active young readers, grades primary–3 frequently asked...

Active Young Readers, Grades Primary–3

Frequently Asked Questions

December 2000

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: ENGLISH PROGRAM SERVICES Page 1

Active Young Readers, Grades Primary–3

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Active Young Readers, and how does it relate to the English language artsprogram?

The English language arts curriculum prescribed for Nova Scotia public schools, grades primary –3 isdescribed in Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades Primary–3 (1997). This curriculumguide describes a balanced program that encompasses and integrates all the language processes—speaking,listening, reading, viewing, writing, and other ways of representing. The curriculum recognizes that theselanguage processes are interrelated and can be developed most effectively as interdependent processes.

The Active Young Readers initiative focusses on the reading component of the curriculum, described in AtlanticCanada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades Primary–3 , 158–187, and centres on effective ways tosupport the development of young learners as readers. Schools can support learners’ growth as readers byproviding

< adequate time for reading, reading instruction, and related activities< a range of learning resources < excellent reading instruction for all children, informed by effective assessment< expanded opportunities for early intervention

The priorities noted above are reflected in the key components of the Active Young Readers initiative:

< Active Reading Hour< Classroom Learning Resources and Assessment Resources < Professional Development and Professional Resources< Effective Intervention Strategies

What might Active Reading Hour look like, incorporating all of the instructionalcomponents?

Active Reading Hour is characterized by the active engagement of children in reading and a range of relatedactivities. For Active Reading Hour, teachers design active learning experiences structured on the learningcontexts described in Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades Primary–3, 171–187. Theseinclude the following:

< whole class activities— read-aloud time— shared reading sessions

< word study activities/investigations

< guided reading sessions— small groups of students— individual students


< language experience for beginning readers

< independent reading— paired/buddy reading— reading workshop: instruction: mini-lessons, modelling, and demonstration focussed on concepts,

skills, and effective strategies; reading; booktalks; literature circles and other response groups; whole-group sharing

— reading conferences

< response to reading — writing: response journals/learning logs; creative responses; written retellings— visual representations: maps, including Venn diagrams, character webs, story maps, concept maps;

drawings; graphs; charts— oral responses: discussion; drama: Readers Theatre, role play, puppet plays— reflection and sharing

< assessment activities— systematic observation— recording details of children’s reading—attitudes, behaviours, understandings, e.g., running records— conferring with individual students and small groups of students

Describing daily, active, multilevel learning opportunities in Word Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in theReading/Writing Classroom, Pinnell and Fountas note that “The words daily, active, and multilevel present severalchallenges to us as teachers. Each child in a classroom deserves daily teaching that engages her interest andenables her to participate with confidence and competence, while giving her opportunities for new learning”(Pinnell and Fountas, 17).

Active: To develop as readers, children need to engage actively in a range of meaningful learning experiencesthat range from active listening during read-aloud sessions, through active engagement in the reading processduring shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading time, to actively participating in discussingand responding in other ways to their reading experiences. “Children learning to read are active agents,initiating and assuming responsibility for their own learning” Taberski, 3. During Active Reading Hour, childrenare engaged in the process of becoming strategic readers through a variety of activities such as those notedabove. The teacher is actively engaged in teaching during Active Reading Hour: “The effective teacher not onlyimparts information, but sees the children as active learners and helps them find ways to learn forthemselves” (Taberski, 6).

Reading: Reading instruction, reading practice, and reading-related activities are the focus of this 60-minutetime slot. During read aloud, shared reading, and guided reading, the teacher demonstrates reading concepts,skills, and strategies and encourages students to practise these strategies during independent reading. Theteacher also uses Active Reading Hour for assessment—formal and informal observation of children’s attitudes,behaviours, and understandings; taking detailed reading records of children’s reading; and conferring withstudents. Active Reading Hour must offer children opportunities to engage actively in a variety of experiencesto support their growth—including shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, and responseactivities. Active Reading Hour engages children in whole class, small group, paired, and individual activities. Itis important to note that Active Reading Hour is not 60 minutes of independent reading time. While someschools identify a time during the day when everyone in the whole school reads, as in UninterruptedSustained Silent Reading (USSR) or Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Active Reading Hour is not anextension of such programs.


