2. What is a Literate
Environment?
Literacy is a process that begins in infancy and
continues into adulthood, if not throughout life.
(Tompkins, 2010).
A print and language rich environment (Tompkins, 2010).
Children develop skills to communicate through
speaking, listening, reading, and writing (Tompkins,
2010).
4. Selecting Texts
Elements to consider: difficulty, readability, text
length, text structure, size of print, visual support,
content density (Laureate, 2010a)
LLiinngguuiissttiicc
NNaarrrraattiivvee IInnffoorrmmaattiioonnaall
SSeemmiioottiicc
Literacy Matrix
-Helps teachers notice text patterns
in their classroom.
-Helps teachers achieve a literature
balance.
-Helps teachers fit texts to met
their goals.
(Laureate Education, 2010a)
5. Interactive Literacy
Perspective
Teaches students how to read and to be strategic
processors and thinkers (Laureate Education, 2010c).
Examples: Guided Reading, Read Alouds, Think Alouds,
Alphabet Books, Rhyming Books, Word Families, Word
Sorts, Word Hunts, Sight Word Games (Laureate
Education, 2010c).
6. Literacy Lesson:
Interactive Perspective
• Objectives:I wanted my students to practice reading at their instructional
level and be able to retell the story with scaffolding from me. I also
wanted them to be able to answer comprehension questions about the story
after reading on their own (Laureate Education, 2010d).
• Procedure:I used the guided reading technique from Laureate Education.
This technique uses many of the 5 pillars of literacy instruction. There
is vocabulary, reading on own, predicting, comprehending, and writing. The
teacher can also conduct a running record while students are reading on
their own (Laureate Education, 2010d).
• Outcome:All four students are now very good at reading for understanding.
While they were reading on their own, I realized that they need to learn
word attack skills through scaffolding and think alouds.
7. Critical and Response
Literacy Perspective
Literacy Perspective
• Critical Perspective:Examining a text through critical
thinking (Laureate Education, 2010c).
• Response Perspective:Experiencing and responding to a
text. Examples: Journaling, Dramatic Response,
Artistic Response, Multisensory Experiences. (Laureate
Education, 2010c).
8. Literacy Lesson:
Critical and Response Perspective
Critical and Response Perspective
• Objectives:I wanted my students to build upon what they had learned in the
previous snowmen lesson to critically examine a fiction text in a small
group setting. After reading they would have time to respond to the text
through an artistic response.
• Procedure:I read the story to the students so that they could focus on
listening instead of trying to figure words out. While reading we could
critically examine why it is not possible for snowmen to do what the book
was suggesting. At the end of the story, students would right about what a
snowmen actually does at night.
• Outcome:All four students did a great job critically examining the text.
They need a lot more practice critically examining texts. I will
incorporate close reading lessons to help them become more familiar.
9. Feedback
• What insights did you gain about literacy and literacy
instruction from viewing this presentation?
• How might the information presented change your
literacy practices and your literacy interactions with
students?
• In what ways can I support you in 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 for me?
10. References
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Analyzing and
selecting text. Baltimore: Author
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Getting to know
your students. Baltimore: Author
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010c). Perspective on
Literacy Learning. Baltimore: Author
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010c). Guided Reading.
Baltimore: Author
• Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (5th ed.)
