Literacy Playshop

What is the literacy playshop approach? The literacy playshop approach is a way to enhance literacy development in children through creative means. Instead of focusing on reading and writing, it incorporates play and imagination. It focuses on what the children know about popular media and what they are interested in. The teacher then can create media playshops on things that children are interested in such as their favorite super heroes or favorite Disney princesses. When children are watching movies or their favorite cartoons they are incorporating literacy without even realizing it. If teachers can tap into that and help them enhance this with something that the child loves, the learning experience will be that much more beneficial in the classroom.

I think that the literacy playshop approach is an interesting way to think about literacy development. I think it is particularly useful in younger classrooms where children are constantly playing pretend and using their imagination to act out their favorite popular media characters. I have found with my focal student that this is particular difficult to do because she is in second grade and is very mature. She does not like popular movies such as Frozen and does not have a favorite show or movie. She is not one to play pretend because that is seen as something a "baby" would do. She enjoys reading the book series "Ivy and Bean" which is about two best friends and is something very relatable to a second grader. When wanting to incorporate this literacy approach into the classroom I think it is important to consider who your students are and if it will be beneficial for them or not.

An Open Classroom

An open classroom

where children can move about;

Freedom to explore and learn.

Sounding Out as a Cultural Model

     When a child comes to a word that they are unsure about, what is it that you say to them?

Do you tell them to "sound it out''? Is this really helping them with their reading and learning how to make their own reading strategies. In the article "Sounding Out": A Pervasive Cultural Model of Reading by Catherine Compton-Lilly she talks about the societal belief that reading is "sounding it out". She questions if that is what children really do when they are reading. She says "I find that when beginning readers attempt to "sound out words" they often produce each sound in isolation rather than blending the sounds together" (Compton-Lilly 444). This can be a problem when words have silent letters or complicated letter-sound combinations. Instead of sounding it out we should provide children with other useful strategies when they do not know a word. Have students look at the beginning and ending letters, ask them what makes sense, and what looks right. When reading have them look at the pictures on the page, read to the end of the sentence, and then read the sentence again, and have them look at the word parts. Three cueing systems are particularly helping when helping children to solve an unknown word. The three systems are Meaning (Semantics), Syntax, and Visual (Graphophonics). When looking at the meaning of a story, the children are using the story's background and meanings, and looking at illustrations to solve the unknown word. Ask the child, what makes sense? When looking at the syntax, the child is looking at the grammar. Ask the child, does that sound right? By using the visual information, the child is using the pictures, but the letter/sound combinations instead. Ask the student, does it look right? In my field experience, my 2nd grade teacher uses techniques such as this, instead of saying "sound it out". These strategies help the students to figure out unknown words without using the misguided phrase "sound it out". I think this makes the students better readers. It is important to break away from using the phrase "sound it out" because it is not helpful. As teachers, it is important to work on expanding student's strategies on solving words. We must help them to use letters and sounds in words through strategies that use visual cues and more efficient, then telling them to "sound it out". So the next time you are reading with a child, and they come to a word they are unsure of, ask yourself if you really want to tell them to "sound it out".

Focusing on Children's Strengths

When working on literacy with children it is important to focus on the strengths, instead of "what they can't do". If you as a teacher are focusing on what your students cannot do, are you really helping them learn and develop as literate people? The answer is no, and that is why we need to focus on what a child can do. When we see what a child can do, we get a better understanding of where the child is at in regards to reading and writing. This helps us to know what we can work on with the child, and what particular areas are their strengths, and what areas they may need support in. In Marie Clay's article Running Records she says "Typically children's progress in learning to read is measured by testing the number of letters, or sounds, or words they know" (Clay, 3). So for a child to be considered literate, does this mean that they must know every letter, every sound, and be able to spell every word? NO. It is important that teachers praise students for where they are at. If a child writes                           

                                        "Th kat iz qt." 