Hour: Providing time for reading, reading instruction, and reading-related activities is a critical part of theadministrator’s and teacher’s role. A balanced language arts program requires a daily time allocation of100–120 minutes instructional time. Within this framework a daily block of a minimum of 60 minutes forreading instruction, reading, and related activities is to be designated as Active Reading Hour for all students ingrades primary–3. “When children have daily extended periods of time to read books that are appropriatelysupportive and challenging, they get practice in the whole act of reading and experience how all the partswork together” (Taberski, 5). Schools are encouraged to ensure that the time designated for a class’s ActiveReading Hour is uninterrupted by other school activities.

How might I manage the classroom to make Active Reading Hour run smoothly?

Organization and structure are the keys to successful management. It is imperative that you take the timeto get to know each one of the individuals in the class at the beginning of the year. Further to this, and tomeet this end, other considerations in management must be attended to in order to set the stage for aproductive Active Reading Hour. Taberski in On Solid Ground and Fountas and Pinnell in Word Mattersagree that the learning environment is critical. Taberski believes, “How I set up my classroom, the way Iorganize my day, and the materials I provide can either ‘make or break’ my efforts to work effectivelywith the children.” Children need to feel a sense of ownership about how the classroom operates. Theyneed to be aware of the purposes and needs for routines and expectations. They also need to clearlyanticipate or predict the schedule of events from day to day. Once they see themselves as activeparticipants in the classroom community, and once they feel like “members of the club,” managementbecomes easier. Our classrooms need to reflect the outcomes we want our children to achieve and to provide theresources, environments, demonstrations, and other learning opportunities they need to grow as readers. For example, to provide exposure a wide variety of genre, we need to bring these genres into our roomsand make them accessible. To support children who need a “quiet” space to think and concentrate as theyread, we may need to identify pockets or areas in or around the classroom that are less noisy than otherswhere these children may prefer to work at their reading during independent reading time. To helpchildren become strategic readers, we need to demonstrate the strategies strategic readers use and toprovide opportunities for children to practise these strategies with books that match their learning needs.We need to always to keep in mind the social and interactive nature of learning and apply it to ourunderstanding of how to organize the various components of Active Reading Hour so that all learnersmaintain engagement , interest and productivity. See also “Using Effective Management and Resources forIndependent Learning” in Word Matters, 20–21 and “Creating a Purposeful Environment and Daily Schedule”in On Solid Ground, 19–33.

How might I organize the various components of Active Reading Hour?

Active Reading Hour is often organized as follows:

< read-aloud/shared reading/whole class experiences< guided reading/reading conferences for individual students and small groups of students while other

students engage in independent reading and reading-related activities< whole class reflection/sharing


Taberski allocates 110 minutes to reading and uses a predictable structure for this time. The day begins with a20-minute independent reading session during which time she meets with a word study group, confersinformally with one or two children, and assists children in selecting books for the second independentreading session. Taberski allocates a 30-minute period for read aloud, shared reading, and/or shared writing.This is followed by a 40-minute session during which she meets with children for reading conferences ormeets with guided reading groups, while the rest of the children read independently (alone or with partners).This time period also provides opportunity for children to work on strategy sheets as they read, listen to andread along with books on tape, work on extension activities that grow out of guided reading groups, orrespond to texts they’ve read. The final 10 minutes is given to whole class reflection/sharing. “The flow fromindependent reading to read aloud and shared reading, to reading conferences, guided reading, andindependent reading, and finally to sharing reading strategies at the end of the workshop provides ameaningful structure that supports my assessments and demonstrations” (Taberski, 32).

See also Pinnell and Fountas who provide other examples of ways to structure instructional time for reading.For information on how to organize various kinds of literature circles for grades primary–3, see “Teachers’Applications: Primary and Intermediate Grades” in Harvey Daniels’ Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in theStudent-Centered Classroom, 105–122.

How much of the Active Reading Hour should be allotted to reading independently?

