Book: Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach

Tompkins, G., Campbell, R., & Green, D. (2019). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (3rd  edition). Melbourne, Australia: Pearson Australia.

Chapter 1: Becoming An Effective Teacher of Language, Literature and Literacy

Children’s literature is the vehicle that parents and teachers use to introduce children to ways of speaking, reading, thinking, acting and responding. The use of quality literature.. goes hand in hand with respecting children’s worth, enables children to experience and appreciate the multifaceted dimensions of language and literacy (Hill, 2006).

The Four Resources Model

The code-breaker role

In reading and writing printed text, this role is concerned with recognising the marks on the page; and in non-print text, recognising the visual and auditory representations on computer screens or in other media formats. These marks or codes can be linguistic, visual, auditory, spatial and gestural, together with the cues or bits of information that assist code use. Recognition of such cues is a necessary, but not sufficient, aspect of making meaning from text (Hornsby, 2000). For example, children might recognise the letter “X ” on an ancient map (code breaker). However, they would need to use prior knowledge of private stores to realise that this is a treasure map (text user) and that “X ” marks the spot where the treasure is buried (text participant). Even then, the children would want to know who created the map so that they could determine its reliability/authenticity (text analyst). The code-breaker role refers therefore to more than phonics (the sound-symbol relationship of letters).

The text-user role

Proficient text users are aware of text type and purpose. If the text is a set of instructions, text users nee to read carefully or they may be unable to complete the taste it is directing them to do, perhaps to construct a set of drawers from an IKEA flat pack or to bake Anzac biscuits. On the other hand, if it is a novel they are reading for leisure, they can skip some of the “boring bits ” without necessarily losing the thread of the plot. A text user is always aware of text structure, and that texts are read and written in different ways. Anstey and Bull (2004, p.96) list some pertinent questions that text users may employ:

• What is the purpose of this text, and what is my purpose in using it?
• How have the uses of this text shaped its composition?
• What should I do with this text in this context? What are my options or alternatives after reading?

The text-participant role

From a very early age, children are text participants because they learn to make and share meaning of the world around them (Early Years Learning Framework EYLF), 2009). Can you think of the way in which babies create text using oral language? When engaging with a text, an essential requirement is that the text makes or creates understanding and meaning. The reader draws upon prior experiences, including social, cultural and prior reading experiences, and applies them to the text. If we did not use prior experience and knowledge, words would just be a collection of symbols to which we attached sounds. You get a feel for this concept of meaningless “barking at print” if you attempt to read something written in Spanish when you have no knowledge or experience of that language. Similarly, it is very difficult to write about an unknown topic; there is little or no information to draw upon.

Imagine city children reading a story set on a farm. They might encounter problems with concepts such as irrigation, agistment or mulching. Effective teachers discuss topics, themes, unknown words and text knowledge with children before introducing a new and unfamiliar text to them.

The text-analyst role

A text analyst looks at the text with a critical eye (and sometimes with a cynical eye) and asks:

• Who wrote this?
• Why did they write it?
• What do they want me to believe:
• How are they trying to position me?
• What are they not telling me? (Deliberately or unconsciously?)

A text analyst is aware that authors make choices in terms of text structure, grammar, words, ideas and concepts. These choices reflect the worldview of the author. Commenting on the same tennish match, the headline in an Australian newspaper might read “Brilliant Stosur defeats Willians”, while an American newspaper might have “Injured Williams’ brave loss”. An English paper might say “Grand Slam Final a Classic Match”. All are reporting on the same tennis game, but to the Australian editor it is all about the winning Australian player; and to the American editor it is about the losing American player; while to the British editor, the important issue is the game itself (especially as there is no English player competition). These differences are neither bad nor good. In fact, they are unavoidable. Even if an author tried not to include his or her own world view in a test, such avoidance in itself is an ideological statement.

The important point for teacher and student readers is that even if the author’s ideology is couched in conscious choices or unconscious assumptions, a critical reader and writer is aware of the ideological dimensions of text and their authors. The reader and writer then learns how to observe the silences in the text, to make choices and to evaluate the text.

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Because culture and learning are closely linked, some children are at risk of failing because they are not familiar with the literacy activities and language patterns that teachers use (Gay, 2000; Purcell-Gates, 2000).

Principle 1: Effective teachers know the curriculum, and organise for language, literature and literacy instruction

programmes… allow effective teachers to develop and implement instructional programs that:

• create a community of learning in their classroom
• implement the components of a balanced approach
• scaffold students ‘reading and writing experiences through modelling, joint constructions of text and guided analysis of texts
• demonstrate knowledge of the curriculum and of their students, and in the process, continue to add to their curriculum knowledge.

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Shared and Guided Reading and Writing

When planning a balanced LIteracy Block, teachers need to know what they are teaching, how they will teach and how to differentiate the instruction for individual learners.

The “what” to teach comes from the curriculum, and in many schools, teachers use literary text to teach the curriculum.

Shared reading is often the first session in the Literacy Block… the teacher shares the story, discusses its features and then directs the children to the next stage.

Teachers use guided reading and writing to personalise instruction and meet individual students’ needs. In guided reading, small homogeneous groups of students meet with the teacher for a set amount of time to read a book, or another text, and their instructional level.

Teacher-directed lessons and minilessons often take place as teachers introduce, consolidate and guide students as they apply and practice skills and strategies that support word identification and comprehension.

Effective teachers plan to read stories to and for older children in small groups, literature circles and book clubs. To begin, teachers select five or six books at varying reading levels to meet the needs of all students in the class. Often, the books are related in some way – perhaps representing the same theme, or written by the same author. The teacher collects multiple copies of each book and gives a book talk to introduce the set of books. Students then choose one book from the set, and form a group to read and respond to that book.

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Through the experience of reading and discussing a book together, students develop responsibility for completing assignments and learn more about how to respond to books.

As students develop confidence and responsibility, effective teachers also balance the ways in which they introduce their students to difficult and challenging texts.

Principle 2: Effective teachers understand how students learn language, literature and literacy

Effective English teachers know their students as individuals, and their teaching is informed by a solid foundation of theories about learning and language learning. Language learning theories and associated models and approaches for teaching language are embedded in a range of psychological, sociological and philosophical learning theories.

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BEHAVIOURISM

Behaviourists focus on the observable and measurable aspects of student behaviour. They believe that behaviour can be learned or unlearned, and that learning is the result of stimulus-and-response actions (O ‘Donohu & Kitchener, 1998).

Reading and writing are viewed as conditioned responses. Behaviourism is a teacher-centred theory because it focuses on the teacher’s active role as a dispenser of knowledge…

Teachers use explicit instruction to teach these skills in a planned, sequential order. Information is presented in small steps and reinforced through practice-oriented activities until students master it because each step or subskill is built on the previous one, in a a bottom up approach to develop skills for reading and writing.

• know when and how to use the skills-based approach (bottom-up approach) as part of a balanced literacy education program
• behaviourism learning does not apply to every child in every situation
• behaviourism does not offer any help to effective teachers who see some children fail to progress in their language and literacy skills despite repetitive instruction or feedback on the use of syntax (Ambridge & Lieven, 2011)

CONSTRUCTIVISM

Constructivist theories describe students as active and engaged learners who construct their own knowledge. … Constructivist theories are … student-centred and are now widely applied to literacy instruction, especially in the ways in which prior knowledge and experience is used in making meaning, in a “top-down” approach to developing reading and writing, incorporated into the Whole Language approach to literacy education.

Students bring the following elements of learning to language learning, and to developing their resources for reading and writing:

1. Students relate what they know to what they are learning (Piaget, 1950)
2. Students create their own knowledge.
3. Motivated students are more successful. (Guthrie & Wigielf, 2000)
   1. Hattie (2012) defines self-efficacy as “the confidence or strength of belief that we have in ourselves that we can make our learning happen” (pg 45)

Pg 12 – insert Figure 1.1 Theories in action: effective teaching of language, literature and literacy

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Sociocultural Theory

… adds a cultural dimension to our understanding of how students learn.

Teachers apply sociocultural theory when they create culturally responsive classrooms that empower all students, including those from marginalised groups, to become more successful readers and writers (Gay, 2000).

Teachers often use text that provides different cultural perspectives. The use of multicultural literature, for example, can develop students ‘ cross-cultural awareness.

Sociolinguistics

… learners use language to organise their thoughts. Lev Vygotsky (1978; 1986) recommended that teachers incorporate opportunities into their instruction for students to talk about what they are learning… Social interaction enhances learning in two ways: the zone of proximal development and scaffolding (Cazden, 1983; Dixon-Drauss, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978).

[Vygotsky] recommended that teachers fo us instruction on children’s zone of proximal development, the level between their actual development and their potential development. Teachers gradually withdraw their support as students learn so that they eventually perform the task independently. Then the cycle begins again.

Sociolinguistic theory is therefore applied in literacy instruction when students use language to get things done, and learn through culturally responsive and authentic literacy activities that are constructed from prior experience.

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Situated Learning

… an extension of sociocultural theory. Students learn through authentic literacy activities.

This theory rejects the notion of separating learning to do something and actually doing it, and emphasises the idea of apprenticeship (Vygotsky, 1978; Rogoff, 1990), where beginners move from the edge of a learning community to its centre as they learn from knowledgeable mentors and become experts.

… [uses] authentic reading and writing activities…

The teacher serves as an expert model, setting up students for success in writing and reading across a range of types of text (Acevedo & Rose, 2007). If a teacher wants to teach her students how to write a letter, she will create a genuine need for letter writing.

The step-by-step process from introduction to models and skills is guided by the teacher in a gradual release of responsibility towards students being in a position to write letters themselves.

Information Processing and Cognitive Processing

Two closely aligned learning theories… attempt to explain unobservable mental processes …

Information processing theorists believe that the mind functions like a computer, … information moves through a series of processing units – sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory … (Flavell, 1979).

… students use both cognitive and matacognitive processing strategies to direct their thinking. Processing strategies are goal-directed mental operations… Organising, revising and proofreading are cognitive processing strategies that writers use to compose meaning in texts they are writing. Visualising, drawing inferences and evaluating are cognitive processing strategies that readers use to construct meaning.

Metacognitive processing strategies, such as monitoring, repairing and evaluating, regulate students ‘ thinking and their use of cognitive strategies.

