Literacy+Program


 * **Comments**

__Philosophy of Literacy__ The first theory that I will someday implement in my future classroom is Vygotsky’s theory of Constructivism. This approach centers around the belief that children need to “solve problems and discover the consequences of their actions–through reflecting on past and immediate experiences–they construct their own understanding” (Learning Theory - Constructivist Approach). Students should be building on previous knowledge to dig deeper into the content and discover more information. “The basic idea is that problem solving is at the heart of learning, thinking, and development” (Learning Theory - Constructivist Approach). If the students are actively engaged in the research, they’ll want to know more. The theory suggests that teachers guide students to go more in-depth on one topic and become experts, rather than cover a breadth of topics lightly. Children should also be given real world problems and situations to solve so they understand how to apply what they’ve learned. “A constructively oriented curriculum presents an emerging agenda based on what children know, what they are puzzled by, and the teachers' learning goals” (Learning Theory - Constructivist Approach). Thus, curriculum should incorporate what the children have learned, want to learn more about, and what the teacher needs to cover. The students’ interests should play a big role in their education. Another theory that I would implement in my classroom is Maslow’s and Roger’s theory of Humanism. Humanism is the study of the whole person and their true potential. It focuses on the student’s self-worth, self-image and self-actualization. If the students feel safe and capable, they will do their best work. Humanism supports that not all behavior is determined, and students have an innate ability to reach maximum potential. All students should be studied and tested individually according to their ability rather than in groups. Of course, this theory is not completely conducive to NYS testing and standards, but pieces of it can be effective in a classroom. If the teacher sees the potential of a student and continues to encourage them to reach his/her highest potential while providing a safe environment, the child is likely to succeed. In a classroom setting, I would combine these theories and get to know each student and his/her potential individually. I would like the students in my classroom to always be thinking "How can I apply this to my life in practical ways?" I want the students to not only learn what is expected but to also find ways in using what they have learned. Whether it’s writing a short story to applying their language and spelling skills or making volcanoes applying science skills, they should be able to take something with them that they can use in life. I believe that a majority of students learn by reinforcing "book knowledge" with hands-on experiences. I believe that this will help the knowledge to stick and be applicable rather than just lecturing about it and then testing for knowledge of the facts. After students take tests, a lot of the information is forgotten anyways, so why not give them an opportunity to remember it through hands-on experience? **References** Net Industries. 2011. “Learning Theory-Constructivist Approach”. Learning Theory - Constructivist Approach

 McLeod, Saul. 2007. “Humanism”. http://www.simplypsychology.org/humanistic.html Classroom LayoutSubordinate Categories <span style="display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #c0267f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">__**﻿Classroom Layout**__ The classroom setup is a key component to the learning experience for children. There needs to be room for the students to move around while they learn and have hands-on experience. I would set up my classroom as follows: the desks would be in groups of four to promote team work and help the students to learn from each other rather than strictly from textbooks and worksheets There would be a few round tables that could be used for group work, one-on-one help, or hands-on experiences. This will enable the students to learn from more than one teaching method. There would be a reading rug to allow comfortable room for the students to read and learn. This area is designated to the students so that they will have an inviting place to stretch their imagination. I would put up a few charts and posters explaining key points of what we’re learning that year. I would probably put my desk along a wall, but as out of the way as possible because I won't be sitting at it while the students are there anyways. I would also hang up students art work on the walls because I think it promotes student achievement. * Definition
 * __Phonics__ **
 * The goal of teaching phonics is for children to learn that letters represent sounds and the letters work together to create words. The students must make a connection between the grapheme and phoneme of a letter.
 * Strategies
 * Word sorts is a strategy to help students categorize words by their sounds, spelling patterns or meanings. According to Zarillo, this is an effective way to help students master phonics skills (2007, pg. 28).
 * Making words is an activity that allows children to be creative and make their own words using the given letters of a larger word, which enhances their knowledge of word formation (pg. 28).
 * Shared books is a teacher directed approach where the teacher informally teaches the students a specific phonics skill (such as rhyming or digraphs) (pg. 28).
 * Morning messages and words around the room can be called to attention by the teacher as students are learning about a target sound-symbol relationship (pg. 28-29).
 * Word banks can be translated into individual word dictionaries for each student (pg. 29).
 * Word walls are effective in helping students with high-frequency words or content-area words because they are displayed in the classroom for students to see and use frequently (pg. 29).
 * Assessment
 * Decoding in isolation tests with nonsense words allows the teacher to assess students' phonics skill knowledge, as they must sound out the word (pg. 26).
 * During the decoding in context tests, teachers keep tract of the students miscues, especially sound-symbol patterns that are missed frequently.
 * Encoding in isolation tests assesses students spelling. The teacher reads the words out loud and the student writes them down.
 * Encoding in context is a test where the student writes paragraphs and the teacher looks for frequent sound-symbol relationship errors.
 * Performance Indicators
 * **ELA.PK-01.WR.07:** Spell high-frequency words correctly
 * **ELA.PK-01.RE.17:** Read aloud with expression and fluency
 * **ELA.PK-01.RE.02:** Recognize the difference between letters and words
 * **ELA.PK-01.RE.13:** Recognize letter-sound correspondence
 * **ELA.PK-01.RE.09:** Recognize the different sounds that make up a word
 * References
 * Zarillo. //Are You Prepared to Teach?//. 2007. 18-24

