Literacy
Balanced Literacy Program.
During my teaching I utilised a balanced literacy program incorporating:
- Guided, Shared and Independent Reading and Writing
- Listening, Speaking and Singing Activities
- Word Work
- Role Play, Sound/Music and Drama
- ICT: computers, iPads, cameras, voice recorders etc.
Literacy Supplements
Some of the programs I used to supplement my balanced literacy program included:
- Nelson English writing program
- The Daily 5 Literacy Program
- Jolly Phonics Program
- Words Their Way
- The Six Traits of Writing
The Daily 5 Literacy Program
The Daily 5 is a literacy program that fosters literacy independence in all students. The Daily 5 consists of five literacy centers: Read to Self, Listening to Reading, Read to a Partner, Word Work and Writing. The program allows students to make their own choices regarding which literacy centers they want to do and when. It also teaches students to monitor their own literacy learning. While the students are working independently on one of the five centers, the teachers are working with students. Typically, while the students were completing their Daily 5 centers, my collaborating teacher and I were running guided reading groups and working with students one-on-one. The program is motivating and engaging, and can be adapted to fit the diverse literacy needs of all students.
Reading and Writing Workshop
Reader Workshop?
Readers Workshop is a format that provides the structure to support children learning to read. The workshop is designed for use with grades K-5 and is designed for 60 minutes a day. Activities are designed to teach youngsters what good readers do. Predictable rituals and routines structure the workshop to provide consistent expectations.
What does the class period look like during Readers Workshop?
The Readers Workshop contains three parts: an Opening, a Work Session, and a Closing.
During the Opening, the teacher teaches a 10-15 minute mini-lesson that brings the entire class together as a whole group for a single reading focus.
During the 35-40 minute Work Session the students read (independently in their just right books, with partners, or participating in literature circles or books clubs). The teacher confers with individual students, conducts guided reading or strategy groups, or assesses students.
The 5-10 minute Closing brings the students back together to share what they learned as a reader, often reinforcing the mini-lesson. Sometimes the Closing is used to clear up misconceptions that the teacher has observed during the Work Session.
What is a mini-lesson?
A mini-lesson focuses on a single concept such as a procedure (ritual or routine), a reading strategy (such as inferring, questioning, synthesizing) or a skill (such as a lesson on how to read an unknown word). A mini-lesson has four parts: the connection (connecting to what good readers do, the standard, and what the class has been doing in previous lessons), the teach (the single focus of the lesson), the active involvement (the students practicing the focus), and the link (linking to what the student will be doing during the Work Session and what they will do as readers today and always).
What is independent reading?
Independent reading is students independently reading material that is just right for them books that the child can read with 95% accuracy. In order to meet the standard, books must be a variety of types (newspapers, magazines, Internet articles, books) and genres (fiction, non-fictions, biography). The only way to become a better reader is to read.
What is partner reading?
Partner reading is pairing students at similar reading levels to read and discuss books. Each reader takes a turn reading, listening, and helping. Both partners become more excited about reading and learn from the others strengths.
What happens in a reading conference?
Conferring is one of the most powerful ways to communicate with students about their goals, skills, and choices in reading. Through one-on-one conferring the teacher offers precise, individualised coaching, and direct instruction. The teacher offers a piece of advice, demonstrates a strategy, or asks that one question that can make all the difference in a students reading.
What are guided reading and strategy groups?
The goal of guided reading and strategy groups is to help children learn to use independent reading strategies successfully. Both types of instruction are for small groups (4-6 students) facilitated by the teacher. In guided reading groups students are selected who are reading at the same level and the teacher selects material at their instructional level (text that can be read at 90-94% accuracy). Strategy groups are brought together to practice a single strategy and may include students reading at different levels. In both cases the goal is to enable students to acquire, use, and develop reading strategies that translate to high levels of fluency and comprehension.
What are book talks?
Book talks, like literature circles, are book discussion groups with a group of peers to learn different perspectives, interpretations, and strategies. Responding to books by discussing elements with peers builds comprehension in a social framework.
What is shared reading?
Shared reading is used most commonly in the primary grades where students are still focusing on learning to read rather than solely on reading to learn. It is sometimes used during the mini-lesson. The text in a shared reading is read with the class instead of to the class. Shared reading is used to teach skills and strategies and to practice fluency.
What is a read aloud?
In a read-aloud the teacher reads aloud a book, poem, or article to the whole group. Sometimes this is part of the mini-lesson but it can also be in addition to the Readers Workshop block and may be related to the content areas of Science and Social Studies. During the reading the teacher models proficient reading, fluency and the joy of reading. The goal is to read aloud at least three times a day.
