This document summarizes Jessica Thomas's literacy analysis presentation for a class. It discusses key aspects of literacy like definitions, assessments, choosing appropriate texts, and instructional perspectives. The presentation covered interactive, critical, and response perspectives. It emphasized getting to know students, modeling strategies, and using assessment to guide instruction so students reach their full literacy potential.

1. Literate Environment Analysis
Jessica Thomas
Dr. Martha Moore
The Beginning Reader, Pre K-3, EDUC-6706G-4
August 17, 2014

2. Literacy
« Literacy is the ability to use reading and
writing for a variety of tasks at school and
outside of school (Tompkins, 2010). »
« The goal of literacy instruction is to ensure
that all students achieve their full literacy
potential…. (Tompkins, 2010). »
« Understanding how students learn, and
particularly how they learn to read and
write, influences the instructional
approaches that teachers use (Tompkins,
2010). »

3. Getting to Know My Literacy Learners
Using a variety of assessments ensures that teachers have
the information they need to guide their instruction so that
students will reach their full potential. Types of assessment
that work with my preschool students are (Afflerbach,
2012):
• Reading Inventories (modified)
• Teacher questioning
• « Other » (noncognitive) assessments
– Observations
– Surveys
– Self-concepts

4. What I Have Learned….
• Getting to know my readers is just as
important as teaching my students to read
and write. When I know them, I can build on
their strengths and guide them through their
struggles.
• Engaging students in conversation about
literacy and their experiences with it is an
assessment just as a paper and pencil test is.

5. Selecting Text
narrative
linquistic
Semiotic
informational
When choosing texts it is important to incorporate variety into the selections,
not just genres, but medium and text factors. Examples of text factors
(Tompkins, 2010) are:
• Formats of stories (shown below)
• Genres – folklore, realistic fiction, biographies, alphabet
• Elements of story structure – plot, character, setting, theme
• Narrative devices – dialogue, flashback, imagery, suspense, tone
• Expository text structures – descriptions, sequence, comparison, cause and
effect, problem and solution
Texts chosen needs to be at the
appropriate level for the students
reading it and still challenge their
understanding of the vocabulary
and comprehension (Laureate
Education, n.d.a.).

6. Texts Chosen
In a lesson created for third graders on twins the texts were chosen keeping in
mind the text factors and the reading development of the students.
• About Twins (The Kurious Kid Education series for ages 3-9) Awesome
Amazing Super Spectacular Fact & Photo book on Twins for Kids by Brian
Cliette (2014)
– Non-fiction
– Informational but have a balance between linguistic and semiotic
• Take Two by Jennifer Roy and Julia DeVillers (2011)
– Fiction
– Narrative
– Linguistic leaning towards semiotic
• Beast Quest Special Edition #2: Vedra and Krimon the Twin Dragons by
Adam Blade (n.d.)
– Electronic
– Narrative
– This version has an increase of photos placing it in the middle of
linquistic and semiotic
This lesson included a writing component that through research increases
knowledge, vocabulary, understanding, and different medians of texts.

7. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective
The interactive perspective in a lesson increases
vocabulary and promotes fluency and comprehension
(«Framework,» 2014). Students become independent
readers using strategies and skills they have seen
modeled (Laureate Education, n.d.b.).
A lesson created for preschool and kindergarten
students incorporated the interactive perspective
through the use of KWL chart, teacher questioning,
prediction, art work and sequencing showing
comprehension.

8. What I Have Learned About the
Interactive Perspective
• Students need time, time to interact with the
text and make connections to their lives.
• I need to model strategies I want my students
to know. Just because I tell them does not
mean that they know how to do it.
• Assessment is a component of the interactive
perspective. Assessment results determine
teacher questioning through out the lesson,
text choices, and strategies and skills needed.

9. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response
Perspective
Critical perspective expects students to be able
to look at a piece of text critically by questioning
and evaluating the text to determine if the text
is a good choice for the purpose they are
reading it for (Laureate Education, n.d.c). Once
students can determine if the text will work for
their purpose they will be able to respond to the
text.

10. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response
Perspective Continued
The response perspective is when
students can respond verbally or non-
verbally to a text connecting it to their
personal experiences (Laureate
Education, n.d.d).
The response perspective goes hand in
hand with the critical perspective in that
students have to questions, evaluate and
understand the text in order to make the
connection needed to respond.

11. What I Have Learned About the Critical
and Response Perspective
Questioning the text is how a person looks at it critically. Students
have to have questioning model so that they know what kinds of
questions to ask. This does not come naturally for most students.
• Why? Why did the author write ____? Why is _____ important?
• If? If the author was the opposite sex would the story be
different? If the author left _____ out of the story would the
story be different?
• Is this real? Imaginary?
• How do you know ______?
Responding to these questions guides students understanding and
helps them make the connections needed to comprehend the text.

12. Questions to Ask Yourself
• 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?

13. References
Afflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and using reading assessment, K-12
(2nd ed). Newark,DE: International Reading Association.
Blade, A. (n.d.). Beast quest special edition #2: Vedra and krimon the twin
dragons [eBooks version]. Retrieved from http://
www.scholastic.com
Cliette, B. (2014). About twins (the kurious kid education series for ages 3-9)
awesome amazing super spectacular fact & photo book on twins for
kids. Durham, NC: Bull City Publishing.
Framework for literacy instruction [Lecture notes]. (2014). Retrieved from
https://
class.waldenu.edu.webappsportalframeset.jsptab_tab_group_id=_2
_1 &url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype
%3DCourse%26id%3D_541393_1%26url%3D
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.a.). Analyzing and selecting text. [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

14. References Continued
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.c.). Critical perspective.
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.b.). Interactive perspective:
Strategic processing. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://
class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.d). Response perspective.
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Roy, J. & DeVillers, J. (2011). Take two. New York, NY: Aladdin.
Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced
approach (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.