Interactive Models

Reading and writing are meaning-making processes. Models of the reading process describe what readers do as they read, and they emphasise that readers focus on comprehension as they read (Ruddle & Unrau, 2004; Rumelhart, 2004; Stanovich, 2000)

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Principle 3: Effective teachers support student use of the cueing systems

• The graphonic, or sound-letter, system
• The syntactic, or structural system
• The semantic, or meaning, system
• The pragmatic, or social and cultural use, system
• The paralinguistic, or information around the text, system

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THE GRAPHONIC SYSTEM 

There are approximately 44 speech sounds in English. Students learn to pronounce these sounds as they learn to talk, and they learn to associate the sounds with letters as they learn to read and write. Sounds are called phonemes, and they are represented in print with diagonal lines to differentiate them from graphemes (letters or letter combinations). Thus the first grapheme in mother  is m, and the phoneme is /m/. The phoneme is soap that is represented by the grapheme oa is called long o and is written /ō/

…English is not a purely phonetic language because there are 26 letters and 44 sounds, and many ways to combine the letters to spell some of the sounds, especially the vowels. 

THE SYNTACTIC SYSTEM

This system concerns the structural organisation of English. .. how words are combined, grammatically, into phrases, clauses and groups in spoken English…

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Students use the syntactic system as they combine words to form sentences. Word order is important in English, and English speakers must arrange words into a sequence that makes sense. 

THE SEMANTIC SYSTEM

This system focuses on meaning. Vocabulary is the key component of the semantic cueing system, as well as background knowledge about the topic being read. 

…words used “on their own” often do not mean very much… children must use the semantic cueing system if they are reading for meaning. An over reliance on phonics instruction and oral reading can lead to the formation of the idea that the sole purpose of reading is to pronounce the words correctly.

THE PRAGMATIC SYSTEM

Pragmatics deals with the social aspects of language use. 

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THE PARALINGUISTIC SYSTEM

In reading, the font, layout, illustrations and punctuation often contribute to the meaning of the text. These factors are referred to as the paralinguistic features of the text and they assist readers to predict what might be coming next in the text. 

PRINCIPLE 4: EFFECTIVE TEACHERS PROVIDE A BALANCED APPROACH TO EXPLICIT AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

… literacy…is viewed as a tool for participating more fully in a technological society. 

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Online texts are different from books (Casteck, Bevans-Mangelson & Goldstone, 2006). Whereas print materials are linear and sequential, online texst are a unique text type with these characteristics: 

Non-linearity. Hypertext lacks the familiar linear organisation of books; instead, it is dynamic and can be used in a variety of ways. Readers impose a structure that fits their needs and reconfigure the organisation when necessary. 

Multiple modalities. Online texts are multimodal, integrating words, images and sound to create meaning. Readers need to know how to interpret each mode and how it contributes to the overall meaning. 

Intertextuality. Many related texts are available on the Internet, and they influence and shape each other. As students read these texts, they prioritise, evaluate and synthesise the information being presented. 

Interactivity. Webpages often include interactive features that engage readers and allow them to customise their searches, link to other websites, play games, listen to video clumps and send emails. 

Because of these features, reading and writing on the internet require students to become proficient in new ways of accessing, comprehending and communicating information; these are referred to as new literacies and involve internet strategies such as navigating, evaluating and synthesising web-based information. 

A BALANCED APPROACH TO LITERACY INSTRUCTION

… an approach that combines explicit instruction, guided practice, collaborative learning, and independent reading and writing (Madda, Griffo, Pearson & Raphael, 2011)

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All balanced approaches to reading and writing usually embody these characteristics: 

• Literacy involves both reading and writing, and incorporates understanding the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing
• Oral language is integrated with reading and writing
• Reading instruction includes phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension: literal, inferential and critical.
• Writing instruction includes the writing process, elements of the writer’s craft, knowledge of genre, syntactic patterns of English, and the conventions of punctuation, spelling and expectations of standard written English
• Reading and writing are used as tools for content-area learning
• Reading and writing are developed through effective classroom and personal use of a range of literature, both imaginative and informative
• Strategies and skills are taught explicitly, with a gradual release of responsibility to students

A balanced approach effectively incorporates students’ involvement in their own learning, when: 

• Students often work collaboratively and talk with classmates
• Students participate in authentic literacy activities, activities that use models of well-written literature and poetry that reflect societies of different times and places, and content that connects to their world and their future
• Students believe that what is being taught has some potential value, purpose and use
• Students believe they are capable of learning what is being demonstrated*
• Students like, trust, admire, respect and want to emulate their teacher *
• Students are free from crippling anxiety*
• *Cambourne, 1995, pp 186-87; cited in McLean (2013)

Much of teaching involves instruction, a process of directing, enlightening, delivering and conveying information in ways that are able to be understood by learners as they move from novices to full participants in their own learning about any topic. 

Effective teachers also adjust their instruction because students vary in their levels of development, academic achievement and ability. Tomlinson (2004; 2014) explains that the one-size-fits-all instructional model is obsolete, and teachers respect students by honouring both their similarities and their differences. Differentiation is based on Vygotsky’s idea of a zone of proximal development. If instruction is either too difficult or too easy, it isn’t effective. 

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Insert: Figure 1.3 Components of the balanced approach to literacy.

DIFFERENTIATION

Differentiating the content

• Eg. choose instructional materials at student’s reading levels

Differentiating the process

• Provide instruction to individuals, small groups, and the whole class
• Scaffold struggling readers and writers with more explicit instruction
• Challenged advanced readers and writers with activities requiring higher-level thinking
• Monitor students’ learning and adjust instruction when the learning is not successful 

Differentiating the product

• E.g. assess students using a combination of visual, oral and written formats

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PRINCIPLE 5: EFFECTIVE TEACHERS KNOW THEIR LEARNERS AND SCAFFOLD EVERY STUDENT’S READING, WRITING, VIEWING, SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS

… BEFORE TEACHERS CAN ESTABLISH SUPPORT ROUTINES AND CLASSROOM PROCEDURES FOR THE literacy block as part of a balanced literacy program, they must obtain accurate, up-to-date data on each child’s knowledge, ability and skill levels. This information includes each child’s preferred learning style and any obstacles that impact on that child’s learning. Informal and formal assessment of learning provides the teacher with that data. 

Classrooms are social settings that comprise diverse memberships. Together students and teacher create their classroom community, which has a strong influence on the learning that takes place (Angelillo, 2008). However, the teacher plays a pivotal role in the establishment of classroom culture, and so needs to demonstrate ways for children to learn and practise respect, tolerance and valuing of all class members. 

Such behaviours include:

• Appreciating all class members and their responses
• Offering motivation and encouragement to learn
• Praising correct and partially correct responses
• Building a culture of exploration 
• Providing constructive feedback that enables children to see that risk-taking is a part of learning

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Insert figure 1.5: The Literacy Block’

Modelled Reading and Writing

It is useful for teachers to remember the difference between modelled and demonstrated instruction. Demonstration is the higher order skill, as it allows the teacher to explain why they do what they do.

Teachers can model fluent and phrased reading by attending to punctuation as they read. When modelling narrative writing, they can craft their world and introduce the children to teaching strategies such as think-alouds, graphic organisers and sentence starters. 

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Shared Reading and Writing

Teachers, particularly in the early years, often begin their daily literacy programs by sharing a big book with the children. This is called shared reading. 

The shared reading experience in all year levels can act as a leverage for writing

…shared writing… Teachers can use the teaching strategies, word walls, sentence starters and K-W-L charts to introduce children to ways of delivering a message. 

At the same time, teachers share with their students the knowledge that what is written can be read and spoken. This is called reciprocity. What I speak, I can write and read (Clay, 2005)

Interactive Reading and Writing

…scaffold the children’s learning through use of the teaching strategies choral reading and readers theatre. These strategies enable the students to appreciate the benefits of learning with others through active participation and sharing of knowledge and skills.

The principle behind interactive writing is the same. 

Interactive reading and writing:

• Having children share a task and their literacy expertise with peers
• Providing practice in reading and writing conventions
• Developing word knowledge
• Applying phonics and spelling skills
• Expanding skills in crafting a variety of sentence types
• Engaging with others in tasks that cannot be completed independently

Guided reading and writing

Accurate assessment of each student’s reading levels, using running records, enables the teacher to place children in homogeneous groups where they read to the teacher at their instructional level.  .. teaching strategies… can include semantic webs, word walls and cloze procedures. 

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Independent Reading and Writing

Independent reading occurs when children select a text that they can read, enjoy and respond to when questioned by the teacher or their peers. Independent writing operates in a similar way. 

PRINCIPLE 6: EFFECTIVE TEACHERS LINK INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT

1. Assessment is the bridge between teaching and learning (Low, 2017, p.13)
2. Assessment is an integral and ongoing part of both learning and teaching (Mariotti & Homan, 2005)
3. Assessment is one of the three points in the triangle of classroom interaction of learning and teaching. The other points of the triangle are content and teaching (Campbell, 2017, p.89)

… a classroom assessment is much more than a once-a-year test. 

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Assessment is a daily part of classroom life, and teachers use a variety of observations, informal procedures and commercial tests to monitor students’ reading and writing progress…

Teachers assess student’s learning for these purposes:

• Determine instructional levels
• Monitor progress
• Diagnose strengths and weaknesses
• Document learning
• Evaluate teaching

The Instruction-Assessment Cycle

Classroom assessment is always linked to instruction because teachers use assessment results to inform their teaching (Snow, Griffin & Burns, 2005). As they plan, teachers use their knowledge about each student’s reading level,s background knowledge, and strategy and skill competencies to plan appropriate instruction that is neither too easy nor too difficult. 

Assessment instruments:

• Observation of students as they participate in instructional activities
• Running records of each student’s oral reading to analyse their ability to solve reading problems
• Examination of student’s work (regular samples of children’s work are collected and placed in portfolios)
• Conferences to talk with students about their reading and writing
• Checklists to monitor each student’s learning
• Rubrics to assess students’ performances, written products and multimedia projects.

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Teachers put in place an instruction-assessment cycle that demonstrates the effectiveness of their teaching by employing the following six-step cycle of assessment and instruction:

• Step 1: Diagnose. Teachers do some assessments before they begin to teach, some while they are teaching and other assessments afterwards
• Step 2: Plan. Teachers use their knowledge about students’ reading, writing and other learning skills levels to plan appropriate instruction
• Step 3: Monitor. Teachers monitor instruction in progress as they observe students, conference with them and check their work to ensure that their instruction is effective
• Step 4: Modify. Teachers make modification including reteaching when necessary, to improve the quality of their instruction and meet students’ needs.
• Step 5: Evaluate. Teachers evaluate students’ learning using rubrics and checklists to assess students’ reading and writing projects, and administer teacher-made tests. They also collect samples to document students’ achievements.
• Step 6: Reflect. Teachers judge the effectiveness of their instruction by analysis students’ reading and writing projects and test results, and consider how they might adapt instruction to improve student learning.

