Balanced literacy presentation

How our children read : 

How our children read Beth A. Trammell, M.A., LMHC Welcome Back Celebration

Philosophical approaches : 

Phonics perspective Work a lot on individual letter sounds and sound blends Emphasis on decoding skills Skills perspective Emphasis on word recognition Often build and enhance sight word recognition Whole Language perspective Use whole texts to practice, rather than single words or sentences Believe in importance of developing sense of story and text Philosophical approaches

The “best” philosophy : 

There really is no ‘best’ philosophy However, the philosophy we use here is the skills approach The majority of what we read as adults is sight words – this is why it is easy for us to read quickly Sight word knowledge is a good predictor of reading fluency (the ability to read quickly and accurately) Reading fluency is a HUGE predictor of comprehension Think about this…when you have to sound each word out, how easy is it for you to understand what you read? ---VERY hard! Skills can be taught as a drill or a more creative approach if the child does not respond to drill tasks The “best” philosophy

Balanced literacy : 

The term balanced literacy means that we focus on giving children many opportunities to read written material, but that we also teach them the skills to do so. So how do we do that? Balanced literacy

Balanced literacy : 

According to Temple, Ogle, Crawford, & Freppon (2010), there are 4 types of activities that children should encounter on a daily basis to enhance their skills at reading and writing Demonstration and Immersion Actually seeing the teacher model reading and writing Attention to Detail Learning the structure of language Guided Practice This will help them internalize effective strategies Application and Extensions Allowing them to carry out their own reading and writing activities to help them generalize and become self-sufficient Balanced literacy

State Standards for Reading : 

Below is the link for Indiana’s state standards This site gives specific tasks that each child should achieve by a particular grade http://dc.doe.in.gov/Standards/AcademicStandards/index.shtml We will look at a few to summarize. State Standards for Reading

1st Grade Standards : 

According to the website, 1st grade students should: “Students become more independent readers and writers. They recognize letter sounds (phonemic awareness), see letter patterns, and identify the basic features of words and how to translate them into spoken language by using phonics. They sound out more complex vocabulary and comprehend the meanings of those words. They read fluently, orally and silently, a variety of grade-level appropriate classic and contemporary literature, folktales, nonfiction books on subjects of interest, alphabet books, and beginner’s dictionaries. They discuss what they have read, talking about main ideas, characters, plot, and setting. They begin to write compositions and other original works, and they begin to use Standard English. They recite poems, rhymes, songs, and stories, and they make short presentations.” 1st Grade Standards

3rd Grade Standards : 

According to the website, by 3rd grade “Students move from decoding words to learning more about what words mean. They learn longer and more difficult words that express abstract ideas, such as time. They also start thinking more about what they read. They identify and discuss main ideas, characters, plot, setting, and theme. They read a variety of grade-level-appropriate classic and contemporary literature and add biographies, historical fiction, science fiction, and mythology to what they have read in earlier grades. They get to know the kind of writing and organization used in textbooks. They read fluently, with expression and without stopping to figure out what each word means. They write clear sentences and paragraphs that demonstrate an awareness of audience and purpose. They also deliver brief oral presentations, tell stories, and perform plays.” 3rd Grade Standards

Instructional activities : 

Word Building Teacher selects daily letters; each student receives corresponding letter cards Teacher demonstrates one word on the board, using in sentence Students ‘build’ word from their word cards and recites the word Teacher changes one letter to make another word, again using in sentence Students ‘build’ that word and again recites the word GOAL: decoding skills; spelling; contextual skills from sentences Instructional activities

Instructional activities : 

Phonics games Worksheets with pictures and letters to be provided to each student Students will be challenged to complete worksheets by using decoding skills Teacher can create fun games by using races or timed activities GOAL: decoding skills; spelling; social skills; fluency Instructional activities C A

Instructional Activities : 

Sight word Soup Select 10 words from the Dolch Sight Word list Ask questions related to the word to help increase contextual understanding Have child say and write the word on dry-erase Play memory game with the words Have the child write a sentence for each word Practice new words each week GOAL: Increase sight word vocabulary; increase fluency Instructional Activities

Instructional Activities : 

The Best Thing in the World Read this story to students Have students practice this story with their reading buddy Have students create a diorama, play, or tv show based on this story GOAL: increase fluency/sight words, use creative methods to instill fluency skills Instructional Activities

Instructional activities : 

Think Alouds Choose a book for all children (within the group) Model reading for the children Encourage children to: Make predictions Visualize Make connections Monitor and make corrections Choose model readers within the group GOAL: increase fluency, promote group leadership and unity, teacher strategies for comprehension Instructional activities

Instructional Activities : 

Three tiered journals Students use journals to reflect on the book of the day by picking specific lines within the text Can be used to increase comprehension skills GOAL: increase written expression, increase comprehension Instructional Activities

Reading block schedule example : 

Reading block schedule example

Assessing our children : 