Writer's Workshop
What is Writers Workshop?
Writers Workshop is a format that provides the structure to support children learning to write. The workshop is designed for use with grades K-5 and is designed for 60 minutes a day. Activities are designed to teach youngsters what good writers do to help them learn to write, learn to generate writing using self-selected topics, work with others to revise and refine their writing, as well as practice authors craft, skills, grammar, and conventions. Predictable rituals and routines structure the workshop to provide consistent expectations.There are four genres of writing taught within the Writers Workshop: Informational/ Report, Narrative, Procedural, and Response to Literature.
What does the class period look like during Writer Workshop?
The Writers Workshop contains three parts: an Opening, a Work Session, and a Closing.
During the Opening, the teacher teaches a 5-10 minute mini-lesson that brings the entire class together as a whole group for a single writing focus.
During the 40-45 minute Work Session the students go through the writing process: plan, draft, confer, revise, edit, and publish.
The 5-10 minute Closing brings the students back together to share in the Authors Chair what they have learned as writers.
What is a mini-lesson?
A mini-lesson focuses on a single concept such as a procedure (ritual or routine), a writers craft (such as noticing an authors technique or style), or a skill (such as a lesson on language use and conventions). A mini-lesson has four parts: the connection (connecting to what good writers do, the standard, and what the class has been doing in previous lessons), the teach (the single focus of the lesson), the active involvement (the students practicing the focus), and the link (linking to what the student will be doing during the Work Session and what they will do as writers today and always).
What is independent writing?
Students write daily on self-selected topics during the Work Session of Writers Workshop.
What are the stages of writing?
Plan- Students must first have a plan for writing by reviewing previous work, looking through their seed journals, or conferring with a friend.
Draft-Students are responsible for generating their own topics, knowing that a first draft is rarely a final draft.
Confer- Students receive feedback through peer and teacher conferences and response groups.
Revise-Students revisit the content of their writing to determine if the purpose is clearly communicated, if their paper is well-organised, and if the writing meets the elements of the standard using a rubric.
Edit-Students are responsible for addressing concerns with spelling, punctuation, capitalisation, paragraphing, and language usage. Not all writing gets a final edit. Only students wishing to publish a portfolio piece go through the editing process.
Publish-Students should polish 10 pieces representing each of the genres each year representing their best effort
What happens in a writing conference?
Conferring is a powerful way to provide individualised, purposeful, focused and specific instruction. Conferring teaches the writer and not necessarily just a single piece of writing. The goal is to teach the writer in such a way that s/he uses the lesson for all pieces of writing to come.
How is students writing organised
Response groups typically are composed of three to four students and might be thought of as small, on-going, collaborative groups who assist each other with various tasks of writing.
There are three types of folders used to organise student work:
Works-in-progress folders contain pieces of writing students are currently working on.
Cumulative folders contain everything a student has written for the year and provide a long-term look at the progress of the student over the year. While intermediate students keep every piece of writing, kindergarten and first teachers often help students sort through their work each nine weeks, keeping only representative samples that help the student represent their progress in writing over time.
Portfolio showcases the best effort of student work that is working toward or meeting the standard. A complete portfolio is kept for each student and sent to the next years teacher. During the year, the teacher/student selects one piece from his/her portfolio that best represents their writing from the previous year. Portfolios are generally kept in folders and are kept over the course of a child's years at school. At the end of the , the portfolio is sent home for the family to celebrate the child's work over the course of his/her elementary career.
What is the Authors Chair?
At the Closing of Writers Workshop, students have a chance to share with their classmates what they learned as a writer. Students that share also have the opportunity to read their writing and then receive appropriate feedback in the form of compliments and suggestions. Sometimes they share an authors craft they have tried. Sometimes they share just the beginning or ending of their writing, and sometimes they share an entire piece. Often the teacher has requested that specific students bring specific pieces to the Authors Chair to reinforce the mini-lesson or to point out something she noticed during the Work Session that she thinks has implications for the entire class.
Readers Workshop is a format that provides the structure to support children learning to read. The workshop is designed for use with grades K-5 and is designed for 60 minutes a day. Activities are designed to teach youngsters what good readers do. Predictable rituals and routines structure the workshop to provide consistent expectations.
What does the class period look like during Readers Workshop?
The Readers Workshop contains three parts: an Opening, a Work Session, and a Closing.
During the Opening, the teacher teaches a 10-15 minute mini-lesson that brings the entire class together as a whole group for a single reading focus.
During the 35-40 minute Work Session the students read (independently in their just right books, with partners, or participating in literature circles or books clubs). The teacher confers with individual students, conducts guided reading or strategy groups, or assesses students.
