This document describes how to create a literate classroom environment that encourages reading and writing. Key aspects include providing a classroom library and individual reading spots, conducting daily reading and writing workshops, and conferencing with students. Assessments are used to understand students' reading abilities and interests in order to differentiate instruction. A variety of texts, including print, digital and websites, are selected based on students' levels and interests. The interactive perspective is discussed as a framework that teaches strategic reading, writing and comprehension skills through approaches like shared reading and guided reading. An example is provided of how this perspective was used in small group literacy instruction.

1. Analysis of a Literate Environment
Heather Myers
Walden University
Dr. Denise Love
EDUC 6706 R-4
December 16, 2011

2. Creating a Literate Environment
A literate environment is one that encourages
readers and writers to use the cognitive skills
and strategies they have acquired to critically
evaluate and personally respond to text.

3. How Do I Create a Literate Environment?
The environment in my classroom encourages students’ literacy in a
variety of ways. I have a classroom collection of books that students have
unlimited access to. Each student has his or her own private reading and
writing spot in the classroom where they spend time daily. Students also
participate in Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop daily. Both
Workshops typically begin with a mini-lesson that addresses a specific skill or
strategy. During Reading Workshop students are then involved in literacy
activities that include Silent Reading, Word Work, Response Journals, and
Small Group Reading Time. Writer’s Workshop provides students time to
draft, write, edit, rewrite, and publish their own stories. Since conferencing is
such an important element in Language Arts instruction, I take time every day
to meet with individual students so that they can share with me about their
reading and writing.

4. How Do I Create A Literate Environment
(continued)
In the video Perspectives On Early Literacy, Dr. Dorothy
Strickland points out that students must be active participants
in their literacy learning experience, and their development is
fed by responsive adults (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). The
environment in my classroom, partnered with daily Reading
and Writing Workshop, allows me to spend time discussing
and sharing with students as they are active participants in
their literacy development.

5. Getting to Know Your Literacy Learners
Highly effective teachers differentiate literacy instruction using research
based strategies that meet the needs of individual students in the classroom. For
students to be successful in their literacy development, teachers must know the
stage of development at which the child is performing academically. It is equally
important that the teacher know about the student’s personal interests and
understand what motivates that student to want to learn. In the video Getting to
Know Your Students, Dr. Janice Almasi reminds us that children need to feel
valued. For this to happen, teachers must get to know each student in terms of
their interests, motivation, and background knowledge. Knowing the types of
things that uniquely represent each student allows us to cater our instruction to
the individual (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

6. How Do I Get To Know Literacy Learners?
There are many ways to get to know students. In addition to spending time
talking and sharing with students, I use a variety of reading inventories and
motivation assessments to deepen my understanding of each student and guide my
instruction. The assessments used for the students I worked with during this course
are the following:
* The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey ( McKenna & Kear, 1990)
* The Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, and Mazzoni, 1996)
* Rigby PM Benchmark Kit: A Reading Assessment Resource for
Grades K-5 (Nelley & Smith, 2000)
.

7. How Do I Get To Know Literacy Learners?
(continued)
By using these particular assessments, I am able to learn
more about how students view themselves as readers and
writers. I also gain insight into what motivates and interests
these students so that I am able to make their learning
experiences engaging.

8. Selecting Texts
Selecting texts that match individual students’
ability levels and personal interests is an important
component of effective literacy instruction.
Teachers must provide students with a variety of
texts, both in print and digital form, so that the
children are exposed to the different ways text can
be accessed, chosen, and utilized. Skills and
strategies for how to read, use, and comprehend
different texts should also be included in one’s
literacy instruction. It is important that teachers
select interesting texts that are aligned with where
a student is performing and show that student the
various ways a particular text can enhance their
literacy development.

