Creating a Literate environment

1. Great Happens Here
Literacy learners
April 11, 2014

2. Students Create Meaning as They Read
Theory: Rosenblatt’s (2004)

3. Kindergarten Teacher: Ms. Lynn Swaving
Getting to know Literacy learners:
What is their Background,
Family history and special needs?
What they are bringing to the class in terms of literacy
development?
Taking note of language development and work habits’
Their unique qualities, interest
Consider what matters to them and who they are
as individuals.
Take the next step of planning strategically for
Individual learners.
INTRODUCTION

4. Support For Literacy Learners
Goals
- To have early assessment and intervention available on a daily basis.
- Set aside a period of the day to work with the struggling student.
- Monitor the progress of students who are not achieving adequately
and make adjustments as seems necessary.
- Plan and implement a program that provides for all students (level playing field)
- Provide extra instruction or alternate instruction for students who are working above
the level.
- Cater for the different levels of learners ( emergent, beginning and fluent) readers.
- Model reading and thinking to develop phonemic awareness, word identification,
fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

5. Selecting Text
Goals
- To focus on appreciation, enjoyment and reader response.
- To select grade level text books to teach reading strategies and skills
that successful readers need .
- Building appreciation of stories, poems, folklore, myths,
- Providing informational text that has a particular sense
of purpose” (build confidence)
- Choose literature that evokes feelings
- Encourage students to read on their own (note the text that interest them the
most)

6. Creating a Literate Environment
Interactive Objective
Students will:
- learn to look at text differently
- respond to text with feelings
- assume the character and share the character’s thoughts.
- ask questions or share information
- gain an appreciation for a wide range of text
(informational or narrative text)
- mumble or read along with the teacher
- repeat lines in chorus with the teacher
- Clap, chant or demonstrate characters of the poem.
Note: Check the following website for more interactive story time:
Story time online. www.tumblebooks.com

7. Interactive Perspective
Goals
- connects students to life lessons
- help students become strategic readers and writers
- admit when they encounter difficult words
- demonstrate what good readers do (organize ideas,
identify word, and voice.)
- attempt to attack words or take risk to read better
- learn that reading is a reciprocal process.
- encourage more active participation involving reading
and writing.
Important!!
‘Reading is a dynamic strategic, and goal oriented process the same as
in writing.’ Afflerbach (2007)

8. Interactive Perspective
The use of technology
- Technology is transforming literacy instruction
- Interactive books help students learn concepts of
- high frequency words, develop reading fluency
- expand vocabulary knowledge and practice
-- comprehension
Interactive Text
Dr. Seuss rhyming stories The cat in the Hat
H, A. Rey’s Curious George
Norman Bridwell’s Clifford from scholastic
Mercer Mayer’s Just Grandma and Me
Online Story time: www.kenedy -center.orgmultimedia/stoe
/storytimeonline

9. Critical and Response
Perspectives
Critical literacy has the potential to give students
the opportunity to read the word so that they can
read the world; Fehring & Green (2001)
-Students can judge what they read, make text to
text analysis and find deeper meaning from the text.
-Students can question literature
-brainstorm what the author is initiating,
--Discover how text can change negative behavior to
more positive character traits.

10. Critical Thinking Strategy
Goal
- To teach students ‘how’ to interpret text
- To teach students not to just analyze text but to use text that can identify with their
reading ability.
- To create a SPIRIT’ of enquiry
- To take note of how students develop critical thinking by judging characters or what
the author is implying.
“STOP-LeT’S HeLP Our kidS TO
THink criTicaL”

11. Vision For Literacy Learners
Teacher Must Ensure:
-Students are responsible for his or her learning
- More opportunities for reading
- Help students be more strategic in their reading or writing.
Ask Meaningful Questions:
-How does my literature instruction align with the way students think?
-Do I need to change my perspective to a more balanced approach?
- Consider ‘what to do? how to do? and what will I do with literature to create
readers who move from emergent to fluent readers.

12. Metacognition
Readers and Writers are Strategic
Students use cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies (thinking about your own
thinking) to direct their thinking.
‘Cognitive strategies are goal directed mental operations that students use
to manage their reading and writing and solve problems that arise’. Dean
(2006)
- Visualizing, drawing inferences and evaluating are more cognitive strategies
that readers use to construct meaning while organizing, revising and
reproofing are cognitive writing strategies to compose meaning in text
-Metacognitive strategies that students use are monitoring, repairing, and
evaluating helps regulate student’s thinking.
-

13. Time for Literacy
Take Action
“Helping children read is a deeply rewarding experience
for teachers and parents who take pride as their child
acquire effective reading skills and strategies.”
(Castek, 2008, February)
Questions & Answers
The End

14. References
Afflerbach, P. (2007) Literacy for the 21st
century: Reading is a dynamic process.
Chapter 1. p.4. Laureate Education, Inc. Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA
Castek, J. (2008) Clarifying differences between readers skills and reading
strategies. Issue, 5. p 36 – 37.
Dean, D. (2006) Literacy for 21st
century: A Balance approach. Metacognition
‘cognitive strategies are goal oriented’ p. 12 Laureate Education, Inc. Allyn &
Bacon, Boston MA
Fehring, H. & Green, P. Eds (2001) Critical Literacy: A collection of articles from the
Australian Literacy Educators Association. Newark, DE. International.
www.kennedy-center.org/mulitmmedia/storytimeonline/
www.tumblebooks.com