<span style="color: #c307c3; display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">**__Phonemic Awareness__** * Definition- Phonemic awareness can be taught without print, but is the development of using the sounds of English and understanding that sounds working together creates words. * Strategies
 * Rhyming games are effective because the students are given the opportunity to create new rhyming words (Zarillo, 2007).
 * Songs and chants allow students to practice previous knowledge about alliteration, rhyming or assonance (pg. 21)
 * Books with wordplay can introduce or reinforce alliteration and assonance (pg. 21).
 * Alliteration and tongue twisters are a fun way to reinforce alliteration as students are repeating words that begin with the same letters (pg. 21).
 * Assessment
 * Auditory discrimination- the teacher talks, the student listens and then the student says something
 * Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation- the teacher says 22 words and the child must provide each sound of the word in order.
 * Performance Indicator
 * ELA.PK-01.RE.08- Use beginning and ending consonants, as well as vowel sounds, to identify words.
 * ELA.PK-01.RE.09 -Recognize the different sounds that make up a word.
 * ELA.PK-01.RE.13-Recognize letter-sound correspondence.
 * ELA.PK- 01.RE.14- Recognize that words consist of a combination of sounds.
 * References
 * Zarillo. //Are You Prepared to Teach?//. 2007. 18-24

<span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">__**Fluency**__ * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Definition- Reading fluency is the ability to read the text smoothly, with appropriate expression, quickly and accurately, and is crucial for students’ success in school (O’Brien, Wolf, Miller, Lovett &Morris, 2011; Meisinger, Bloom & Hynd, 2010). <span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">For examples click on: Lesson Examples
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Strategies__
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">Assess the student to make sure that word decoding or word recognition is not the source of the difficulty (if decoding is the source of the problem, decoding will need to be addressed in addition to reading speed and phrasing).
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">Give the student independent level texts that he or she can practice again and again. Time the student and calculate words-correct-per-minute regularly. The student can chart his or her own improvement.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ask the student to match his or her voice to yours when reading aloud or to a tape recorded reading.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">Read a short passage and then have the student immediately read it back to you.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">Have the student practice reading a passage with a certain emotion, such as sadness or excitement, to emphasize expression and intonation.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">Incorporate timed repeated readings into your instructional repertoire.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">Plan lessons that explicitly teach students how to pay attention to clues in the text (for example, punctuation marks) that provide information about how that text should be read.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">taken from: []
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to Jan Hasbrouk, 2008, choral reading gives students a model of how to read fluently.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to Jan Hasbrouk, 2008, cloze reading "allows teachers to cover text and keep students engaged while avoiding the pitfalls of subjecting the class to examples of poor reading and embarrassing struggling students".
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to Jan Hasbrouk, 2008, partner reading improves fluency if students are taught beforehand how to manage their time and give feedback.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to Jodi L. Peebles, the rhythm walk improves students' "fluidity, appropriate speed, and natural phrasing of fluent reading".
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to Jan Hasbrouk, 2008, reader's theater gives students a chance to read a text that is enjoyable in a group, and provides a legitimate opportunity for students to re-read a text with a purpose.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to Taylor and Francis (2000), repeated readings increases reading rate, accuracy and comprehension.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Assessment__
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">List 3 important and unimportant details
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Walk around the room with a checklist regarding the students' fluency
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summarize the chapter after reading
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Answer comprehension questions while reading
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__Performance Indicators__
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Identify main ideas and supporting details in supporting texts.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use specific evidence from stories to describe characters, their actions and their motivations; relate sequences of events.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Make predictions, draw conclusions, and make inferences about events and characters.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Taken from ELA Grade 3 Trend Chart http://theliteracywiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/ELA%20Trends.pdf
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__References__
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Francis & Taylor. 2000. Focus on Inclusion. //Reading and Writing Quarterly//. 16. 163-168.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hasbrouk, Jan. 2008. Developing Fluent Readers. Reading Rockets. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/27176/
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Peebles, Jodi. 2007. Incorporating movement with fluency instruction: A motivation for struggling readers. //The Reading Teacher//. 60:6 578-581.