Chapter 1 Review:

Effective teachers demonstrate their responsibility and commitment to ensuring that their students are successful when they adopt:

• Teachers understand and use the Four Resources Model and can describe each role represented in the model
• Teachers understand the organisation of [the curriculum]
• Teachers explain and show how language learning theories inform their teaching of reading and writing, and the development of students’ thinking and communication skills.
• Teachers can explain how they teach and support students to use the five cueing systems. They support students’ reading and writing development and their oral language development by explaining strategies for teaching students to use knowledge to decode and understand texts in books, and visual and digital modes.
• Teachers demonstrate how they organise a balanced approach to literacy instruction…
• Teachers address learning needs in the ways they differentiate instruction, so all students can be successful
• Teachers can link instruction and assessment, and discuss and demonstrate how they make these links.

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Chapter 2: Teaching the reading and writing process

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The reading process

Reading is a constructive process of creating meaning that involves the reader, the text, and the purpose within social and cultural contexts. The goal comprehension, understanding the text’s message and being able to use it for the intended purpose. The goal is not getting words right.

Readers must know the codes, the squiggles on the page. As code breakers they use their knowledge of the phonological system…

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Another role that a reader adopts is text user.

An additional role that readers employ is text analyst. … children learn from their interactions with others that meaning can be misinterpreted, misunderstood or incorrect.

Stage 1: Prereading

• Activate or build background knowledge and related vocabulary
• Set purposes
  • Sustaining a single purpose while students read the text is more effective than presenting students with a series of purposes (Blanton, Wood & Moorman, 1990)
• Introduce key vocabulary words
• Make predictions
• Preview the text

Stage 2: Reading

• Read independently, with a buddy, or use shared or guiding reading, or listen to the text read aloud
• Apply reading strategies and skills
• Examine illustrations, charts and diagrams
• Read the text from beginning to end
• Read one or more sections of text to learn specific information
• Take notes

Stage 3: Responding

• Write in reading logs
• Participate in grand conversations or other discussions

Stage 4: Exploring

Students go back into the text to examine it more analytically.

• Reread all or part of the text
• Learn new vocabulary words
  • Sometimes they engage in word sorts to categorise words and complete semantic webs
• Participate in minilessons on reading strategies and skills
• Examine the author’s craft
  • Students use story boards to sequence the events in the story and make semantic webs or graphic organise to highlight the plot, characters and other elements of the story structure.
• Identify memorable quotes

Stage 5: Applying

Readers extend their comprehension, reflect on their understanding and value the reading experience in this final stage. … create projects…. including open-mind portraits, essays, readers theatre performances and slide presentations.

• Construct projects
• Read related books
• Use information in content area units
• Evaluate the reading experience

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Figure 2.4 Types of Reading

Shared Reading:

• Teachers reads aloud while students follow along using a big book or individual copies

Strengths:

• Teacher teaches concepts about print.
• Teacher models fluent reading and reading strategies
• Students become a community of readers

Limitations:

• Big books or a class set of books are needed
• Text may not be appropriate for all students

Guided reading

• Teacher supports students as they apply reading strategies and skills to read a text

Strengths

• Teacher teaches reading strategies and skills
• Teacher provides scaffolding
• Teacher monitors students’ reading

Limitations

• Multiple copies of texts at the appropriate reading level are needed
• Teacher controls the reading experience

Independent reading

• Students read a text on their own without teacher scaffolding

Strengths

• Students develop responsibility
• Students learn to select texts
• Experience is authentic

Limitations

• Student may not be able to choose texts that they can read independently
• Teacher has little involvement or control

Buddy Reading

• Two students take turns as they read a text together

Strengths

• Students collaborate and assist each other
• Students become more fluent readers
• Students talk to develop comprehension

Limitations

• One student may simply read to the other
• Teacher has little involvement or control

Reading aloud to students

• Teacher reads aloud and provides opportunities for students to be actively involved in the experience

Strengths

• Students have access to books they connot read themselves
• Teacher models flent reading and reading strategies
• Students build background knowledge and covabulary

Limitations

• Students have no opportunity to read
• Students may not be interested in the text

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Writing in reading logs [stage 3]

Students write and draw their thoughts and feelings about what they have read in reading logs. as students write about what they have reads, they unravel their thinking and at the same time elaborate on and clarify their responses. Students usually write in reading logs when they are reading stories and poems; sometimes they also write ni reading logs when they are reading information books, but during content-area units they make notes of important information or charts and diagrams in learning logs.

Effective teachers also note each child’s strengths and weaknesses in language use.

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Reading Strategies and Skills

Strategies are deliberate, goal-dreicted actions (Afflerback, Pearson & Paris, 2008). Strategies are linked with motivation. When processing information, readers engage in strategies that include attending, searching, corss-checking and self-correcitng.

… skills are automatic actions. These actions occur without deliberate control or conscious awareness, but have to be developed and learned in use. The emphasis is on the development of the skills and eventually on their effortless and accurate use. Skills reflect behaviour theory , and they are used in the same way, no matter the reading situation.

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Minilessons on reading strategies

Students need explicit instruction about reading strategies because they do not acquire all of the knowledge through simply reading (Dowhower, 1999; Pressley, 2000).

• declarative knowledge – what the strategy does
• procedural knowledge – how to use the strategy
• conditional knowledge – when to use the strategy (Baker & Brown, 1984)

Teachers use minilessons to teach students about strategies. They explain the strategy and model its use, and then students practise using it with teacher guidance and supervision before using it independently. Through this instruction, students develop metacognitive awareness, the ability to think about their strategy use (Paris, Wasik & Turner, 1991)

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Context and guidelines: Strategy Instruction

• Teach strategies using minilessons and through explanations, demonstrations, think-alouds and practice activities. “I loved the way I saw you self-correct there. Why did you do that? “
• Provide step-by-step explanations and modelling so that students understand what the strategy does, and how and when to use it
• Provide both guided and independent practice opportunities so that students can apply the strategy in new situations
• Have students apply the strategy in content-area activities as well as in literacy activities
• Teach groups os strategies in routines so that students learn to orchestra the use of multiple strategies
• Ask students to reflect on their use of single strategies and strategy routines
• Hang charts of strategies and strategy routines students are learning in the classroom, and encourage students to refer to them when reading and writing
• Differentiate between strategies and skills, so that students understand that strategies are problem-solving tactics and skills are automatic behaviours

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The writing process

Figure 2.6 Key features of the writing process

Stage 1: Prewriting

• Choose a topic
• Consider the purpose for writing
• Identify the text type the writing will take
• Engage in rehearsal activities to gather ideas
• Use a graphic organiser to organise ideas

Stage 2: Drafting

• Write a rough draft
• Emphasise ideas rather than mechanical or conventional correctness

Stage 3: Revising

• Reread the brought draft, focusing on content and clarity
• Share writing in writing groups
• Make substantive changes that reflect classmates ‘ comments
• Conference with the teacher

Stage 4: Editing

• Reread the draft to see if you can improve the structure
• Proofread the revised rough draft: identify and correct spelling, and check sentence and clause boundary markers, other punctuation and grammar errors such as correct use of pronoun reference, subject-verb agreement, and so on
• Conference with the teacher

Stage 5: Publishing

• Make the final copy
• Share the finished writing with an appropriate audience
  • Read it to parents or carers and siblings
  • Share it at a back-to-school event
  • place it in the class or school library
  • read it to students in other classes
  • display it as a mobile or on a poster
  • contribute it to a class anthology
  • post it on the class website or wiki
  • submit it to the school’s literary magazine
  • Post it to the schools social media page
  • display it at a school or community event
  • sent it to a children’s literary magazine (print or online)

Considering purpose and form and text types

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As students prepare to write, they need to think about the purpose of their writing; are they writing to entertain? to inform? to persuade? Setting the purpose for writing is just as important as setting the purpose for reading, because purpose influences the decisions that students make about form

One of the most important considerations is the text type or form the writing will take: a story? a
letter? a poem? an essay? a report? an argument? an explanation? A writing activity could be handled
in any one of these ways. Students learn to use a variety of text types; some are described in Figure 2.7.

It is important that teachers highlight the reciprocity of reading at writing. It can be through reading that students become knowledgeable about these text types, their linguistic features and how they are structured (Donovan & Smolkin, 2002). Langer (1985) found that by Year 3 students respond in distinctly different ways to story- and report-writing assignments; they organise the writing differently and include varied kinds of information and elaboration. Because students are learning the distinctions between various text types, it is important that teachers use the correct terminology and not label all writing as ‘stories’.

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Some writers consider it important that teachers are very direct in scaffolding the introduction of text types (Christie, 1990; Derewianka, 1990; Rothery, 1984). They suggest the writing process includes the following:

• Building field knowledge—where children collect information on the topic they are going to write about.
• Modelling—where samples of the text type are shared and discussed with the children in terms of structure and linguistic features.
• Joint construction—where the children and teacher develop a text together, the children contributing ideas while the teacher acts as scribe. During this activity the teacher thinks aloud, giving reasons for the choices, questioning the choices, and reinforcing the structural and linguistic features of the text type.
• Independent construction—where the children, either individually or in groups, write their own texts.

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Text types

Text types (sometimes known as genres or categories of writing) are classified in many different ways in textbooks and syllabus documents. The Australian Curriculum: English describes three types of texts: imaginative, informative and persuasive. In our text type categories, we have added ‘everyday texts’ and ‘poetry’ to those three. Earlier versions of the curriculum made reference to everyday texts. Teachers who love poetry and who love teaching poetry argue that poetry should be listed separately, and not as just imaginative text. Poetry is subtle, personal and expressive, particularly lyrical poetry; ballads and epics are forms of narrative.

Each text type has a number of conceptual features and organisational features, and each makes use of textual or linguistic features that assist in the communication of the meaning.

Tompkins, G., Campbell, R., & Green Literacy for the 21st Century: Pearson New International Edition(6th Edition). Boston: Pearson

Pg 7 (international edition)

Activating Background Knowledge.

Students have both general and specific background knowledge (Braunger & Lewis, 2006). General knowledge is world knowledge, what students have acquired through life experiences and learning in their home communities and at school, and specific knowledge is literary knowledge, what students need to read and comprehend a text. Literary knowledge includes information about reading, genres, and text structures. Students activate their world and literary background knowledge in this stage. They think about the title of a book, look at the book cover and inside illustrations, and read the first paragraph to trigger this activation.

When students don’t have enough background knowledge to read a text, teachers build their knowledge base. They build knowledge about reading by teaching reading strategies and skills; knowledge about genres by examining the structure of the genre and explaining how reading varies according to genre; knowledge about a topic by providing a text set of books for students to read, engaging students in discussions, sharing artifacts, and introducing key vocabulary words. It’s not enough just to build students’ knowledge about the topic; literary knowledge is also essential!

