Creating a Literate Environment

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Creating a Literate Environment

• By Verna Brown

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What is a Literate Environment?A literate
environment promotes high levels of literacy
learning and requires an understanding of reading
development and knowledge of research-based
practices.
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High levels of literacy learning comes from a
Framework for Literacy Instruction which contains
three perspectivesInteractive, Critical and
Response (Walden University, 2010).
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• Interactive Perspective Reading and writing
  accurately, fluently and with comprehension.
  Being strategic and metacognitve readers and
  writers.
• Critical Perspective Judging, evaluating and
  thinking critically about text.
• Response Perspective Reading, reacting and
  responding to text in a variety of meaningful
  ways (Walden University, 2011).
• These three perspectives are centered around
  learners, texts and instructional practices.

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Understanding Reading Development

• According to Tompkins (2010) literacy is a
  process that begins in infancy and continues in
  adulthood, if not throughout life (p. 111).
• According to Dodge, Colker Heroman (2002)
  teachers should know if every child is developing
  and learning as expected in all four areas of
  developmentsocial/emotional, physical, cognitive
  and language (p. 42).

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Ways to know if beginning Readers are developing
age-appropriate reading skills.

• Make simple predictions and comments about a
  story being read.
• Repeat a simple story after hearing it.
• Hold and look at books right side up, turning the
  pages one at a time from front to back.
• Name the letters in his first name, and can
  recognize her first name in print.
• Say and point to at least 10 letters of the
  alphabet.
• Match a letter with the beginning sound of a word
  (such as the letter B with a picture of a
  banana).
• Recognize words or signs he sees often.

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LearnersAffective and cognitive aspects of
literacy learning.

• Use a variety of informal and formal assessments
  to determine areas of strength and need in
  literacy development.
• Find out about ideas, issues and problems that
  matter to students. Understand the learner as a
  unique individual.
• Find out about students interests and
  identities. Understand what matters to students
  and who they are as individuals (Walden
  University, 2011).

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TextsText structures, types genres, and
difficulty levels matched to literacy learners
and literacy goals and objectives

• Determine texts of the appropriate types and
  levels of difficulty to meet literacy goals and
  objectives for students.
• Select texts that provide opportunities for
  students to judge, evaluate and think critically.
• Select texts that connect to students identities
  and/or interests and that have the potential to
  evoke an emotional or personal response (Walden
  University, 2011).

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Instructional PracticesDevelopmentally
appropriate research-based practices used with
appropriate texts to facilitate affective and
cognitive aspects of literacy development in all
learners.

• Use instructional methods that address the
  cognitive and affective needs of students and the
  demands of the particular text. Promote students
  independent use of reading strategies and skills.
• Foster a critical stance by teaching students how
  to judge, evaluate and think critically about
  texts.
• Provide opportunities for students to read, react
  and formulate a personal response to text (Walden
  University, 2011).

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Research-Based Practices/ Instructional
Procedures That Work

• Explicit Instruction
• Authentic Application Activities
• Learning Across the Curriculum

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Explicit Instruction

• Guided reading
• Interactive writing
• Making words
• Mini lessons
• Interactive Think-alouds
• Word ladders
• (Tompkins, 2010, p. 426)

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Guided reading is a small group instructional
procedure that teachers use to read a book with a
small group of students who read at approximately
the same level. Students do the actual reading
themselves, and they usually read silently at
their own pace (Tompkins, 2010, p 437).
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During guided reading teachers provide support to
students with decoding and reading strategies as
needed (Tompkins, 2010, p 437).
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Interactive Think-alouds focus on enhancing
student comprehension by engaging them in the
reading process before, during and after reading
(Tompkins, 2010, p 439).
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Authentic Application Activities

• Book Talks
• Double-entry journals
• Grand conversations
• Hot Seat
• Sustained Silent Reading
• Writing groups
• (Tompkins, 2010, p 427).

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Grand conversations are discussions about stories
in which students explore the big idea and
reflect on their feelings (Tompkins, 2010, p
436).
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Hot seat is a role-playing activity that builds
students comprehension. Students assume the
persons of a character from a story, the featured
person from a biography theyre reading or an
author whose books theyve read and they sit in a
chair designated as the hot seat to be
interviewed by their classmates.
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Learning Across the Curriculum

• Anticipation guides
• K-W-L charts
• Learning Logs
• Question-Answer-Relationships
• Tea Party
• Word Walls
• (Tompkins, 2010, p. 427)

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Anticipation guides activate students
background knowledge before they read
content-area textbooks and informational books.
Teachers prepare a list of statements about the
topic for students to discuss. The statements can
be true or false. Students discuss each statement
and decide whether they agree with it (Tompkins,
2010, p 428).
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Tea PartyStudents participate in a tea party to
read or reread excerpts from a story,
informational book or content-area textbook. It
is an active, participatory activity with
students moving around the classroom and
socializing with classmates as they read short
excerpts aloud to each other and talk about them
(Tompkins, 2010, p 472).
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Summary Creating a Literate Environment

• Promote high levels of literacy learning
• Using three perspectives Interactive, Critical
  and Response
• Understanding of reading development
• Use a variety of informal and formal assessments
  to determine areas of strength and needs. Find
  out about ideas, issues and problems. Find out
  about students interests and identities
• Knowledge of research-based practices.
• Explicit Instruction, Authentic Application
  Activities and Learning Across the Curriculum

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ReferenceDodge, D. Colker, L. Heroman, C.
(2002). The Creative Curriculum for Preschool,
Fourth Edition. Teaching Strategies. Washington,
DC.Tompkins, G.E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st
century A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston
Allyn Bacon.Walden University, (2011).
Framework for literacy instruction. retrieved
from http//sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/37
910/crswupsyc620535022436/FrameworkforLiteracy
Instruction 03-10.doc.