Kindergarten teacher's balanced literacy classroom

Editor's Notes

1. “ Ultimately, instruction must be informed by how children learn and how they can best be taught.” As stated by (Strickland, 1998, p.52)
2. Tancock, S. (2010). Lecture #1. Ball State University: Muncie, IN.
3. Shared Reading enjoyment develops a sense of story provides a venue to teach strategies for decoding and comprehension. Guided reading allows growth provides opportunity for success students do “reading work” at their instructional level with support and guidance Students read and process with only one or two places to wok or problem solve Independent Reading Enjoyment Practice applying what’s been taught in shared and guided reading Promotes fluency and comprehension The more you read, the better reader you become Read Aloud Develops a sense of story Massive exposure to oral language and book language Provides a model of good reading Increases vocabulary A venue to model comprehension strategies Word/Letter Study Develops phonemic awareness Develops relationship between known words to assist in reading and writing unknown words Provides word solving strategies Interactive/Shared Writing Increases phonics skills needed in reading and writing. Increases spelling and vocabulary Models taught processes for writing Many teaching opportunities (linking to something you know, saying words slowly to record sounds, clapping syllables, etc.) Text produced can be used in shared reading Writer’s Workshop Orchestrates growth in writing and reading Increases writers’ abilities to produce a variety of texts Provides support and encourages risk taking as students attempt to compose new forms of writing. Student choice in writing topics An approach that allows the teaching of the writing process.
4. Shared Reading: Teacher reads and students follow or join in. Every child should be able to see the reading material (as in a big book, chart, projector, etc.) Guided Reading Groups: every student is reading at some time during the day at his/her instructional level with an adult to prompt and teach. Teacher selects books and supports children reading. Each student reads the text. Specific reading strategies are taught. Independent Reading: Children read a variety of materials with majority of reading done at their independent level. Read Aloud: Teacher reads to students. Word/Letter Study: Phonemic awareness is taught, Students manipulate and hear sounds and rhymes, Students learn letters, letter sounds, visual features of letters, formation of letters, that letters make words, and how words work. Interactive/shared Writing: teacher composes text with students’ input. Teacher and students share pen while composing, May be done in small group or entire class. Writer’s Workshop: Mini Lesson-teacher Writing time- students write while teacher conferences. Share
5. I spent several weeks at the beginning of the school year establishing the routines and procedures for independent learning, so I could work uninterrupted with my Guided Reading groups. However, I find that many still can not remain engaged for 40 minutes at a time, so I do one group before recess, and one group after recess. Following our recess break, I may reassemble the Guided reading groups, read aloud to the class, or move right into the writing workshop. I make every effort to provide a balance of student self-selected writing, teacher assignments, and journals and learning logs. My writing workshop always begins with a short lesson, which may take the form of modeled or interactive writing, or may be literature related. And it always ends with a sharing opportunity during Author's Chair. When my kiddos walk into my room they know there will be predictable routines, they will experience success, be supported by their teacher, and make achievements against the odds. As students arrive my classroom each day, they know to select a book and read or browse until it is time for the shared literacy experiences. When the morning procedures, such as attendance and agendas, are complete I begin my literacy workshop. Depending on my learning objectives, I will begin with shared writing, shared reading, or read-aloud. A language experience activity can serve as both shared reading and shared or interactive writing. Sometimes I will use this time for the daily read-aloud of a piece of literature or non-fiction that matches both the theme I am teaching and the learning objectives I have selected for my students. Because this is a whole-class learning time, I ensure these activities provide multiple levels of learning. Following the shared literacy workshop, the students engage in independent learning routines while I work with small needs-based groups for Guided Reading instruction.
6. Tancock, S. (2009). Lecture #1. Ball State University: Muncie, IN. Flexible grouping is when a cluster of students all need to practice the same skill. Whole group is used for shared reading and writing lessons and learning procedures. Ability grouping is when all students are on the same level. Interest groups will be when a group of students are all interested in learning about the same thing. Heterogeneous groups will most likely be used for open ended activities, such as, writing projects, or when learning a new concept.
7. It is important the we develop common rubrics to assess student writing at each grade level. This will allow us to identify anchor pieces at for each level of the rubric. Then in our PLC meetings we can evaluate and reflect on student work.