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Assessing student writing

Teachers develop rubrics, or scoring guides, to assess the quality of students ‘ writing (Broad, 2003). Rubrics make the analysis of writing simpler and the assessment process more reliable and consistent. They may have four, five or six criteria, with descriptors related to ideas, organisation, language and mechanics at each level. Some rubrics are general and are appropriate for almost any writing assignment, whereas others are designed for a specific writing assignment.

Perhaps the most important outcome of teaching students to create [their own] rubrics [to use for assessment], according to Skillings and Ferrel, is that students develop metacognitive strategies and the ability to think about themselves as writers.

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Reading and writing are reciprocal processes

Figure 2.10 A comparison of the reading and writing processes

	What readers do	What writers do
Stage 1	Prereading Readers use the knowledge about: – the topic – reading – text types – cueing systems	Prewriting Writers use knowledge about: – the topic – writing – text types – cueing systems
Stage 2	Reading Readers: – use word-identification strategies – use comprehension strategies – monitor reading – create meaning	Drafting Writers: – use transcription strategies – use meaning-making strategies – monitor writing – create meaning
Stage 3	Responding Readers: – respond to the text – deepen meaning – clarify misunderstandings – expand ideas	Revising Writers: – respond to the text – deepen meaning – clarify misunderstandings – expand ideas
Stage 4	Exploring Readers: – examine the impact of words and literacy language – explore structural elements – compare the text with others	Editing Writers: – Identify and correct errors in conventions – review paragraph and sentence structures – check cohesion
Stage 5	Applying Readers – create projects – share projects with classmates – reflect on the reading process – feel success – want to read again	Publishing Writers: – make the final copy of their compositions – share their compositions with genuine audiences – reflect on the writing process – feel success – want to write again

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Chapter 3: Assessing students’ literacy development

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Classroom-based reading and writing assessment

Teachers use four types of assessment to monitor and examine student learning:

• leveled books to determine students ‘ reading levels as indicated in running records and miscue analysis
• informal procedures, such as observations and conferences, to monitor student progress
• tests, mainly informal, to diagnose students ‘ strengths and weaknesses in specific components of reading, speaking, interactions with digital texts and writing, such as
  • observations of students ‘ use of texts
  • analysis of students ‘ use of oral language for purpose and context
  • analysis of students ‘ see of digital devices and the variety of visual, audio, graphic design and print texts
  • observation and analysis of students when writing and of their written work
• collections of work samples to document student learning

In recent times, teachers are informed by the seminal work of Scott Paris (2005), and his theory of constrained skills and unconstrained skills. Constrained skills involve the learning of a finite set of information and skill, such as the phonics used as part of the reading process. Unconstrained skills involve more complete learning tasks and skills, such as comprehension, vocabulary development and the levels of cognitive flexibility required for writing and speaking, and for use of digital platforms (Stahl, 2011)

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Planning for assessment

Teachers plan for assessment at the same time they plan for instruction. They think about these questions and choose the assessment tools they will use to get answers:

• do students have adequate background knowledge and vocabulary about the topic to be taught?
• are any students struggling to understand?
• are students completing assignments?
• are students exhibiting good work habits?
• are students working responsibly with classmates?
• have students learned the concepts that have been taught?
• can students apply what they have learned in authentic literacy projects?

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By planning for assessment before they begin teaching, teachers are prepared to use assessment tools wisely; otherwise, classroom assessment often turns out to be haphazard and impromptu. Being prepared for assessment gives teachers the confidence to form judgements as they interact with students.

Knowing students: issues in assessment

Figure 3.2 Challenges in assessing student learning

• Designing and implementing lessons, challenging all students to learn and develop in many subject areas
• making decisions about the direction and level of instruction of whole-class, small groups and individual students
• establishing and maintaining relationships with staff, parents and carers, and school community
• managing student behaviour and the physical and interactive environment
• meeting curriculum standards, and the requirements of ….assessment
• catering for the range of learning abilities, interests and attitudes, and the social, personal and emotional needs of a diverse group of 20 – 30 students
• assessing the learning of every student, and forming judgements about each student’s level of achievement
• maintain records of the learning and behaviour of every student
• becoming familiar with and managing the learning and behaviour of students who have special learning needs

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It is not unusual for primary school teachers to have between four and ten children whose learning needs in their classrooms will only be partly met by the planned curriculum, the usual teaching procedures and practices, and the resources available to the teacher.

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Assessing, diagnosing and monitoring: spoken language

Effective teachers begin assessment on the first day of school when they observe and listen in order to understand the ways that the student uses spoken language.

Insert figure 3. assessing young children oral language

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Assessing, diagnosing and monitoring: written language

Teachers monitor student learning every day and use the results to make instructional decisions (Winograd & Arrington, 1999).

pg 81

A well-constructed and implemented variety of observation and assessment techniques provides teachers with most of the information needed in order to meet statutory demands, community expectations and their own professional integrity. At the top of the list of techniques are observations, anecdotal records, checklists and conferences.

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Assessing, diagnosing and monitoring: reading

Teachers use diagnostic assessments to identify each students ‘ strengths and weaknesses or learning needs, to examine any area of difficulty in more detail, and to decide how to modify instruction to meet that student’s needs.

Younger readers (emergent or beginning readers)

1. talk with the child and listen to the child talk about his or her interests
2. watch how the child handles a book or another text (see googman, 1985)
3. talk with the child about the features of the text: organisation of its essential features; pictures; the print
4. Listen to the child ‘read ‘ the text
   1. is the reading close to the original text
   2. is the reading an original
   3. what is the quality of the reading
   4. does the child display appropriate phrasing and intonation, such as that of book reading?
   5. what is the child’s attitude towards reading books and other texts
   6. does the child bring their own experiences to the text being ‘read ‘ ?
   7. does the child identify with a character or part of the book?
5. If the child reads the words of the text (for example, can read the book)
   1. what is the quality of the reading?
   2. what is the quality of phrasing and intonation
   3. does the child read word by word
   4. can the child tell you the gist of the story or the text
   5. how confident is the child when reading familiar texts
   6. how confident and fluent is the child when reading unfamilar texts
   7. does the child focus on reading the text? or does the child keep looking to you for support of promopting
   8. does the child make links between the text and their own experience in talking about the text or story
   9. what is the extent of the child’s use of grapho-phonemic knowledge and use of sight vocabularly
   10. does the child self-correct
   11. does the child read a range of text for information and enjoyment

Running Record

To gauge both beginning and fluent readers ‘ skills, a most effective measure is to conduct a running record…

Running records are useful for assessing how well a child can integrate those cueing systems, to produce greater reading fluency (clay; 2006)

When taking a running record, teachers need to choose two texts, one familiar to the child and the other unfamiliar. both texts need to be about the same level of complexity or difficulty; and about 100 to 150 words long (Clay; 2005). Begin the assessment with the child reading the familiar text as you sit beside them. Then, comment on one praiseworthy point and proceed to the unfamiliar text. Read the title of this text to the child, and allow the child to do a picture walk,. looking at and discussing the pictures as a guide to the content of the written text.

As the child reads, you score the running record. Many teachers use a sheet of unmarked paper. … it is important that you follow the conventions that were establish by Clay (2006) in regard to recording correct and incorrect responses, self-corrections, rereads, insertions, deletions and appeals.

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The analysis should take into account

• the error rate
• the number of self-corrections
• the self-correction rate
• the use of cueing system
• the quality of retelling of the text
• confidence, expression, intonation and fluency

All teachers need to be able to sit beside a student of any age and assess their reading fluency and accuracy.

pg 86

Miscue analysis

Some of the most detailed of these approaches are root found in the Reading Miscue Inventory (Goodman, Watson & Burke, 1987) and Watching Children Read and Write (Kemp, 1987).

Older readers (fluent and independent readers)

… undertake a different strategic system of observation and recording. The initial approach is to listen to each student read a number of different kinds of text and stories during the first few weeks of school.

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Checklist… starting point for a formative assessment of each student:

Makes meaning of the text when reading aloud

indicated by:

• fluency and expression fo meaning

meaningful substitutions

rereading parts to clarify meaning

self-correcionts

varying pace of reading to suit difficulty and unfamilarity with the text and the vocabulary

using knowledge of languagee patters

using knowledge of the conventions of print (punctuation, paragraphing, format…)

confirming predictions of the text

2. retells the story or restates the information in the text

3. displays understandingof the structure and language features of text

4. displays positive attitudes towards reading

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Asessing Writing: Diagnostic AssessmentThe procedure for diagnostic assessment is as follows;

1. have a rubric available for each student, and a separate rubric to use as a tally, deleting any items that are not required for assessment
2. Select a writing task, and present this task to the students.
3. allow students to write for a period of time that reflects te age of the students and the nature of the writing task
4. collect student writing
5. diagnose each student’s knowledge according to the dimensons listed on the rubric
6. collate individual numbers onto the tally rubric
7. use the findings to plan the classroom writing program across all types of text and purposes for writing
8. file the original writing and rubric in your portfolio for each student
9. retain the initial diagnosis for use in parent interviews.

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Test-taking strategies

• read the entire question first
• look for key words in the question
• read all answer choices before choosing the correct anser
• answer easier questions first
• make smart guesses
• stick with your first answer
• pace ourself
• check your work carefully

pg 115

Chapter 4: Working with the youngest readers and writers

Figure 4.1 Literacy centres

Centre	Description
Bag a story	Children use objects in a paper bag to create a story. They draw pictures or write sentences to tell the story they have created.
Clipboards	Children search the classroom for words beginning with a particular letter or featuring a spelling pattern and write them on paper attached to clipboards
Games	Children play crossword, alphabet, phonics, word sorts, and other literacy card and board games with classmates
Library	Children read books and other texts related to a thematic unit, and write or draw about them in reading logs
Listening	Children listen to an audio recording of a story or information book while they follow along in a copy of the book
Making words	Children practise a “making words “activity that they have previously done together as a class with teacher guidance
Messages	Children write notes to classmates and the teachers, and post them on a special “message centre ” bulletin board
Poetry frames	Children arrange word cards on a chart-sized poetry frame to create a poem and then practice reading it
Reading the room	Children use pointers to point to and reread big books, charts, signs and other texts posted in the classroom
Research	Children use the internet, information books, photos and realia (objects from real life) to learn more about topics in literature focus units and thematic units.
Story re-enactment	Children use small props, finger puppets or flannel board figures to re-enact familiar stories with classmates
Word sort	Children categorise high-frequency or thematic word cards displayed in a pocket chart.

