By Roshanda M. JohnsonEDUC 6727

Reading and Literacy Growth

IntroductionReading is a complex but purposeful process that can begin as early as conception, and according to Reutzel and Cooter (2015), “Reading is the skill that makes virtually all other learning possible” (p. 5). As literacy teachers, we play such a special role and potentially pave the way for our students’ future learning and contributions to the world. As our students develop as readers and writers and move beyond the primary grades, the challenges they face are more complex and we must therefore provide them with the tools to be successful. Although in grades 4-6, student reading levels can begin to decline and many lose a desire to read, as literacy instructors we can positively influence our students. By understanding our students, meeting their basic needs, utilizing varied research-based instructional practices and diverse materials, and connecting literacy to their identities, we have the power to keep them on a steady path to success. Our challenge each day is to create an effective literacy environment for our 4th-6th graders where diverse needs are met and we hold the highest expectations for all students. Success in literacy development sets the precedence for all other learning and can help prepare students for tomorrow’s world.

The Developing ReaderMeet Destiny!Destiny is a beautiful, soft spoken 4th grader! She is the oldest of her father’s three children and has recently moved into his home with him and his new wife. She is one of three Hispanic females in her class, and when I introduced myself she immediately said, “I’m not bilingual.” Destiny is dyslexic but has not let her prior struggles in reading deter her from her love of books! She likes mysteries and adventure stories, and loves to write about things she has read in books. She hopes one day to work with animals. I chose to work with Destiny because I was immediately drawn to her warmth and wanted to know more about her. Also, after speaking with her teachers, I learned that she is often compared to her “genius brother” and does not always get the recognition she deserves. Additionally, being Hispanic and not speaking Spanish has somewhat ostracized her from other Hispanic students. I want to help her find her personal power and voice through literacy skills and well chosen books!

Comprehension

*TOOL: Bloom’s Question Stems are question stems and question verbs that correlate to Bloom’s Taxonomy and provide a hierarchy of question levels ranging from Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis & Evaluation (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016).

*RATIONALE: Bloom’s questions provide a framework that help teachers move from simple questions into more higher level thinking. Furthermore, it is already differentiated for this learner with special needs.

Fluency

*TOOL: DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy) ORF (Oral Reading Fluency)is a 1-minute reading sample that measures wcpm (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016).

*RATIONALE: I wanted to assess the accuracy with which Destiny reads utilizing her accommodations for Dyslexia in order to compare her to the norm and determine if interventions for fluency were needed.

Cognitive Assessments

Summary ofNon-Cognitive Assessment

Destiny’s general perception of herself is that she is a good reader.

She has a high perception of her growth as a reader. When comparing herself to her peers, her perception of herself as a reader is average. Despite that perception, her social

feedback shows a high score. Lastly, in the domain of the physical act of

reading, Destiny has an average perception of the way reading affects her physical state. For example, she neither finds it relaxing or unrelaxing

but is undecided.

Comprehension

Using Bloom’s Question Stems, I created 12 comprehension

questions (two from each level) to accompany a 4th grade reading

passage. Destiny’s score’s were as follows:

*Level I Knowledge- 2/2*Level II Comprehension-2/2*Level III Application-2\2*Level IV Analysis-2/2*Level V Synthesis-1/2*Level VI Evaluation-1/2

80%

Fluency

Using a 4th grade DIBELS ORF passage, I asked Destiny to read

for 1 minute. She accurately read 90 words per minute out of an attempted 96. According to

the end of year benchmark for 4th graders, any student reading 0-

95 words per minute is considered at risk (Dynamic Measurement Group, 2012).

Summary ofCognitive Assessments

Non-Cognitive Assessment* TOOL: RSPS (The Reader Self-

Perception Scale) is a tool for measuring how students feel about themselves as readers (Henk & Melnick, 1995).

* RATIONALE: This tool is appropriate for Destiny as she has struggled with her dyslexia in the past. According to Henk & Melnick (1995) a student’s self-perception can either motivate or deter her learning. Though Destiny has had her most successful year yet, I wanted to gage what she thought of herself as a reader.

Intermediate Reader*Destiny is an intermediate

reader. Though she struggles with fluency, Destiny reads

independently, selects books that are to her liking, and is motivated to read for enjoyment (Laureate

Education, 2014h). *Destiny is highly capable of

understanding language she read (receptive language). When

answering the Bloom’s Questions, she was able to put her thoughts

into words and sentences in a way that made sense, showing she is

capable of expressive language as well.

Non-Cognitive

Non-cognitive assessments help me determine what dispositions

Destiny brings to the text. Because she is motivated to read,

has a high concept of her self-efficacy as a reader, and has a

positive attitude towards reading despite her challenges with

Dyslexia, she will be engaged with the text I choose and more likely to

persist through any hurdles (Laureate Education, 2014c).

