Marie Murray Spring 2011

 Learning to read is a complex, multi-faceted process.  Children must understand comprehension is the main goal.  Children have different language experiences, learning styles, family and socioeconomic backgrounds, and attitudes, which impact the different routes they take in becoming literate.  Teachers should use a balanced approach to literacy instruction.  Teachers should strive to encourage intrinsic motivation in their students by creating meaningful, interesting, enjoyable literacy experiences.

 Provide ongoing professional development opportunities.  Help teachers navigate the district’s language arts literacy curriculum, providing resources and materials as needed.  Help teachers to build a repertoire of instructional methods that will enhance student achievement.  Share professional resources.  Conduct model lessons in the classroom.  Support team-building by arranging grade-level and cross-grade collaboration among teachers.

 Lucas – Age 7 – First Grade  Suburban NJ Public School  Referred by both his classroom teacher and his mother, who is a first grade teacher in another district.  Concerns: Slow progress acquiring emergent reading and writing skills.

Slosson Oral Reading Test (Sight Word Recognition)  8 words; grade equivalent of.2 (kindergarten, 3rd month) Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement  Concepts About Printed Language – 12/24 points, Stanine 2  Ohio Word Test - 8 words, Stanine 2  Writing Vocabulary - 30 words, Stanine 4  Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words – 28/37, Stanine 5  Text Reading: Level 6 – Instructional Level (90%, no self- correcting) Developmental Reading Assessment-2  Text Level – Level 6, Instructional  Word Analysis Tasks (Phonemic Awareness) - Secure Words Their Way Primary Spelling Inventory – 23/82 Total Points  Developmental Spelling Stage – Middle Letter-Name Alphabetic

 Instruction: Daily 30-minute supplemental language arts lessons.  Focuses of Instruction: ◦ concepts about print ◦ word recognition/word knowledge ◦ text reading/comprehension ◦ phonemic awareness and phonics ◦ spelling and writing ◦ oral reading fluency

 Familiar Reading: Re-reading of familiar texts for fluency practice.  Running Record: A running record assessment on the second reading of a text introduced during the previous lesson.  Letter/Word Study: Practice with letter identification, letter formation and focused word study.  Writing: Guided conversation and interactive writing of one or more sentences.  Cut-Up Sentence: Teacher writes the student’s sentence on a sentence strip, cuts the words apart, and the student reassembles the cut-up sentence.  New Text: Book orientation and first reading of a new text.

 Social Constructivist Theory – Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development in which the teacher provides the appropriate level of scaffolding. Student learns from working with a ‘more capable other’ and gradually becomes more independent.  Automatic Information Processing Theory – automatic word recognition frees the readers cognitive resources for comprehension.  Marie Clay’s Reading Recovery Program - Gradual release of responsibility model; zone of proximal development; building an understanding of the reciprocity between reading and writing.

 Conclusion and Reflection ◦ Developed one-to-one correspondence. ◦ Moved from Level D (5/6) to Level G (11/12). ◦ Improved oral reading fluency – phrasing, pace, expression. ◦ Added many new words to reading & writing vocabularies. ◦ Developed stronger cross-checking & self-monitoring skills. ◦ Significantly improved self-correction rate. ◦ Used Elkonin sound boxes as an effective strategy for spelling new words. ◦ Developed internal motivation through consistent, specific positive feedback.

 How to Enhance and Accelerate Learning: ◦ Consistent lesson format (daily if possible) ◦ Attend to both reading and writing ◦ Focus on specific skill deficits and strengths ◦ Collaboration with classroom teacher ◦ Provide appropriate scaffolding within the Zone of Proximal Development ◦ Adjust expectations based on careful observations ◦ Monitor progress to ensure continued growth