Teaching Literacy Learners in the

PreK–3 Classroomor

“How Can I Get Them Off to a Good Start?”

By Deborah McWilliamsRead & Literacy 6706Instructor: Cindee Easton, M.ED.

Creating a Literacy Environment

• Print Rich –books, labels & displays of student work, word wall, and charts

• Student – Centered

• Use of space to create instructional areas for whole group, small group, and centers

• Research-based instructional practices

Getting to Know the Emergent & Beginning Literacy Learner

• Non-cognitive assessments • - Student Interest

surveys• - Discussion• - Observation

• Cognitive assessments – • - Pre-assessments,

Formative, & Summative• - DIBELS• - Standardized tests

Getting to Know the Emergent and Beginning Literacy Learner

The Emergent Literacy Learner Just learning

concepts of print Letter Naming Phonemic

Awareness

The Beginning Literacy Learner

Beginning Phonics and Decoding – larger vocabulary

More independent practice

Can use strategies previously taught

Selecting TextStudents need to read and be exposed to a wide range of texts.

• Informational

• Literature

• Picture Books, Magazine, digital materials, posters, student –created writings, lists, etc.

• Read aloud and Shared reading

• Independent practice

Teachers need to consider many factors when selecting texts:

Purpose or Use Level of Difficulty Student Abilities

*Be sure to give students choices when selecting texts to encourage motivation and engagement. ( Reutzel & Cooter, 2015)

Selecting Text

Informational Linguistic

Narrative Semiotic

Easy

Hard

Dr. Douglas Hartman developed this Literacy Matrix as a tool to analyze and select text for various classroom purposes. Dr. Almasi enhanced this matrix by adding level of difficulty (Laureate Education, Inc., 2014).

Supporting Emergent & Beginning Literacy Learners

• Incorporate literacy activities into their play

• Enlist and encourage family involvement

• Daily read alouds

• Using research-based literacy instruction & include the five pillars for effective reading instruction : Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, & Comprehension (Reading Horizons, 2014)

• Develop effective classroom management skills

• Talk. Talk, talk – develop vocabulary

• Foster positive relationships with students and their families.

Emergent Reader Lesson

The lesson for my emergent reader focused on vocabulary development, and demonstrating comprehension by putting events of the story in sequence.There was also a writing component in which the student was asked to write something about each of the pictures included in the sequence activity.

The texts for the lessons were chosen by using data collected from a non-cognitive assessment which showed she liked to read about animals, so our topic was bears. McKenna & Kear (1990) realized that students’ attitudes about what they read plays a role in their reading success.

Beginning Reader LessonFor this lesson the beginning reader,

focused on being able to identify non-fiction text from fiction by using text features to help decide which category the book should be included. The lesson also included practice with comprehension and fluency strategies which are important skills for beginning readers to develop. Reutzel & Cooter (2015) state that to develop fluency, one needs much practice reading. The lesson also had a writing component in which the student wrote an opinion of what genre she liked the best.

ReflectionI have learned that emergent and beginning readers are similar

in some ways such as having a desire to learn to read, but they are also different in other ways. Both need the support of a knowledgeable and effective teacher who can identify what each student needs to learn to develop into a critical and capable reader.

I have also realized how important all the language skills – reading, writing, listening, and speaking are for students to develop to be productive members of our 21st century, and that it is important to begin when they are very young because these kinds of skills require time to build.

I hope that through this digital story, others will find a better understanding of the needs of emergent and beginning readers so we can begin to provide what students need to be successful literacy learners.

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014). Analyzing and selecting texts [Video file].

Baltimore, MD: Author.

McKenna, M. C., & Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for

teachers. Retrieved from http://www.bwgriffin.com/gsu/courses/

edur9131/content/Reading_Attitudes_McK enna_Kear_1990.pdf

Reading Horizons. (20140. Teaching Reading. Retrieved from

http://www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/teaching/

Reutzel, D. R., & Cooter, R. B. (2015). Teaching children to read: The teacher makes

the difference. Boston: Pearson.