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Oral Language Development

Children learn:

• to produce the sounds of English and to manipulate language in playful ways ( phonology)
• to combine words into different types of sentences and to use irregular verb forms, pronouns, and plural markers and other inflectional endings (syntax)
• about the meanings of words and add several thousand words to their vocabularies each year (semantics)
• to use language sociale – to carry on a conversation, tell stories and to use social conventions, including “please ” and “thank you “(pragmatics)
• to use and interpret tone of voice and non-verbal cues (paralinguistics)

Developing children’s oral language is essential because it provides the foundation for literacy learning (Roskos, Tabors & Lenhard, 2009). Children who don’t develop strong oral language before Year 1 have difficulty keeping pace with classmates (Hart & Risley, 20003; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998)

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Concepts about the alphabet

…encourage children’s alphabet learning:

Capitalise on children’s interests

Talk about the role of letters in reading and writing Teachers talk about how letters represent sounds and how letters combine to spell words, and they point out capital letters and lowercase letters. Teachers often talk about the role of letters as they write with children.

Provide a variety of opportunities for alphabet learning. Teachers use children’s names and environmental print in literacy activities, do interactive writing, encourage children to use invented spelling, share alphabet books and play letter games.

[teachers] teach the ABC song to provide children with a strategy for identifying the name of an unknown letter.

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Figure 4.5 Instructional recommendation for the three stages of reading and writing

Stage	Reading	Writing
Emergent	– Use environmental print – Including literacy materials in play centres – read aloud to children – read big books and poems on charts using shared reading – introduce the title and author of books before reading – teach the directionality and letter and word concepts using big books – encourage children to make predictions and text-to-self connections – have children retell and dramatise stories – have children respond to literature through talk and drawing – have children manipulate sounds using phonemic awareness activities – use alphabet learning routines – take children’s dictation using the Language Experience Approach – teach 20-24 high-frequency words – post words on a word wall	– have children use crayons for drawing and pencils for writing – encourage children to use scribble writing or to write random letters if they cannot do more conventional writing – teach handwriting skills – use interactive writing for whole-class and small-group writing projects – have children write their names on sign-in sheets each day – have children write their own names and names of classmates – have children make lists of words they know how to write – have children “write the classroom ” by making lists of familiar words they find in the classroom. – have children use frames such as “I like … ” and “I see… “to write sentences encourage children to remember what they write so they can read it.
Beginning	– read charts of poems and songs using choral reading – read levelled books using guided reading – provide daily opportunities to read and reread books independently – teach phonics concepts and rules – reach children to cross-check using the cueing systems – teach the 100 high-frequency words – point out whether texts are stories, informational books or poems – teach predicting, connecting, coss-checking and other strategies – teach the elements of story structure, particularly beginning, middle and end – have children write in reading logs and participate in grand conversations have children take books home to read with parents or carers	– use interactive writing to teach concepts about print and spelling rules – provide daily opportunities to write for a variety of purposes and use different text types – introduce the writing process – teach children to develop a single idea in their compositions – teach children to proofread their compositions – teach children to spell the 100 high-frequency words – teach contractions – teach capitalisation and punctuation skills – have children use computers to publish their writing – have children share their writing from the author’s chair
Fluent	– have children participate in literature circles – have children participate in reading workshops – teach about text types and literacy features – involve children in author studies – teach children to make text-to-self, text-to-world and text-to-text connections – have children respond to literature through talk and writing	– have children participate in a wiring workshop – teach children to use the writing process – teach children to revise and edit their writing – teach paragraphing skills – teach spelling rules – teach homophones, antonyms and synonyms – teach sentence structures and cohesions – teach root words and affixes – teach children to use a dictionary and a thesaurus

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Figure 4.6 How a shared reading lesson fits into the reading process

1. Prereading

• activate or build background knowledge on a topic related to the book
• show the cover of the book and read the title
• talk about the author and the illustrator
• have students make predictions

2. Reading

• use a big book or text printed on a chart
• use a pointer to tract during reading
• read expressively with very few stops during the first reading
• highlight vocabulary and repetitive patterns
• reread the book once or twice, and encourage students to join in the reading

3. responding

• discuss the book in a grand conversations
• ask inferential and critical questions, such as “what would happen if…? ” and “why do you think the author used that word?’
• share the pen to write a sentence interactively about the book
• have students draw and write in reading logs

4. Exploring

• reread the book using small books
• add important words to the word wall
• teach minilessons on strategies and skills
• present more information about the author and the illustrator
• provide a text set with other books by the author or on the same topic

5. Applying

• have students write a collaborative book to retell the story
• have students write an innovation imitating the pattern used in the book
• have students dramatise the story or use puppets to retell it

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Chapter 5: Cracking the alphabet code

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Teaching phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling

English is an alphabetic language, and children apply the code (encoding) or crack and break the code (decoding) as they learn about phonemes (sounds), graphemes (letters) and graphophonic (letter-sound) relationships.

Phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling are integral to effective literacy instruction (National Reading Panel, 2000; DEST, 2005; Konza, 2011; Shanahan, 2017). However, teaching the graphophonic relationships does not provide a complete reading program.

The building blocks of oral language are also the beginnings of successful reading.

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Teaching Phonemic Awareness

Teachers nurture children’s phonemic awareness through the language-rich environments they create in the classroom.

Teachers often incorporate phonemic awareness into other oral language and literacy activities, but it is also important to teach lessons that focus specifically on the phonemic awareness strategies.

Phonemic awareness instruction should meet three criteria:

1. activities should be appropriate for 4- 5- and 6- year old children. activities involving songs, nursery rhymes, riddles and wordplay books are good choices because they encourage children’s playful experimentation with oral language
2. instruction should be planned and purposeful not just incidentally… children already know that words are based on upon sounds, and phonemic awareness builds upon this knowledge.
3. Phonemic awareness activities should be integrated with other components of a balanced literacy program It is crucial that children perceive the connection between oral and written language (Yopp & Yopp, 2000)

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Teaching and learning strategies

Phonemic awareness

Children become phonemically aware by manipulating spoken language in these ways:

• Identifying sounds in words. Children learn to identify a word that begins or ends with a particular sound
• Categorising sounds in words. Children learn to recognise the ‘odd ‘ word in a set of three words; for example, when the teacher says ring, rabbits, and sun, they recognise that sun does not belong.
• Substituting sounds to make new words Children learn to remove a sound from a word and substitute a different sound. Sometimes they substitute the beginning sound, change bar to car,… or they change the middle sound, making tip from top, or substitute the ending sounds, changing gate to game.
• Blending sounds to form words
• Segmenting a word into sounds. Children learn to break a word into its beginning, middle and ending sounds

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Elkonin boxes

Teachers also use Elkonin boxes to teach students to segment words. This activity comes from the word of Russian psychologist D.B. Elkonin (Clay, 2005a)… the teacher shows an object or a picture of an object and draws a row of boxes, with one box for each sound in the name of the object or picture. Then the teacher or a child moves a marker into each box as the sound is pronounced. Children can move small markers onto cards on their desks, or the teacher can draw the boxes on the chalkboard or whiteboard and use the tape or small magnets to hold the larger markers in place. Elkonin boxes can also be used for spelling activities. When a child is trying to spell a word, such as duck, the teacher can draw three boxes, do the segmentation activity and then have the child write the letters representing each sound in the boxes.

… a word of caution in substituting the pen-and-paper version for a digital version of the Elkonin boxes. The physical manipulation of markers or counters provides sensory stimulus. This is more beneficial to some students than dragging and dropping of virtual counters on a screen.

Another key element is talking, interaction using language, whether the activities involve paper and pencil or tablet.

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Teaching phonemic awareness in a balanced literacy program

Children can be explicitly taught to segment and blend speech, and those who receive approximately 20 hours of training in phonemic awareness do better in both reading and spelling (Juel, Griffith & Gough, 1986). Phonemic awareness is also nurtured in spontaneous ways by proving children with language-rich environments and emphasising wordplay as teachers read books aloud and engage children in singing songs, chanting poems and telling riddles.

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Phonograms

One-syllable words and syllables in loner words can be divided into two parts, the onset and the rime. The onset is the constant sound, if any, that precedes the vowel, and the rime is the vowel and any consonant sounds that follow it. For example, in show, sh is the onset and ow is the rime, and in ball, b is the onset and all is the rime. For at and up, there is no onset; the entire word is the rime. Research has shown that children make more errors decoding and spelling the rime than the onset, and more errors on vowels than on consonants (Caldwell & Leslie, 2005). In fact, times may provide an important key to word identification.

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Whylei and Durrell (1970) identified 34 times, including -ay, -ing, -oke and -ump, that are found in nearly 500 common words.

Figure 5.3 thirty-four Rimes and common words using them

Teachers refer to times and phonograms or word families when they teach them, even though phonogram is a misnomer. By definition, a phonogram is a letter or group of letters that represent a single sound. Two of the times, -aw and -ay represent single sounds, but the other 32 do not.

Phonic rules

… linguists have created rules to clarify English spelling patterns. One rule is that q is usually followed by u and pronounced /kw/, as in queen, quick and earthquake, Iraq, Qantas and other names are expectations.

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figure 5.4 Excerpt from a word wall of word families

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Many rules are not very useful because there are more exceptions than words that conform (Clymer, 1963).

Figure 5.5 The most useful phonics rules

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The CVC pattern rule – which says that when a one-syllable word has only one vowel and the vowel comes between two consonants, it is usually short, as in bat, land and cup – is estimated to work only 62 per cent of the time. Exceptions include told, fall, fork and birth.

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Teaching Phonics

The best way to teach phonics is through a combination of explicit instruction and authentic application activities. The National Reading Panel (2000), in the United States, reviewed the rrunnesearch about phonics instruction and concluded that the most effective programs were systematic; that is the most useful phonics skills are taught in a predetermined sequence.

Figure 5.6 Sequence of phonics instruction

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Explicit Instruction

Teachers present minilessons on phonics concepts… explicitly presenting information about a phonics strategy or skills, demonstration how to use it, and presenting words for students to use in guided practice.

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Phonics instruction begins in kindergarten when children learn to connect consonant and short-vowel smouds to the letters, and it is completed by Year 3 because older students rarely benefit from it (Ivey & Baker, 2004; National Reading Panel, 2000). However, knowledge and application of phonics is needed in order to break the code…

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Application activities

A key component of phonics instruction is daily opportunities for children to apply the phonics strategies and skills they are learning in authentic reading and writing activities (National Reading Panel, 2000).

Teaching students with learning difficulties – phonics

…some students guess at words based on the fist letter or they sound out the letters one by one, without blending the sounds or considering spelling patterns.

