Literate Environment Analysis Presentation by Linda McKenzie for Walden University: EDUC 6706: The Beginning Reader: PreK-3. Created October, 2011.

1. A Literate Environment Analysis By: Linda McKenzieEDUC 6706Walden UniversityOctober 16, 2011

2. Introduction: A Literate Environment Analysis Creating a literate environment means getting to know literacy learners as individuals with likes and dislikes, interests, and ideas of their own. Creating a literate environment includes considering the texts that are used as the vehicles that take students on their literacy travels. Each text should be carefully selected so that it meets the needs of students, as well as being appropriate for the lesson. A third dimension of a literate environment includes teaching students to be interactive with texts. This means being aware of one’s own thinking processes so that they can self-monitor their learning and make adjustments to their own methods of learning as needed. Finally, in a literate environment, students are encouraged to view texts critically. Students learn to question texts rather than accepting them as authoritative pieces. Students are also provided opportunities to make personal connections to texts that may change the way they think about themselves and the world around them. This presentation demonstrates the use of these four research-based methods to create a literate environment and includes research-based data that supports the activities discussed.

3. I. Getting To Know Literacy Learners, P-3 Analysis Getting to know students through activities such as “Me Stew” and conducting student conferences (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011a) allows me to get a better idea of what my students may or may not be exposed to outside of school. Having access to this knowledge allows me to help my students make connections of classroom objectives to their lives so that they can better understand the content, and it allows them to see the relevance of learning the material.

4. I. Getting To Know Literacy Learners, P-3 Research Almasi (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011a) states “We teach students; not subjects.” Getting to know our students as individuals and encouraging them to let us see into their lives helps to build self-esteem which creates strong, confident human beings.

5. I. Getting To Know Literacy Learners, P-3 Analysis By assessing my students’ perceptions about reading using the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey or ERAS (McKenna & Kear, 1990), I am better able to plan instruction that aims to inspire students to read, and I can be more effective at creating a desire in them to be good readers. I like… I think… I can…

6. I. Getting To Know Literacy Learners, P-3 Research Motivation to read highly affects reading achievement, and therefore should be assessed to determine students’ self concepts and the value they put on reading. Since attitudes toward reading tend to decrease through elementary grades, it is important that we help students see their potential as readers and the importance of learning to read effectively (Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, & Mazzoni, 1996).

7. II. Selecting Texts Analysis Selecting a variety of materials for the classroom ensures that my students experience working with all genres of texts that range from providing information to enjoying narratives on a continuum that ranges from linguistic to semiotic . By using the literacy matrix (below left) I become more aware of my text selections and make adjustments to ensure students are working with a variety of texts. linguistic informational narrative semiotic

8. II. Selecting Texts Research As students enter the fourth grade, their progress begins to “slump”. Lack of exposure to informational texts, background, and content knowledge, along with increasing text difficulty are the leading causes of this decline (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011b). Exposing students to non-fiction texts in the earlier grades help to prepare them to navigate through these harder texts so they do not experience this slump.

9. III. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective Analysis By encouraging my students to question their own thinking, they begin to learn strategies that will make learning more meaningful to them. My students are explicitly taught what strategies to use and when to use them so that their comprehension of texts are improved.

10. III. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective Research Being metacognitive means knowing which strategies to use for different reasons, as well as being reflective and self-regulating about one’s own thinking and understanding. The main goal of teaching students to use their metacognition is to create literate learners who are able to navigate through texts independently (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011c).

11. IV. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives Analysis To begin thinking critically about texts, students look deeper into texts for perspectives other than that of the author. With Arnold Lobel’s story, Days with Frog and Toad, students see past the simple author’s purpose of entertaining the reader. The students uncovered the author’s intentions of teaching about friendships and misunderstandings that sometimes occur between friends. To respond personally to the story, students make text-to-self connections and tell about a time when a friend misunderstood them or when they misunderstood a friend.

12. IV. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives Research Viewing texts from a critical perspective allows students to realize that there is more than one way to see things, and they realize that the author’s point of view is only one of many. Learning to think critically about texts prepares students to evaluate and judge texts for validity, as well as questioning authors’ reasons and motivations behind their work (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011d). When students personally connect with a text, they experience it in a way that may reshape or change their lives, rather than merely just coming into contact with it for a brief moment (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011e).

13. References Gambrell, L. B., Palmer, B. M., Codling, R. M., & Mazzoni, S. A. (1996). Assessing motivation to read. The Reading Teacher, 49(7), 518–533. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/ Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011a). The beginning reader. [Webcast]. The Beginning Reader PreK-3. Baltimore: MD. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011b). Informational text in the early years. [Webcast]. The Beginning Reader PreK-3. Baltimore: MD. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011c). Interactive perspective: Strategic processing. [Webcast]. The Beginning Reader PreK-3. Baltimore: MD. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011d). Critical Perspective. [Webcast]. The Beginning Reader PreK-3. Baltimore: MD. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011e). Response Perspective. [Webcast]. The Beginning Reader PreK-3. Baltimore: MD. McKenna, M. C., & Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(9), 626–639. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/