We need to consider what is reasonable for the children’s ages and stages of reading development. Taberski addresses this question specifically in emphasizing that “We cannot ask children to do what isdevelopmentally inappropriate and expect them to do it well. But at the same time, when consideringwhat’s a reasonable amount of time to ask children to read in one stretch, our criterion should be whatthey can do under the right conditions—not what they were previously able (or unable) to do in a lesssupportive setting” On Solid Ground , 156. Generally, it is advisable to split up independent readingtimes into two separate chunks of time for the younger children, interspersing this activity with the othercomponents of Active Reading Hour such as a time for shared reading experiences with the whole group.As children get older, they are more able to read for longer stretches, and the components of ActiveReading Hour could be reorganized at that time so that actual reading practice continues for a longeruninterrupted period.

How do I meet the needs of all learners during Active Reading Hour?

The Atlantic Canada language arts curriculum is inclusive and is “designed to help all learners reach theirpotential through a wide variety of learning experiences.”(Atlantic Canada English Language Arts CurriculumGuide: Grades Primary–3, 3). We need to be sensitive to the range of students in our classrooms, makingsure that we offer the widest range of reading material possible for Active Reading Hour. As well, thebuilding of classroom trust and familiarity is crucial. A supportive learning environment is one where allchildren feel respected and valued. We need to be aware of and work with our students to engage alllearners in authentic experiences in which they can see themselves in a positive light. Someconsiderations to keep in mind other than the academic range of students we work with are the need toprovide gender-inclusive curriculum; to value social and cultural diversity; to provide extra support andappropriate intervention for students learning as a second language; and to ensure that resources,environments, and experiences reflect the particular requirements of students’ special needs. As well, weneed to accommodate students’ learning styles and preferences. By creating classrooms that foster andvalue diversity, we help shape not only engaging learning experiences for all, but well-rounded citizens. Active Reading Hour, with its key instructional components, is a time in the day when theseconsiderations can be nurtured and brought to life.


While I’m working with guided reading groups or conferring with individual students,what are the other children doing?

During Active Reading Hour the other children are engaged in independent reading or reading-relatedactivities. Pinnell and Fountas describe a task board management system, in which children are engagedin a variety of purposeful activities such as Read around the Room, Word Work activities, independentreading, Buddy Reading ,Listening Centres, and so on. Taberski also insists that her students be engagedin purposeful activities which support their growth as strategic readers ( On Solid Ground, 157-159) Inher room, children

< read books from their book bags (instructional level)< fill in Weekly Reading Log< respond to a book—but not to every book< read a big book on tape< listen to a book on tape< read with a partner< work on an extension activity< write and illustrate their own page of text< sort words cut from sentence strips that match text in guided reading book

Taberski is careful not to overdo extension activities: “ It’s too easy to lose sight of what will help thechildren the most: their own reading" (On Solid Ground, 160).

What do we mean by “just right” books?

“Just-right” books are books that support children’s growth and motivate them to read. “All the children inmy class need to engage in reading—seeing it as something they want to do, a skill they want to acquire. Withthis in mind, I’m careful to select books for read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, and independentreading that entice children to want more” (Taberski, 12).

Read-Aloud and Shared Reading: Books that children read with below 90 percent accuracy are toodifficult for them to read by themselves, but may be just right for contexts where there is more support suchas read-aloud and shared reading. For read-aloud time, the teacher selects from a variety of genres—fiction,information text, and poetry—choosing texts that may be beyond what children can read on their own, butare appropriate in terms of their ages, needs, and interests. “Appropriate texts are those that extend students’thinking, develop their imaginations, increase their interests, and expose them to interesting language andillustrations” (Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades Primary–3, 171). For sharedreading, the teacher selects a Big Book or enlarged text to read with the children—stories, information text,poems, songs, chants, rhymes—choosing a text that the children may not be able to read independently butcan read successfully in unison with the teacher and their classmates. (See Taberski, 80–81).