does this mean that the child is not literate because they clearly cannot spell the words exactly how they should be? NO. From this sentence, we can see that the child knows that words in a sentence go from left to right, so therefore has directionality. The student is sounding out the words that they are spelling. He/she knows that there is a th /th/ sound in the word "the". In the word cat, he/she knows that there is an "at" at the end producing the /at/ sound. The student knows that there is a period at the end of a sentence. They know that there is capitalization that occurs at the beginning of the sentence. Do you see how easy it is to find the strengths in this simple four word sentence? From this simple sentence we can learn so much about what the child already knows. If we focus so much on every little detail we lose sight of what the child already knows and understands. In Cusumano's article entitled "Every Mark on the Page: Educating Family and Community Members About Young Children's Writing" it is stated that "in the early stages of learning to write, children don’t feel constrained by conventions as adults do, and they experiment with size, shape, and direction of letters" (p.12). This speaks true to focusing on what children can do. They may not know every single rule like adults do because they are not experts yet. They are just figuring themselves out as readers and writers. They experiment with different ways of making meaning and producing. To give them proper opportunities for growth and to further develop as readers as readers, don't focus on what they can't do, focus on what they can. 

Comprehension

As children read, their brains make sense of the text. By doing so, they make connections, formulate questions, visualize what they read, draw inferences, critique the text, and much more. The questions formulated throughout Chapter 8 in Catching Readers were: Is strategy instruction necessary for every student in the classroom? and Does the child need to be able to name which strategy helped him/her to comprehend what they read? The answer is that while comprehension strategy instruction has a place in schools, it is not necessary for every child to have lengthy teaching over comprehension strategies. A child also does not have to be able to name a strategy that they used to comprehend text. Throughout the text, they talked about how asking a child to explain what he/she is thinking actually slows down their thinking process. A student that would benefit from comprehension strategy teaching is the struggling reader who cannot engage with the text, or is just memorizing lines in case asked what the text said. If a struggling reader is taught the kinds of strategies that successful readers use, they could add their own spin to those strategies and find a way to make meaningful connections to text. The successful readers should also be provided with ways to be further challenged so that they do not become bored with the readings that are too easy for them, and assignments that provoke creativity. Children are already doing a lot of the comprehension strategies in their head without even realizing that they are doing it. If they can make meaningful connections to texts, we do not need them to explain every little line of thought. When teaching comprehension, children should be taught to have their own thoughts about reading. It is their job to create meaning, formulate questions, visualize, and make inferences. Comprehension is all about thinking, and every student is capable of that. 

Literacy in my Community

Literacy is all around us. It is not only in our homes, and schools, but in the community we live in. Literacy can be found in signs, stores, sidewalks, sides of buildings etc., Literacy is not just reading books, and writing with pen and paper. Literacy can be found on street signs, telling you where you are going. It can be found in grocery stores, on advertisements, and food labels. It can be found on the sidewalks, where there is street art, such as graffiti. Literacy can be anything that helps you read or invokes a creative response. You should care about the types of literacy that can be found in your community because they say a lot about the people who took the time to create them. You can tell a lot about people from what they read and write. Literacy helps you gain insight into the lives of others and yourself.

Literacy Dig

Doing a literacy dig is a great way for students in your classroom to remember important literacy events that impacted them throughout their lives. Students may remember inspiring people, places, or things that helped them engage in literacy. On the other hand, they may also remember not so inspiring things that led them to feel less than excited about literacy. For me, doing a literacy dig from when I was a child up until the present helped me to remember wonderful teachers, and fun activities that I did in school that helped me with literacy. I also remember less engaging assignments that teachers gave me, or books that I was forced to read. As a future teacher, I think it is important to figure out your students past literacy experiences and the strengths and challenges that they have. By doing so, you can see what their interests are and what will grab your students attention and focus. Forcing students to do activities or read books that do not interest them will not help them in the long run. As educators we should inspire children to love literacy not dread it.

Language Learners in the Classroom

Sometimes it is hard for us to place ourselves in the shoes of others. It is difficult for us to know how they feel and what exactly they are going through. In class today during our Spanish section I got a little taste of what it is like for English Language Learners in the classroom. During this activity certain groups were given instructions on how to complete an assignment. Some groups were allowed to complete their project using both English and Spanish interchangeably. Other groups were only allowed to complete the assignment in Spanish. The task proved to be quite difficult for most students. Some students were not fluent in Spanish so it was hard for them to understand the directions of the assignment that were given to them in Spanish. Because they could not understand the instructions they did not know where to begin and became frustrated. Some group members could speak Spanish pretty well, while others could not. This made communication at tables very hard when you were only allowed to speak in Spanish. How are you supposed to complete an assignment and be a motivated student when you can not understand those around you? This is exactly what ELL students go through. Can you imagine what that must feel like on a daily basis, surrounded by your peers and teacher and not being able to communicate your needs? I learned first hand how frustrating this is. This experience was eye opening for me as a future teacher and made me realize that I need to make sure that the needs of my students are being met. I need to go that extra mile so that no child gets left behind in the learning process.

