Creating a Literate EnvironmentLindley Callaway

The Beginning Reader, PreK-3

I. Getting to Know Literacy Learners

Taking the time to uncover the developmental levels and interests of my

three individual literacy learners was necessary in order to gain insights from

all aspects of each child. The information that I gathered from the cognitive and

non-cognitive assessments has given me an opportunity to plan more effectively for my three learners. In turn, I believe this

has led to the creation of a literate environment.

Cognitive Assessmento The cognitive assessment that I chose to use

to learn about the developmental levels of my learners is Aimsweb, which is a progress monitoring system that provides teachers with data, as well as interventions, to use with individual literacy learners (NCS Pearson Inc., 2014).

o Because this progress monitoring program is computer based, it also provides each student’s individual Lexile level, which is very beneficial for planning lessons around a specific text (Tompkins, 2010).

Non-Cognitive Assessment

o The non-cognitive assessment that I chose in order to learn more about my students’ interests, as well as show how motivated each student is to read both academically and recreationally, was The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990).

o The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey results, as well as conferences with the students, allowed me to determine ways that I could differentiate my instruction to meet the students’ individual needs and interests (Laureate Education Inc., 2014b)

II. Selecting Texts

Locating texts that are appropriate and engaging is a key component in

motivating students to become successful literacy learners. Strategically selecting appropriate texts for my students played

a big role in constructing my literate environment.

My group of texts included:NarrativeNon-Fiction/InformationalOnline Text

Narrative Textso The narrative text that I chose to use was

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle .

o This text is considered a semiotic narrative because it has many illustrations, which the students enjoyed, and tells a story about the main character, which is a caterpillar (Laureate Education Inc., 2014a).

o This particular text proved to be highly effective because it allowed the students to use their imaginations and respond creatively.

Non-Fiction/Informational Texts

o The informational text that I chose to use was Butterflies by Karen Shapiro.

o I chose this particular text because it is a catchy rhyming book, with illustrations, that informs readers of the metamorphosis process. I knew that this text would hold my students’ attention.

o It is important that children are exposed to informational texts at an early age because they will continue to use these texts as they mature (Reading Rockets, 2014).

Online Texts

o The online text that I chose was Born to Be a Butterfly by Karen Wallace.

o I chose to implement an informational online text, because the second grade students I have been working with need the exposure to the structure of this type of text (Laureate Education Inc., 2014c).

o Although I did not use this particular text in a course lesson, I allowed each student to read the online text, and I received positive feedback from all three students!

III. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective

o I developed a literacy lesson that addressed the specific literacy needs of my students in the areas of word recognition and comprehension. Throughout this lesson, I was able to create a literate environment, as well as promote students’ strategic processing and metacognition.

o I chose to use the text Butterflies by Karen Shapiro in order to help my students become strategic readers and processors. Prior to reading the text, we identified strategies that good readers use while reading a text (Laureate Education Inc., 2014e).

Word Recognitiono I chose to identify key terms at the

beginning of my literacy lesson in order to assist the students as they read the text independently (Tompkins, 2010).

o The words that I chose were: egg, larva, caterpillar, chrysalis, pupa, and adult butterfly.

o After observing one particular student, I soon learned that this was too many words for one lesson. I chose to only include four words in my next lesson in order to help boost this particular students’ self-esteem.

Comprehensiono I chose to utilize a K-W-L Chart with my

students in order to help them become more metacognitive learners.

o The K-W-L Chart allowed the students to determine their prior background knowledge and what they would like to know about the topic. Once the students completed the text, they were able to add what they learned to their own personal K-W-L foldable chart (Tompkins, 2010).

o I found this to be a great strategy for assessing the students’ comprehension, as well as metacognition.

Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective

The data I gained from this interactive literacy lesson will be used to further

guide my instruction in order to maximize learning for each individual

student in the particular areas that this lesson addressed (Afflerbach, 2012).

IV. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectiveso Approaching literacy instruction from both

a critical and response perspective has allowed me to provide my three second grade students with an opportunity to think critically about a text and respond based on their thoughts and feelings.

o I chose to engage my second grade students in a small group interactive read-aloud using the text The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I chose this strategy in order to actively engage my students in the reading process and allow them an opportunity to respond in a literate environment (Tompkins, 2010).

Critical Perspectiveo Before I began reading, I had the

students participate in a Quickwrite in order to activate background knowledge on the given topic (Tompkins, 2010).

o Throughout the interactive read-aloud I asked the students to analyze key elements of the story, such as the author, characters, and plot.

o The students were also able to identify stages of the caterpillar’s life-cycle that were underrepresented in this particular narrative, which proved that the students were using critical thinking skills (Molden, 2007).

Response Perspectiveo The use of a Character Response journal

entry proved to be a highly effective method in allowing students to share their ideas of the main character’s thoughts and feelings throughout the text (Laureate Education Inc., 2014d).

o During this lesson, the students were given an opportunity to share their Character Response journal entry with their peers. This led to a discussion on how people gain different meanings from a particular text. At this time, I was also able to create a literate environment that promoted diversity among my individual learners and their responses to literature.

Through careful consideration and further exploration of each of these components, I believe

that I was better able to provide my students with a literate environment that encouraged these students

to become successful literacy learners. I believe that getting to know my literacy learners allowed me to select appropriate texts, as well as

plan interesting and engaging lessons, for the three second grade students I have been working with

throughout this course. The lessons I implemented promoted the students’ metacognition, as well as

critical thinking skills. By encouraging the students to respond to the text, I provided them with an

opportunity to make connections, as well as share their viewpoints with their peers. In turn, I believe that this will aid in the process of them becoming

respectful, productive, and contributing members of society.

In Conclusion

ReferencesAfflerbach, P. (2012). Understanding and using reading assessment, K-12. (2nd ed.). Newark,

DE: International Reading Association.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014a). Analyzing and Selecting Text. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?

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Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014b). Assessing Word Knowledge. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?

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Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014c). Informational Text in the Early Years. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?

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Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014d). Response Perspective: . [Video file]. Retrieved from

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ReferencesLaureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014e). Virtual Field Experience: Strategic Processing. [Video file]. Retrieved from

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McKenna, M.C. & Kear, D.J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(9), 626-639.

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Molden, K. (2007). Critical literacy, the right answer for the reading classroom: Strategies to move beyond comprehension for reading

improvement. Reading Improvement, 44(1), 50-56. Retrieved from  

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NCS Pearson Inc., (2014). Aimsweb. Retrieved from https://aimsweb.pearson.com/

Reading Rockets. (2014). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Retrieved from

http://www.readingrockets.org/articles/researchbytopic/4921

Tompkins, G.E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston:

Allyn & Bacon.