The 5-10 minute Closing brings the students back together to share what they learned as a reader, often reinforcing the mini-lesson. Sometimes the Closing is used to clear up misconceptions that the teacher has observed during the Work Session.
What is a mini-lesson?
A mini-lesson focuses on a single concept such as a procedure (ritual or routine), a reading strategy (such as inferring, questioning, synthesizing) or a skill (such as a lesson on how to read an unknown word). A mini-lesson has four parts: the connection (connecting to what good readers do, the standard, and what the class has been doing in previous lessons), the teach (the single focus of the lesson), the active involvement (the students practicing the focus), and the link (linking to what the student will be doing during the Work Session and what they will do as readers today and always).
What is independent reading?
Independent reading is students independently reading material that is just right for them books that the child can read with 95% accuracy. In order to meet the standard, books must be a variety of types (newspapers, magazines, Internet articles, books) and genres (fiction, non-fictions, biography). The only way to become a better reader is to read.
What is partner reading?
Partner reading is pairing students at similar reading levels to read and discuss books. Each reader takes a turn reading, listening, and helping. Both partners become more excited about reading and learn from the others strengths.
What happens in a reading conference?
Conferring is one of the most powerful ways to communicate with students about their goals, skills, and choices in reading. Through one-on-one conferring the teacher offers precise, individualised coaching, and direct instruction. The teacher offers a piece of advice, demonstrates a strategy, or asks that one question that can make all the difference in a students reading.
What are guided reading and strategy groups?
The goal of guided reading and strategy groups is to help children learn to use independent reading strategies successfully. Both types of instruction are for small groups (4-6 students) facilitated by the teacher. In guided reading groups students are selected who are reading at the same level and the teacher selects material at their instructional level (text that can be read at 90-94% accuracy). Strategy groups are brought together to practice a single strategy and may include students reading at different levels. In both cases the goal is to enable students to acquire, use, and develop reading strategies that translate to high levels of fluency and comprehension.
What are book talks?
Book talks, like literature circles, are book discussion groups with a group of peers to learn different perspectives, interpretations, and strategies. Responding to books by discussing elements with peers builds comprehension in a social framework.
What is shared reading?
Shared reading is used most commonly in the primary grades where students are still focusing on learning to read rather than solely on reading to learn. It is sometimes used during the mini-lesson. The text in a shared reading is read with the class instead of to the class. Shared reading is used to teach skills and strategies and to practice fluency.
What is a read aloud?
In a read-aloud the teacher reads aloud a book, poem, or article to the whole group. Sometimes this is part of the mini-lesson but it can also be in addition to the Readers Workshop block and may be related to the content areas of Science and Social Studies. During the reading the teacher models proficient reading, fluency and the joy of reading. The goal is to read aloud at least three times a day.
Writer's Workshop
What is Writers Workshop?
Writers Workshop is a format that provides the structure to support children learning to write. The workshop is designed for use with grades K-5 and is designed for 60 minutes a day. Activities are designed to teach youngsters what good writers do to help them learn to write, learn to generate writing using self-selected topics, work with others to revise and refine their writing, as well as practice authors craft, skills, grammar, and conventions. Predictable rituals and routines structure the workshop to provide consistent expectations.There are four genres of writing taught within the Writers Workshop: Informational/ Report, Narrative, Procedural, and Response to Literature.
What does the class period look like during Writer Workshop?
The Writers Workshop contains three parts: an Opening, a Work Session, and a Closing.
During the Opening, the teacher teaches a 5-10 minute mini-lesson that brings the entire class together as a whole group for a single writing focus.
During the 40-45 minute Work Session the students go through the writing process: plan, draft, confer, revise, edit, and publish.
The 5-10 minute Closing brings the students back together to share in the Authors Chair what they have learned as writers.
What is a mini-lesson?
A mini-lesson focuses on a single concept such as a procedure (ritual or routine), a writers craft (such as noticing an authors technique or style), or a skill (such as a lesson on language use and conventions). A mini-lesson has four parts: the connection (connecting to what good writers do, the standard, and what the class has been doing in previous lessons), the teach (the single focus of the lesson), the active involvement (the students practicing the focus), and the link (linking to what the student will be doing during the Work Session and what they will do as writers today and always).
What is independent writing?
Students write daily on self-selected topics during the Work Session of Writers Workshop.
What are the stages of writing?
Plan- Students must first have a plan for writing by reviewing previous work, looking through their seed journals, or conferring with a friend.
Draft-Students are responsible for generating their own topics, knowing that a first draft is rarely a final draft.
Confer- Students receive feedback through peer and teacher conferences and response groups.
