March 31, 2015

Sunny Slope Elementary

244 E. Main Street
Milwaukee, WI 53207

Dear Interview Team,

I want to thank you for taking the time to interview me for the kindergarten teaching position. It
is a wonderful opportunity and I think that I could truly be an asset to your school environment
and a wonderful educator for the future K5 students of Sunny Slope Elementary.
In the following pages of this document you will find my comprehensive instructional literacy
plan relating specifically to this inclusive K5 teaching position. I have included my philosophy
of literacy learning, which highlights my personal beliefs of how literacy is taught best and what
theory I use to support those beliefs. There is an overview of the range of reading and writing
development with consideration to oral language behaviors, in a kindergarten classroom. Among
these items there is an in-depth review of my role as the teacher in the classroom in planning
optimal instructional experiences to address the diverse needs of my students. Also included is
how I would design my classroom to support my beliefs and instruction, with a rationale
explaining my design choices. Finally, the comprehensive literacy plan includes a professional
development plan for me as an on-going learner. I believe that these pieces of work show the
depth of my knowledge and passion for becoming an educator. I look forward to any and all
feedback from you and a chance to return for a follow-up interview.

Sincerely,

Haley Williams

Haley Williams

Philosophy about literacy learning:

Effectively and successfully teaching reading and writing to children has become one of
the most important jobs for teachers in education today. Children must be provided with the tools
and knowledge to create a solid foundation of literacy skills that will help to carry them through
the rest of their lives. Because I strongly value the teaching of literacy in the classroom, I have
specific beliefs of how I think literacy learning is best provided for students.
I believe that children learn literacy best when

They are provided with effective demonstration and modeling of a skill/concept/strategy.

They have the opportunity to receive feedback from their teacher and learn
collaboratively with their peers.
They are immersed in the literacy learning that they are experiencing in the classroom.
They are able to make mistakes in an environment where they feel safe and willing to
take risks.
My beliefs about how literacy learning should be accomplished in the classroom root

from two influential educational theorists, Lev Vygotsky and Brian Cambourne. I want to first
connect some of my beliefs to the key aspects of Vygotskys Socio-Linguistic Theory. My first
belief is, I believe that children learn literacy best when they are provided with effective
demonstration and modeling of a skill/concept/strategy. One of the biggest pieces of Vygotskys
theory is the use of scaffolding through language to support learning as well as the gradual
release of responsibility model. Scaffolding is a technique that supplies support for the learning
being done in the classroom. A high amount of support is given by the teacher, who in this case
would be Vygotskys idea of a more expert other, or the more knowledgeable person who
provides the learning, when the learning is new. When students are first being introduced to a
new concept, the teachers scaffold for learning must be giving high support. In this case it

would be explicitly demonstrating and modeling, with the use of language, a new
skill/concept/strategy. For students, this is the highest level of support. After this effective
demonstration the teacher begins to remove the scaffold bit by bit as the learner takes on more of
the responsibility for learning. This might happen in the same mini lesson, or it may happen as
that one specific idea is taught over the course of a couple of days, depending on how well the
students are grasping the learning. The removal of a scaffold also relates to the gradual release of
responsibility aspect, as teachers move from explicitly teaching to student independence. The
gradual release of responsibility works from the levels of I do-You watch, I do-You help,
You do-I help, and finally You do-I watch. In this case the student is moving from an area of
great support to a point in learning where they can independently succeed. As a teacher is
working towards childrens independent learning, Vygotsky suggests that the most effective
place for student learning is in their zone of proximal development (ZPD). This is the most
integral point in a childs learning. It is the place where they need support from a more expert
other to fully move beyond their area of potential development into an area of actual
development, or use of an idea independently (Vygotsky Handout ED225 Spring 2015). The four
key pieces of scaffolding which are the more expert other, the gradual release of responsibility,
and the ZPD, relate well to why students need effective demonstration and modeling in their
literacy learning.
My first belief as well as well as my second belief which states, I believe that children
learn literacy best when they have the opportunity to receive feedback from their teacher and
learn collaboratively with their peers, also connects to one of Vygotskys biggest ideas, which is
the importance of language and social interaction for learning. Language is a tool for learning
and a way to help organize thoughts. With the use of language in teachers modeling, students

