1. Creating a Literate
Environment
Lindley Callaway
The Beginning Reader, PreK-3

2. I. Getting to Know
Literacy Learners
Taking the time to uncover the developmental
levels and interests of my three individual
literacy learners was necessary in order to gain
insights from all aspects of each child. The
information that I gathered from the cognitive
and non-cognitive assessments has given me an
opportunity to plan more effectively for my three
learners. In turn, I believe this has led to the
creation of a literate environment.

3. Cognitive Assessment
o The cognitive assessment that I chose to use to
learn about the developmental levels of my learners
is Aimsweb, which is a progress monitoring system
that provides teachers with data, as well as
interventions, to use with individual literacy
learners (NCS Pearson Inc., 2014).
o Because this progress monitoring program is
computer based, it also provides each student’s
individual Lexile level, which is very beneficial for
planning lessons around a specific text (Tompkins,
2010).

4. Non-Cognitive Assessment
o The non-cognitive assessment that I chose in order to
learn more about my students’ interests, as well as
show how motivated each student is to read both
academically and recreationally, was The Elementary
Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990).
o The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey results, as
well as conferences with the students, allowed me to
determine ways that I could differentiate my
instruction to meet the students’ individual needs
and interests (Laureate Education Inc., 2014b)

5. II. Selecting Texts
Locating texts that are appropriate and engaging
is a key component in motivating students to
become successful literacy learners.
Strategically selecting appropriate texts for my
students played a big role in constructing my
literate environment.
My group of texts included:
Narrative
Non-Fiction/Informational
Online Text

6. Narrative Texts
o The narrative text that I chose to use was The Very
Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle .
o This text is considered a semiotic narrative because
it has many illustrations, which the students
enjoyed, and tells a story about the main character,
which is a caterpillar (Laureate Education Inc.,
2014a).
o This particular text proved to be highly effective
because it allowed the students to use their
imaginations and respond creatively.

7. Non-Fiction/Informational Texts
o The informational text that I chose to use was
Butterflies by Karen Shapiro.
o I chose this particular text because it is a catchy
rhyming book, with illustrations, that informs
readers of the metamorphosis process. I knew that
this text would hold my students’ attention.
o It is important that children are exposed to
informational texts at an early age because they will
continue to use these texts as they mature (Reading
Rockets, 2014).

8. Online Texts
o The online text that I chose was Born to Be a
Butterfly by Karen Wallace.
o I chose to implement an informational online
text, because the second grade students I have
been working with need the exposure to the
structure of this type of text (Laureate
Education Inc., 2014c).
o Although I did not use this particular text in a
course lesson, I allowed each student to read the
online text, and I received positive feedback
from all three students!

9. III. Literacy Lesson:
Interactive Perspective
o I developed a literacy lesson that addressed the
specific literacy needs of my students in the areas of
word recognition and comprehension. Throughout
this lesson, I was able to create a literate
environment, as well as promote students’ strategic
processing and metacognition.
o I chose to use the text Butterflies by Karen Shapiro
in order to help my students become strategic
readers and processors. Prior to reading the text,
we identified strategies that good readers use while
reading a text (Laureate Education Inc., 2014e).

10. Word Recognition
o I chose to identify key terms at the beginning of
my literacy lesson in order to assist the students
as they read the text independently (Tompkins,
2010).
o The words that I chose were: egg, larva,
caterpillar, chrysalis, pupa, and adult butterfly.
o After observing one particular student, I soon
learned that this was too many words for one
lesson. I chose to only include four words in my
next lesson in order to help boost this particular
students’ self-esteem.

11. Comprehension
o I chose to utilize a K-W-L Chart with my students in
order to help them become more metacognitive
learners.
o The K-W-L Chart allowed the students to determine
their prior background knowledge and what they
would like to know about the topic. Once the
students completed the text, they were able to add
what they learned to their own personal K-W-L
foldable chart (Tompkins, 2010).
o I found this to be a great strategy for assessing the
students’ comprehension, as well as metacognition.

12. Literacy Lesson:
Interactive Perspective
The data I gained from this interactive literacy
lesson will be used to further guide my
instruction in order to maximize learning for
each individual student in the particular areas
that this lesson addressed (Afflerbach, 2012).

13. IV. Literacy Lesson:
Critical and Response Perspectives
o Approaching literacy instruction from both a
critical and response perspective has allowed me
to provide my three second grade students with
an opportunity to think critically about a text and
respond based on their thoughts and feelings.
o I chose to engage my second grade students in a
small group interactive read-aloud using the text
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I
chose this strategy in order to actively engage my
students in the reading process and allow them
an opportunity to respond in a literate
environment (Tompkins, 2010).

14. Critical Perspective
o Before I began reading, I had the students
participate in a Quickwrite in order to activate
background knowledge on the given topic
(Tompkins, 2010).
o Throughout the interactive read-aloud I asked
the students to analyze key elements of the
story, such as the author, characters, and plot.
o The students were also able to identify stages
of the caterpillar’s life-cycle that were
underrepresented in this particular narrative,
which proved that the students were using
critical thinking skills (Molden, 2007).

15. Response Perspective
o The use of a Character Response journal entry
proved to be a highly effective method in allowing
students to share their ideas of the main character’s
thoughts and feelings throughout the text
(Laureate Education Inc., 2014d).
o During this lesson, the students were given an
opportunity to share their Character Response
journal entry with their peers. This led to a
discussion on how people gain different meanings
from a particular text. At this time, I was also able
to create a literate environment that promoted
diversity among my individual learners and their
responses to literature.

16. Through careful consideration and further exploration of each
of these components, I believe that I was better able to
provide my students with a literate environment that
encouraged these students to become successful literacy
learners.
I believe that getting to know my literacy learners allowed me
to select appropriate texts, as well as plan interesting and
engaging lessons, for the three second grade students I have
been working with throughout this course. The lessons I
implemented promoted the students’ metacognition, as well
as critical thinking skills. By encouraging the students to
respond to the text, I provided them with an opportunity to
make connections, as well as share their viewpoints with their
peers. In turn, I believe that this will aid in the process of
them becoming respectful, productive, and contributing
members of society.
In Conclusion

17. References
Afflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and using reading assessment, K-12. (2nd ed.). Newark,
DE: International Reading Association.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014a). Analyzing and Selecting Text. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_2&ur
l=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3Dcourse%26id%3
D_485 7785_1%26url%3D
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014b). Assessing Word Knowledge. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_2&ur
l=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3Dcourse%26id%3D
4857785_1%26url%3D
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014c). Informational Text in the Early Years. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_2&url=%
2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3Dcourse%26id%3D_485
7785_1%26url%3D
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014d). Response Perspective: . [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_2&url=%
2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3Dcourse%26id%3D_485
7785_1%26url%3D

18. References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014e). Virtual Field Experience: Strategic Processing. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_2&url=%
2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3Dcourse%26id%3D_485
7785_1%26url%3D
McKenna, M.C. & Kear, D.J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(9), 626-639.
Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eh
h&AN=11080456&scope=site
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. Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7095f
f84-d889-4e24-bd67-7cc37df27993%40sessionmgr4004&vid=2&hid=4107
NCS Pearson Inc., (2014). Aimsweb. Retrieved from https://aimsweb.pearson.com/
Reading Rockets. (2014). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Retrieved from
http://www.readingrockets.org/articles/researchbytopic/4921
Tompkins, G.E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st
century: A balanced approach (5th
ed.). Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.