Instruction for students who cannot decode words includes three components (Cunningham, 2009; McKenna, 2002):

1. Review word families, create a word wall divided into sections for words representing each phonogram, and teach students to decode by analogy.
2. Teach spelling patterns and have students practise them using word sorts. Some teachers have students read decodable texts to pracise particular phonics patters. For example, this passage emphasises /ā/ and the CVC pattern:
   1. The cat sat on a mat. The cat was black. He sat and sat. The black cat was sad. Too bad!

Even though publishers of these traditional basal text often tout their research base, Allington (2006) found no research to support their claims. Trade books at students ‘ in dependent reading levels are more effective for decoding practice.

3. Use a variety of different text, including text jointly constructed with the students, using their rhyming words and experiences to develop their own stories.

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Assessing students ‘ phonics knowledge

… ongoing and routine analysis of children’s uses of their phonics knowledge is the most effective formative assessment instrument, and one that enables tteachers to place individual students in gruops for extra assistance in an overall class proram of differentiated instruction.

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Assessment Tools – Phonics

• Observations Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (OS): Word Reading and Hearing and Recording: Sounds in Words Subtests
• Dynamic Indicators of BAsic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS): Nonsense Word Fluency Subtest (Kaminski & Good, 1996)
• Tile Test (Norman & Calfee, 2004)
• The Names Test: A Quick Assessment of Decoding Ability (Cunningham, 1990); Duffelmeyer et al., 1994; Mather, Sammons & Schwartz, 2006)

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SPELLING

Students do need to learn to spell words conventionally so that they can communicate effectively through writing. Learning phonics during the primary years is part of spelling instruction, but students also need to learn other strategies and information about English orthography.

Pg 170

Visual awareness – this is using familiarity with how words look in order to determine the correct way to spell them; if it does not look right, check it. The significant point is that there are legitimate ways to group letters in English. A child might attempt to spell chair as chare. This is a legitimate attempt because some words in English spell the /air/ sound as /are/, as does rare. On the other hand, had the; child spelled chair as jhyr, the attempt is a non-legitimate one because that combination of letters never occurs in English. Three important pedagogical points emerge from this understanding:

• the importance of distinguishing between the two atemps; the child who consistently makes non-legitimate attemps at spelling needs a lot more help (and help of a different kind) than the child who makes incorrect but legitimate choices
• the importance of reading, writing and discussing words frequently in order to build up the visual awareness of what words should look like
• the importance of phonemic awareness, a necessary but not sufficient condition for learning to spell and read (Adams, 1990)

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Figure 5.7 Stages of spelling development

Stage 1: Emergent spelling

Children string scribbles, letters and letter-like forms together, but they do not associate the marks they make with any specific phonemes. This stage is typical of 3- to 5- year olds. Children learn these concepts:

• the distinction between drawing and writing
• how to make tletters
• the direction of writing on a page
• some letter-sound matches

Stage 2: Letter name-alphabetic spelling

Children learn to represent phonemes in words with letters. At first, their spellings are quite abbreviate, but they learn to use consonant blends and digraphs and short-vowel patterns to spell many short-vowel words. Children learn these concepts between five and seven years of age:

• the alphabetic principle
• consonant sounds
• short-vowel sounds
• consonant blends and digraphs

Stage 3: Withing-word pattern spelling

Students learn long-vowel patterns and r-controlled vowels, but they may confuse spelling patterns and spell meet as mete, and they reverse the order of letters, such as form for from and girl for girl. Spellers are 7- 9- year olds, and they learn these concepts:

• long-vowel spellings patterns
• r-controlled vowels
• more complex consonant patterns
• diphthongs and other less common vowel patterns

Stage 4: Syllables and affixes spelling

Students apply what they have learned about one-syllable words to spell longer words, and they learn to break words into syllables. They also learn to add inflection endings (e.g. -es, -ed, -ings) and to differentiate between homophones, such as your-you’re, and too, two and to. Spellers are often 7- to 10-year-olds, and they learn these concept:

• inflection endings
• rules for adding inflection endings
• syllabication
• homophones

Stage 5: Derivational relations spelling

Students explore the relatihoshop between spelling and meaning, and learn that words with related meanings are often related in spelling despite changes in sounds (e.g. wise-wisdom, sign-signal, nation-national They also learn about Latin and Greek root words and derivational affixes (e.g. amphi- , pre-, -able, -tion). Spellers are 9- to 14 year olds. Steudents learn these concepts:

• consonant alternations
• vowel alternations
• Latin affixes and root words
• Greek affixes and root words
• words from other languages, including Old English and Norse.

Source: Adapted from D.R. Bear, M. Invernizzi, S. Templeton and F. Johnston (2008), Words Their Way (4th edn). Upper Saddle Rier, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.

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Teaching Spelling

Spelling must be taught (Oakley & Fellowes, 2016), and it is the quality of teacher instruction that makes the different between students who can spell well and students whose spelling remains poor (Adoniou, 2016).

Pg 175

Context and guidelines: An effective spelling program

• Spelling is part of the overall language and literacy program*
• The spelling programs, and the words chosen, meet criteria for function, and for social and contextualised use*
• Teachers demonstrate the use of spelling in writing and in word games and activities*
• Teachers model the strategies they use when spelling familiar and unfamiliar words*
• Students are encouraged to “take risks” with spelling unfamiliar words while writing; teachers and students discuss and decide on the validity of the attempt*
• Students are responsible for their own spelling; for example
  • underline first in draft writing
  • self-test for known words before learning lists of words
  • applying and keep a record of Look, say, Cover, Write, Check strategy
  • set up own learning program or schedule, from Year 4 onwards*
• teachers allow student to select interesting words to add to lists*
• spelling journals are maintained, and limited to useful and needed words*
• students read and enjoy words*
• teachers teach dictionary skills as part of the spelling program*
• word banks are on display, and changed as needed
• the Class Dictionary is a site for celebration, and includes valued and interesting words contributed by members of the class*
• Diction is a useful instrument for assisting children to learn to apply spelling in context

Teaching spelling strategies

Students learn spelling strategies that they can use to figure out the spelling of unfamiliar words.

important speling strategies include:

• segmenting the word and spelling each sound, often called “sound it out” spelling unknown words by analogy to familiar words
• applying affixes to root words
• proofreading to locate spelling errors in a rough draft
• locating the spelling of unfamiliar words in a dictionary

Word walls

1. … “important ” words from books students are reading or are using in units of study
2. … high-frequency words
3. … words that the teacher selects from samples of the students ‘ writing, and includes words that students have misspelled as well as words that are interesting to them (Adoniou, 22016)

Word sorts

Students use word sorts to explore, compare and contrast word features as they sort a pack of word cards.

Pg 182

Weekly spelling tests

Students spend approximately five to ten minutes each day studying the words on their study lists. Research shows that instead of “busy-work” activities such as using their spelling words in sentences or gluing yarn in the shape of the words, it is more effective for students to use this study strategy:

1. Look at the word and say it to yourself
2. Say each letter in the word to yourself
3. Cover your eyes and spell the word to yourself
4. Write the word, and check that you spelled it correctly
5. Write the word again, and check that you spelled it correctly

This strategy focuses on the whole word as well as on analysis or breaking the word apart into sounds or syllables.

Pg 183

Assessment Tools – Spelling

• Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA) (Ganske, 2000)
• Qualitative Spelling Inventory (QSI) (Bear et al., 2008)
• Marie Clay’s Observation Survey for young students (2013)
• The South Australian Spelling Test (SAST) – https://www.scribd.com/document/124317209/south-australian-spelling-test-form-b
• The Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (PAT-R)

Chapter 6: Teaching English grammar: the language code for reading and writing

Pg 195

Context and guidelines: Teaching knowledge of English

• Teach parts of speech within basic patterns of the sentence (clauses, groups and phrases)
• Focus on these syntactic patterns and their functions in the sentence
• Understand the function of the grammatical parts of speech: prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns and determiners
• Develop increased knowledge about the vocabulary words in English: nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
• Show how grammatical and vocabulary parts of speech function together
• use the notional definitions paired with the proper term until the students understand and use the proper term without confusion:
  • prepositions are position words
  • conjunction are joining words
  • pronouns are referring words
  • determiners are pointing words
  • adjectives are describing words
  • nouns are naming words
  • verbs are doing acting, feeling, thinking, sensing, saying, having and being words
• teach the etymology of English vocabulary (particularly Latin and Greek)
• use children’s language and experience
• Scaffold, model and teach language concepts carefully
• teach both classes of words, and the syntactic patterns, as functional patterns of English

pg 216

Teaching and learning strategies – Developing knowledge about clauses

• a one-clause sentence is a simple sentence
• a clause must have a verb
• A complex sentence has at least one independent or main clause, and also has one or more dependent clauses (adverbial/dependent/subordinate and adjectival/relative)
• A compound sentence has two or more independent tclauses joined by the conjunctions andd, but or yet.
• a sentence with a mix of complex and compound clauses is a complex sentence
• valued writing makes use of a carefully constructed mix of simple and complex sentences, with the occasional use of compound sentences
• a comma must be used after the depenet clause at the beginning of a sentence.
• commas should be used for adjectival (relative) clauses that add non-defining or extra information (use which as the relative pronoun for things; who always for people)

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Chapter 7: Developing fluent readers and writers

Pg 235

Non-fluent readers

• read slowly or too quickly
• try to sound out phonetically irregular words
• guess at words based on the beginning sound
• do not remember a word the second or third time it is used in a passage
• do not break mutlisyllabic words into syllables or rood words to decode them
• point at words as they read
• repeat words and phrases
• read without expression
• read in a word-by-word manner
• ignore punctuation marks
• do not remember or understand what they read

Allington (2009) offers three reasons why some students struggle to become fluent readers. Firstly, these students may read books and other texts that are not at their instructional and independent levels.

Secondly, they may engage with reading on an irregular basis, even though increasing reading volume at the correct level can assist children to achieve fluency.