can hear and see the thinking that needs to be done, while also being exposed to the important
academic language that they will eventually be using as they work independently. Children need
to have that strong voice in their head (usually their teachers) which they can hear and reflect
back upon when they are working to practice that concept/skill/strategy independently (Vygotsky
Handout ED225 Spring 2015). My second belief also highlights the importance of language in
literacy learning. Children must be given the chance to work collaboratively with their peers in
order to get the most out of their learning as well as receive meaningful feedback from their
teacher. As stated in the text Literacy in for the 21st Century-A Balanced Approach, by Gail E.
Tompkins, Vygotsky recommended that teachers incorporate opportunities into their instruction
for students to talk about what theyre learning; students can work in small groups for
example (8). Students gain more knowledge when they have the chance to reflect upon their
own ideas with peers as well as hear what ideas their peers have. They also gain more
perspective of the success of their understanding of what is being taught by receiving that timely
and meaningful feedback from the teacher. This aspect of social learning is something that lies
strongly in my beliefs of how literacy is taught best.
Most all of my beliefs also relate to Brain Cambournes Conditions of Learning as they
apply to literacy. There are seven conditions of learning that Cambourne outlines with an end
result being overall engagement in learning. As I stated above, my first belief refers to effective
demonstration and modeling of a concept/skill/strategy. One of Cambournes Conditions relates
specifically to Demonstration and how students need to be given the opportunity to receive,
observe, and see a number of demonstrations of how print is constructed and used in order to
begin to understand something. These demonstrations set the context for the language that
students will need for this type of learning, how it applies to their life, and the type of thinking

that they will need to do in order to practice this learning independently. It is also clear that
Vygotskys theory, as noted previously, strongly encourages the use of demonstrating through
strong use of language, as a form of scaffolding so that students receive the explicit teaching they
need to independently perform the learning. My second belief, that students should have the
opportunity to receive feedback from their teacher as well as learn collaboratively with their
peers, associates with Cambournes Condition of Response. Learners, which are the students,
must be able to engage in conversation and hear feedback from a more knowledgeable other (the
teacher or another peer) in order to understand if theyre successfully meeting the objective at
hand. This response needs to be relevant to the students work and available at all times to give
the students the affirmations they need while they are learning. My third belief is, I believe that
children learn literacy best when they are immersed in the literacy learning that they are
experiencing in the classroom. In order for students to be successful in literacy, they must know
what literacy is and be reminded of what they are learning about literacy every day. Cambournes
Condition of Immersion speaks to this belief in that students need to be immersed in print of all
kinds so they are consistently emerged in what is to be learned. My final belief is, I believe that
children learn literacy best when they are able to make mistakes in an environment where they
feel safe and willing to take risks. When children are focused too closely on their errors or are
always being corrected, they leave no room for themselves to experiment with their thinking
about new learning. Cambournes Condition of Approximation speaks to this belief. He notes
that learners should be able to make mistakes and have a go at the learning target because
making mistakes is essential for learning to occur. I want my future students to understand right
when they enter the classroom that they are in an area where all thinking and ideas matter and