9. Selecting Texts
(continued)
In the video Analyzing and Selecting Texts , Dr. Douglas
Hartman introduces a Literacy Matrix that allows teachers to
monitor the types of texts they are choosing. The Literacy Matrix
works off of continuums that address informational and narrative
text as well as whether a book is more semiotic or linguistic in
nature. Finally, the Literacy Matrix considers the difficulty level of a
text in comparison to the students’ reading ability. These elements
of the Literacy Matrix are designed to ensure that students are being
exposed to a good balance of texts (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).
In order to choose texts that will be engaging and meaningful for a
student, teachers should use what they know about the student and
choose texts with the Literacy Matrix in mind.

10. How Do I Select Texts?
Selecting the appropriate texts for individual students is important. The texts
that I chose for the students I worked with during this course matched their ability
levels and personal interests as determined by the Rigby Assessment and the
Motivational Assessments given . Each of the boys in the group had previously
expressed an interest in penguins, so I chose one informational text, one narrative
text, and one website that all had to do with penguins. Each of these texts was also
within the readability range of each of the boys in the group. The informational text
chosen was Penguins: Nature’s Coolest Birds by F. Stout. This text had interesting
information about penguins as well as wonderful pictures that accompanied the
information. The narrative text I chose for the students was A Penguin Pup for
Pinkerton by S. Kellogg. In this story, the children join the family of Pinkerton the
dog as he longs for a penguin of his own to raise. As the author tells the story, he
infuses it with a good deal of factual information about penguins. The book also
appealed to the boys as there was a sports element and a good deal of humor
throughout the story.

11. How Do I Select Texts?
(continued)
The final text I chose to use with the boys was a Penguin Fact Index that
came from a website called Kidzone. On this site, the boys were able to
read about penguins, see pictures and video footage of penguins, and do
some games and activities related to penguins. Using this site showed the
boys how the internet can be used to gain information about a particular
topic. The texts I chose for the group I worked with were chosen
intentionally and carefully. As I chose what texts to use, I referred to the
Literacy Matrix to make sure that I was using a balance of texts for the
lessons I taught. I also wanted to make sure that I chose texts that the
students would find informational as well as engaging. In the video
Analyzing and Selecting Texts, Dr. Douglas Hartman reminds us that by
using what we know about students, as well as the Literacy Matrix, one is
able to choose texts that match the individual learner, their needs, and the
goals you set for them to achieve (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

12. Interactive Perspective
The Interactive Perspective is designed to help students learn
how to read, comprehend, and write about a variety of texts fluidly
and with understanding. This perspective highlights strategic
processing skills that cover phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
comprehension, and vocabulary, also known as the Five Pillars of
Literacy Instruction as reviewed in the video The Beginning Reader
(Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). Features of writing are also an
integral part of this perspective. This perspective teaches students
metacognitive skills that lead them to think about the strategies
they need to use to read and comprehend text.

13. Interactive Perspective
(continued)
Instructional methods used in the Interactive Perspective should
“address the cognitive and affective needs of students and the
demands of the particular text” as explained in the Framework for
Literacy Instruction featured in the video Changes in Literacy
Education (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). As Dr. Sue Bredekamp
points out in the video Developing Language and Literacy, as
students advance in their literacy development there are times when
skills and strategies need to be taught directly, as well as times that
students must initiate the course their learning and understanding
will take (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

14. Interactive Perspective
(continued)
The Interactive Perspective uses a variety of approaches.
Some examples of such approaches are shared reading, guided
reading, read aloud, and word study. In the video Interactive
Perspective: Strategic Processing the goal of the Interactive
Perspective is stated as being to show students how to use the
literacy skills and strategies they have acquired to maneuver
through text independently (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010)

15. How Did I Use The Interactive
Perspective?
The small group I worked with during this course participated in a
learning experience that used the Interactive Perspective. The children in
the group are all currently working at the same level of ability, so the
lessons were designed having taken that level of ability into consideration.
This learning activity spanned over the course of four days. On Day One,
we engaged in a type of Guided Reading activity using the narrative text A
Penguin Pup for Pinkerton by S. Kellogg where we explored the various
phonological features of words we encountered in the text. I used
observational data, that I collected as the students worked, to assess their
fluency, decoding skills, and use of metacognitive strategies as they
predicted, read, and commented on the text.