Thirdly, teachers frequently ask some readers to read aloud and then immediately interrupt them when they misred a word, rather than giving them time to notice and correct their error. In time, these students become more tentative, word-by-word readers who depend on teachers to monitor their reading instead of monitoring it themselves.

pg 237

Teaching word recongition

pg 241

Teaching high-frequency words is not easy because of the lack of meaning that the words convey when they are used in isolation. Cunningham (2009) recommends this chant-and-clap procedure to practice the words being placed on the word wall:

1. introduce the words in context.
2. have the children chant and clap the words. … begin a chant “for, for, f-o-r “and clap their hands…
3. have children practise reading and writing the words… use cut up sentences, first creating sentences on strips of paper using the high-frequency words, and reading them to classmates
4. have children readn and write the words – authentic reading and writing activites

Pg 244

Figure 7.5 Word-identification strategies

Pg 245

Figure 7.6 Syllabication Rules

Pg 247

figure 7. Latin and Greek root words

Context and guidelines – Teaching students to identify words

• post high-frequency words on word walls
• teach students to read and spell high-frequency words in minilessons on spelling patterns, or graphophonic information
• practise reading and writing high-frequency words through authentic literacy activities
• introduce key words before reading, and teach other words during and after reading
• model how to use word-identification strategies during interactie read-alouds and shared reading
• teach students to use phonic analysis, decoding by analogy, syllabic analysis and morphemic analysis word-idetification techniques
• encourage students to apply word-identification tecniques to both reading and spelling

Pg 252

Promoting reading fluency

Rasinki (2003) identied four principles of fluency instrution:

• teachers model fluent reading for students
• teacher provide oral support while sutents are reading
• teacher have student do repeated readings of brief texts
• teacher focus student’s attention on chuking words into meaningful phrases

Pg 253

Teaching Prosody

Schreider (1991) recommends teaching students how to phrase or chunk together parts of sentences in order to read with expression.

Teachers word with non-fluent readers to break sentences into chunks and then read the sentences with expression.

Teaching strategies such as choral reading also help students improve their phrases. One variation of choral reading is unison reading, in which the teacher and students read a text together (Reutzel & Cooter, 2008). The teacher is the leader and reads loudly enough to be heard above the group. Another variation is echo reading, in which the teacher reads a sentence with good phrasesing and intonation and then students read the same material again. If the students read confidently, the teacher moves to the next sentence. However, if students have difficulty reading the sentence, the teacher repeats the first sentence.

Pg 254

Why is round-robin reading no longer recommended?

Instead of round-robin reading, it is recommended that students should read books independently at their reading level. If the books are too difficult, they can read with buddies, participate in shared reading, or listen to the teacher or another fluent reader read aloud.

Pg 256

Developing writing fluency

Just as non-fluent readers read word by word and have to stop and decode many words, non-fluent writers write slowly, word by word, and have to stop and check the spelling of many words.

Why copying from the board is no longer recommended

… not very effective because students are passively recording letters, not actively creating sentences, breaking the sentences into words and spelling the words.

It is more worthwhile for the students to write sentences to express their own ideas and to practise spelling the high-frequency words they are using.

Chapter 8: Expanding academic vocabulary

Pg 263

How do students learn vocabulary?

Students learn the meanings of words by being immersed in an enviornment that is rich with words, through lots of daily independent reading and interactive read-alouds, and through explicit instruction.

Vocabularly learning cannot be left to chance, because students ‘ word knowledge affects whether they comprehend what they read, write effectively and learn content-area information (Stahl & Nagy, 2006).

Pg 264

The role of oral language

Teachers… creating a word-rich enviornment where students are immersed in tealking, listening, reading and writing activities using the decontexualised academic vocabulary they are learning (Blachowicz & Fisher, 2011)

Teachers link oral, written and visual language as they teach vocabulary.

Students also use the same words they have used during grand conversation and other discussions when they write in reading logs and other journals. When the oral component is missing, students are far less likely to use the words in writing.

pp 265

Developing word knowledge

the four levels of word knowledge

• unknown word
• initial recognition – students have seen or heard the word or can pronounce it, but they do not know the meaning
• partial word knowledge – students no one meaning of the word and can use it in a sentence
• full word knowledge

Incidental word learning

… research report that reading is the single largest source of vocabulary growth for students, especially after Year 3 (Swanborn & de Glooper, 1999).

Independing reading

Simply providing time for independent reading, however, does not guarantee that students will increase their vocabulary knowledge (Stahl & Nagy, 2006); students need to know how to use context clues and other word-learning strategies to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words to increase their vocabulary.

Reading aloud to students

Pg 266

Daily read-aloud activities are imporant for all students…

Cunningham (2009) recommends that teachers in preimary school classrooms choose one picture book each week to read aloud and teach key vocabulary. Teachers read the book aloud one time and then present three new words from the book, each written on a word card. During the second reading, students listen for the words and the teacher takes time to talk about each word’s meaning using information available in the text and in the illustrations. Later, the teacher encourages students to practice using the new words when they talk and write about the book.

Why is vocabulary knowledge important?

Vocabulary knowledge and reading achievement are closely related. Students with large vocabularies are more capable readers and they know more strategies for figuring out the meanings of unfamiliar words than less capable readers do (Graves, 2006).

Pg 270

Context and guidelines – Teaching differences in word meanings

• explore synonyms in both small mixed-ability and same-ability groups
• use dictionaries and theasuruses
• discuss differences in meaning between words that are seemingly synonymous
• develop understanding of word meaning in the context of use
• select words carefully so that they can be groups more easily in terms of their common meaning.

Homonyms: wrods that confuse

Homonyms are confusing because, even though these words have different meanings, they are either pronounced the same or spelled the same as other words.

Most homophones are linguistic accidents, but stationary and stationery share an interesting history; stationery, meaning paper and books, developed from stationary. In medieval England, merchants travelled from town to town selling their wares. The merchant who sold paper goods was the first to set up shop in one town. His shop was “stationary ” because it did not move and he came to be the “stationer”. The spelling difference between the two words signified the semantic difference.

Pg 272

Etymologies: the history of the English language

Glimpses into the history of the Gnslih langauge provide interesting information about word meanings and spellings (Tompkins & Taden, 1986). The English language began in the fifth century when the Romans left Britain (Britannia), and when Angles, Saxons and other Germanic tribes invaded and settled in England. There Germanic language has become known as Anglo-Saxon or Old Enlgish, and was first written down somewhere in the seventh and eighth centuries, appearing in margin notes to the Latin in books such as The Lindisfarn Gospels …

…continue reading from book, excellent chapter!

Pg 276

Teaching vocabulary

Using the three tiers of vacabulary

Beck, McKowen and Kucan (2002) have devised a tool to assist teachers in choosing which words to study.

• Tier 1: Basic words – common words used socially, in informatal conversatoin at home and on the playground

• Tier 2: Academic words – used more frequently in writing than in oral language, and students should learn their meanings because they have wide application across the curriculum.
• Tier 3: Specialised words – technical words are content-specific and abstract… not used freqently enough to devote time to teaching them except as part of the units of study.

Pg 281

Word-study activities

• word posters – students choose a word and write it on a small poster; they then draw and colour a picture to illustrate it. They also use the word in a sentence on the poster. This is one way that students visualise the meaning of a word.
• word maps – students create a diagram to examine a word they are learning. they write the word, make a box around it, draw several lines from the box and add information about the word in additional boxes they make at the end of each line. three kids of information typically included in a word map are a category for the word, examples, and characteristics or associations.
• possible sentences – activate students ‘ background knowledge about a topic and increase their curiosity before reading a book … students write possible sentences using vocabulary words (Stahl & Kapinus, 1991)
• Dramatising words – students each choose a word and dramatisise it, in a variation of the game of charades, and their classmates then try to guess the word or expression
• word sorts – students sort a collection of words taken from the word wall into two or more categories in a word sort (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton & Johnstone, 2008)
• word chains – identify three or four words to sequence before or after it to make a chain
• semantic feature analysis – learn the meanings of words that are conceptually related by examining their characteristics in a semantic feature analysis (Allen, 2007).

Pg 283

Teaching and learning strategies – word learning

Michael Graves (2006) has identied these three effective word-learning strategies:

• using context clues
• analysisng word parts
• checking a dictionary

… figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word:

• students reread the sentence containing the word
• students use context clues to figure out the meaning of the word, and if that does not work they continue to the next step
• students examining the word parts, looking for familiar root words and affixes to aid in figuring out the meaning. if they are still not successful, they continue to the next step.
• students pronounce the word to see if they recongise it when they say it. if they still cannot figure it out, they continue to the next step
• students check the word in a dictionary or ask the teacher for help

Figure 8.9 Six types of context clues

Clue	Decription	Sample Sentence
Definition	Readers use the definition in the sentence to understand the unknown word.	Some spiders spin silk with tiny organs called spinnerets.
Example/Illustration	Readers use an example or illustration to understand the unknown word	Toads, frogs and some birds are predators that hunt and eat spiders
Contrast	Readers understand the unknown word because it is compared or contrasted with another word in the sentence	Most spiders live for about one year, but tarantulas sometimes live for 20 years or more!
Logic	Readers think about the rest of the sentence to understand the unknown word	An exoskeleton acts like a suit of armour to protect the spider
Root words and affixes	Readers use their knowledge of root words and affixes to figure out the unknown word	People who are terrified of spiders have arachnophobia
Grammar	Readers use the word’s function in the sentence or its part of speech to figure out the unknown word	Most spiders moult five to ten times

Teaching the analysis of word parts

Students use their knowledge of prefixes, suffixes and root words to unlock multisyllabic words when they understand how word parts function.

Pg 284

Developing word consciousness

Another component of vocabulary instruction is developing students’ word consciousness, their intrest in learning and using words (Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2002).

Pg 287

Assessment Tools – Vocabulary

• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 (PPVT-4) (Dunn, Dunn & Dunn, 2006)
• Expressive Vocabulary Test-2 (EVT-2) (Williams, 2006)
• Informal Reading Inventories (IRIs)
• Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (4th ed), known as the PAT-R

Pg 291

Chapter 9: Promoting comprehension: reader factors and text factors

pg 296

Reader and text factors

Readers are actively engaged with the text….they do the following:

• activate prior knowledge
• examine the text to uncover its organisation
• make predictions
• connect the text to their own experiences
• create mental images
• draw interences
• notice symbols and other literary devices
• monitor their understanding

Pg 299

Figure 9.5 Overview of the comprehension strategies

Strategy	What readers do	How it aids comprehension
Activiating background knowledge	Readers make connectons between what they already know and the information in the text	Readers use their background knowledge to fill in gaps in the text and enhance their comprehension
Connecting	Readers make text-to-self, text-to-world and text-to-text links	Readers personalise their reading by relating what they are reading to their background knowledge
Determining importance	Readers notice the big ideas in the text and the relationships between them	Readers focus on the big ideas so they do not become overwhelmed with details
drawing inferences	Readers use background knowledge and clues in the text to “read between the lines”	Readers move beyond literal thinking to grasp meaning that is not explicitly stated in the text
Evaluating	Readers evaluate both the text itself and their reading experience	Readers assume responsiblity for their own strategy use
Monitoring	Readers supervise their reading experience, checking that they are understanding the text	Readers expect the text to make sense, and they recognise when it does not so they can take action
Predicting	Readers make thoughtful “guesses ” about what will happen and then read to confirm their predictions	Readers become more engaged in the reading experience and want to continue reading
Questioning	Readers ask themselves literal, inferential and critical questions about the text	Readers use questions to direct their reading, clarify confusions, make inferences and question aspects of the texts
Self-correcting	Readers identify a problem that interferes with comprehension and then solve it	Readers solve problems to regain comprehension and continue reading
Summarising	Readers paraphrase the big ideas to create a concise statement	Readers have better recall of the big ideas when they summarise
Visualising	Readers create mental images of what they are reading	Readers use the mental images to make the text more memorable.

