1. Literate
Environment
Analysis
by
Kinta Atkins
Walden University
Dr. Gene Pease
EDUC 6706G-9, The Beginning Reader, PreK-3

2. What is a literate environment?
A rich literate environment typically contains
written materials (newspapers, books and
posters), electronic and broadcast media
(radios and TVs), and information and
communications technology (computers and
Internet access) which encourage literacy
acquisition, a reading culture, improved
literacy retention and access to information
(“Literate Environment,” 2010, August 7).

3. Literacy in the United States
In a 2009 study, researchers found that 1 in 7 Americans cannot
read a primary level book (Toppo, 2009).
Access to books is key to reading skills. Studies confirm that
the number of books in the home directly predicts reading
achievement. Children who grew up with books in their homes
reached a higher level of education than those who did not. (Family
Scholarly Culture and Educational Success)
It is up teachers to motivate students to want to read. There
are numerous ways in which to provide students with books both in
and out of the classroom. If we give students the knowledge and
help them to create the desire to read, then our work will be done.

4. There are three components to
creating an effective literate
environment.
• Getting to Know Literary Learners
• Selecting Texts
• Literacy Instructional Practices
Interactive Perspective
Critical Perspective
Response Perspective
This presentation is going to demonstrate how I used these three
components to create a literate environment conducive to learning and
created lessons which help students reach higher levels of
achievement.

5. Getting to Know Literacy
Learners
• Teachers must motivate students to want to read and have fun while
reading.
• Teachers use numerous literacy assessments to determine students’
reading habits, abilities, and styles.
Types of Literary
Assessments
Scholastic Reading Inventory
A computerized assessment which gives the students short passages to
read and measures word recognition and their ability to comprehend.
Each of these literary assessments were used within my lesson
to collect data on my students as well as the three focus
students whom are the center of my lesson – Mary, Tyler, and
Mae.

6. Getting to Know Learners continued …
Once assessments have been made on learners, data collection is the
next step to planning effective instruction. The insights gained from these
assessments allow teachers to increase cognitive and meta-cognitive
strategies to ensure that students comprehend what they are reading
(Tompkins, 2010 p. 261). How children learn and process information is
cognitive processing. It involves thinking. Non-cognitive processing is
information based on students’ interests. The greatest effect of early
childhood programs is on non-cognitive skills, motivation and achievement,
not on IQ” (Harms, 2004).
Much consideration goes into planning cognitive lessons. The
following strategies are examples of cognitive learning.
Cognitive and Meta-cognitive Strategies to ensure
comprehension
activating background knowledge, connecting, determining importance, drawing
conclusions, making inferences, evaluating, monitoring, repairing, setting a purpose,
predicting, questioning, summarizing, visualizing,
(Tompkins, 2010 p. 261)

7. Getting to Know Learners Summary
Getting to know the learners is the first and foremost
important component of creating a literate environment.
In the beginning of the year assessing students through
reading surveys, literacy autobiographies, and reading
inventories are great ways to determine students’
interests, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Through
the data collected, proper planning and instruction can
begin.
This research-based practice has helped me to understand
how useful this data is. In the past, I have collected such
data but failed to gain from it. Now, I have a better
understanding of how to use the information obtained
from the surveys, autobiographies, and inventories.

8. Selecting Texts
Choosing appropriate texts is the key
component to successfully planning and
creating an effective literate environment.
Supplemental texts can hugely enhance
any literate environment. Balancing the
types of texts and text difficulty also play
an important role in selecting texts.

9. Selecting Texts continued …
The following are to be considered when selecting texts.
Text Sources
Novels Poetry
Basal readers Informational books
Online books

10. A very useful tool to use when selecting text is the
. This tool helps teachers to
balance the text and difficulty of the text.
Linguistic
(word oriented)
Narrative Informational
Semiotic
(picture oriented)

11. Selecting Texts Summary
In summary, selecting text for students’ needs is a task within itself. Not
until all the factors have been taken into account such as students’
reading levels, abilities, needs, and interests should a teacher begin to
select texts. Choosing supplemental texts are even more important
because these are usually selected for certain students, not everyone.
The dimensions of difficulty are also vital. The selection of text can make
or break a students’ love for reading.
This research-based practice helped me to better analyze the
types of texts I am choosing and why and how this text is most
suitable for my students. In the future, I will be choosing literary
texts and supplemental texts from various sources and utilizing
the many resources in which to obtain text such as the internet,
other technology sources like a Nook or Kindle, and verify with
the data collected that this text will meet my students’ needs.

12. Three Learning Perspectives
Through the use of the Framework for Literacy
Instruction (www.class.waldenu.edu), planning lessons
which incorporate the three learning perspectives helps
to create meaningful lessons. In planning for my literary
lesson within this course, I came to understand how the
use of each perspective allows the teacher to focus on
the learners, the text, and the instructional practices best
suited to meet the needs of the students.
Response Perspective

