2. Three Fundamental Parts of a
Literate Environment
• Getting to Know Literacy Learners
• Selecting Texts
• Perspectives: Interactive, Critical, and
Response
3. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
Understanding your literacy learners from
cognitive and noncognitive aspects is crucial to
providing effective literacy instruction. The more
you know about your students, the better you will
be able to connect to them (Laureate Education,
Inc., n.d.c). As educators, we must assess
regularly to gain knowledge regarding students’
reading levels, strategies, background knowledge,
and skill competencies in order to plan appropriate
instruction (Tompkins, 2010).
4. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
Cognitive Assessment
• In order to develop a general understanding of the
student’s basic reading skills, I issued the DIBELS
Next assessment (Dynamic Group Measure, 2012).
The results from the assessment portrayed all three
students at benchmark level. Student A scored the
highest percentage of accuracy; student B scored
next to the highest percentage of accuracy, and
student C scored the lowest percentage regarding
accuracy. However, he remained within benchmark
range. The data suggested all three students were
ready to begin a 2.1 reading level literacy lesson.
5. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
Noncognitive Assessment
• Research states that the noncognitive aspect of reading
proficiency has been overlooked in the process of literacy
(McKenna & Kear, 1990).
• Noncognitive aspects of a reader include “the other”
characteristics besides basic reading skills (cognitive). There
are five noncognitive reader characteristics that contribute to
reading success: motivation, self-concept, attitudes, interest,
attributions (Afflerbach, 2012). Therefore, a student’s attitude
and perception towards reading can affect his or her
performance (McKenna & Kear, 1990).
• I administered the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS)
to my students (McKenna & Kear, 1990). The results were
beneficial in providing me with additional information that
helped create a learning environment that was differentiated to
compliment the varying abilities and interests.
6. Selecting Texts
“What readers know and do during
reading has a tremendous impact on
how well they comprehend, but
comprehension involves more than just
reader factors: It involves text
factors” (Tompkins, 2010, pg. 290).
These text factors include genre, text
structures, and text features
(Tompkins, 2010). Selecting
developmentally appropriate texts
from all genres is imperative.
7. Selecting Texts Continued
The literacy matrix helps expose
students to a variety of texts. The
literacy matrix is a useful tool that
should be considered when deciding what
text is appropriate for your students.
According to the matrix, texts are
either linguistic, semiotic, narrative, or
informational (Laureate Education, Inc.,
n.d.a).
8. Interactive, Critical, and
Response Perspectives
The goal of the interactive perspective is for students to strategically
process and think about the text. Strategic processing involves being
metacognitive about choosing the most efficient strategy to use
(Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.d).
Interactive Strategies Used:
•Make predictions
•Reflection ~ stop when something does not make sense
•Storyboards ~ visualize story sequence and retell the
events in order
9. Interactive, Critical, and
Response Perspectives
• The critical perspective deals with being able to critically
examine and evaluate a text from multiple perspectives
including making judgments regarding validity (Laureate
Education, Inc., n.d.b.).
• Examining a text critically raises questions such as:
* who created the text
* what is the author’s perspective
* was the author female or male
The students will be encouraged to think about their own
background and how the text has influenced their perspectives.
10. Critical Strategies Used:
• visualize, predict, and retell key details in a story
• interactive read-alouds
• rate the character
These provide support for students to construct
their meaning and connect at a higher level (Durand,
Howell, Schumacher & Sutton, 2008).
Continued
11. Interactive, Critical, and
Response Perspectives
“Reader response is a written or verbal response that encourages
students to explore thoughts and feelings about a text” (Durand, Howell,
Schumacher & Sutton, 2008, pg. 25).
Examples include:
• conversation amongst peers
• journaling
• dramatic response
• quiet time for thought
A text transforms a student in that it changes their views, opinions, or
feelings about a topic (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.e.)
12. In conclusion, “the goal for literacy
instruction is to ensure that all students
achieve their full literacy potential”
(Tompkins, 2010, pg. 5).
Students must enjoy reading to become
lifelong learners (Tompkins, 2010).
13. References
Afflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and using reading assessment, K-12 (2nd ed.).
Newark, DE: International reading association.
Durand, C., Howell, R., Schumacher, L. A., & Sutton, J. (2008). Using interactive read-alouds
and reader response to shape students' concept of care. Illinois Reading Council Journal,
36(1), 22–29.
Dynamic Measure Group. (2012). Dibels next. Retrieved from
http://dibels.org/dibelsnext.html
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.a). Analyzing and selecting text. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.b). Critical perspective. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.c). Getting to know your students. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.d). Interactive perspective. Strategic processing.. [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.e). Response Perspective. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu
McKenna, M. C., & Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for
teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(9), 626--639.
Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.).
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
