Teacher Tips

Effective Literacy Strategies at your fingertips!

What can I do with a Read Aloud?

Implement formative assessment strategies to monitor comprehension such as:  

• Questioning
• Whiteboard Responses
• Reader's’ Response Journals
• Stop and Jots
• Turn and Talk with Observation
• Cite Text Evidence based upon questioning at the end of the Read Aloud

Questions to Ponder as you plan:

Why is reading aloud important for formative assessment?

• What is a read aloud routine?
• How do I collect formative assessment data during a read aloud?
• How do I provide feedback to students?
• How can students monitor their own learning during a read aloud?

Formative Assessment Strategy:

Student Responses on Whiteboards and Response Journals in use during a Read Aloud

How does this strategy look in action?

Resources for Formative Assessment in Balanced Literacy

Off to a Great Start!

As the beginning of the school year approaches, every stakeholder in the learning process would like to give students the best possible start as they embark on a new year of learning. One of the best, and perhaps the most significant way to afford students to a successful school year is to immerse them in a literacy rich classroom environment. Research has shown that reading is a fundamental skill that defines the success or failure of students (Reading Rockets, 2017). By creating a classroom that facilitates and emphasizes the importance of speaking, reading and writing you are enabling your students a successful start. Creating a literacy rich environment not only involves reflection and thoughtful design, but it also requires thoughtful selection of classroom materials that will facilitate language and literacy opportunities.
Read More...

The Need for Interdisciplinary Studies in Classrooms

As we interact daily in our world and within our society it is rare that we encounter individuals or circumstances in isolation. For example, if I go to the grocery store, I won't be able to shop without engaging in reading, math, and possibly other disciplines while I am there. If I even attempt to try to handle my shopping experience in isolated facets, such as reading to find the items on my shopping list and then returning to the list to determine the cost of all of the items I collected, it would not only make my experience more frustrating but also time consuming to say the least.

Likewise, we cannot afford to teach our students in an isolated fashion. When students are questioned about the various disciplines that they study in school, it is quite disturbing to hear them speak of their learning as, " Oh, we are doing math right now and later we will do reading." 😚 There is indeed a growing need for a more interdisciplinary curriculum in our schools. We are doing our students a disservice to continue separate subject areas of learning as unrelated bodies of knowledge. This grave disconnect is not allowing our students to see how school is related to not only their current lives, but their future lives as well. The school day has become so fragmented that students and teachers alike are simply going through the motions and not grasping or grappling with what school should and need to be about, which is interrelated knowledge that can easily be transferred into the lives of the individuals that we teach! We have to bridge the gaps of teaching and learning. Balanced Literacy sets the stage for interdisciplinary studies. Yet, it is important that our pedagogy reflects the fluidity of the structure. Essentially, it is important that our teaching mirrors less choppiness and more flow!

To learn more and to try to incorporate this approach to teaching in your classroom, follow this link. Also, check out the International Literacy Association's Bridges Units of instruction on Interdisciplinary Studies here.
***Remember to always let your standards/indicators, students, and formative and summative assessment drive your instruction! 😊

World Read Aloud Day is February 16th! Get ready to fall in love with a great book! Follow the link to register.

You never Take a Break from Learning!

Recently my daughter hopped in the car and said "Mommy, I am so excited we don't have to bring anything to school tomorrow because we aren't going to be doing any learning!" Well, it was the day before winter break and I guess you can imagine the expression that came upon my face as I quickly responded, " You never take a break from learning!" Of course, my husband, being his little girl's saving grace, tried to recover for her and said calm down "teaching mommy", she means formal learning. Although his response helped me to exhale and agree it also still disturbed me that my daughter spoke of learning as an isolated occurrence in her life that only happens during the school day. With this in mind, I began to explain to her that learning occurs everyday and in all her experiences. Then I began thinking, is the learning in school really so far removed from what children experience in their daily lives? If so, we as educators need to reevaluate our practices to be sure that our children can see the connection to what they are learning in school and how it relates to their daily lives. Only then will we, as teachers be able to help students to see that what they are learning does matter and everyday you are constantly learning, no matter where you are. Life is learning and just like you can't take a break from life, you should never take a break from learning!

To keep learning ongoing and fun during the holidays, check out this helpful site that offers great ideas to make learning both fun and relative!

Rescuing Emergent Readers

Emergent Readers need explicit instruction of basic letter sound principles. They also benefit most from dictation lessons that allows them to hear the letter sounds and record each sound separately to see how a combination of letters makes up a word. Without these basic fundamental strategies, emergent readers may often struggle to get the gist of simple Consonant, Vowel, Consonant (CVC) words that they maybe able to segment the sounds and read. The use of Elkonin boxes is an effective tool that allows students to segment and record the CVC words. They allow for both visual and tactile instructional strategies during guided writing for your emergent readers. Through the use of Elkonin Boxes, students will become adept in demonstrating letter-sound relationships and gradually become proficient readers and writers. To read more about Elkonin Boxes follow the link. Elkonin Boxes Research

Elkonin Boxes Video

Video on Teaching Phonemic Awareness

Rescuing Emergent Readers

Emergent Readers need explicit instruction of basic letter sound principles. They also benefit most from dictation lessons that allows them to hear the letter sounds and record each sound separately to see how a combination of letters makes up a word. Without these basic fundamental strategies, emergent readers may often struggle to get the gist of simple Consonant, Vowel, Consonant (CVC) words that they maybe able to segment the sounds and read. The use of Elkonin boxes is an effective tool that allows students to segment and record the CVC words. They allow for both visual and tactile instructional strategies during guided writing for your emergent readers. Through the use of Elkonin Boxes, students will become adept in demonstrating letter-sound relationships and gradually become proficient readers and writers. To read more about Elkonin Boxes follow the link.Elkonin Boxes Research