Teaching Real World Literacy

Promoting literacy in the classroom should be fun and engaging for children. Children should feel empowered. Teachers should help students recognize their potential in the world by providing them with authentic experiences that showcase their reading and writing schools. The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom by Rebecca Powell and Nancy Davidson talks about the importance of showing students that literacy in children's daily experiences gives them opportunity for enhancing their literacy skills. In the article they talk about how children who feel forced to read and write will not enjoy it and will not benefit from it. Students who are looked at as blank canvases waiting to be filled with information will not participate in literacy activities. Children must be treated as equal participants in learning. Literacy activities must prove to be meaningful in their lives, and be relatable to daily situations that they find themselves in. In providing students with opportunities that they were passionate about they are less likely to resisting learning and are more inclined to embrace literacy as a way to get through their daily lives. This allows for a more rich and meaningful way to enhance their literacy skills and make the children feel more empowered to develop their reading and writing skills because they understand it's importance to their lives. 

Essential Early Literacy Teaching Strategies

Young children need writing to help them learn about reading, and they need reading to help them learn about writing, and they need oral language to help them learn both.

Effective early literacy instruction provides children with developmentally appropriate settings, materials, experiences, and social support that encourage early forms of reading and writing to develop into conventional literacy. There are eight strategies that are proven most effective in teaching children:

1. Rich teacher talk: Engage children in rich conversations in large or small groups or one on one settings.
2. Storybook reading: Read aloud to the class once or twice a day, exposing children to different kinds of reading materials.
3. Phonological awareness activities (phonemic awareness): Provide activities that increase children's awareness of the sounds of language.
4. Alphabet activities: Engage children with materials that promote identification of the letters of the alphabet such as ABC books, blocks and puzzles, etc.,
5. Support for emergent reading: Encourage children to attempt to read books and other types of print by providing a well stocked library center, functional and play-related print, etc.,
6. Support for emergent writing: Encourage children to use emergent forms of writing, such as scribble writing, random letter strings, and invented spelling, by providing a writing center, shared writing demonstrations, play-related writing materials, etc.,
7. Shared book experience: Read books to children, and point to the print as it is read. While introducing and reading the text, draw children's attention to basic concepts of print such as left-to-right, top-to-bottom, book concepts, etc.,
8. Integrated, content-focused activities: Provide opportunities for children to investigate topics that are of interest to them. The objective is for children to use oral language, reading, and writing to learn about the world.

Kinderchat: Supporting Struggling Students

Kinderchat is a group of teachers from across the world that come together to discuss topics that directly effect children and the education process. Kinderchat meets every Monday night on Twitter, and is easy to follow. If you miss any day you can go to their archives and read through topics that interest you!

The chat I read was about how to support struggling students. As a teacher when identifying a struggling student, it is important to identify what kind of struggle your student is going through. There are two main types of struggle: destructive and productive. 

A destructive struggle: 

+ leads to frustration

+ makes learning goals feel hazy and out of reach

+ feels fruitless 

+ leaves students feeling abandoned and on their own 

+ creates a sense of inadequacy 

A productive struggle:

+ leads to understanding
+ makes learning goals feel attainable and effort some worthwhile 
+ yields results
+ leads students to feelings of empowerment and efficacy
+ creates a sense of hope

If a student is going through a destructive struggle it is important to intervene immediately because this student truly needs your help. It is also to important to understand why the student is struggling with completing a task or understanding a concept. If a student is going through a productive struggle this isn't necessarily such a bad thing because the student grapples with the issues and is able to come up with a solution themselves, while developing persistence and resilience in understanding the goal of a topic. 

As a teacher it is best to know how and why a student is struggling and when the best time to intervene is. By getting to know your students and how they learn you can help them through their academic struggles.

