SubArea I. Foundations of Literacy

Competency 1.0 - Understand theories of literacy acquisition and development.DecodingFries (1960) - Decoding (sounding out words) automatically leads to comprehension.Asking Questions60's and 70s - Asking inferential and critical thinking questions.  Challenge & EngageBeyond the literal levelInferential, Make predictions, EvaluatingComprehension Skills80's - Had to teach a set of discrete Comprehension SkillsTaught each individual skillMain idea, sequence, cause and effect, and other conceptsTransactional ApproachRosenblatt (1978) - Successful readers construct meaning from the text that reflects both themselves and the text.Efferent Reading - Looking for and remembering information to use functionally.Aesthetic Reading - Done to connect one's life to the text.Bottom-up, Top Down, Interactional Theories of ReadingBottom up Learn part to whole  Smallest segments first. Strong phonics approach Letter sound relationships, basal readers Skills based, each taught one at a time. Top Down Begins with reader's knowledge, not print Moving from whole to the parts Whole word & Whole language Interactive Theories Balanced literacy approach Combine the strengths of bottom up and top down Use shared, guided, and independent reading Literacy and Literacy Learning21st century literacy skills include more than the traditional ability to read from text.Students must be able to listen and speak well in today's world.Technology has begun to change out literary world.Must experience authentic explorations, readings, and projects.Emergent Literacy - concept that young children are emerging into reading and writing with no real beginning or ending point.Reading Readiness - Assumes all children must have mastered a sequence of reading skills before they can being to read.Language Acquisition - Continuous and never ending.  Schools must build upon language that child brings to school due to the strong connection between oral language and reading.Prior Knowledge, Schemata, Background, and ComprehensionSchemata - structures which represent generic concepts stored in our memory.Prior knowledge and schemata can affect comprehension or a text.Comprehension is a strategic process where the reader transacts with the text to construct or assign meaning.The Role of Literature in Developing Literacy"Real Literature" best of children's books, award winnersEngages readersExpands ability to express oneself as a reader and writerEasier to read and understand

From the sounds of it this was first viewed as a be all end all of reading when it first gained steam but is not just a component.  Bloom's TaxonomyConcern was that they were not life long readers.  They were not reading to enjoy.There are different ways to read different texts.  Too often we have students read fictional texts efferently which takes away the enjoyment of reading.Bottom up uses decodable books that are vocabulary controlled, use lots of high predictable word families.  Does not focus enough attention on comprehension.More enjoyable for children but too much focus on comprehension.A major reason for why so many from my generation are terrible spellers.What we are currently using.  Obviously does not favor any certain component of reading.  Students must acquire a digital literacy to stay competitive in today's society.  Exposing them to reading with the use of technology is critical.  Surrounding children in a print rich environment early on is critical to emergent literacy.Opposite of emergent literacy.Many of my students use slang or ebonics, and it certainly has an impact on their language acquisition when teachers attempt to ignore their home language.Schemata and prior knowledge that matches a text will enable the student to comprehend the text better.A key component of real literature is the enjoyment a child will have from reading it.  Positive experiences with text go a long way in literacy development.

SummaryLiteracy instruction has evolved since the 1970s.  There was a clear phonics based approach that developed around this time with a great deal of skill and drill.  However research showed that students were not comprehending the texts as well.  Too much focus was put on decoding.  This led to a shift in practice towards a focus on comprehension.  The whole language approach or a top down, focused less on skills and more on students being exposed to print rich environments and making connections with texts.  Just as before, research discovered that students were now unable to understand the fundamentals of letter-sound relationships and spelling also became an issue.  Therefore literacy instruction moved to a more balanced approach, where we currently are.  Experts seem to agree now that all of the different components in reading and writing play equal parts and should all be equally focused on during instruction. 

Competency 2.0 Understand the relationships among reading, writing, listening, and speaking.Balanced instruction in each leads to students integrating the English language processes.Form the main communication system of English.Expressing ideas in their own words equates to making meaning while reading.Listening is a skill that must be taught.  There are different types of listening: appreciative, attentive, and critical.

CuesThe different forms of our language all work together.  Just as decoding and comprehension work together, so to do the forms of language.

Competency 3.0 Understand individual differences in literacy developmentOur classrooms are becoming more diverse for multiple reasons.Desegregation has led to school districts having either different ethnicity or different socioeconomic statuses.  Immigration continues to expand the diversity seen in classrooms.Creates a challenge for teaching reading.Multiple Intelligence Theory - (Gardner) Students learn in (at least) 8 different ways.  (Visually/Spatially, musically, verbally, logically/mathematically, interpersonally, intrapersonally, bodily/kinesthetically, and naturalistically).Constructivist Learning Theory - Allowing students to build their own understanding of concepts through interactions with materials, ideas, and one another.Processing, observing, and reflecting1. Learner creates knowledge2. Learner constructs and makes meaningful new knowledge to existing knowledge.3. Learner shapes and constructs knowledge by life experiences and social interactions.4. In constructivist learning communities, the student, teacher, and classmates establish knowledge cooperatively on a daily basis.Metacognitive Learning Theory - Study of how to help the learner gain understanding about how knowledge is constructed and about the conscious tools for constructing that knowledge.Student becomes and active participant.Social and Behavior Theories -

CuesTeachers need to be aware of cultural and contextual differences among students that will effect their interaction with texts presented.Students also have different learning styles that can affect how teachers instruct the students.Intelligences have been added.This theory plays a large role in an approach to comprehension.  For example when a student schema meets new information in a text and then when the student relates that new information to their life experiences. 

Competency 4.0 - Understand Formal + Informal Teaching For Assessing Literacy SkillsAssessment - Collecting informationEvaluation - processing information2 types: Informal Assessments - Observations and other non-standardized procedures.  Formal Assessments - Standardized tests and procedures.Effective Assessments: Ongoing process Integrated into instruction Reflect actual reading experiences Collaborative and a reflective process Multidimensional Account for age and ethnic/cultural patterns Lead to teaching from strengths not weaknesses Not to them, with them Criterion Referenced - Measured against criteria or guidelines, which are uniform for all test takers.Common tests are: Diagnostic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) - measures progress from k-3.  Stanford Achievement Test -individual achievement in key subjects.  Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) - How well children understand meaning of written text in real life situations.  CTP III - Measures verbal and quantitative ability in grades 3-12.  Higher order thinking.Norm Referenced - Children are measured against one another.  Reported in percentiles.  Permits comparisons across groups.Validity - How well it measures what it is supposed to measure.Reliability - consistency of the test.  Whether the child will scores the same when taken more than once.Biased questions do not take into account each child's background.Running Records - Oral reading progress.  Determine if a book matches their development level.  Determines child's use of cueing systems and strategies.  Can be used with any text.  Can be taken repeatedly and frequently.  Accuracy can be estimated by dividing child's errors by the total words read.95%-100% equals independent92%- 97% equal instructionalBelow 92% equals frustrationPortfoilios can be used to document a child's growth over time.  Summary sheets can keep a record of what is included in the portfolio and comments on the data that is available.Holistic Scoring - Involves assessing a child's ability to construct meaning through writing.  Uses a scale called RUBRIC. Writing does respond to the topic, be does not cover it accurately. Does respond to the topic but lacks sufficient details or elaboration. Fulfills purpose of the writing assignment and has sufficient development. Has the most details, best organization, and presents well expressed reaction to the original writer's piece.   Informal Reading Inventories (IRI) - Series of sample texts prearranged in stages of increasing difficulty.  Pinpoint skill level and additional concepts they need to work on.Oral Retellings can be used to test comprehension.  Leveled books are used in balanced literacy classrooms.  Levels are based on Fountas and Pinnell's work.Having these books labeled and available helps children find text that is just right for them to read independently.  Decodability - Literature which contains examples of letter sound correspondences you wish to teach.Independent Reading Level: 95 to 100% accuracyInstructional Reading Level 90 to 95% accuracyFrustration Reading Level Below 90% accuracy

CuesBoth are extremely valuable, teachers need to collect as much of a variety of data as possible to ensure they are developing an understanding of the whole child.Used for accountability but also determining where each individual is at in their literacy development.Essentially it is difficult to achieve this since there are so many differences among children.  Even students in a suburban school district that pulls from rural and urban areas will be extremely diverse, even if the students are from the same ethnic background.Important to indicate whether the child is reading for an expository or narrative text.  This can have an impact on how well they read the text.  Following up with comprehension questions can also indicate how well the student comprehends the text.  This can have an impact on the level that they text is at for the student.Again, this practice offers the opportunity to see the whole student.  Patterns throughout their portfolio can indicate a child's strengths and weaknesses.Oral retellings are useful but they only test certain aspects of comprehension.  Need to also ask higher order questions.Lexile is another system of leveling books for students.  I think the difference is that Lexile levels their books all the way into the secondary grades.  While Fountas and Pinnell level their books from emergent to fluent.It is important that each student read with the appropriate level depending on the situation.  Children need to have positive experience with reading so that they will continue to read and hopefully increase their reading.  Constantly reading is the best way to improve your reading.  

Competency 5.0 Understand how to use and communicate the results of literacy assessmentsListening Comprehension - Student needs to be assessed for listening skills to determine if this is an issue impacting their comprehension of text.Oral Reading - Determines skills that are developed and those missing.Silent Reading - As adults this is mainly how we read, we rarely read aloud, therefore it is important to assess this skill, despite the inability to observe the students abilities as with oral reading.Written Responses - Writing skills are an essential component of literacy communication and need to be assessed as well.

CuesOral and silent reading require different skills.  It is not uncommon for a child to be a different leveled texts when reading orally or silently.  Silent reading, because the teacher cannot hear miscues, is assessed using comprehension questions.Reading and writing skills often go hand in hand and can provide an even more complete picture of a student's literacy skills.  

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