Literacy Models and Instructional Reform for Educators Essay

As a future teacher of a fast-changing generation that searches restlessly for new interests, I believe that old and new must meet to keep the basic values of a balanced literacy. Focusing on prior knowledge, collaborating with colleagues, peers, families, and community, creating connections with our surrounding, and empowering students’ learning style throughout the process of gaining knowledge of reading and writing. Foremost, my personal philosophy of teaching literacy is based on constructivism and sociolinguistic, where hands on experience and guidance are priority in an informational world. To facilitate a child’s acquisition of literacy skills , as I plan for literacy instruction for my future classroom, I will take into consideration

Just as the needs of students vary teachers methods of instruction should vary. Meeting the literacy needs of students should be done through a wide variety of instructional strategies that meet the needs of students and meet the requirements of a balanced literacy program. The following information shares 12 instructional procedures to be used in a third grade classroom. The procedures are from the Tompkins’ Compendium shared in the text Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach (6th ed.).

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are regarded as a detestable beast by many in the educational field. For those who teach literacy, this is not an uncommon idea or ominous threat, yet for those who have never taught literacy and are now expected to implement writing and reading comprehension student learning expectations (SLE), this can be a daunting task. CCSS along with the Arkansas Department of Education insist on this being done (2013). Many times the CCSS were listed on the lesson plans at the high school to soothe the conscience of the educator and to appease the administration, but they were not taught effectively or briefly skimmed over with the students. With the advent of the

The Common Core State Standards were created to identify the skills and knowledge a student needs in order to succeed in today’s world. Essentially, these Standards were developed in an effort for public education to advance academically. In developing these Standards, six shifts were created to identify what a student is expected to accomplish in each grade level in order to prepare them for their future. Obviously, with six shifts, there is a beginning phase. The first shift generated states, to prepare students for reading and comprehension in their later school years, it is fundamentally necessary to increase the reading of informational text for students beginning kindergarten and continuing through the fifth grade.

According to the article, the balanced literacy allows children to choose their own books to study and work in groups, where the combination of approaches to reading and writing will be provided by a teacher. The idea is that students are “ natural readers and writers; teachers needed only to create the conditions to unleash their talents.” On another side, we have Common Core Standards call for to read books on and above the grade level with more challenging texts, where students will focus on what the text says, while balanced literacy will focus on personal response to the book.

Pea Ridge High School (PRHS) has long prided itself of being a high achieving school in academics; it is number six in the state for the 2013-2014 school year. Since the implementation of the Common Core Standards, PRHS has found itself having to reteach educators to use the literacy standards because most in the non-literacy/math disciplines still use the Arkansas Frameworks. Not only has the literacy standards been an arduous task to implement in the literacy areas, the high school struggles with the concept of teaching literacy in the areas that are not necessarily considered literacy areas. According to the schools’ Arkansas Consolidated School Improvement Plan (ACSIP) of which the author of this essay and project is the literacy chair for the high school, two things that is essential and requires immediate implementation in all areas is the teaching of literacy and closing the achievement gap for the target groups which are considered lower socioeconomic (free/reduced lunch), minorities, and English language learners. In an effort to ease the minds of the educators and administration, this project was instituted to help those of history, science, art, physical education, and other areas to implement the literacy standards assigned by the state. It also gives assistance and clarification for those not only in the literacy

The evaluation of the Leveled Literacy Intervention is being requested by our district superintendent, Dr. Craig Witherspoon, to determine the success of the implementation and the efficacy of the program. During this last year, our district piloted the Leveled Literacy Intervention program throughout the district with our Tier 3 students in the elementary schools. The Leveled Literacy Intervention program provides students with reading assistant system, and the training of classroom teachers and reading specialists. Higgins, Fitzgerald, and Howard (2015) found that providing “early interventions for struggling readers is critical for their future academic success” (p. 260). These authors continued by explaining that “these interventions should contain structured activities where students are supported through scaffolding, modeling and guiding until they gain competence and

With its tremendous benefits, the Balanced Literacy Approach that has been adopted by the Houston Independent School District and many others may have possibly overlooked a key component to the implementation and success of the program: the need for explicit (direct) reading instruction in decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension for reading growth. This is especially true of at-risk students who may be one or more grade levels behind in reading. To better understand the impact of direct instruction its effectiveness in improving the reading achievement of at-risk students, an action research was conducted at one of HISD’s elementary campuses.