that mistakes can and should be made without reservations (Cambournes Conditions of Learning
Handout ED225 Spring 2015).
Along with the four of Cambournes Conditions that I related specifically to my beliefs,
there are three more that also work in with the others to create that aspect of engaged learning
that I mentioned previously. After effective demonstrations are given, students must be allowed
time to practice their developing learning in authentic ways through Employment, as Cambourne
describes it. Employment is the time in which students practice with the skills, concepts, and
strategies that they are learning, but independently or with partners. This allows them to
meaningfully connect with the learning while providing the teacher with time to observe and
assess the students overall understanding. The three components of Employment,
Approximations, and Response have a strong effect on student learning. Cambourne believes that
when students are working independently, developing learning through authentic ways during
Employment, they naturally make Approxiamtions or mistakes. It is during this time when
teachers support the students and provide Response to their Approximations in order to clear up
any misunderstandings or misconceptions about the learning. The goal is that in time as teachers
continue to give those responses to approximations the students makes, the approximations will
begin to fade away and become more conventional. This belief also shows similarity to
Vygotskys idea of the students Zone of Proximal Development. When a child is in their ZPD it
is their prime moment of teaching. This is the time where students need a slightly larger amount
of feedback or response from their teacher in order to move beyond the place of the unknown to
the known. It is in this place where students are making those approximations and also the place
where teachers can give the proper response to move them from dependence to independence.

Cambourne also explains that there needs to be Expectations and Responsibility for
learners as they take on that Employment aspect of the learning. Students must know what they
are expected to learn that day and have a clear idea of how that learning can be achieved.
Without a teacher, who expects all of her children to achieve, they may in fact fail. Cambourne
notes that students must also have responsibility for their learning and be in control of the bits
to learn in any learning task. This empowers them to make good decisions. All of Cambournes
Conditions that relate specifically to my beliefs as well as the others that I mentioned work
together to create what Cambourne calls Engagement. When all of these conditions are
successfully a part of a childs learning, those children then see themselves as performers of that
learning, they are engaged in the idea that this learning is purposeful for their lives, and they
have freedom to participate in the learning in the classroom environment (Cambournes
Conditions of Learning Handout ED225 Spring 2015). I truly believe that through my beliefs and
the strong relation that they have to both educational theorists, Lev Vygotsky and Brian
Cambourne, I can and will provide the best ways of learning literacy to the students in the K5
classroom at Sunny Slope Elementary.
Oral language development:
According to the Lori Rog, author of Read, Write, Play, Learn (2011), A strong orallanguage base is the foundation for learning to read (p. 18). Before I begin to discuss the range
of reading and writing development in a K5 classroom I want to address oral language
development in a K5 classroom with consideration for English language learners (ELL). Oral
language and listening is essential to childrens reading and writing development and is strongly
connected to better text comprehension. It is important to note that children who are between
four and five years old still have speech errors, but they are not as plentiful as in a younger age.

They compare sizes of two or more people and partake in the use of all types of sentences. Their
receptive vocabulary is about 13,500 and their speaking vocabulary is about 2,200 (Sequence of
Expected Language Development Handout ED225 Spring 2015). This first range of oral
development marks what children in an emergent stage of writing, reading, and oral language
would behave like. However, it is important to note that not all students entering the kindergarten
classroom will be at such a level. Some may be below or some may be above that level. They
may be functioning at a level that one would see three to four year olds in. The children are more
likely to make speech errors and their sentence structure is not yet as complex. However, they
begin to use words like and, because, when, then, to increase complexity and breadth of the
sentence. It is important to remember that students in this stage may also have a smaller
vocabulary which will need further reinforcement in the classroom as they begin to start reading
small and simple books. It is also true that some students may be beyond both an early and
emergent level of oral language and instead exhibit behaviors that of which a transitional reader
may show. This may include a more expansive vocabulary as well as the confidence to explain
things they know a lot about. These students often have more of a curiosity for words and their
meanings. It is important that teachers also work to support these students by possibly using
more sophisticated language, and making purposeful attempts to notice and observe words
during instructional times of the day (Bear, 2012, p. 102, 202). Once again, it is important to note
that although students enter the classroom ranging in depths of oral development, that these
differences may not have an effect on their school success. What I think is essential is that as the
teacher, I work to incorporate opportunities in the classroom for students to enhance and build
their vocabulary and their growing understanding of sentence structure so they develop
successful oral speaking skills. This means encouraging students through various parts of the day

