Creating a Literate Environment Analysis Presentation

By Holly Emery

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Literacy Development PreK-3

Walden University

Instructor: Gina Pink

Getting to Know Emergent and

Beginning Literacy LearnersStudents enter our classrooms with varying levels of literacy development, thus, educators need to look beyond the surface and truly get to know the literacy learner. (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016).

Oral language is the building block for all reading skills (Reutzel, & Cooter, 2016).

l. Getting to Know Emergent and

Beginning Literacy LearnersTeachers need to understand the importance of providing a print rich environment for our students

to include word walls, labeling the classroom, and having a variety of texts available to the students to include digital media

It is important for teachers to get to know our emergent and beginning literacy learners in order to know what each students reading and writing stage is for literacy development

A variety of noncognitive and cognitive assessments can be given to our students in order for teachers to get a better understanding of their students and helps to understand better understand how they learn

l. Getting to Know Emergent and Beginning Literacy LearnersNoncognitive

AssessmentsCognitive Assessments

● Interest Survey- Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (Kear & McKenna, 1990)

● Student Interviews● Student Observations

● Developmental Reading Assessments- Phonemic Awareness- Rhyming Words: Do These Rhyme? (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016, p. 120)

l. Getting to Know Emergent and

Beginning Literacy LearnersUtilizing the cognitive and noncognitive literacy

assessment data helps us to better know and understand our emergent and beginning literacy learners. Determining the areas that are deficits

and need further instruction aid in developing appropriate lessons in order to meet each students

unique and individual needs to support their learning and progress.

Utilizing the student surveys will assist in selecting texts and topics that are appealing to our students

(Kear &, McKenna, 1990).

l. Getting to Know Emergent and

Beginning Literacy LearnersGetting to know my special education emergent and beginning literacy learners personally and academically was essential in moving forward to meet their unique and individual needs. The research aspect gave me a wealth of knowledge that provides details and factors that affect their current literacy functioning. The information gained in this process helps me to better plan and develop activities and tasks specifically geared to meeting each students specific and unique needs. The student survey also provided information about interests and topics that will help plan and increase background knowledge, student motivation and engagement.

Selecting TextsThe Literacy Matrix is a great way to analyze and select appropriate texts (Laureate, 2014b). All forms of text have a place in our classrooms to include printed and digital..

There are four components on the Literacy Matrix:

Narrative- fictional and nonfictional

Informational- nonfiction texts that provide information about a topic

Semiotic- pictures

Linguistic- words

ll. Selecting TextsUtilizing informational texts in a child’s early years is

crucial and it has the potential to increase their motivation, build their comprehension skills, and lay the much needed groundwork to grow into confident,

purposeful readers (Correia, 2011).

Informational text is motivating to students because it makes reading genuine, authentic and purposeful

and they get to learn about topics that are of interest to them (Correia, 2011).

ll. Selecting TextsI understand that as a teacher I should look at all aspects of a text before selecting for my students. Some of the aspects to consider are length of the text, readability of the text, text structure and the size of the text (Laureate, 2014a).

Other considerations when selecting a text include visual supports, number of syllables, and concept density.

Selecting the appropriate text for students is crucial to helping my students become early literacy learners and functional readers.

Creating Emergent and Beginning Literacy Learner Lessons

It is important to understand the evidence based research surrounding literacy development. The stages are known as the “Big Five” (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016).

1.Phonics

2.Phonemic and Phonological Awareness

3.Vocabulary

4.Comprehension

5.Fluency

Writing is an additional but crucial component of literacy (Laureate, 2014c).

Creating Emergent and Beginning Literacy Learner LessonsThe Common Core State Standards addressed in the emergent and beginning literacy lessons include:

ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.10

Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding

ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2

Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

Common Core State Standards Initiative, (2012b).

Emergent Literacy Learner Lesson

A vocabulary-rich learning environment with letters and labels around the classroom supports students in beginning to see that the letters together form words (Laureate, 2014b).