**__Vocabulary__** For examples of a vocabulary lesson click here. For exemplar click __** Spelling **__ ELA.PK-01.WR.05:** Capitalize the first words of sentences, the letter “I,” and proper nouns, such as names, days of the week, and months. > * References **__Comprehension__** For examples of comprehension lessons click here.
 * __Definition__
 * Vocabulary instruction is important because it draws from previously learned scheema to enhance students' word meaning knowledge, and thus enhances the meaning of text (Cockrum, Eeds, 1985).
 * __Strategies__
 * According to the Reading Rockets website, the Frayer Model gets every student involved in the construction and comprehension of the meaning of the given word.
 * According to Eeds and Cockrum, 1985, the Teacher Interaction Model "teaches target words by helping students expand an already existing conceptual network".
 * __Assessment__
 * Students will be able to define the target vocabulary words or concepts.
 * Students will be able to apply this information by generating examples and non-examples.
 * __Performance Indicators__
 * PI 4 Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.PI 5 Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.PI 6 Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.taken from: http://www.ncte.org/standards
 * Standard2 CRK Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words by using context clues, dictionaries and other classroom resources.
 * __Refer ences __
 * taken from: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/22369/
 * Cockrum, W; Eeds, M. Teaching word meanings by expanding schemata vs. dictionary work vs. reading in context. //Journal of Reading.// 1985. 28:6. 492-496.
 * Definition- Spelling is the ability to use orthographic patterns correctly. Learning which sounds represent which words is key to being able to spell.
 * Strategies
 * According to Zarillo, teaching spelling in context (through reading and writing) in several curricular areas at every grade level enhances students' ability to spell correctly (2007, pg. 39).
 * Tactile approaches (using sandpaper, window screens, shaving cream, etc) give students a hands-on learning experience when learning to spell and are very motivational (pg. 38).
 * Visual activities (re-writing words with pencil or in different colors) enables some children to learn the spellings of words, but is not effective with every student (pg. 38).
 * Mental Imagery (closing their eyes and visualizing the word as the teacher spells it) aids some learners as they're using their imagination and creating a mental image of the word (pg. 38).
 * Kinesthetic approaches (writing the word in the air with their fingers) incorporates motion and activity into the learning process and is beneficial for students that need to move (pg. 38).
 * Assessment
 * Analysis of student writing
 * Spelling tests
 * Performance Indicators
 * **ELA.PK-01.WR.07:** Spell high-frequency words correctly
 * **ELA.PK-01.WR.04:** Write recognizable upper- and lowercase letters in manuscript
 * Zarillo. //Are You Prepared to Teach?// 2007. 35-39
 * __ Writing __**
 * Definition
 * Writing is a form of communication and expression. People write in order to communicate thoughts, facts, feelings or opinions. It can be to form words on a page or other material with a writing utensil.
 * Strategies
 * According to Abbott and Gere (1985), group writing allows students to share opinions and writing styles, gives them a sense of unity and community, and allows them to use their critical thinking and discussion skills. It allows the teacher to free themselves from being the sole director of the writing process so the students can have the opportunity to help each other.
 * Phatic writing was more effective in higher grade levels and in expository texts rather than narrative texts, but it still provided students a chance to share and discuss their writing as a whole (Abbott and Gere, 1985).
 * According to Dorn and Soffos (2001), mini lessons allow teachers to teach a specific skill or strategy to a small group of students. It allows the teacher to observe each students' ability level and make note of any strengths or weaknesses the students have individually.
 * Assessment
 * Collection of students' notes from discussion
 * Students' writing pieces
 * Tape recording the discussion
 * Performance Indicators
 * Produce clear, well organized responses, to stories read or listened to, supporting the understanding of characters and events with details of story.
 * Summarize main ideas and supporting details from imaginative texts both orally and in writing.
 * Analyze information on the basis of both new and prior knowledge and/or personal experience.
 * References
 * Dorn & Soffos. (2001). Designing productive mini-lessons. //Scaffolding Young Writers: A Writer's Workshop Approach, 48-57.//
 * **<span style="color: #676666; display: inline !important; text-align: left;">Gere, A. R., & Abbott, R. D. (1985). Talking about writing: The language of writing groups. //Research in the Teaching of English//, 362–385. **
 * __ Definition __
 * Comprehension occurs when the reader uses a variety of strategies in order to understand the text clearly (Gambrell & Jawitz, 1993).
 * __ Strategies __
 * Reciprocal teaching encourages student participation and enhances the reading experience as students need to comprehend the text in order to ask and answer comprehensive questions (http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/reciprocal_teaching/).
 * According to Jawitz and Gambrell, 1993, visual imagery enhances reading comprehension performance and helps construct representations of prose.
 * __ Assessment __
 * Draw pictures.
 * Compare and contrast drawings.
 * Write a description of the visual images.
 * __ Performance Indicators __
 * 3RS2L Make predictions, draw conclusions, and make inferences about events and characters.
 * Identify main ideas and supporting details in supporting texts.
 * Use specific evidence from stories to describe characters, their actions and their motivations; relate sequences of events.
 * Identify elements of character, plot and setting to understand the author's message and intent.
 * Evaluate the content by identifying important and unimportant details.
 * __References__
 * Brown, A; Palincsar, A. Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension-Fostering and Comprehension-Monitoring Activities. //COGNITION AND INSTRUCTION//, 1984, I (2) 117-175
 * Gambrell, L. Jawitz, P. Mental imagery, text illustrations, and children's story comprehension and recall. 1993. //Reading Research Quarterly.// 28:3. 264-276.
 * Helfeldt, J; Lalik, R. Reciprocal Student-Teacher Questioning. 1976. //The Reading Teacher.// 30:3. 283-287.

For exemplar click ||