Revise-Students revisit the content of their writing to determine if the purpose is clearly communicated, if their paper is well-organised, and if the writing meets the elements of the standard using a rubric.
Edit-Students are responsible for addressing concerns with spelling, punctuation, capitalisation, paragraphing, and language usage. Not all writing gets a final edit. Only students wishing to publish a portfolio piece go through the editing process.
Publish-Students should polish 10 pieces representing each of the genres each year representing their best effort
What happens in a writing conference?
Conferring is a powerful way to provide individualised, purposeful, focused and specific instruction. Conferring teaches the writer and not necessarily just a single piece of writing. The goal is to teach the writer in such a way that s/he uses the lesson for all pieces of writing to come.
How is students writing organised
Response groups typically are composed of three to four students and might be thought of as small, on-going, collaborative groups who assist each other with various tasks of writing.
There are three types of folders used to organise student work:
Works-in-progress folders contain pieces of writing students are currently working on.
Cumulative folders contain everything a student has written for the year and provide a long-term look at the progress of the student over the year. While intermediate students keep every piece of writing, kindergarten and first teachers often help students sort through their work each nine weeks, keeping only representative samples that help the student represent their progress in writing over time.
Portfolio showcases the best effort of student work that is working toward or meeting the standard. A complete portfolio is kept for each student and sent to the next years teacher. During the year, the teacher/student selects one piece from his/her portfolio that best represents their writing from the previous year. Portfolios are generally kept in folders and are kept over the course of a child's years at school. At the end of the , the portfolio is sent home for the family to celebrate the child's work over the course of his/her elementary career.
What is the Authors Chair?
At the Closing of Writers Workshop, students have a chance to share with their classmates what they learned as a writer. Students that share also have the opportunity to read their writing and then receive appropriate feedback in the form of compliments and suggestions. Sometimes they share an authors craft they have tried. Sometimes they share just the beginning or ending of their writing, and sometimes they share an entire piece. Often the teacher has requested that specific students bring specific pieces to the Authors Chair to reinforce the mini-lesson or to point out something she noticed during the Work Session that she thinks has implications for the entire class.
Reading Workshop Video:
This video depicts a typical day of reading workshop in a classroom. It includes short glimpses of a mini-lesson, independent reading, small group instruction, conferring, and reading response activities.
http://bcove.me/zmmwihwu
This video depicts a typical day of reading workshop in a classroom. It includes short glimpses of a mini-lesson, independent reading, small group instruction, conferring, and reading response activities.
http://bcove.me/zmmwihwu
Reading Strategies
Reading Strategies
I believe that my students are striving to become independent and fluent readers. Reading strategies are the tools that will aide in reaching those goals. We use reading strategies to help us when we come to words we have difficulty reading. These strategies are used everytime we sit down to read a book. When your child sits down to read a book with you, remind him/her of these strategies.
What is Reading Fluency?
According to the National Reading Panel (2000), fluency is the ability to read text with speed, accuracy and proper expression. Fluent readers...
Why is it important?
Fluency doesn't ensure comprehension, but comprehension is difficult without fluency. If a reader is constantly stopping to decode and figure out unknown words, most likely meaning will be disrupted and the process of reading becomes long and laborious.
When students make gains in reading fluency, they are able to put their energies into comprehension and are able to analyze, interpret, draw conclusions and infer meanings from texts.
Activities to Help Your Child Build Fluency
I believe that my students are striving to become independent and fluent readers. Reading strategies are the tools that will aide in reaching those goals. We use reading strategies to help us when we come to words we have difficulty reading. These strategies are used everytime we sit down to read a book. When your child sits down to read a book with you, remind him/her of these strategies.
What is Reading Fluency?
According to the National Reading Panel (2000), fluency is the ability to read text with speed, accuracy and proper expression. Fluent readers...
- recognize words automatically
- read aloud effortlessly & with expression
- do not have to concentrate on decoding
- can focus on comprehension
Why is it important?
Fluency doesn't ensure comprehension, but comprehension is difficult without fluency. If a reader is constantly stopping to decode and figure out unknown words, most likely meaning will be disrupted and the process of reading becomes long and laborious.
When students make gains in reading fluency, they are able to put their energies into comprehension and are able to analyze, interpret, draw conclusions and infer meanings from texts.
Activities to Help Your Child Build Fluency
- Model fluent reading - read aloud to your child
- Books on tape - children can listen to stories on tape as they follow along in a book
- Repeated reading - practice reading your guided reading book several times until fluency has developed
- Record your child - have your child read their book while you record their voice, then have them listen to themselves
- Word Study - build their sight word knowledge in order to recognize words quickly when reading
reading_strategies.doc | |
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