Reading Instruction in the Elementary School

1. ReadingInstructionin the ElementarySchool Danna Bergantine

2. Contents • Introduction • Philosophies, theorists, and approaches to reading instruction • My philosophy of reading instruction • The NCLB five main components and accompanying strategies • Reading in the classroom: • Text talk model • Content area literacy • Expository reading • Graphic organizers • Bloom’s Taxonomy / Skyscraper model • Assessment methods • Reading interventions • Conclusion

3. Introduction The goal of this PowerPoint slideshow is to demonstrate my knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of reading instruction at the elementary school level (K-6.) I will address the philosophies, approaches, and major components of reading instruction, different types of reading that happen in the classroom, and accompanying teaching methods in reading instruction.

4. Philosophies of reading instruction Top down vs. bottom up One of the major debates in reading education is whether instruction should top down (building meaning first) or bottom up (phonics and phonemic knowledge.) Advocates of top down instruction stress beginning instruction with whole words, sentences, and stories. The meaning of sentences is emphasized. Advocates of bottom up instruction stress building knowledge of phonemes and letter-sound relationships before anything else. Sounds are blended into words, sets of words becomes sentences, and so on.

5. Philosophies of reading instruction Direct Instruction • Teaching skills • Teacher models a skill and provides opportunity for practice with the skill • Explanation of when and where to use skills Explicit Instruction • Emphasis on strategies • Students are responsible for using strategies • Goal is for students to use strategies independently

6. Philosophies of reading instruction Cognitive Apprenticeship • Teacher scaffolds student’s learning • Emphasis is on cognitive process more than skills • Students take responsibility for comprehension strategies learned from the teacher’s modeling Whole Language • Reading and writing experiences are authentic • Child-centered, children take responsibility • Uses whole texts

7. Major theorists Brain Cambourne Advocates for Natural Language Learning. Children learn language naturally when these conditions are present and they should be present in the classroom.

8. Major theorists Louise Rosenblatt Transactional theory: What the reader brings to the text is just as important as what the author brings. Marie Clay • Studied the stages of children’s language development, the connections between reading and writing, and developed Reading Recovery. Image from: http://www.nzedge.com/newzedge/newzedge_clare/images/marie_clay.jpg

9. Major theorists Frank Smith The “Literacy Club”: Literacy is presented as meaningful, authentic, and enjoyable. M. A. K. Halliday Children learn language, learn about language, and learn through language. Image from: http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitionist/33-books.gif

10. Six major approaches to reading instruction • Phonics • Sight Based • Integrated Anthology • Language Experience • Literature Based • Balanced Approach

11. Phonics approach The Phonics approach strives to teach children decoding skills and strategies so that they can decipher words. Phonological awareness and the alphabet are key components. Instruction can be synthetic (teaching sounds then words) or analytic (teaching words than sounds.) Image from: http://school-toolscatalog.com/images/edu/big/TCP/NST9012.gif

12. Sight Based approach The Sight Based approach is a top-down approach that teaches children vocabulary so that they will be able to recognize a large numbers of words by sight. It is used by educators who believe there is too much inconsistency in sound-symbol relationships in English to rely on decoding. Image from: http://www.thebookco.com/images/Books/19-ThouWords.jpg

13. Integrated Anthology approach The Integrated Anthology approach uses a carefully crafted set of texts from various genres and very specific teacher directions on how to present lessons on the texts. Workbooks with related exercises usually accompany an Integrated Anthology. Image from: http://csmt.cde.ca.gov/images/0618064532.jpg Image from: http://image.dealoz.com/image/us/816/627816.jpg

14. Language Experience approach In the Language Experience approach, children create narratives that are real and meaningful to them to learn about language. The teacher’s job is to record and preserve the child’s language expression. Connection between reading and writing, as well as between life experiences are made. Image from: http://testsandexams.qcda.gov.uk/libraryAssets/images/en_below_write_eg2_web(1).gif

15. Literature Based approach The Literature Based approach emphasizes using genuine literature to introduce children to the world of reading. It assumes that children will be most interested in and learn best from authentic experiences with literature. The Caldecott Medal The Newbery Medal Image from: http://pwcs.henderson.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/494209/Image/CaldecottMedal.gif Image from: http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/mediapresscenter/presskits/youthmediaawards/Newbery%20Front%20A.jpg Image from: http://www.mytoystory.com/wpcontent/uploads/2009/06/childrenslibrary.jpg

16. Balanced approach The Balanced approach rejects the idea that one form of reading instruction fits all. It calls on the teacher to choose which methods are most appropriate for his or her class at the present time. This approach also emphasizes read alouds, shared reading, guided reading and independent reading. Image from: http://www.humboldt.k12.ia.us/documents/filelibrary/images/Flex_Reading_Picture_1.JPG

17. My philosophy of reading instruction Please click on the icon to hear both an explanation of my philosophy of reading instruction and the approach to reading instruction that I favor most: Image from : http://www.bulletinboardpro.com/images/BB92b.jpg