P 307

Explicit comprehension instruction

The fact that comprehension is an invisible cognitive process makes it difficult to teach; however, through explicit instruction, teachers can make comprehension more visible. The explain what comprehension is and why it is important, and they model how they do it by thinking aloud.

Teachers teach individual comprehension strategies and then show students how to integrate several strategies simultaneously (Block & Pressley, 2007). They introduce each comprehension stragey in a series of minilessons.

Pg 313

Elements of informative texts

Informative texts provide information and the paragraph is central to the presentation of content knowledge.

Figure 9.7 The five expository text structures

Chapter 10: Organising for instruction

Pg 324

Literature focus units

Literature focus units include activities incorporating the five stages of the reading process:

• Prereading- build background knowledge and interest
• Reading
• Responding – grand conversations, reading logs, plot profiles
• Exploring – vocabulary, word study, comprehension, text factors, resarch
• Applying – create oral and written projects to share

Context and guidelines – Literature focus units

Purpose: to teach reading through literature, using high-quality, year-appropriate picture books and novels

Components: teachers involve students in three activities: students read and respond to a book together as a class; the teacher teaches minilessons on topics that include phonics, vocabulary and comprehension using the book they are reading; and students create projects to extend their undersatnding of the book

Theory base: Literature focus units represent a transition between teacher-centred and student-centred learning because the teacher guides students as they read a book. … It also relfects Rosenblatt’s transactional theory because students participate in grand conversations and write in reading logs to deepn their comprehension, and critical literacy theory because issues of social justice often arise in the books.

Applications: …Literature focus units are often alternated with another approach where students read books at their own reading levels.

Strengths:

• Teachers scaffold students’ comprehension as they read with the class or small goups
• teachers teach minileassons on reading processing strategies and skills
• students learn vocabulary through word walls and other strategies
• students learn about literary text types, story structure and literary devices
• students are exposed to high-quality, often award-winning literature

Limitations:

• all students read the same book whether or not they like it and whether or not it is written at their reading level
• many activities are teach directed

Steps in developing a unit

Usually literature focus units featuring a picture book are completed in one week, and units featuring a novel or other longer book are completed in three or four weeks.

1. Select the literature
2. Set outcomes
3. Develop a unit plan
4. Coordinate grouping patterns with activities
5. create a time schedule
6. assessing students

Pg 329

develping a content-area unit

1. determine the focus for the unit
2. collect a text set of books
3. coordinate content-area textbook readings
4. Locate internet and other multimedia materials
5. plan instructionsal activities
6. identity topics for minilessons
7. consider ways to differentiate instruction
8. brainstorm possible projects
9. plan for assessment

Pg 332

Orchestrating literature circles

One of the best ways to nurture students ‘ love of reading and ensure that they cecome lifelong readers is through literture circles – small, student-led groups that meet regularly in the classroom to discuss texts (Daniels, 2001). … what matters most is that students are reading something that interests them and is manageable…

• Talk about the text

• talk about the reading process

• talk about connections

• talk about group process and social issues

Pg 335

Context and guidelines – literature circles

Purpose: to provide students with opportunites for authentic reading and literary analysis

Components: students form literature circles to read and discuss text that they choose themselves. they often assume roles for the discssion

Theory base: literature circles reflect sociolinguistic, transactional and critical literacy theories because students work in small, supportive groups to read and discuss text, and the texts they read often involve cultural and social issues that require students to think cirtically

Applications: Teachers often use literature circles in conjunction with a commerical reading program or with literature focus units so that students have opportunites to do independed reading and literary analysis

Strengths:

• books, and other texts, are available at a variety of reading levels
• students are more strongly motivated because they choose the texts they read
• students have the opportunity to work with their classmates
• students participate in authentic literacy experiences
• students learn how to respond to literature
• teachers may participate in discussions to help students clarify misunderstandings and think more critically about a text

Limitations

• teachers may feel a loss of control because students are reading different texts
• students must learn to be task-oriented and to use time wisely to be successful
• sometimes students choose text that are too difficult too easy for them

Implementing literature circles

1. select texts
2. form literature circles
3. read the book
4. participate in discussions
5. teach minilessons
6. share with the class

Pg 339

Context and guidelines – Reading and writing workshops

Purpose: to provide students with opportunites for authentic reading and writing activities

Components: Reading workshop involves reading, responding, sharing, teaching minilessons and reading aloud to students. Writing workshop consists of writing, sharing and teaching minilessons.

Theory base: the workshop approach reflects sociolinguistic and cognitive/information processing theories because students partipate in authentic activities that encourage them to become lifelong readers and writers.

Applications: teachers often use reading workshop in conjunction with a commercial reading program or with literature focus units so students have opportunities to do independent reading. they often add writing workshops to any of the other instkructional approaches so students have more sustained oppotunities to use the writing process to develop and refine compositions

strengths:

• students read books that are appropraite for their reading levels
• students are more motivated because they choose the books to read that interest them
• students work through the stages of the writing process
• activities are student-directed, and students work at their own pace
• teachers have opportunites to work individually with students during conferences

limitations

• teachers often feel a loss of control because students are reading different books and working at different stages of the writing process
• teachers have responsibility to teach minilessons on strategies and skills, in both whole-class groups and small groups
• students must learn to be task-oriented and to use time wisely to be successful.

Pg 350

Chapter 11: Differentiating for Success

Pg 354

What is a differentiated instruction?

Teachers know that some of their students are working at year level but others may have difficulty and some are advanced.

Differentiated instruction is based on the understanding that students differ in important ways.

Pg 355

Heacox (2002) characterises differentiated instruction as rigourous, relevant, flexible and compext:

• Rigourous means that teachers provides challenging instruction that encourages student’s active engagement in learning
• Relevant means that teachers address literacy standards to ensure that students learn essential knowledge, strategies and skills
• Flexible means that teachers use a variety of instructional procedures and groups techniques to support students
• Complex means that teachers engage students in thinking deeply about books they read, compositions they write and concepts they learn.

INSERT FIGURE 11.7 – ADRESSING THE NEEDS OF READERS WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

INSERT FIGURE 11.8 – ADRESSING THE NEEDS OF WRITING WITH LEARNING DIFFIStCULTUES

pG 381

Chapter 12: Reading and writing in the content areas

Students read, write, listen and observe all through the school day as they learn about science, history and other content areas. … Teachers cannot try to cover every topic; if they do, their students may gain “surface ” as opposed to “deep” learning (Houston, 2004).

Informative texts are important resources that students use to learn, but they do not provide a complete instructional program.

Reading and writing should be connected because reading has a powerful impact on writing andvice versa (Anderson & Briggs, 2011).

Pg 386

Writing as a learning tool

Students use writing as a tool for learning to take notes, categorise ideas, draw graphic organisers and write summaries. The focus is on using writing to help students think and learn about the craft and the power they can produce when they use words, imagery and other literary devices. Effective writing is not about spelling every word correctly.

Learning logs – record and respond to what [students] are learning in history, science or other content areas. Laura Robb (2003) explains that learning logas are a “place to think on paper” (pg. 60). Students write in these journals to discover gaps in their knowledge and to explore relationships between what they are learning and their past experiences. Through these activities, students practise taking notes, writing des;crtionps and directions, and making grphic organisers.

Double-entry journals – these journals are just what the name suggests; student divide their journal pages into two parts and wite different types of information in each part (Danils & Semelman, 2004). They write important facts in one column and their reactions to the facts in the other column, or questions about the topic in the left column and answers in the right column.

Pg 389

Writing to demonstrate learning

Posters – Students combine visual and verbal elements when they make posts (Brisk, 2015; 1995). They draw pictures and diagrams and write labels and commentary.

Pg 400

Context and guidelines – Using content-area textbooks

• teach students about the unique conventions of textbooks, and show how to use them as comprehension aids
• have students create questions before reading each section of a chapter and then read to find the answers
• introduce key terms before students read the textbook assignment
• have students focus on the big ideas, and important facets, rather than lots of facts
• have students complete graphic organizers as they read because these visual representations emphasize the big ideas and the connections between them
• include small-group activities to make text books more comprehensible
• teach students to take notes about the big ideas as they read
• encourage students to be active readers, to ask themselves questions and to monitor their reading.
• use the listen-read-discuss format when text book assignments are too difficult for students to read on their own
• create text sets to supplment content-area textbooks

Pg 401

Learning how to study

Students are often asked to remember content-area material that they have read for a discussion, to take a test, or for an oral or written project. One traditional way to study is to memorise a list of facts, but it is more effective to use strategies that require students to think critically and to elaborate ideas.

• Restate the big ideas in their own words
• make connections between and across the big ideas
• add details (facts) to each of the big ideas
• ask questions about the importance of the ideas, and monitor their own understanding
• ask questions about who wrote these ideas and what their agenda might be

Taking notes

When students take notes, they identify what is most important and then restate it in their own words.

Students take notes in different ways: they can make outlines or bulleted lists; draw flow charts, webs and other graphic organisers; or make double-entry journals with notes in one column and interpretations in the other column.

Effective teachers teach children how to take notes. It is important that teachers share copies of notes they have taken so students see different styles of note taking, and that teachers deomonstrate note taking – identifying the big ideas, orgnising them and restating information in their own words – as students read an article or an exceprt from a content-area text book.

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Compedium of teaching strategies

• Anticipation guides
• ANVA strategy
• Authors ‘ circle
• Burgess summary
• Choral reading
• Cloze procedure
• Collaborative books
• Cut-up sentences
• Double-entry journals
• Elkonin boxes
• Exclusion brainstorming
• Grand conversations
• Hot seat
• Innovation on text
• Interactive read-alouds
• Interactive writing
• Jigsaw
• K-W-L charts
• Learning logs
• Making words
• Minilessons on language or literacy features
• Open-mind portraits
• Plot profile
• Question-answer-relationships
• Questioning the author
• Quickwriting
• Readers theatre
• Readings logs
• Reciprocal questioning
• Role, audience, format and topic (RAFT)
• Semantic feature analysis
• Sketch-to-stretch
• Story boards
• Story retelling
• Tea party
• Think-alouds
• Think-pair-share
• Word ladders
• Word sorts
• Word walls