2. Getting To
Know Literacy
Learners P - 3
“Literacy is the ability to
use reading and writing for
a variety of tasks at school
and outside of school”
(Tompkins, 2010, p. 4).
“Literacy is considered a
tool, a means to participate
more fully in the
technological society of the
21st century” (Tompkins,
2010, p. 4).
“It is not what we are
teaching, it is who we are
teaching” (Laureate
Education, n.d.a).
It is important for educators to
get to know the interests,
motivations, and abilities of
their students. With this
knowledge, educators may
select reading materials and
educational practices that
support the diverse needs of
their students.
3. Getting To
Know Literacy
Learners P - 3
“The purpose of classroom
assessment is to collect
meaningful information
about what students know
and do, and it takes many
forms” (Tompkins, 2010, p.
76).
“Teachers match students
with books at appropriate
levels of difficulty because
students are more likely to
be successful when they’re
reading books that aren’t
too easy or to difficult”
(Tompkins, 2010, p. 76).
Here are my assessment strategies:
Cognitive assessments
• Word Ladders
• Making Words
• Question-Answer Relationships
• Open-Mind Portraits
• Quick Writes
• Observations
• Question the Author
• Writing Responses
• Before, During, and After Reading
Discussions
Metacognitive assessments
• Grand Conversations
• Questioning
4. Analyzing and
Selecting Texts
Linguistic – Text that explains story
details with more words.
Semiotic – Text that explains story
details with more pictures.
Narrative – Fiction stories
Informational – Nonfiction text
Teachers should use the Literacy
Matrix to select appropriate texts. It
is essential to consider these factors
when selecting texts:
• Visual supports
• Readability
• Text length
• Text structure
• Size of print
Linguistic
Semiotic
Informationalnarrative
easy
hard
Laureate Education, n.d.b
5. Analyzing and
Selecting Texts
Here are the texts I selected:
“The most important goal of literacy is to have
fidelity to the students” (Laureate Education,
n.d.c).
Most of the stories were read using a Jump-In
Reading strategy to support all readers.
Narrative/Realistic Fiction
Linguistic/Semiotic
Easy
Narrative/Fiction
Linguistic/Semiotic
Easy
Narrative/Historical Fiction
Linguistic/Semiotic
Hard
6. Framework for Literacy Instruction
Learners
Affective and cognitive
aspects of literacy learning
Texts
Text structures, types,
genres, and difficulty levels
matched to literacy learners
and literacy goals and
objectives
Instructional Practices
Developmentally appropriate
research-based practices
used with appropriate texts
to facilitate affective and
cognitive aspects of literacy
development in all learners
Interactive Perspective
Reading and writing
accurately, fluently, and with
comprehension
Being strategic and
metacognitive readers and
writers
Use a variety of informal and
formal assessments to
determine areas of strength
and need in literacy
development.
Determine texts of the
appropriate types and levels
of difficulty to meet literacy
goals and objectives for
students.
Use instructional methods
that address the cognitive
and affective needs of
students and the demands of
the particular text.
Promote students'
independent use of reading
strategies and skills.
Critical Perspective
Judging, evaluating, and
thinking critically about text
Find out about ideas, issues,
and problems that matter to
students.
Understand the learner as a
unique individual.
Select texts that provide
opportunities for students to
judge, evaluate, and think
critically.
Foster a critical stance by
teaching students how to
judge, evaluate, and think
critically about texts.
Response Perspective
Reading, reacting, and
responding to text in a
variety of meaningful ways
Find out about students'
interests and identities.
Understand what matters to
students and who they are
as individuals.
Select texts that connect to
students' identities and/or
interests and that have the
potential to evoke an
emotional or personal
response.
Provide opportunities for
students to read, react, and
formulate a personal
response to text.
Framework, 2014
7. Framework for Literacy Instruction
The Framework for literacy instruction
helps educators take a look at the learner,
and based on the learners’ interests and
abilities, find texts and instructional
practices that support them in their literacy
development.
Learners – Examine the reader to determine
what they need and/or like.
Texts – Examine the text to meet the needs of
the readers.
Instructional Practices - Determine how to use the
text with particular students.
Framework, 2014
With these factors in mind let’s take a look at the perspectives.
8. The interactive perspective is meant to
teach students how to read (Laureate
Education, n.d.d).
Strategic processing must be threaded
through all five pillars (Laureate
Education, n.d.d).
The ultimate goal of the interactive
perspective is to teach children how to
be literate learners who can navigate
The textual world independently (Laureate
Education, n.d.d).
To fulfill the interactive perspective,
my three students completed a
word ladder (Tompkins, 2010)
activity to practice with phonemic
awareness/phonics, vocabulary, and
spelling. Students also participated
in jump-in reading, and created
open-mind portraits (Tompkins,
2010) to make characters
comparisons and personal
connections. They also completed
quick writes.
9. The purpose of the critical
perspective is to have students
examine the text, critically evaluate
text, and judge the validity of texts
(Laureate Education, n.d.e).
For the critical perspective we:
Took a look at interesting descriptions
Discussed the selection (before, during
and after)
Questioned the Author (QaR)
The purpose of the response
perspective is to become
“transformed” by the text. What
feelings, emotions, or changes did
it evoke (Laureate Education,
n.d.f).
For the response perspective we:
Related to a situation that the
character experienced through
written response
10. References
Tompkins, G. (2009). 50 literacy strategies step by step. Boston: Pearson.
Tompkins, G. (2010). Litearcy for the 21st century: a balanced approach..
Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.b). Analyzing and selecting text [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.c). Changes in literacy eduction. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.e). Critical perspective. [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.a). Getting to know your students. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.d). Interactive perspective: Strategic
processing. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.f). Response perspective. [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://class.waldenu.edu
Walden University Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership (2014).
Framework for Literacy Instruction. Retrieved from
https://class.walden.edu