Additionally, because I know her interests and background, I can

match books to her needs.

Cognitive

Cognitive assessments should inform the teacher of a student's strengths and areas in need of more support where language and reading development are

concerned (Laureate Education, 2014c). From Destiny’s ORF

score, I know that I will need to plan to work on increasing

fluency. Based on the Bloom’s Questions, my instruction should offer her more opportunities to flex her higher order thinking

muscles!

How can these assessments inform instruction?

Insights…

From this data collection process, I have gained several insights to help navigate the road ahead.From the non-cognitive assessment, I have gained

a better understanding of Destiny’s attitude towards reading. I realize that despite her

learning exceptionality, she views herself as a good reader and will therefore be persistent when

met with challenges.From Destiny’s comprehension assessment, I was able to determine that she is able to understand what she reads very well but could benefit from

some activities that promote further development of higher order thinking skills.

Destiny’s fluency has thus far not affected her ability to comprehend what she has read.

However, she is considered “At –risk.” Therefore, moving ahead, Destiny will need to increase her

fluency to prevent falling between the gaps when she moves into the 5th grade and is met with more

complex and diverse materials.

The Developing WriterReading and writing develop simultaneously and are

interrelated. According to Mayer (2007) reading and writing are bidirectional. Therefore reading enables writing abilities, and learning how to write improves reading ability. Destiny is as excited about writing as she is about reading, and based on the results of the WSPS (Writer Self-Perception Scale) she views herself as good writer (Bottomley, Henk, & Melnick, 1997). She ranked her general progress, specific progress and the social feedback she receives as high. On the observational comparison and physiological states of the WSPS, her results revealed she has an average perception of herself as a writer.

Based on the descriptors from the Key Components of Literacy, I would describe Destiny as a transitional writer. Destiny’s spelling, word choice, ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency and conventions are at the transitional stage.

Writing SampleAs you can see from Destiny’s writing sample, she has accuracy with high frequency words and generalizations of spelling. Though the general idea of the story is conveyed, the details about each dog are not fully developed. Some new vocabulary words such as the words “possible,” “stomach,” and “parvo” are used. Destiny’s writing shows limited ending details, and though she used cardinal numbers to transition between thoughts, there is no transitional phrasing. Beginning her story with “Well I don’t have no dog’s now,” I can tell Destiny has personality, but she is still experimenting with finding her writing voice. Her sentence fluency is comprised of simple sentences, and does not illustrate any attempts at more complex structures. Lastly, Destiny still has many errors and misgivings about the conventions of grammar.

Student Sample: Grade 4, NarrativeThis writing sample is from a student who, like Destiny, is also in the fourth grade. In comparison, this student is an advanced writer. This young writer has a command of spelling, and his/her idea is clear and supported by rich details. The vocabulary is lively and creates mental pictures for the reader. The organization is such that the reader can easily move through the story without confusion. The writer has clearly found a voice that is engaging and full of expression. There are a variety of sentences that are purposeful in maintaining the flow of the story. It could easily be an interesting read aloud. Lastly, the writer applies grammar rules and maintains meaning throughout the story.

Specific Writing Needs for DestinyoIdea DevelopmentoWord Choice/VocabularyoWriting CohesivelyoFinding Her VoiceoSentence FluencyoBasic Conventions of

Writing

Idea Development

* Ideas are the main theme and all the details that amplify the theme (Education Northwest, 2013).

* To support Destiny’s idea development I would supply her with a binder of graphic organizers for various writing genres.

* Tompkins (2010) notes that graphic organizers help writers visually arrange their ideas.

Supporting DestinyWord Choice

Writing Cohesively

*Word choice should be rich, colorful and precise but also move the reader (Education Northwest, 2013).

*To support Destiny, I would have her create a showing hand which encourages writers to use the five senses to bring life to their writing.

* Organization is the structure of the writing.

* To support Destiny as she works on organizing her writing, I would utilize the app Kidspiration Maps. This app helps writers in grades K-5 learn to organize information and expand their ideas into written and verbal expression.

* Coskie & Hornof(2013) suggest technology that provides a scaffold can be embedded into the writing process.

Voice* Voice is the writer

coming to life through the words (Education Northwest, 2013).

* To support Destiny’s development of voice, I would supply her with a voice cards. Voice cards help struggling writers identify types of emotions and use them in their writing (Newingham, 2016).

Sentence Fluency Conventions

* Sentence Fluency is the flow of the language and should help the reader move through the story with ease (Education Northwest, 2013).

