Literacy Essentials

1. Literacy Essentials Bishop Woods School Jo Garrison December 12, 2011

2. Critical Components - CCSS • Climate, Engagement & Differentiation • Alphabetic Principle • Reader’s Workshop & Comprehension • Unit Planning - Science & Social Studies

3. Engagement “Student engagement is the product of motivation and active learning. - Elizabeth F. Barkley • Create an emotionally and intellectually safe classroom. • Make learning relevant & provide authentic learning opportunities. • Provide opportunities to engage & explore topics assignments and content in a collaborative way. • Design lessons that involve wondering, dreaming, playing, communicating, exploring discovering, questioning, investigating, creating. • The disengaged will become engaged! • Scaffold instruction to insure success – not too easy, not too hard. ZPD • Learning should be rewarding! • Create a culture of explanation vs. “right answer.” • Use questioning strategies that make all students think and answer • Use draft and revision process, peer edit, & feedback . • Adapted from Ten Steps to Better Student Engagement, by Tristan de Frondeville & 26 Keys to Student Engagement, by Angela Maiers (See BW Wiki Space for full articles.)

4. Addressing Intervention & Director Visits • Use the test data along with lesson notes/running records to choose material at the just-right instructional level. • Ask questions that cause students to apply the comprehension focus in all intervention groups. Question to monitor comprehension & deepen discussion. • Encourage all students to participate in discussions. Individual mini-conferences may be appropriate at times, for example when giving students feedback on whisper reading. However, if you are discussing the text, include the whole group. • Use the turn and talk strategy during discussions to increase active engagement in the lesson. • Provide active learning opportunities for all students. If you are using flash cards, you should have enough sets for all the students. If you are quizzing individual students, you can have the other students practicing the words from a typed list. Use white boards so all students can participate. • Listen to students whisper read to verify that students can decode the text level and take notes to guide planning for a phonics component, if needed. • Take anecdotal records or running records.

5. Why teach phonics? In today’s world, learning to read well is a key to the future success of our children. Not only is reading fluently and with comprehension by third grade a legislated priority, it is an ethical and professional imperative. Wolfe and Nevills, 2004

6. Alphabetic Principle Decades of research has resulted in converging evidence that learning the connection between the sounds of speech and print is a critical prerequisite to effective word identification.

7. Alphabetic Principle • Children's reading development is dependent on their understanding of the alphabetic principle – the idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language. Learning that there are predictable relationships between sounds and letters allows children to apply these relationships to both familiar and unfamiliar words, and to begin to read with fluency. • The goal of phonics instruction is to help children to learn and be able to use the Alphabetic Principle. The alphabetic principle is the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Phonics instruction helps children learn the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. • Two issues of importance in instruction in the alphabetic principle are the plan of instruction and the rate of instruction.

8. Guidelines for Rate and Sequence of Instruction • Recognize that children learn sound-letter relationships at different rates. • Introduce sound-letter relationships at a reasonable pace, in a range from two to four letter-sound relationships a week. • Teach high-utility letter-sound relationships early. • Introduce consonants and vowels in a sequence that permits the children to read words quickly. • Introduce single consonant sounds and consonant blends/clusters in separate lessons. • Provide blending instruction with words that contain the letter-sound relationships that children have learned.

9. The Alphabetic Principle Plan of Instruction • Teach letter-sound relationships explicitly and in isolation. • Provide opportunities for children to practice letter-sound relationships in daily lessons. • Provide practice opportunities that include new sound-letter relationships, as well as cumulatively reviewing previously taught relationships. • Give children opportunities early and often to apply their expanding knowledge of sound-letter relationships to the reading of phonetically spelled words that are familiar in meaning.

10. Vowel Pattern ChartConquer the Code: Sounds, Symbols, and Syllables by Judith Cohen

11. Vowel Pattern Chart

12. Vowel Patterns Closed: A word or syllable that contains only one vowel followed by one or more consonants; the vowel is short. “One lonely vowel squished in the middle, says its special sound just a little.” sat bed fin top gum sand best print shop lunch at Ed in on up

13. Vowel Patterns Open: A word or syllable that ends with one vowel; the vowel is long. “If one vowel at the end is free, it pops way out and says its name to me.” me she hi go flu fly

14. Vowel Patterns Silent e [Magic e]: A word or syllable that ends in e, containing one consonant before the final e and one vowel before that consonant; the vowel is long. The magic e is quiet, but it has a claim to fame; it makes the vowel before it say its real name. “The magic e is so powerful, it gives all its strength to the other vowel so that it can say its real name.” make Steve ride hope cube