To assess our children’s knowledge, we will use The Abecedarian Reading Assessment that is available free of charge on the internet It has been developed by Sebastian Wren, Ph.D. & Jennifer Watts, Ph.D. and can be found at www.balancedreading.com. This is a great assessment for our young children because it assesses many different areas of literacy. Letter Knowledge Phonological Awareness Phoneme Awareness Alphabetic Principle Vocabulary Decoding Assessing our children

Assessing our children : 

We will also use running records to monitor students’ progress We will maintain the following guidelines from www.readinga-z.com for completing running records Early Emergent readers: every 2 to 4 weeks Emergent readers: every 4 to 6 weeks Early fluent readers: every 6 to 8 weeks Fluent readers: every 8 to 10 weeks Assessing our children

Assessing our children : 

Though we will use all the aforementioned assessment techniques to establish appropriate teaching strategies, grading will be determined based on the grading rubric The rubric is established based on the state standards for that grade level Grades will be established based on the child’s progress as determined by the teacher or the committee as spelled out by the rubric. Assessing our children

Rubric : 

Rubric

Grouping : 

The following grouping strategies will be used throughout the day and week at various points Heterogeneous groups Needs based groups Buddy pairs Interest groups Grouping

Heterogeneous groups : 

Mixed level readers will be STRATEGICALLY placed in a small group of 4 children Higher level readers will be able to help lower level readers By strategic placement, we can help to motivate children to excel to the higher reading levels Heterogeneous groups

Need-based groups : 

Children will be placed in a group for specific activities for which they need additional assistance This is helpful so that those children who do not need help can continue to increase their independence and do not need to join the group Need-based groups

Buddy pairs : 

Using strategic buddies will promote social interaction and a sense of community within the classroom This will also help lower level readers to seek help from one person in a higher level reader Having a single buddy in the room will help create trust and friendship Buddy pairs

Interest groups : 

4 or 5 children will be grouped based on their particular interest This will be a great way for children to learn to relate to one another Increase the number of children who can develop friendships based on reading experiences Since the children will be reading based on what they are interested in, they may be more motivated Interest groups

Response to Intervention (RTI) : 

Response to Intervention (RTI) Three Tiered process Tier 1 = 80% Tier 2 = 15% Tier 3 = 5% Graphic modeled from personal communication with Dr. Carrie Ball (C. Ball, personal communication, July 6, 2010).

Struggling & Gifted readers : 

Differentiated instruction According to the Council for Exceptional Children “Differentiated instruction is a teaching approach in which teachers adapt their instruction to student differences.” So…all children receive the same core material, but we adjust the content of it to be more or less difficult We also adjust the process of the material…by using scaffolding, manipulatives, and length of time required to learn the material We can also adjust the type of product we expect from the student based on his or her ability All of these strategies will address the needs of the widest range of students possible Struggling & Gifted readers

Parental Involvement : 

Parents are a huge part of children’s learning of reading skills We believe that parents have a vital role to helping us here at the school in getting kids ready to read and help them with their reading We expect you read at least one book to your child a day. Our school will have a reading challenge where we will reward families on a monthly basis for reading with their kids. We also expect you attend parent-teacher conferences to discuss any troubles your child has been having We will provide a handout today and also recommend a few websites that you can engage with your children Parental Involvement

Parental Involvement : 

Helpful websites to read with your kids http://www.starfall.com http://www.gamequarium.com/evocabulary.html http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/hmsv/ http://www.funbrain.com/words.html http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ Parental Involvement

Conclusion : 

We hope this provides you with an overview of how we are here to help your children learn to read We also hope this helps you to understand your role in helping your child…because we really do value your help! Questions?? Conclusion

References : 

Alonzo, J., Basaraba, D., Tindal, G., & Carriveau, R. S. (2009). They read, but how well do they understand?: An empirical look at the nuances of measuring reading comprehension. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 35, 34-44. Council for Exceptional Children (2010). Differentiated instruction. Retrieved from: http://www.cec.sped.org. Gersten, R., Fuch, L.S., Williams, J.P., & Baker, S. (2001). Teaching reading comprehension strategies to students with learning disabilities: A review of the research, Review of Educational Research, 91(2), 279-320. Hindson, B.. Byrne, B., Fielding-Barnsley, R., Newman, C., Hine, D. W., & Shankweiler, D. (2005), Assessment and early instruction of preschool children at risk for reading disability. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(4), 687-704. Indiana Department of Education (2010). Indiana standards and resources. Retrieved from http://dc.doe.in.gov/Standards/AcademicStandards/index.shtml. Rathvon, N. (2008). School interventions: Evidenced-based strategies for improving student outcomes. New York: Guilford Press. Tancock, S. (2010). Educational Reading 610 lecture notes. Ball State University. Temple, C., Ogle, D., Crawford, A., & Freppon, P. (2011). All children read: Teaching for literacy in today’s diverse classrooms. Boston, MA: Pearson. References