16. How Did I Use The Interactive Perspective?
(continued)
On Day Two, the group used the informational text Penguins:
Nature’s Coolest Birds by F. Stout to examine how to use the
features of informational text to read and comprehend. We also
looked at specific vocabulary associated with penguins. Students
were assessed on their ability to gather information about penguins
from the text and share facts that they learned from their reading.
Day Three found the group using the Kidzone website to gather
information about penguins and compare and contrast it to
information we already knew about penguins. As students worked, I
observed students’ ability to navigate through the website to gather
information and made notes on their ability to do so.

17. How Did I Use The Interactive Perspective
(continued)
Day Four, the final day of the learning experience, had students writing
an informational paragraph about penguins using the information gathered
in Days One through Three. A rubric was used to assess the students’
paragraphs. The rubric specifically looked at the structure of the paragraph
and the validity of the facts included in the paragraph. There were a few
different goals for this learning experience. One goal was for the students
to use cognitive skills and strategies they have in place to decode words
they are unfamiliar with. Another goal was for students to broaden their
knowledge of effective ways to use text features to gather and
comprehend information.

18. How Did I Use The Interactive Perspective
(continued)
A final goal of this learning experience using the Interactive
Perspective was for students to write a well composed paragraph
that exhibited their comprehension of a particular topic. In the
video Interactive Perspective: Read Aloud, we are reminded that
the Interactive Perspective provides teachers with opportunities
to use a variety of research based strategies within their
instruction (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). The variety of
instructional methods used during these lessons were intended
to help these students advance in their literacy development.

19. Critical Perspective
The Critical Perspective examines the viewpoint that the
reader has toward a particular text. According to the
Framework for Literacy Instruction, the Critical Perspective
allows students to “judge, evaluate, and think critically about
text”. Kellie Molden summarizes the Critical Perspective in the
article Critical Literacy, The Right Answer For The Reading
Classroom: Strategies To Move Beyond Comprehension For
Reading Improvement when she points out that the Critical
Perspective encourages the reader to reflect on the text and
allow themselves to be changed as a result of that text. Molden
also challenges readers to use that reflection of the text to act
and react within the world around us (2007).

20. How Did I Use The Critical Perspective?
I designed a learning experience that used the Critical Perspective for
the group I was working with during this course. In this lesson we used the
narrative text A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton by S. Kellogg. The group is
very familiar with this text which means that we did not have to focus on
skills covered under the Five Pillars of Literacy Instruction as reviewed in
the video The Beginning Reader (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). Instead,
we will be able to focus solely on how to think critically about a text. In the
lesson, the students and I began with a type of Grand Conversation as
described in Gail Tompkins book Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced
Approach (2010). During this time we shared our opinions about various
features of this particular text. We then moved into a form of Question-
Answer- Relationship (Tompkins, 2010) activity where I asked the children
specific questions about the text and they each shared their thoughts and
judgments about what I was asking.

21. How Did I Use The Critical Perspective?
(continued)
After the students shared and debated their critical evaluations of this
text, we closed the lesson reviewing the importance of using the Critical
Perspective when they read. I assessed the students’ ability to think
critically about a text based on observational notes that I made. In the
video Critical Perspective, Dr. Janice Almasi explains the importance of
teaching children to use the Critical Perspective as they read. Dr. Almasi
tells us that teaching students to think this way is a key component of their
literacy development. The critical examination of text causes the reader to
consider, in depth, the meaning of the text and how it affects them and the
world around them (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

22. Response Perspective
The Response Perspective allows students to personally respond to
text. Within this perspective, students are looking for ways that they
connected to the text on a personal level. The connections may have
to do with other texts they have read, things that are going on in the
world around them, or things that have happened to them personally
that allow them to identify closely with a particular text. In the video
Response Perspective Dr. Janice Almasi stresses the importance of
giving students opportunities to make personal connections with texts
and the characters or subject matter within them. These connections
made within the Response Perspective can make life changing
impressions on a reader (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

