Literate Environment Analysis Presentation for Walden University EDUC 6706: The Beginning Reader, PreK-12

1. LITERATE ENVIRONMENT
ANALYSIS
BY: MS. SARA JACOBS
WALDEN UNIVERSITY
INSTRUCTOR: DR. PHYLLIS MCCULLY
EDUC 6706: THE BEGINNING READER, PREK-3
DECEMBER 15, 2013

2. FRAMEWORK FOR LITERACY INSTRUCTION
• Getting to Know Literacy Learners
• Selecting Texts
• Literacy Instruction
• Interactive Perspective
• Critical Perspective
• Response Perspective

3. GETTING TO KNOW LITERACY LEARNERS
• Getting to know your students is extremely important.
This can be
achieved through different types of assessments. Assessment results
give the teacher pertinent information about their students which helps
them guide and differentiate their instruction.
• Assessments fall into two categories:
• Cognitive
• Non-cognitive

4. GETTING TO KNOW LITERACY LEARNERS
~ COGNITIVE ASSESSMENTS ~
•
Cognitive assessments determine each student’s level of skill and
development and can be conducted formally or informally. “Reading
assessment informs timely reading instruction and plays a vital role in
fostering growth” (Afflerbach, 2010, p.1). Reading inventories can provide
information related to phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
and comprehension (Afflerbach, 2010, p. 27-29).
•
•
Formative Assessments – Administered throughout a unit of study
Summative Assessments – A final project, performance task, or assessment
concluding a unit of study.

5. GETTING TO KNOW LITERACY LEARNERS
~ COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT EXAMPLES
~
• WRAP (Writing and Reading Assessment Profile)
• DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment)
• Sight Word Assessments
• CELDT (California English Language Development Test)
• Exit Slips
• Observations of Student Activity

6. GETTING TO KNOW LITERACY LEARNERS
~ NON-COGNITIVE ASSESSMENTS ~
• Assessing a child as a whole is important.
Non-cognitive
assessments assess the “other” which are factors that can contribute
to defining students as literacy learners in addition to their skills and
developmental levels. These factors include level of motivation and
engagement, self-conceptions, agency, interests, and attitudes
(Afflerbach, 2010, p. 171). Using these assessments can aid in
increasing engagement and learning during literacy.

7. GETTING TO KNOW LITERACY LEARNERS
~ NON-COGNITIVE ASSESSMENTS
EXAMPLES ~
• ERAS (Elementary Reading and Attitude Survey) (McKenna & Kear,
1990)
• Literacy Autobiographies (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010d)

8. SELECTING TEXTS
• There is an overabundance of resources to use when it comes to
choosing a text for literacy instruction.
• The Literacy Matrix Tool allows for teachers to be more conscious
when it comes to selecting texts. Teachers should analyze texts by
using the matrix to see if there is a well-rounded balance of text
selection (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a).

9. SELECTING TEXTS
~ LITERACY MATRIX 2-D ~
• Dr. Douglas Hartman’s Two-Dimensional Literacy Matrix allows
teachers to analyze texts they are selecting to use during their literacy
block.
• Each text will fall into one of four quadrants on this matrix based on
being Narrative or Informational AND Linguistic or Semiotic.
(Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a)

10. SELECTING TEXTS
~ LITERACY MATRIX 3-D ~
• Dr. Janice Almasi suggests adding a third dimension to Dr. Hartman’s
2-D matrix: Text Difficulty.
• Each text can be additionally placed on a scale of Hard to Easy.
• This is determined by readability, text length, text structure, size of print, visual
supports, and concept density.
(Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a)

11. LITERACY INSTRUCTION
•
Although there are good literacy programs available, teachers are the most
important part of literacy instruction and make the difference. It is important
to continually grow professionally as an educator (Laureate Education, Inc.,
2010f).
•
There are three perspectives that create a framework for quality instruction.
• Interactive Perspective
• Critical Perspective
• Response Perspective

12. LITERACY INSTRUCTION
~ INTERACTIVE PERSPECTIVE ~
• The Interactive Perspective focuses on reading and writing accurately,
fluently, and with comprehension. This includes components known
as “the five pillars:” phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary,
fluency, and comprehension (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010g).
• This perspective also teaches students how to be strategic and
metacognitive in their reading and writing. The strategic process must
be threaded through all five pillars and allow students to choose the
best and most efficient strategy (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010c).

13. LITERACY INSTRUCTION
~ INTERACTIVE PERSPECTIVE
EXAMPLES ~
• Choral Reading (Tompkins, 2010, p. 430)
• Interactive Writing (Tompkins, 2010, p. 440)
• K-W-L Charts (Tompkins, 2010, p. 441)
• Making Words (Tompkins, 2010, p. 447)

14. LITERACY INSTRUCTION
~ CRITICAL & RESPONSE
PERSPECTIVE ~
• The Critical Perspective teaches students to critically evaluating text,
judging the validity or veracity of text, evaluating websites for
credibility, and critically viewing multiple perspectives (Laureate
Education, Inc., 2010b).
• The Response Perspective defines a reader’s transaction with a text
and how they are forever transformed after reading a text (Laureate
Education, Inc., 2010e).

15. LITERACY INSTRUCTION
~ CRITICAL & RESPONSE PERSPECTIVE
EXAMPLES ~
• Interactive Read-Alouds (Tompkins, 2010, p. 439)
• Think-Alouds (Tompkins, 2010, p. 473)

16. REFERENCES
•
Afflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and using reading assessment, K–12 (2nd ed.). Newark,
DE: International Reading Association.
•
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010a). Analyzing and selecting text [Video webcast].
Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweb
apps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4065554_1%
26url%3D
•
Laureate Education, Inc. (Prodcer). (2010b). Critical perspective [Video webcast]. Retrieved
from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweb
apps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4065554_1%
26url%3D
•
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010c). Interactive perspective: Strategic processing
[Video webcast]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweb
apps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4065554_1%
26url%3D

17. REFERENCES
•
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010e). Response perspective [Video webcast].
Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweb
apps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4065554_1%
26url%3D
•
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010f). Teacher development in literacy education
[Video webcast]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweb
apps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3398951_1%
26url%3D
•
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010g). The stages of reading development [Video
webcast]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweb
apps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3398951_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.