This is a look at what we, as educators, must consider as we create a literate environment for our students.

1. Literate Environment Analysis
Megan Huskins Walden University EDUC 6707 The Beginning Reader K-3

2. It is not about WHAT we are teaching…. It is about WHO we are teaching!
(Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.a)

3. Getting to Know Literacy Learners K-3
•The better we know our students, the better we can affect them in profound ways (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.a)
•Reading assessment helps teachers to understand the strengths of each of our students (Afflerbach, 2012).
•Assessment should focus on both the cognitive (skills and strategies) and non-cognitive (motivation, self-confidence, interests, and attitudes) (Afflerbach, 2012).
•Monitoring our students daily we can learn about our students, ourselves, and the impact of our teaching (Tompkins, 2010)
•Effective teachers are “kid watchers” (Tompkins, 2010).
What does research say about getting to know our students?

4. Getting to Know Literacy Learners K-3
How has this knowledge helped me to create a literate environment?
•I have incorporated more opportunities in my classroom to really get to know my students including: a class scrapbook, incorporating student interviews, and use of a the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS).
•I take the opportunity to observe my students and collect assessment data more frequently. This is both formal and informal in nature.
•I use the data I have gathered (cognitive, non-cognitive, informal, and formal) to create learning opportunities for my students that are based on their needs as readers and writers.

5. What does research say about selecting texts for our students?
Selecting Texts
•A literacy matrix can be helpful in selecting texts that are beneficial to our students (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.b)
•Texts range from narrative (stories) to informational (nonfiction) and from linguistic(those with only words) to semiotic(those with only pictures) (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.b).
•By using the matrix you can insure that you are getting a full representation of book types for your students (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.b).
•Using texts for authentic purposes increases student interest in material and their motivation to read (Duke, 2004).

6. Research also says that…
Selecting Texts
•There are text factors that can influence how easy or difficult it is to read a text.
•The three most important text factors are:
•Genre (the type of text)
•Text Structure (how the text is organized)
•Text features
• Knowledge about text factors makes comprehension easier for students. (Tompkins, 2010)

7. Selecting Texts
How has this knowledge helped me to create a literate environment?
•It has helped me to select a books for my students that vary both in content and structure.
•I have come to understand the necessity of explicitly teaching my students about text factors in order to increase their comprehension.
•I understand that text selection plays a key role in student motivation and have taken this into consideration as I choose texts for my student.

8. There are three instructional perspectives on literacy learning.
Literacy Perspectives
Interactive perspective
•Focuses on reading and writing accurately, fluently, and with comprehension.
•Students are taught to be strategic and metacognitive readers and writers Critical perspective
•Focuses on judging, evaluating, and thinking critically about text. Response perspective
•Focuses on reading, reacting, and responding to text in a variety of meaningful ways.

9. Literacy Perspectives
Depending on the students, the text, and the circumstances we need to change the perspective in order to create well- rounded readers who want to read. (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.c)

10. What does research say about the interactive perspective?
Interactive Perspective
•The primary focus of the interactive perspective is teaching students HOW to read (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.c).
•The goal is to create literate learners who can navigate the textural world without the constant support of the teacher (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.c)
•The interactive perspective focus on skills students need in order to read.
•Phonics: blending sounds to form words
•Phonemic awareness: hearing and manipulating sounds in oral language
•Fluency: reading quickly, accurately, and with expression
•Comprehension: understanding what we read (Tompkins, 2010)

11. How has this knowledge helped me to create a literate environment?
Interactive Perspective
•I have become aware that much of my literacy instruction is based upon the interactive perspective.
•I am using my knowledge of beginning readers and my understanding of the interactive perspective to plan and implement guided reading lessons that are based on the needs of each of my students.
•Throughout the guided reading lessons I focus on skills such as activating prior knowledge, sight word recognition, phonics, and comprehension.

12. What does research say about the critical and response perspectives?
Critical & Response Perspectives
Critical perspective:
•The critical perspective teaches students to think beyond the text (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.c)
•The questions asked of readers need to go beyond the who, what, when, and where questions to deeper questions that go beyond the print on the page (Meller, Richardson, & Hatch, 2009).
Response perspective:
•Allows for students to bring their meaning to text and, ultimately, to create a more personal, deeper meaning (Durand, Howell, Schumacher, & Sutton, 2008)

13. How has this knowledge helped me to create a more literate environment?
Critical & Response Perspectives
•I have thinking more carefully about the types of questions I am asking my students when reading aloud to them.
•I have been creating more opportunities for my students to respond to texts in ways that are meaningful to them.
•I have begun to use Reader Response journals to help students make connections to the text.

14. What have I learned about creating a more literate environment?
•I need to get to know my literacy learners.
•I need to be more mindful when selecting texts for my students.
•My teaching should incorporate all three literacy perspectives in order to create well-rounded readers who want to read.

15. References
Afflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and using reading assessment, K–12 (2nd ed). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Durand, C., Howell, R., Schumacher, L. A., & Sutton, J. (2008). Using interactive read-alouds and reader response to shape students' concept of care. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 36(1), 22–29. Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.a). Getting to know your students. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.b). Analyzing and selecting text [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.c). Interactive perspective: Strategic processing. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu Meller, W., Richardson, D., & Hatch, J., Using read-alouds with critical literacy literature in k-3 classrooms. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/using-read- alouds-critical-literacy-literature-k-3-classrooms Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.