Guided Reading: Just-right books for guided reading are books that support children’s practice of thereading strategy the teacher wants them to acquire. Just-right text is text that children can almost, but notquite, read on their own. In Word Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in the Reading/Writing Classroom, Pinnelland Fountas note that for guided reading, children need a text “with just a few new or unfamiliar words tosolve” (Pinnell and Fountas, 222). Taberski wants children to “know enough of the words so that they candevote most of their attention to effectively using the strategies I’ve noted. If the text is too difficult, childrenare likely to focus too much on figuring out words they don’t know and too little on the strategies I wantthem to practice’ (Taberski, 50). It is critical that instructional-level text be selected for guided reading


experiences. Books that a child can read with 90–94 percent accuracy (instructional level) are just right forguided reading.

Independent Reading: Books best suited for independent reading offer children just the right balance ofsupports and challenges to enable them to engage in reading for extended periods of time, using a range ofstrategies and information sources when they meet new words. Based on the accuracy with which a child canread a text, a book a child can read with at least 95 percent accuracy is just right for independent reading. In OnSolid Ground: Strategies for Teaching Reading K–3, Taberski notes the importance of “just-right” books forindependent reading: We have so little time to work with our children that having them read books that aretoo easy or too hard is a waste” (Taberski, 155). She also emphasizes how critical it is “that children spendthis independent reading time engaged in real reading experiences with whole texts, not in activities thatbreak language into small units that are often too fragmented for them to understand” (Taberski, 32).

What does “instructional level” mean?

A text is considered to be at instructional level when students can read it at an accuracy level of 90–94percent (Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades Primary–3, 174).

Instructional-level texts are neither too easy nor too difficult for the child. They offer just a few new orunfamiliar words to solve: the child should be able to read 9 out of 10 words correctly. In The Early Detectionof Reading Difficulties, Marie Clay recommends that the word accuracy for instructional-level text be between 90and 94 percent. Taberski recommends that word accuracy for instructional-level text be between 92 and 97percent for small-group guided reading sessions, noting that for guided reading she prefers to err on the sideof the book being too easy rather than too difficult.

How do I ensure that books used during guided reading are instructional level?

In guided reading sessions, teachers support small groups of students (or sometimes individuals) in readingtexts they are unable to read independently. Guided reading is a way to help children learn techniques tofigure out words and comprehend texts that are just a little too challenging for them to read without support.The teacher selects a focus of instruction appropriate to the children’s learning needs and chooses a text thatevery child in the guided reading group can read with the required rate of accuracy. The teacher determinesthe child’s developmental stage (emergent, early, transitional, fluent) through formal and informalobservation; conferences, and interviews with students; and analysing reading records—anecdotal records,checklists, and running records; retellings and reading discussions. See English Language Arts Curriculum Guide:Grades Primary–3, 174; Pinnell and Fountas, 221–230, 234–237; Taberski, 37–76). In counting and analysingerrors to determine a child’s accuracy rate with a book, using a running record, for example, Taberski notesthe importance of taking into consideration the import of each error and recognizing that not all errorsshould be treated with equal weight (On Solid Ground, 50).

The Atlantic Canada Reading Assessment Resource, which provides a collection of children’s texts that representa range of text difficulty, and Fountas and Pinnell’s Matching Books to Readers: Using Leveled Books inGuided Reading K–3 (1999) are useful resources for determining children’s learning needs and selectingbooks for guided reading. As a general guide, books identified by Fountas and Pinnell as levels A–B areappropriate for the emergent stage, books at levels C–G for the early stage, books at levels H–M for thetransitional stage, and books at level N and above for the fluent stage. See also Taberski, 102–106, andPinnell and Fountas, 221–232 and 233–246.


References

Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation. Foundation for the Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum(Halifax, 1996).

Daniels, Harvey. Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom (Markham, ON: PembrokePublishers, 1994).

Fountas, Irene C., and Gay Su Pinnell. Matching Books to Readers: Using Leveled Books in Guided Reading K–3(Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1999).

Nova Scotia Department of Education and Culture. Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide:Grades Primary–3 (Halifax, 1997).

Pinnell, Gay Su, and Irene C. Fountas. Word Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in the Reading/Writing Classroom(Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998).

Taberski, Sharon. On Solid Ground: Strategies for Teaching Reading K–3 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000).

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