This document discusses creating a literate environment for early literacy learners. It emphasizes that literacy programs should be based on students' interests and abilities. The classroom should foster a safe, respectful community where the teacher and students work as a team to support each other's learning. Getting to know individual students involves assessments, observations, conferences and understanding their backgrounds. Text selection is also important and should expose students to a variety of genres from narrative to informational. Interactive reading helps develop comprehension and critical thinking skills that students will continue to build upon.

1. Deborah Lince
Walden University
EDUC – 6706G-4:
The Beginning Reader, PreK-3

2. What is a Literate Environment?
 "Construction of a literacy program starts with the students. The
program should be based on their interests, their abilities, and the
nature of the community in which they live" (Gunning, 2008, pp.
533-534).
 “The classroom community should feel safe and respectful so
students are motivated to learn and actively involved in reading and
writing activities. Perhaps the most striking quality is the
partnership that the teacher and students create: They become a
„family‟ in which all the members respect one another and support
each other‟s learning” (Tompkins, 2010, p. 116).

3. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
 As kindergarteners, most of my students are developing
as literacy learners. Unfortunately, for some, this is their
first exposure to reading. Being able to determine the
noncognitive aspects of each student provides critical
additional information. Assessments are only one piece
of the puzzle; observations, conferences, and familial
history are all factors in what creates a literary learner.
As each puzzle piece is placed, the big picture begins to
form so that individualized instruction can occur and
student success can be achieved. "By linking
assessment and instruction, teachers improve students'
learning and their teaching" (Tompkins, 2010, p. 75).

4. Key assessments include:
 Phonics (upper and lowercase letter identification and sounds)
 Phonemic awareness (rhyme, long vowels, blending, initial and
ending sounds)
 36 high frequency words
 Concepts of print (front and back cover, holds book, title, turns
pages, identifies a letter, word, and sentence, identifying the job of the
author and illustrator, and directionality).
 Letter identification and sounds guide daily instruction.
 DIBELS
Connections are made in handwriting, calendar, and in letters of the
week to help increase awareness. Coordination with the ELL
instructor occurs to further support ELL students. This ensures that
they are receiving proper support and instruction based on their level
of English understanding.

5. Text Selection

6.  "We are surrounded by text whose primary
purpose is to convey information about the
natural or social world. Success in
schooling, the workplace, and society
depends on our ability to comprehend this
material. Yet many children and adults
struggle to comprehend informational text"
(Duke, 2004, p. 40).

7. It is important to be
creative in my lesson
planning. To create units Hard
that expose my students
to all aspects of literacy. Informational
Varying text selections
from linguistic to Linguistic
semiotic and from Semiotic
narrative to informational
will give them well
rounded literary
Narrative
experiences. Integrating Easy
technology is an
important part of
planning my lessons and
delivering my instruction.
Often I must think Laureate Education, Inc., 2011
outside of the box, be
creative, or seek
collaboration.

8. Interactive Perspective
 “Interactive texts teach students how to read and write” (Laureate
Education, Inc., 2011).
 In order to access students‟ comprehension I pulled each student and
asked them a series of questions related to the two fictional narrative
texts and asked them to retrieve one fact learned from the
informational text, Amazing Monkeys. Out of my 10 students all
scored a 4/4 on the comprehension assessment and were able to
retell at least one fact that they had learned about monkeys.

9.  "Comprehension strategies can be important to a
reader because they have the potential to provide
access to knowledge that is removed from personal
experience" (Stahl, 2004, p. 598).
 Upon completion of the assessments, I was able to
circulate around the room and take anecdotal notes
as students read with their partners. I was able to
document students‟ knowledge of the high-
frequency words “I and see”.
 I was also able to see how they interacted with their
partner and if they were displaying all of the
characteristics of good readers.

10. Critical & Response Perspectives
 “Using critical literacy helps pull the power
from the author and makes it an equal
relationship between the author and the reader
by allowing us to see the texts from all
angles, not just believing what is written down”
(Molden, 2007, p.51).

11. Activating my students schema has become a
part of our literary routine. Before we begin a
book, we take time to have a grand conversation
on our topic. During this lesson my students
were introduced to National Geographic Young
Explorer magazine.
They will continue to build upon the concepts
that animals like people need food to live and
grow. Some get their food from plants and some
get it from other animals. They will see that
animals unlike people depend on their
surroundings for their food and water. This will
be accomplished by reading the bi-monthly
publication of National Geographic Young
Explorer.

12. Conclusion
 As I continue to supplement my curriculum with
the wonderful text selections available I am seeing
growth in my students and my teaching practice.
Informational text can be enjoyed just as much as
fictional narrative if given a chance. My students
are learning to analyze texts and to become
critical thinkers. These are important skills that
they will continue to hone throughout their
academic careers. Teaching these skills at the
beginning will enable them to become efficient in
both critical and response perspectives leading to
their ultimate success.

13. References
Bodden, V. (2010). Amazing monkeys. Mankato: Creative Paperbacks.
Duke, N. (2004). The case for informational text. Educational Leadership, 61(6), 40–44.
Gunning, T. G. (2008). Creating literacy instruction for all students (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Analyzing and Selecting Text. [Video webcast]. In The beginning reader: PreK-3. Retrieved from
http://www.courseur.com
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011c). Interactive Perspective: Guided Reading. [Video webcast]. In The beginning reader: PreK-3. Retrieved from
http://www.courseurl.com
Molden, K. (2007). Critical literacy, the right answer for the reading classroom: strategies to move beyond comprehension for reading improvement. Reading
Improvement, 44 (1), 50-56.
National Geographic Kids. (n.d.). Chimpanzees. Retrieved from http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/chimpanzee/
Schroeder, L. (2010). Little chimp's big day. New York: Sterling Publishing Company.
Sprick, M. (2004). Monkey Business. Longmont: Sopris West.
Stahl, K. A. D. (2004). Proof, practice, and promise: Comprehension strategy instruction in the primary grades. Reading Teacher, 57(7), 598–
608.
Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.