In the beginning developmental writing stages we might see scribbling, letter like forms, capital letters and even some letters put together to form words (Laureate, 2014a).

lll. Emergent Literacy LessonData from a Pre-Assessment Quiz that included questions with picture symbols and choices was utilized

to get a baseline and to aid in planning lessons for my emergent literacy learner. The curricular focus covered: Polar Bears, Reading, Written Expression, Science and Social Studies

The texts chosen and utilized were:

The World of the Polar Bear by Norbert Rosing (2007)

Where Do Polar Bears Live? By Sarah Thomson (2010)

Read Aloud Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? By Bill Martin Jr. and Illustrated by Eric Carle

(1991) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctQjLfMKinU The learning objectives for this student include: The student will be able to answer comprehension questions posed that relate to the stories and utilize background knowledge with their real life experiences if applicable. The student will engage in the reading activities by asking and answering questions regarding the texts as well as written expression activities by writing/dictating and drawing what he learned about polar bears during this unit.

Beginning Literacy Lesson

Having the teacher facilitate the reading of a story and the discussion or comprehension questions helps to guide the beginning literacy learner students into what they will begin to do on their own in the beginning literacy stage (Laureate Education, 2014b).

lV. Beginning Literacy LessonA Pre-Assessment Quiz was given with picture symbols and choices to aid in planning lessons for my beginning literacy learner. The curricular focus covered: Polar Bears, Reading, Written Expression, Science and Social Studies

The texts chosen and utilized were:

The World of the Polar Bear by Norbert Rosing (2007)

Where Do Polar Bears Live? By Sarah Thomson (2010)

Read Aloud Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? By Bill Martin Jr. and Illustrated by Eric Carle (1991)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctQjLfMKinU The beginning reader student(s) will gain knowledge, understanding and pleasure from the texts by listening to the stories, participating in the reading and viewing the read aloud. They will also be able to recall information and answer comprehension questions related to the stories and utilize any prior or background knowledge with their real life experiences.Throughout these texts we will also address and work on phonics skills, new vocabulary, comprehension, and written expression skills.

ReflectionAs I reflect on everything I have learned throughout this

course I believe that the most critical of the instructional strategies with our emergent and beginning literacy learners would be that beginning readers are able to do more tasks independently whereas our emergent learners require more modeling, practice and teacher instruction to be successful.

I also realized that I am already doing a lot of things right with my emergent and beginning literacy learners but just need to tweak some of my practices to become better.

V. ReflectionLiteracy is an ongoing process for our beginning and

emergent learners. There must be a relationship that is

present throughout all aspects of literacy for emergent and

beginning literacy learner to be successful. Our purpose

and goal is for all students to be successful as they continue

to grow and become more consistent in their literacy and

communication skills (Haggard, 2014). You can never start

too early with reading to children. Literacy is a lifelong skill

that can provide so much information and pleasure.

V. ReflectionIn my literacy environment you will see:Differentiation/Accommodations/Modifications

Whole class, small group and one on one instruction

Technology

Print-rich environment

Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals and objectives being taught

A loving and nurturing educational environment in which every child can learn

V. ReflectionI plan to utilize this digital story to tell about the importance of literacy from the emergent stage and as a lifelong learner

Literacy has many stages and we can effectively teach students at each stage of literacy

It is critical that we make literacy interesting and appealing in our classroom

It is never too early to introduce literacy to children, the earlier the better

ReferencesCommon Core State Standards Initiative. (2012b). English language arts standards: Reading: Foundational skills:

Kindergarten. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RF/K

Correia, M. P. (2011). Fiction vs. informational texts: Which will kindergarteners choose? Retrieved

fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/yc/ files/yc/file/201111/Correia_

Fiction_vs_Informational_Texts_Online%201111.pdf

Haggard, G. L. (2014). Setting the Stage for Purposeful Communication: Fostering Emergent Literacy. Delta Kappa

Gamma Bulletin. Kear, D. J., Coffman, G. A., McKenna, M. C., & Ambrosio, A. L. (2000). Measuring

attitude toward writing: A new tool for teachers. Reading Teacher, 54(1), 10–23. Retrieved from the

Walden Library databases

References continuedLaureate Education (Producer). (2014a). Analyzing and selecting texts [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014b). Informational text in the early years [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author. Martin, B., & Carle, E. (1991). Polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear? New York: H. Holt.

Martin, B., & Carle, E. (1991). Polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear? New York: H. Holt.

Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctQjLfMKinUReutzel, D. R., & Cooter, R. B., Jr. (2016). Strategies for reading assessment and instruction: Helping every child

succeed (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Rosing, N. (2007). The World of the Polar Bear. London : A. & C. Black.

Thomson, S.L. (2010). Where do Polar Bears Live? New York : Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers