EDLI635 Theory and Practice of Literacy Instruction

1.   How can you ensure that your struggling readers have access to texts they can easily read? By setting up a class library with age appropriate books divided into categories and genres, children can choose books they are interested in and feel comfortable with to practice reading and improve fluency. It is important for teachers to carefully select books for the classroom library to make sure they will pique students' interest and align with the overall grade level as well as span the different levels ranging among individual students. 2.   How can you foster a learning environment in which students have many opportunities to practice reading? By making sure students have access to texts they can actually read, teachers increase their students' opportunities to practice reading. It is also beneficial to use various methods of reading instruction, including whole group and small group instruction, as well as individual coaching.  3.   Describe ways i...

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The child did a pretty good job reading the passage. There were just a few minor errors that could probably be improved with more practice and concentration, such as confusing must for most and live for lived. His comprehension was outstanding. He was able to give detailed responses to the questions the teacher asked, based on the passage he had read.

My career in education began as administrative assistant in a Head Start early childhood program. I worked alongside the educational coordinator, supporting her in curriculum design, assessment strategies, and professional development trainings. Mastering these skills eventually helped me become better teacher when I chose to go into the classroom. I am now an Early Head Start Teacher in a thee-year-old classroom. I find that at this age, a child's brain is literally like a sponge and they absorb everything I learn, even beyond my wildest expectation. I use a lot of scaffolding in my instruction, as well as learning through play and teaching by example. My Teaching Philosophy

Shared Reading: Ms. Perez reads a poem with her students together as a whole group activity, and then branches it out into a short phonics lesson. The lesson addresses the essential components of oral language, phonological awareness, word identification, and phonics. Since it's shared reading, everyone reads together with the teacher so everyone feels comfortable, even the weaker students. During the explicit phonics lesson, Ms. Perez supports her students' problem-solving skills as we see in the following examples: - When a student confuses "d" for "b," she explains his reasoning and helps him reach the right answer on his own. - She encourages students to sound out each letter seperately, and then blend the sounds together to form words. Shared reading promotes literacy by introducing harder words that children wouldn't necessarily be able to read on their own. It also boosts their confidence in reading, because no one will scrutinize their mist...

Carolyn Wilhelm provides an outstanding lesson plan for Grades K-2 that seamlessly intertwines all the areas of the ELA Standards. Creating a found poem by sifting appropriate words out of a text is a genius idea to promote literacy. First, it focuses on reading comprehension, since the reader must determine which words and phrases make sense to transfer to the poem. Then, of course, it helps children expand their writing skills, as they create a brand new work from their reading. Speaking and listening skills are developed in conjunction with all this, as the text is read aloud and the poem created together as a class before continued as individual or small group projects. The lesson can also be adapted to older grade levels with an extension of challenging students to create a parallel poem with original text.