This document discusses creating a literacy-rich environment for emergent and beginning literacy learners. It emphasizes the importance of assessing students' literacy skills and interests to plan targeted lessons. Sample assessments are provided to evaluate cognitive areas like phonological awareness and comprehension, as well as non-cognitive factors like student motivation. Sample lessons are described that use research-based practices and texts matched to students' ability levels. The document stresses selecting a variety of texts, including narrative and informational, and introducing informational texts early. It reflects on insights gained about differentiated emergent and beginning literacy instruction.

1. Literate Environment
Analysis Presentation
Ashley Towler
Walden University
Barbara Calabro
READ 6706: Literacy Development, Pre-K-3

2. Creating a Literacy Environment
Students come to school from many different backgrounds and exposure to literacy. Therefore, it is
important to create a literacy environment that supports learning.
Teachers that create literacy-rich environments should:
• Get to know their learners
• Select the right texts
• Provide meaningful instruction

3. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
By assessing the literacy learner is a way to get to know their literacy development and plan
research-based practices to support their literacy development. Assessing cognitive areas of the
literacy learner informs the students academic areas strengths and weaknesses. (Laureate Education , 2014j)
Cognitive Areas assessed: Assessment Tools:
Oral language……………………………………………………………………..Picture Naming test (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
Concepts of Print………………………………………………………………..Mow Motorcycle Task (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
Phonemic Awareness………………………………………………………….Recognizing Rhyming Words (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
Comprehension…………………………………………………………………..Text frames (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
Phonics……………………………………………………………………………….Starpoint Assessment
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)

4. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
By using non-cognitive assessments you are able to identify what interests your learner has as well
as their motivation. Using non-cognitive aspects informed what the students are interested in as
well as how motivated the student is. (Laureate Education , 2014j)
Non-cognitive aspects assessed: Assessment Tools:
• Interest Survey……………………………………………….Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990)
• Conversation with student

5. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
• In the emergent level students are beginning to learn to read and write. (Wren, 2013)
Hayley is four years old in Pre-K. She is an English Language Learner.
Oral language- Picture Naming test (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
The student had to identify what a picture was on the picture card.
Concepts of Print- Mow Motorcycle Task (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
The student had recognize that printed words and the length words are related.
Phonemic Awareness-Recognizing Rhyming Words (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
The student had to recognize if two spoken words rhymed.
Hayley did well with all three of these assessments. She did struggle some with the picture naming test. I
decided to move forward to syllables for her lesson since she is an ELL student.

6. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
• In the beginning level students are learning to read by decoding as well as comprehension skills.
(Wren, 2013)
Jordan is seven years old in first grade. He is beginning to struggle in reading.
Comprehension- Text frames (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
Student had to read a passage about Martin Luther King, Jr. then answer comprehension question.
Phonics- Starpoint Assessment (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
Student had to identify nonsense words.
Interest Survey- Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990)
Student was surveyed on his interest in reading.
Conversation with student
Student wants to become a better reader.
Jordan struggles with phonemes and segmenting words which is affecting is comprehension. I will design a lesson that will
focus a phonemes.

7. Selecting Texts
Dr. Douglas Hartman’s literacy
matrix and Dr. Janice Almasi
levels of difficultly is a helpful
tools when selecting texts. This
is the tool I used to select texts
for my literacy learners
(Laureate Education , 2014l).
Linguistic
Narrative
Easy
Semiotic
Informational
Hard

8. Selecting Texts
• The three texts selected are:
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Narrative text / easy
• Emergent- read aloud with text; identify how many syllables are in words.
• Beginning- read aloud with text; decode words.
• From Caterpillar to Butterfly- Informational text / medium
• Emergent- read aloud the text; word study to build vocabulary.
• Beginning- read aloud the text; segment words
• Butterflies from Bookflix- Informational text / medium
• Emergent- writing assignment for this text; dictate story through picture.
• Beginning- writing assignment for this text to build comprehension skills.
“To avoid the fourth grade slump it is important to introduce students early to informational text”
(Laureate Education , 2014l).

9. Emergent Literacy Learner Lesson
The text selected for this lesson was The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Lesson focus: Syllables
Student will identify how many syllables are in a word.
Research based practices-
• Picture walk (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
• Word study- (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
• Read aloud- (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
• Syllable and Sound Counting Task- student says what picture card is and counts the sounds. (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
• Writing words on strips- student will write words from story.
• Word strips- Student will cut word strip when they tap out syllables.
• This lesson was assessed through observational notes and work samples.

10. Beginning Literacy Learner Lesson
The text selected for this lesson was From Caterpillar to Butterfly.
Lesson focus: Phonemes (initial, medial vowel, and final sounds
and segmenting)
Student will identify, isolate, and segment phonemes.
Research based practices-
• Picture walk
• Word study
• Read aloud
• Picture Box Sound Counting (Elkonin Boxes) (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)
• Write word teacher segments
This lesson was assessed through observational notes and a checklist.

11. Reflection
I began both emergent and beginning literacy learners with an assessment. This informed
the students strengths and weaknesses to help develop an appropriate lesson.
Insights I have gained about emergent and beginning literacy, reading, writing, listening,
and speaking instruction is that the emergent level is more teacher directed. Whereas the
beginning level is more independent. The emergent level prefer to draw pictures and
dictate whereas the beginning can write sentences. Both levels need to have access to a
variety of texts.
Creating a literacy environment for emergent and beginning literacy learners is imperative
for future success.
By using digital stories it will inform others how literacy instruction is taught in the
emergent and beginning levels. Within the digital stories are research based practices and
assessments to use.

12. References
• Laureate Education (Producer). (2014l). Informational text in the early years [Video file]. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
• Laureate Education (Producer). (2014j). Getting to know your students [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
• McKenna, M. C., & Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. Retrieved
from
http://www.bwgriffin.com/gsu/courses/edur9131/content/Reading_Attitudes_McKenna_Kear_1990.pdf
• Reutzel, D. R., & Cooter, R. B., Jr. (2016). Strategies for reading assessment and instruction: Helping every
child succeed (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
• Wren, S., Litke, B., Jinkins, D., Paynter, S., Watts, J. & Alanis, I. (2013). Cognitive elements of reading.
In Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework. Retrieved from
http://www.sedl.org/reading/framework/elements.html