15. Vowel Patterns Bossy r [r-controlled]: A word or syllable containing a vowel followed by r; the vowel sound is altered by the r. “The letter r is so bossy, it tells the vowel that it can’t say its real name (long vowel) or its special sound (short vowel), but must say the r sound (as in car, for, her).” car her girl for curl

16. Vowel Patterns Double Vowel Talkers:[vowel digraphs] A word or syllable containing two adjacent vowels; the first one is long. “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says its name.” rain day see meat pie boat toe slow suit blue

17. Vowel Patterns Double Vowel Whiners:[diphthongs and variants] A word or syllable that contains two adjacent vowels; the vowels say neither a long or short vowel sound, but rather a very different sound. “Sometimes when two vowels are next to each other, they make a funny whining sound, like when you fall down and say “ow,” “aw,” “oy,” and get a “boo-boo.” fault saw foil boy loud cow moon new book

18. Vowel Patterns C+le:[consonant + le] This syllable ends with “le” preceded by a consonant, and occurs in two-syllable words. “When a word ends with a consonant and “le,” the “le” grabs the consonant before it, and the word breaks into two parts right before that consonant.” bub–ble ca–ble ea–gle poo–dle pur-ple

19. Vowel Pattern “Prediction Power” The prediction power of the patterns ranges from 77 to 89%, each of which is much better than predictions on the basis of chance alone. Teaching children vowel patterns can make a difference in their fluency and comprehension (May, 2002).

20. Syllabication Patterns • C+le turtle tur – tle • VC/CV rabbit rab – bit • V/CV tiger ti – ger • VC/V camel cam – el • V/V lion li - on

21. Strategy for Syllabication • “Spot and dot” the vowels • Connect the dots • Look at the number of consonants between the vowels • If 2 – break between the consonants • If 1 – break before the consonant; if it doesn’t sound right, move over one letter Try it!

22. Non-negotiables! • Teach phonics every day • Teach separate spelling lessons • Be explicit • Display evidence of learning/anchor charts • Use the jingles • Nonsense words • Highlight chunks • Syllable types • Assess & re-teach Students should know the CODE by the end of second grade.

23. Comprehension & CCSS • Character studies • Theme • Genres • Compare two or more versions of the same story • Author’s Craft • Packets from Nancy Boyles

24. Teaching Theme • Literary text • Author’s message – DRA2 • Theme Wall • Activity - Match text to theme • Some text may have more than one theme – what is important is how the child justifies the theme

25. Themes in Children’s Literature Friendship Family Courage Sharing Compassion Freedom Perseverance Forgiveness Kindness Greed Honesty Loyalty Cooperation Fairness Acceptance Trust Responsibility Death

26. Matching Texts to Themes • Believe in yourself/Be proud of who you are • Perseverance (determination) helps us achieve our goals/Follow your dreams • True friends and family are a gift • Home is where the heart is • Take responsibility for your actions/make good decisions • It’s important to care for our environment & the natural world

27. Readers’ Workshop Learning Walks : • All classrooms - workshop model, mini-lessons/shared reading, focus for instruction, independent reading, small group instruction • Most classrooms had students applying the focus strategy • Many classrooms had students utilizing monitoring tools • Several classrooms employed some form of reflection Readers’ Workshop Coaching Action Plan: • Solidify/strengthen structure of Readers’ Workshop with a focus on shared reading and reflection/mini-lesson for 6-8 • Improve the quality of independent reading and conferring • Make explicit the focus of small group instruction and increase discourse

28. Readers’ Workshop Reader's Workshop ends with a time of reflection and sharing. Learners have the opportunity to share what they learned, what worked for them, struggles, exciting moments, and new discoveries. Reflection & Sharing • Whole class share - keep track so everyone shares in a week • Post-it notes • Inner/outer circle • Share with table • Exit slips • See Bishop Woods Wiki Space for Readers’ Workshop Overview document.

29. Reflect & Share

30. Resources • Boyles, Nancy. More Great Answers: Kicking Up Our Comprehension Curriculum & More Than Great Answers: Giving Comprehension a Voice • Cohen, Judith. Conquer the Code: Sounds, Symbols, and Syllables • de Frondeville, Tristan. Ten Steps to Better Student Engagement • Maiers, Angela. 26 Keys to Student Engagement