23. How Did I Use The Response Perspective?
The final lesson that I did with the group I had been working with
during this course involved the Response Perspective. Responding to text is
something that we do in class often. Part of the students’ Reader’s
Workshop deals with reader response activities, so the Response
Perspective is one that this group is very familiar with. In this response
lesson, the group was asked to recall the book A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton
by S. Kellogg and think specifically about Pinkerton and his thoughts and
feelings throughout the book. Together we went through the text page by
page and the children shared their ideas about what Pinkerton was thinking
and feeling. I then asked the students if they could identify with any of
Pinkerton’s thoughts and emotions. The children were given time to share
personal connections they were making to Pinkerton and the different
emotions he felt as they story was told.

24. How Did I Use The Response Perspective?
(continued)
At the close of the lesson, I told the students that they were
going to write their personal responses to the text. Since this group
of students sometimes has difficulty getting started with their
writing, I gave them a list of response prompts to choose from. Once
each child chose a prompt, a personal response to the text was
written. I assessed the children’s ability to make personal
connections to a given text based on observational notes made
throughout our discussion and based on the personal responses that
were written.

25. Promoting Literacy Development
Highly effective teachers create environments where students are
surrounded by literacy opportunities. These teachers use instructional
methods that employ the Interactive, Critical, and Response Perspectives to
enhance student learning. It is important that teachers take time to get to
know their students both academically and personally as this knowledge
will play a major role in the texts that are selected for each child’s learning
experiences. In the video Perspectives on Literacy Learning teachers are
reminded that our main goals should be to teach children how to read, how
to think while they are reading, and how to respond to the text in ways that
represent what the text means to them and who they are (Laureate
Education, Inc., 2010).

26. How Do I Promote Literacy?
In my classroom, I promote literacy in many different ways. Through my
instructional practices, I use research based approaches to create learning
experiences that are engaging and meaningful in terms of students’ literacy
development. The time that we spend in Reading and Writing Workshop
provides independent and shared literacy experiences for the students. Also,
being able to conference with students one on one allows me to not only
assess their growth academically; but, it gives me insight into their interests
and the things that motivate them to want to learn. As Dr. Dorothy
Strickland reminds us in the video Perspectives on Early Literacy (Laureate
Education, Inc., 2010), a large part of a child’s literacy development is
building a sense of who they are and how they fit in the world. I can think
of no greater gift than to know that I contributed to a child’s realization that
they are valued and important.

27. References
Gambrell, L.B., Palmer, B.M., Codling, R.M., & Mazzoni, S.A. (1996). Assessing motivation to read.
The Reading Teacher, 49(7), 518-533.
Kellog, S. (2001). A penguin pup for Pinkerton. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Analyzing and selecting texts {Webcast}. The
beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Changes in literacy education {Webcast}. The
beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Critical perspective {Webcast}. The beginning
reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Developing language and literacy {Webcast}.
The beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Getting to know your students {Webcast}. The
beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Interactive perspective: Read aloud {Webcast}.
The beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Interactive perspective: Strategic processing
Webcast}. The beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Perspectives on early literacy {Webcast}. The
beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.

28. References
(continued)
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Perspectives on literacy learning
{Webcast}. The beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Response perspective {Webcast}. The
beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). The beginning reader {Webcast}. The
beginning reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
McKenna, M.C. & Kear, D.J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers.
The Reading Teacher, 43 (9), 626-639.
Nelley, E., Smith, A. (2000). Rigby PM benchmark kit: A reading assessment resource for grades K-
5. Melbourne, Australia: Nelson.
Penguin Fact Index. Retrieved fromhttp://www.kidzone.ws/animals/penguins/facts.htm.
Stout, F. (2009). Penguins: Nature’s coolest birds. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group.
Tompkins, G. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach. Boston, MA: Allyn and
Bacon.