* To support Destiny, I would teach some mini-lessons on sentence structures, sentence beginnings and sentence variety.

* During the revision process, I would pair her with a strong writer to share her composition. Writing groups provide a scaffold and an opportunity for classmates to help one another plan revision (Tompkins, 2010).

*Conventions include spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar/usage, and paraphrasing (Education Northwest, 2013).

* To support Destiny as she works on conventions, I would utilize the app Sentence Builder. This app helps students learn to build grammatically correct sentences about a given picture.

The TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) inform literacy teachers of the yearly goals we would like all students to meet. An

effective balanced literacy instructional program is required to meet and master the

TEKS and therefore my instruction for Destiny must support her the development of reading

and writing along a continuum of learning.

The TEKS

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has five propositions: Proposition 1: Teachers are committed to students and their learning.Proposition 2: Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.Proposition 3: Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.Proposition 4: Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.Proposition 5: Teachers are members of learning communities.

The Teachers’ Self-Assessment of Efficacy in Writing and the Teaching of Writing as a Reflection of the Propositions:

Proposition 1: I can utilize my strengths as a writer (are applying strategies, reinforcing the processes of writing, expressing why reading and writing are connected, and teaching

writing conventions and editing procedures) to help Destiny develop her own writing.Proposition 2: By assessing my own writing skills, I feel more confident in teaching

writing to Destiny, but I also am aware of the areas I need to grow in order to better teach writing.

Proposition 3: I can use the 6+1 Writing Traits and rubric to manage and monitor Destiny’s learning before and after interventions.

Proposition 4: One weakness in my personal writing is the overuse of pronouns in my work. Improving in this area will help me teach Destiny to write with style and clarity.

Proposition 5: I can collaborate with my colleagues and peers in addition to researching best practices for teaching writing.

Teacher Efficacy

Bridge over Troubled Writing

Based on Destiny’s stage of developmental writing, the next stage of development for my literacy learner is Intermediate Writer. To build a bridge and help her move on to this stage, I can:

• Teach her to explain ideas and details rather than listing them.

• Present her with topics she knows, but push her go more deeply into developing ideas about the topic.

• Practice some simple organizational patterns.

• Work with sentence building and variety. • Keep working on basic conventions and

work towards expanding her range. • Model writing for a specific audience and

purpose.

Instructional Activities

*Graphic organizers*Story Maps*Teacher Questioning*Think- Aloud Models*Brainstorm Background*Click and Clunk* Identifying the Gist*Wrap Up

Student Strategies

*Ask Questions*Determine Importance* Infer*Synthesize*Activate Schema*Visualize

Supporting ComprehensionThe main objective of reading is comprehension.

Educators should teach several strategies and then model the use of those comprehension strategies, so

that readers learn how, when and why to use strategies (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013).

Previewing the Text

Prior to reading the passage her homeroom teacher had

assigned her, Destiny previewed the entire

passage. I noticed her going through each section, looking at the pictures, and

underlining the words in bold text. I use this strategy

when I read as well. Previewing can help the

reader get a sense of what the story is about and how it

is organized.

SummarizingWhen Destiny finished

reading the passage, she wrote a short summary

on the last page. I noticed that she went

back to look at some of the notes she had made

in the margins while reading. Summarizing is an important strategy as it enables the reader to recall text quickly (Texas

Agency, 2002).

Destiny’s StrategiesWhile working with Destiny this week, I observed her

use some excellent comprehension strategies!

Click or ClunkClick or clunk is a

metacognitive strategy that has students identify words or concepts in a selection.

Words they understand they belong in the click category while words or concepts that are not understood belong

in the clunk category (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016).

This strategy will help Destiny self-check for

understanding as she reads.

Making Predictions

Because Destiny previews the text, teaching her to

make predictions would be an excellent strategy to add to her repertoire.

Good readers use predicting to connect their existing knowledge to new information (Texas Agency,

2002).

Instructional StrategiesAs I continue to work with Destiny, I would like to help

her add some strategies to her repertoire that are effective for comprehension.

Being that Destiny is considered at risk in her fluency, Click or Clunk will not only aid

with her comprehension but help her identify words that may be a problem as she reads. By utilizing this strategy she can monitor her

understanding of word meanings and identify unfamiliar vocabulary in order to use

fix-up strategies to understand and more fluently read the text.

Destiny already employs previewing the text as a strategy. How can I make it more effective? Teaching her to also make predictions will help her activate prior knowledge about the text and make

connections between new information, ideas gathered from subheadings, and text

organization to what she already knows.

Why these strategies?

Word SortSimilar to Click and Clunk,

Word Sort requires students to group words from a reading passage into different categories based on commonalities,

relationships, and or other criteria. Word sorts

necessitate students actively decide which

words are similar and are different, build vocabulary,

and construct their own interpretations and

definitions (McCloskey, 1998). Understanding vocabulary increases

comprehension of a text.