As I arrange this reflective analysis paper on topics that relate to a foundational course and specifically searching for the modules that have given me the most information, taught me something new or expanded my knowledge on a specific topic of reading, I have come to realize how far I have come since I began this adventure. I began these courses after graduating from Marshall with my bachelors. I chose this path because of my love for reading and teaching reading. I have come to realize that these courses have enabled me to become a more effective reading teacher and I now have been given the skills, strategies and techniques that I needed to teach a child to read. I know that I will always need to keep up with classes and new techniques, but feel that I am much more capable of teaching reading than before I started these courses. The course 653 Literacy Acquisition helped me to improve and further develop my educational philosophies and beliefs. So, I chose to speak about the first lesson that was expected of me in this class, Module 1 Literacy Theories, Beliefs and Practices.

Everything we learned about literacy in elementary school was a lie. I remember taking a reading comprehension test each year. I was timed on how fast I could read a selected passage, and time was added each time I made a mistake. My teacher would take my time, evaluate it, and categorize me into a certain grade’s reading level. According to revolutionary educational reformist E.D Hirsch, all of this was pointless. He theorized that literacy is not simply based on ability to read words on a page, but on a background of extensive topics that allows one to understand all texts and draw value from them. To expand the nation’s literacy, Hirsch proposed in his infamous book, Cultural Literacy, that there is a base list of terms and concepts that every student should know in order to be literate. Although the common core has been implemented in 46 out of the 50 states, it is still controversial. While it has positive effects such as uniform state education and better preparing students for college and post high school life, it also has negative effects such as too high an emphasis on testing and a lack of depth and diversity in the material. In theory, Hirsch’s ideas on education are good;but overall, the negative effects outweigh the positives.

Balanced Literacy provides the foundational structure and scheduling for delivering the North Carolina English Language Arts curriculum in kindergarten through eighth grades. Balanced literacy along with our scope and sequence defined in our pacing guides enhance vertical and horizontal

Balanced literacy instruction is a comprehensive program of language arts achievement. It is comprehending all of the components that is necessary for students to become a master in writing and oral communication. Balance literacy begins with creating a genuine gratitude for good literature. And it balanced by knowing students individually, direct and indirect instruction and activates that emphasize meaning for students. The strongest elements of each are combined into a literacy program that aims to guide students toward proficient and lifelong reading. There are numerous components of balanced literacy, but the most important components of balanced of literacy are: The read aloud, guided reading, shared reading, independent reading, word study, interactive writing, shared writing, guided writing workshop, independent writing also include phonic and grammar skills. literacy plan is most effective for children when the teacher is given direct instructional to support, and a variety of everyday reading and writing experiences. That are needed in the multifaceted process of becoming independent good reader and writers. This experience is providing to students to become more proficient toward their learning journey and apply as they move upper level in education.

Balanced literacy is seen as the truce in the reading wars that have developed in the educational community. Balanced literacy is the teacher’s ability to mix whole learning and phonics to create a reading atmosphere that will foster success in both comprehension and reading. Reading wars have always existed because reading is a critical skill needed in every aspect of a person’s life. Society often makes comments about the things learned in school that do not apply to real world from math to social studies to foreign languages but reading is needed in every aspect of life. A person cannot function in society if they are unable to read.

Reading this chapter brought back many of the feelings of frustration and overwhelmedness that I have as a high school English teacher. It was fascinating to understand how literacy education has shifted from a “remedial” mindset

Dr. Seuss once said, “The more you read, the more you know. The more you know, the more places you’ll go!” (Reading Rockets, 2013). This is a perfect quote to describe how important and powerful literacy development is for students. Reading gives children an abundance of knowledge and teaches them new things that they will take with them out into the world. It allows students to gather useful knowledge and escape into something enjoyable and relatable all at the same time. This paper is going to explain my beliefs on how I think educators should be teaching literacy in their classrooms based on my personal beliefs of the balanced teaching approach. I am a progressivist and an existentialist and believe in a balanced