Take Home Literacy Adventure Packs

Parents who read to their children everyday and talk about what they are reading together promote a joy of reading and literacy achievement. One way a teacher can encourage reading at home with families and help support the role of parents as educators is through take home literacy packs. The great thing about literacy packs is that they can be personalized by different teachers to fit the interests of different students. The books can be fiction or non-fiction accompanied by interactive activities that children can bring home to share with their families. The books and activities can then be placed in a zip top bag and sent home with students. The teacher can have a multitude of different literacy packs that he/she rotates around the classroom. When the children and their families complete the pack, they can send it with their student back to school for another classmate to have.

A take home literacy adventure pack program can have many important benefits. It can promote family literacy by showing the value of learning and literacy when families can read to their children. It also provides families with the resources needed to promote reading readiness. If there are English Language Learners in the classroom it can promote English language development by having picture books that can be read aloud to the children with their families. It also helps build family values by encouraging a fun ritual of children and parents coming together to read and do activities together.

Print Awareness

Children who have an awareness of print understand that the squiggly lines on a page represent spoken language. They understand that when adults read a book, what they say is linked to the words on the page, rather than to the pictures. Children with print awareness understand that print has different functions depending on the context in which it appears. Print awareness is understanding that print is organized in a particular way. Knowing that print is read from left to right and top to bottom is one example. It is knowing that words consist of letters and that spaces appear between words. Print awareness is a child's earliest introduction to literacy. Print awareness is a child's earliest understanding that written language carries meaning. The foundation of all other literacy learning builds upon this knowledge.

Here are some helpful guidelines to help build print awareness:

+ Make sure children know how books are organized

+ Read books to children that are easy-to-read with large print.

+ Draw attention to words and letters in the books

+ Label objects around their environment

+ Encourage children to play with print

+ Help children see the difference between written and spoken language 

+ Reinforce the functions of print

+ Promote word awareness

+ Allow children to practice what they are learning

+ Provide plenty of opportunities for children to hear good books

How to Read-Aloud with Children

"Reading aloud is an art form in which the eyes and voice play important parts." 

-Mem Fox

 Teacher read alouds are planned oral readings of children's books. They are a vital part of literacy instruction in primary classrooms. Reading aloud everyday to students is a way to motivate children to read on their own, model good reading, promote critical thinking, and create a sense of community in your classroom. While reading, teachers model strategies that children can use during their own independent reading. Books play an important role in children's social and academic development. Children who are read to are usually the very best readers in the classroom, and they acquire large vocabularies, write well, and do better in other subject areas, as well. 

 In an article I recently read by Mem Fox, titled "A Read-Aloud Lesson", Fox talks about the importance of reading aloud well with children so that they truly benefit from the experience. She says "The more expressively we read, the more fantastic the experience will be. The more our kids love books, the more they’ll pretend to read them, and the more they pretend to read, the more quickly they’ll learn to read. So reading aloud is not quite enough—we need to read aloud well." She then goes on to provide parents and teachers with some important tips on how to impact the children that they are reading to :

- When reading a story, be familiar with it, and like it. Remain aware of body position, eyes and children's expressions, our vocal variety, and our facial animations.

-Be expressive as possible.

-Read a book in exactly the same way every time, so the tune is easy to remember for the children.

-The story should be in the eyes as much as it's in the mouth.

-NEVER talk in a cutesy, sugary, patronizing voice, as to talk down to the children.

-Really see in our mind's eye, the thing we are reading about.

-Sensationally speak the first line of the story, as to capture the audience immediately and never let them go.

-Finally, the last line should be a definite dismissal, a farewell as to not leave the listeners with an incompleteness. Both teller and listener should find themselves in a state of bliss.

Play and Literacy

Classroom studies have shown that young children exhibit an impressive amount of literacy knowledge when in sociocultural classrooms. Children can help each other expand on language from previous experience. Play is a particular symbol system that is beneficial to the development of literacy in young children. Play allows children to construct and express their knowledge. When children engage in dramatic play they have opportunities to expand their language. During play if children are exposed to familiar literary objects that are reflective of their lives and cultures, they are more prone to further develop their literacy knowledge. The set-up of the play environment and what types of props the teacher offers the children influence the social interactions and time the children spend playing together. When children play, talk, and reason together they share knowledge about their language. This shows how literacy learning in schools helps to further extend literacy development.