Strategies that Support a Variety of Readers

Read-Alouds Paired ReadingA read aloud is a great strategy for modeling

powerful literacy tools to readers of all stages.

Read-Alouds give students the opportunity

to predict what they think will happen; English Language

learners can practice oral language, and advanced

readers can get exposure to different and more challenging texts that they may not be

able to comprehend on their own (Hiebert &

Pearson, 2013). .

Teachers need to increase the amount of times students read in

order to help them become proficient readers (Hiebert &

Pearson, 2013). Paired Reading is a

collaborative way for two students to practice reading. Either students

of similar reading or a more capable reader can be paired with a less proficient one to complete a passage before scaffolding

towards more independent reading.

What else matters?Strategies and skills are not all that affect

comprehension.

MetacognitionMetacognition contributes to reading comprehension. These skills help readers become aware about how

they think about thinking.

Epistemic BeliefsThese beliefs refer to the reader’s theories about what counts as knowledge, where it is found and how it develops and influences the judgement the

reader makes about the text.

Self EfficacyEfficacy relates to how students feel about their own ability to achieve and be successful. Students who believe in their abilities are motivated to read and succeed while those who do not develop negative

feelings about reading (Afflerbach, Cho, Kim, Crassas, & Doyle, 2013).

Close Reading of Complex Text

Enhancing Comprehension

Close reading is an instructional activity that allows students to deeply examine a text through repeated readings (Fisher & Frey, 2012). When

choosing a text for close reading, the text must be complex enough to engage readers in deep

thinking and promote critical anayalsis (International Reading Association & National

Council for Teachers of English, 2014d).

Who is Frida Kahlo by Sarah Fabiny (2013) is an

informational text I would choose for Destiny. This biographical text is about a brave woman who was an invalid but transformed herself into a living work of art. This text

is complex, above her reading level, conforms to genre

expectations, has varying sentence lengths, and challenging

but repetitious vocabulary (Hiebert, 2013).

I Am Cleopatra by Grace Norwich is another potential

informational text I would choose for Destiny. Following the journey of Cleopatra from her illustrious beginning to her tragic end, this informational text will provide a

challenge for Destiny while maintaining her attention. This text is also above her reading

level, conforms to genre expectations, has varying sentence lengths, and has

supportive text features (Hiebert, 2013).

Informational Texts

Recall that Destiny is has struggled in the past in both her academic and personal

life. These texts will provide her the chance to independently handle a close reading of informational texts while still considering

her multiple identities. Who is Frida Kahlo pays attention to both gender, culture and community and provides

inspiration as a woman who once struggled turns her life into art. I Am Cleopatra also

addresses gender identity while simultaneously catering to Destiny’s love

for adventure. If we want students to become better readers and writers and

become engaged in literature in powerful ways, we must pay attention to their

multiple identities (Laureate Education, 2014j).

Why these texts?

Being that I currently work in a Pre-K 4 classroom, I utilize a matrix as a tool for analyzing

digital, narrative and informational texts for

emergent and beginning readers. Both have different needs and as a result, I must

choose texts that are interesting and motivating but are also rich and meaningful.

The resources from Module 4 have offered me greater insight and depth into choosing informative

texts for a close reading. There is less focus on whether the text is

semiotic or linguistic as the intermediate reader is reading

independently. Things to consider when choosing a close reading

text:* Quantitative complexity* Qualitative complexity

* Reader characteristics/task considerations

Text Selection

Insights into Text Selection

The world of children’s literature is a beautiful and ever expanding world and just as our classrooms are diverse, so are the choices students, parents and educators have when selecting texts. Exposing our students to a variety

of genres is integral to broadening their base of understanding and keeping them engaged in literature.

When choosing text for Grades 4-6:• Choose authentic literature

• Choose complex texts for close readings• Address multiple identities

• Choose texts that encourage students to think critically

SummaryGetting to know the 4-6 literacy learner is vital to instruction. Once an understanding of a student’s background is reached, the next step in reaching

instructional goals and implementing effective instruction is assessment (The Access Center, 2005). Both cognitive

and non-cognitive assessments must be utilized to determine next steps in instruction. It is important to know our leaners and support their growth through

differentiated instruction so that all can be successful. It is our job to create an equitable learning environment for

4th-6th graders which includes understanding their background, teaching them strategies to help further

comprehension, scaffolding and encouraging writing, and choosing texts that challenge them and yet keep them

engaged! An effective literacy-rich classroom should be a place where students build upon foundational skills and

further literacy development and lifelong learning.

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