13. Interactive Perspective
Through the interactive perspective, lessons are created which engage
students in interaction among reading and writing. In this lesson, my main focus was
to expand vocabulary and develop better comprehension strategies such as
characterization, sequential order, and comparing and contrasting. I also
incorporated a good bit of writing into this lesson.
As I planned the lesson on The Hundred Dresses (Estes, 1944) and focused
on the interactive perspective, I thought about ways in which to involve my students
in the lesson. I began by introducing the book’s title, author, genre, and purpose.
While introducing the vocabulary words, two students partaking in a bullying skit
unpronounced to the class interrupted and acted out a mock incident in which teasing
and bullying took place. After handling the incident, I opened a discussion on the
topic of teasing then shared a brief synopsis of the theme of The Hundred Dresses
(Estes, 1944). By having students interact within this introduction, I was able to hook
students into the book. They could not wait to begin reading.
Vocabulary was introduced and students were provided with pictures of what
the words looked like. Each day following, students verbally stated the definition and
correctly used the words in context. On days 3 and 4, skits were developed by
groups and the audience had to guess the word being acted out. After modeling how
to use a meaningful sentence graphic organizer, students worked in groups to write
detailed meaningful sentences which included these six details:
who, what, where, when, why , and how. The three focus students were given
differentiated instructions with expectations according to their ability levels. These
students were frequented by me and assessed through observations, one-on-one
discussions, and their performance.

14. Interactive Perspective continued …
Comprehension focused on the following skills: characterization,
sequential order, and compare and contrast. I began each day with reading
aloud the first two pages of each chapter then students read the remaining
of the chapter through partner reading and independent reading. Students
used graphic organizers – character maps, story maps, and Venn diagrams-
to assist them in comprehension practices. Students verbally discussed the
events of the story and created a summary of each chapter. This part of the
lesson was completed by discussing and writing answers to the
comprehension questions that followed. Comprehension was assessed
through observation/participation in discussions, the completion of graphic
organizers, answers to comprehension questions, and a story test which
followed the completion of the book.
Writing was brought into this lesson by having students write one or
more paragraphs telling if you or someone you know has ever been in
Wanda Petronski’s position. Students had to describe the situation and how
they handled it or how they would handle it. This writing assignment was
assessed by the use of a writing rubric.
Closure to this lesson included a discussion on the topic of bullying
and teasing along with what to do if you ever find yourself in this situation.
Students also simulated a skit and demonstrated what they would do in this
situation. This skit was assessed through a performance assessment

15. What did I learn?
This research-based practice helped me
to better understand the importance of
planning lessons which involve student
interaction. The Framework for Literacy
Instruction graphic organizer showed me
the components of the interactive
perspective and how to include the
learner, text, and practices into my
lessons.

16. Critical and Response Perspectives
Getting students to think, much less think critically is a trying task. In order for children
to become productive citizens within our society and grow into the effective leaders of
tomorrow, teachers must teach them to think critically and how to respond to these critical
thoughts.
The lesson I planned to promote critical thinking and responsive feedback involves the
use of the texts The Wump World (Peet, 1970) and The Lorax (Seuss, 1972). Although
both of these texts are narratives, they stimulate thoughts about real-world situations and
allow students to take a stand for there beliefs.
I began the lesson by having students think about and respond to several higher
order thinking questions about pollution and the environment. I showed an eBook
(www.youtube.com) , The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, (1972). Next, I introduced the vocabulary
words to The Wump World (Peet, 1970) .
Comprehension was taught by having students read aloud by partner reading and
then independently reading the story, followed by many higher order thinking questions to
discuss and write answers to. Students then listed numerous cause and effect relationships
shown throughout the book. The final comprehension activity was for students to compare
and contrast the two texts. Venn diagrams were available for use as well as cause and
effect sentence strips to accommodate differentiated instructional practices for the three
focus students. Student comprehension was assessed through observation/participation,
descriptions of the cause and effect relationships, and the content of two comparing and
contrasting paragraphs comparing the two texts selected for this lesson.
The lesson was brought to a close by having students list at least three ideas
suggesting ways to help educate others on how to protect the envrronment. Students were
assessed by sharing their ideas on a display.
This practice helped me to plan my lessons with more critical thinking and
understand how critical it is to have students demonstrate critical thinking skills and
respond to such questions in a mature and thoughtful manner.

17. In Closing
Creating a literate environment has helped
me to better plan my reading lessons. In the past, I
have planned good lessons, but I feel they lacked
many of the great components I am now aware of.
The three literary perspectives are terms I was not
familiar with, but I now understand the importance of
using these perspectives to enhance my lessons and
ensure student interaction, critical thinking, and
responses.

18. References
Harms, W. (2004, January 8). Heckman’s research shows non-cognitive
skills promote achievement. 23(7). The University of Chicago Chronicle.
Estes, E. (1944). The hundred dresses. Harcourt Children's Books.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Analyzing and
Selecting texts [Webcast]. Baltimore, MD: Author
Nueman, S.B. (n.d.). First Book Statistics: Literacy in America. Ph.D.
University of Michigan, Ctr. for Improvement of Early Reading
Achievement. Retrieved from
http://www.firstbook.org/images/pdf/Statistics-on-Literacy.pdf
Peet, B. (1970). The Wump World. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA.
Seuss. (1972). The Lorax. Ebook. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soRbNlPbHEo
Toppo, G. (2009, January 8). Literacy study: 1 in 7 U.S. adults are unable
to read this story. USA Today. Retrieved from
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-01-08-adult-
literacy_N.htm

19. Feedback from Colleagues and
Family Members
• What insights did you gain about literacy and
literacy instruction from viewing this
presentation?
• How might the information presented change
your literacy practices and/or your literacy
interactions with students?
• In what ways can I support you in the literacy
development of your students or children?
• How might you support me in my work with
students or your children?
• What questions do you have?