.
• After creating a “Things to Write About” chart (Roj, 2007), students
chose how to demonstrate knowledge about bats through writing.
16. BEGINNING LITERACY LEARNER LESSON
• Guided reading should be matched to the needs of the student with leveled
texts.
• Students should be able to independently read a text with 90% to 95% accuracy.
• Before reading, students should re-read a familiar text, review high frequency
vocabulary, introduce the new leveled text, conduct a picture walk, and
introduce up to 3 vocabulary words.
• During reading, students mumble read at their own pace; not chorally. The
teacher takes this time to take notes and conduct an informal assessment to help
make decisions about the next steps in instruction.
• After reading, the teacher identifies the teaching points. The students will write a
sentence on their own or with a group. They could also reconstruct a cut-up
sentence strip or be involved in a developmental word study.
(Laureate Education, 2014l)
17. BEGINNING LITERACY LEARNER LESSON
I was able to apply my new knowledge of literacy learners, assessment, and text
selections to create a lesson plan to meet the specific needs of a beginning
literacy learner.
• Pre-assessments indicated that my beginning literacy learner had a weak oral
vocabulary, low comprehension, lack of understanding of phonics, and a poor
attitude toward reading.
• I chose the three texts which would help me address her developmental
needs:
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Lucille Coladro
Bats by Gail Gibbons
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/facts.htm
18. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat.
• Weakness in oral language was addressed through conducting
the lesson in a small group which encouraged discussion.
• Students read the text on her own with 90 to 95% accuracy.
• The students helped me to create a list of rhyming words on
chart paper.
• The students retold the story with puppets.
BEGINNING LITERACY LEARNER LESSON
19. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat.
• Weakness in oral language was addressed through conducting
the lesson in a small group which encouraged discussion.
• Students read the text on her own with 90 to 95% accuracy.
• The students helped me to create a list of rhyming words on
chart paper.
• The students retold the story with puppets.
BEGINNING LITERACY LEARNER LESSON
20. BEGINNING LITERACY LEARNER LESSON
Non-fiction Texts: Bats and
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/facts.htm
• I opened the lesson by sharing a real-life experience of searching for the correct pet for
our family. We read a book together, but couldn’t find all of the answers we needed.
Next we went to a digital source. We finally decided on a hound dog as a pet after we
collected information from two sources.
• The students and I set a purpose for reading through a KWL / Misconceptions chart.
• I introduced 3 words about the texts prior to reading aloud to the students. This text was
above their reading level and served well as a shared read.
• After collecting information on a graphic organizer, students chose how they would like
to write about Bats.
21. DIGITAL REFLECTIONS
Feedback from colleagues
• My clipart adds to my presentation
• Organization is clear and easy to follow
• Visual representation of the Literacy Matrix is helpful
• Detailed and full of valuable information
Personal Reflections
• Overall, I am satisfied with my digital story. It shows my growth as a professional
literacy instructor. I do, however, wish I had been able to make my information
more concise and more compact with a focus on the big ideas.
22. REFERENCES
Afflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and using reading assessments: K–12 (2nd ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Camp, D. (2000). It takes two: Teaching with twin texts of fact and fiction. Reading Teacher, 53(5), 400–408.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). Analyzing and selecting text [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: author.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014h). Developing language and literacy [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: author.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014k). Getting to know your students [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: author.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014l). Interactive Perspective: Guided Reading [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: author.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014m). Informational text in the early years [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: author.
Mariotti, A. P. (n. d.). Using interest inventories with struggling and unmotivated readers. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from
http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415802093/news-updates/Interest-Inventories.pdf
Rog, L. J. (2007). Marvelous minilessons for teaching beginning writing, K–3. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
