When you put a book into a child’s hands, good things happen! Literacy is embedded in all aspects of learning and builds student success. I believe that literacy should be integrated into all subject matter and can enhance children’s learning in all content areas. To be successful, you must have a balanced literacy program, which includes core curriculum, reading, writing and working with words.
- Core Curriculum – Curriculum must be aligned with grade-level standards; instruction includes the five components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension
- Reading – Differentiated small-group instruction at students’ instructional level; independent reading; partner reading; teacher read aloud; whole- and small-group discussions; learn and apply reading strategies; use a variety of genres and across content areas
- Writing – Explicit instruction and student work time to write formally and informally using the writing process; apply spelling, grammar and word building strategies in a meaningful way; journals, blogging, formal writing, etc.
- Working with Words – Phonics, structural analysis of words, vocabulary development and spelling
Literacy Unit
The literacy unit I taught in my fourth grade class at Mt. Hope Elementary is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. During this unit, students read three books; Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe, Julian’s Glorious Summer by Ann Cameron and Angel Child, Dragon Child by Michelle Maria Surat. I chose these books because students can relate to the characters and events in the stories and they portray diverse cultures. The unit was comprised of whole- and small-group instruction and independent reading. The students focused on describing characters, settings and events in depth and using specific evidence from the story to back it up. Throughout the unit, students also wrote journal entries with prompts or just their thoughts and questions about the books, learned vocabulary words and applied reading strategies. During Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, there was more teacher-led instruction, but by the second book, Julian’s Glorious Summer, the students were able to lead discussions and describe the characters, settings and events with little guidance. For the summative assessment, students read Angel Child, Dragon Child by Michelle Maria Surat and were given a rubric with the requirements of the project, which directly related to the goals and objectives of the unit, but they had the freedom of choosing how they wanted to present the information and who, if anyone, they wanted to work with.
Read 180
At Mt. Hope Elementary, we worked as a team with two other fourth-grade classes and one fifth-grade class for reading, grouping the students based on their reading levels. In my classroom, we had the students who were at a second-grade reading level. For most of the year, I taught literacy from a reading intervention program called Read 180, which is for students who are at least two grades below reading level. In this program, there were three centers—small group instruction, computers and independent reading. In small group instruction, I would work with a group of students using an interactive worktext that provides instruction in critical reading, vocabulary, writing, and grammar skills. During computer time, students are systematically guided through five learning zones—reading, word, spelling, success and writing. Students were able to read into microphones to test fluency, watch short videos that pertained to readings, and focus on comprehension and vocabulary. During independent reading, students chose a book in their level, write a daily journal about what they read, and when finished with the book, take a comprehension test on the computer.
Writing Unit
The writing unit that I taught in my fourth-grade classroom on persuasive writing. Students wrote letters to their parents convincing them of why they should have a video game that they wanted. The students wrote a five paragraph essay with an introduction, three supporting reasons with evidence and a conclusion. The students used iPads to research information to support their arguments and applied the writing process steps. Most students enjoyed this writing because it related to their lives and benefitted them outside of academics.