18. Video: Read Aloud in a First Grade Classroom

19. The five major components of reading instruction As highlighted by the No Child Left Behind legislation, the five major components of reading instruction are:

20. Phonics Phonics teaches students how to decode and decipher words. The students recognize patterns and shapes across words and sentences. They learn about spelling rules and letter-sound relationships. Phonics strategies.doc

21. Phonemic Awareness The goal of phonemic awareness is for children to gain auditory discrimination of letter sounds, or phonemes. Other areas of emphasis include syllabification, initial and final sounds, vowels, consonants, and rhyming. Phonemic Awareness strategies.doc

22. Vocabulary Vocabulary knowledge is one of the major factors that increases successful comprehension. The less time students have to spend figuring out new words, the more fluently the can read, and read about more complex and rich topics. Vocabulary strategies.doc

23. Text comprehension Text comprehension is often seen as the ultimate goal of reading. We read either to gain knowledge or to have fun, but in both cases the goal is to have a meaningful experience. As students become better readers they will comprehend more and can increasingly build skills and knowledge, read more, and learn more. Text Comprehension strategies.doc

24. Fluency In the area of fluency, the goal is to read quickly and efficiently. Reading one word at a time is not considered fluent reading, even if each individual word is correctly spoken, because unless the words are strung into a meaningful idea, they are nothing more than random words. Fluency strategies.doc

25. Reading in the classroom Expository reading Text talk model Content area literacy • Bloom’s • Taxonomy / • Skyscraper • model Graphic organizers Image from: http://academicnc.com/images/students%20reading.jpg

26. Text Talk model This method encourages teachers to take an alternative approach to presenting books in the classroom. According to this model, teachers should chose literature with challenging content, delay picture walks, choose two to four key vocabulary words, and use open ended questions and uptake to direct grand conversations about texts.

27. Content area literacy Content area literacy refers to learning content, or subject matter through language. Especially as students move on through the higher grades, they learn more and more content by reading about relevant subjects. It is critical that students are good enough readers to be able to truly learn from content presented in text form.

28. Expository text Expository, or non-fiction, text is one of the primary ways that students learn content area literacy. Expository text can be about any number of topics and usually falls under one of the following categories: Description Cause and Effect Compare and Contrast Time Order Enumeration Problem / solution 7. Persuasion

29. Graphic organizers Graphic organizers are a means for students to represent ideas they gain or form during literacy activities. They help children to put their thoughts into purposeful designs and allow them to focus on making meaning from text. Certain types of graphic organizers are particularly useful of reading different types of expository text, but they can just as easily be used for fictional texts.

30. Graphic organizers Some examples of graphic organizers include: Charts (used for Cause and Effect, Compare and Contrast, or other categorization) causeeffect_tchart.pdf Fishbone organizer (used for Cause and Effect, or Description) causeeffect_4lines.pdf Venn Diagrams (used for Compare and Contrast) compcon_frog.pdf Time Order chart (used for Enumeration) chain_events_2.pdf

31. Bloom’s Taxonomy / Skyscraper model Bloom’s Taxonomy is a model that demonstrates lower to higher order thinking. Ideally, a teacher finds a way to engage his or her students at all levels of the model when considering a text. Image from: http://blogs.wsd1.org/etr/files/blooms_taxonomy.jpg Image from: http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_my_p_m/0_my_photographs_montreal_summer_skyscraper_1rr04_1024.jpg

32. Assessment methods There are several ways to assess student’s progress in reading. Some of those ways include: Yetta’s Goodman’s Interview Questions These interview questions find out what a child knows about reading and what sort of reading experiences she or he has at home.

33. Assessment methods Running Records The teacher listens to a child read a text and marks ticks for correct words and the appropriate miscues when they are made. This assessment can be done informally and quickly. Student miscues come from one of three systems: Meaning, Syntax, or Visual. Used in the lower elementary grades. Reading Miscue Inventories The teacher records a student reading and observes the student’s reading. Later the teacher records and analyzes the miscues made. Used in the upper elementary grades.

34. Reading interventions The need will always exist to help striving readers meet the challenges they face. Reading intervention programs do just that. Programs such as Response to Intervention (RTI) call on the teacher to provide high quality instruction for all students, extra instruction outside of the normal classroom instruction time in small groups no large than five for those students who need it, and a focus on reinforcement of reading skills instead of drilling, or assigning less or more of the same homework.

35. Conclusion Throughout this presentation I have demonstrated philosophies and approaches to reading, major components, applications, assessment methods, and interventions for reading instruction. Using this knowledge I feel fully prepared to create a welcoming and rich reading environment for the students I will one day have in class. With the knowledge demonstrated above, I have the tools to help all students achieve reading success.

36. Sources • Baer, G. T. & Dow, R. S. (2007). Self-Paced Phonics: A Text for Educators. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice-Hall. • Brewer, J. & Harp, B. (2005). The Informed Reading Teacher: Research-Based Practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice-Hall. • Education Oasis. (2006). http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/GO_pdf/causeeffect_4lines.pdf. • P. Solvie, Reading Methods: Literacy and Language Instruction in the Elementary School class lecture, November, 2009.