Presented to CT K8 Methods Institute 2009: Strategies for strengthening literacy, connecting to English/Language Arts outcomes

1. Building Literacy in K-8
World Language Programs
Lynn Fulton-Archer
Richmond Drive Elementary (SC)
fulton.lynn@gmail.com
http://lynnfulton.wikispaces.com

2. Literacy Components
1. Exposure to language
2. Awareness of print
3. Access to texts
4. Comprehension instruction

3. Exposure to Language
Literacy research tells us
• the single most important activity for
building the knowledge for eventual
success in literacy is reading aloud to
children.
• understanding oral language must
precede recognition of written
language.

4. Exposure to Language
World Language practices include
• weekly read-alouds in the media center
for all students.
– Open to all students (K-5)
– Held before morning bell rings
– Stories tied to unit content
– Language teacher and curriculum
specialist working together

5. Exposure to Language
Student impact shown through
• rising numbers of students attending
the read-alouds.
• students commenting on the content of
the story throughout the day.
• heritage learners expressing more
interest in reading in their native
language.

6. Exposure to Language
World Language practices include
• teachers providing instruction and
classroom management exclusively in
the target language.
– Extensive visuals
– Language Ladders
– Gouin Series’

7. Awareness of Print
Literacy research tells us
• students need to hear words first then
have multiple opportunities to see them.
• associating text to image helps students
process language and make meaning.

8. Awareness of Print
World Language practices include
• providing functional print
e.g., high-frequency written language
used to function in class, work with
content.
• surrounding students with
environmental print
via authentic materials, e.g., real-world
examples of the target language in use,
oftentimes above the level of the
student.

9. Awareness of Print
World Language practices include
• creating clusters of bulletin boards on
each grade-level hall.
– Filled with text and images students
are learning in a unit
– Used as thematic webs for organizing
content, help build a bank of site
words for students
– Highlight student writing
– Spotlight on authentic materials

11. text / image associations

12. Exposure to Print
thematic organizer

13. Exposure to Print
student writing

14. Exposure to Print
authentic materials / print

15. Awareness of Print
World Language practices include
• frequent use of individual whiteboards
– Used during classroom lessons
– Allow students to write and self-
correct
– Encourage students to manipulate the
language on their own
– Connect to more kinesthetic learners

18. Access to Texts
Literacy research tells us
• students need access to books at a
variety of levels.
• independent reading is an important
part of the literacy development
process.

19. Access to Texts
World Language practices include
• creating mini-libraries in each classroom
– Filled with books related to the
content of each unit, including the
culminating story for the unit
– Provide books at several levels
– Allow for checkout
– Created pre-reading questions and
post-reading surveys

20. Access to Texts
Pre-reading Questions
– Prompt thought about the text
– Predict based on picture walk
– Suggest a strategy to help
Post-reading Survey
– Comprehension check (varied)
– Perceived success with the book
– Strategy they used to help

21. Access to Texts
Types of books
• Non-fiction
• Literary non-fiction
• Fiction
• Riddles
• ABC Books
• Magazines and Readers

23. Comprehension Instruction
Literacy research tells us
• students must be taught how to access
information in a text – they should not
be left guessing how to comprehend.
• using a variety of strategies helps
students understand texts with more
clarity.

24. Comprehension Instruction
World Language practices include
• teaching comprehension strategies
– Joint lessons lead by the Spanish
teacher / Curriculum Specialist
– Quarterly presentations focusing on
one of the four strategies
– Work with grade-level teachers to
reinforce during ELA block

25. Comprehension Instruction
Literacy strategies include
Schema
activating background knowledge
Context Cues
visual and textual aids
Inference
predicting what comes next
Connecting
to self, world, other texts

26. Comprehension Instruction
Strategies Lesson Plan
• Present one strategy per lesson and
ask students what they already know
about it.
• Read a text together, asking students to
consciously apply that strategy.
• Have students reflect out loud about
their use of that strategy in
comprehending the text.

27. Comprehension Sequence
Pre-reading Questions
– Prompt thought about the text
– Predict based on visuals
– Suggest a strategy to help

28. Comprehension Sequence
Reading Activities
– Skim for cognates
– Scan for specific information
– Read for detail
– Use graphic organizers to assist with
comprehension

29. Comprehension Sequence
Post-reading Survey
– Comprehension checks
– Student-perceived success with the
text
– Student reactions to the text

30. Comprehension Frameworks
World Language practices include
• teaching comprehension frameworks to
help students navigate texts
– SOAPS
– Annolighting
– Reciprocal Teaching

31. Comprehension Frameworks
SOAPS
• S = speaker
• O = occasion
• A = audience
• P = purpose
• S = subject

32. Comprehension Frameworks
Annolighting
• Highlight the main idea
• Underline supporting details
• Annotate to the side

33. Comprehension Frameworks
Reciprocal Teaching
• Predict
• Question
• Clarify
• Summarize

34. Literacy through Song
Curriculum Cornerstone
3 songs integrated into each unit
– Reach musical learners
– Combine language and rhythm
– Provides contextualized repetition
– Help connect oral language to text
with songbooks and visuals

35. Literacy through Song
Curriculum Cornerstone
3 songs integrated into each unit
– Serve as point of departure for
interpersonal activities
– Students can write their own verses to
the song to follow-up
– Singing a line or humming the melody
prompts student recall

37. Measuring Results
• NOELLA (National Online Early
Language Learning Assessment)
• MAP (Measure of Academic Progress)
• State Standardized test scores

38. Literacy in the Curriculum
Appropriate literacy practices
• surround students with comprehensible
written and spoken language.
• empower students to successfully
navigate a text with appropriate
strategies.
• encourage students to focus on what
they do understand and not what they
don’t.

39. "There are perhaps no days of
our childhood we lived so fully as
those we spent with a favorite
book."
~Marcel Proust

40. Building Literacy Across the
FLES Curriculum
Lynn Fulton-Archer
Richmond Drive Elementary (SC)
fulton.lynn@gmail.com
http://lynnfulton.wikispaces.com