to talk to their peers because talking will improve a childs ability to communicate. Through this
in school communication students will also be building the vocabulary to express their ideas,
questions, noticing the language of books, and learning what language in school is like, which
is yet another building block necessary for the students to be successful through the rest of their
educational career.
In the discussion of oral language development and considerations it is also important to
take the time to focus on potential ELL students and how their needs will be addressed in terms
of oral language in the classroom. First, I think that it is important that if there are ELL students
whose home languages are not the same as school language (English), that they are given the
opportunity to still use and express their home language in the classroom. This is also the same
belief that I hold for students who use a different dialect of English. I do not want the students to
think that there is only one correct way to speak, which would in some way make them feel as
though how they speak is inferior. I also do not believe in disallowing a child to speak their
language. It is like taking away a part of their identity. However, I do hope to become
increasingly knowledgeable about how to meet the needs of ELL students in terms of helping
them to become literate in English. I understand that there are varying English Language
Proficiency Levels and that a child could enter the classroom anywhere on this continuum from
not speaking or understanding English at all to being mostly fluent in speaking, but not writing
or reading, etc. I also know that as ELL students are initially beginning to learn the primary
language in the classroom there are sometimes large influences on their learning from their first
language. As the teacher it is important to be aware of the students literacy knowledge in the
childs first language and how it will affect their growing knowledge of English. For example, it
is important to understand that students who are native Spanish speakers are working to take the

twenty-two sounds of the Spanish language and match them with the forty four sounds of the
English language. There can be a lot of confusion in this process. Some students may not initially
hear all of the sounds of the English language, which will result in spelling and speech errors.
Once again if we refer to native Spanish speaking children this may result in a child saying ship
as chip because the sound /sh/ does not exist in the Spanish language. Through observing ELL
students native languages the teacher will be able to better understand their development in
English (Bear, 2012, 50). I want to work closely with your schools ELL teacher or whoever is
knowledgeable about these students needs in order to make my classroom a place where those
children feel safe and have the opportunity to learn.
Range of reading and writing development:
It is important to recognize that students enter a classroom not only with a range of
experiences with language, but also reading and writing. Some children might be immersed in
literacy in their homes, which would initially give them a head start into the learning that will
take place in literacy in a K5 classroom. There will also be students who do not have access to
literacy materials in their homes and do not have parents who necessarily work to encourage
literacy development, so these children may be at the very beginning stages of literacy
development. In her text Tompkins (2014) states, Children are usually emergent readers and
writers in kindergarten, but some childrendo learn how to read and write before they come to
school (p. 115). Even with this being said, students in a kindergarten classroom will still be both
above and below the level of emergent in the classroom. For this particular situation I would like
to focus on pre-emergent, emergent, and early readers and writers and what types of learning
students are doing in these developmental stages because the students in K5 could possibly fall
within each of these levels.

As I stated above, there may be students who enter the K5 classroom at the pre-emergent
stage of reading and writing. For reading, this may mean that these students are not aware of how
a book should be held, where the cover is, what a page is, or even what words are. It is also
possible that students in this stage are pretend reading, or will have memorized a text and look
as if they have the ability to read the words. However, this means that the students are working to
understand reading, knowing that there are words on a page, and that there is some type of
meaning coming from books. Some students may just need more guidance in building an
effective reading process than others. For writing, there may also be some students who are at a
pre-emergent stage of writing. These students may still be scribble writing which may show
directionality, while also working to show that they can read the scribble and proving that they
are in fact a writer. In this pre-emergent writer stage many students may also exhibit some mock
writing with forms of letters and shapes present as well as random letter writing where letters
take on more accurate shape and begin to appear to be strung together into words (Wauwatosa
School District Writing Scale Handout ED225 Spring 2015). Once again even though these
students may not have entered the emergent developmental stage they are beginning to show that
writing holds meaning for them.
Emergent readers come next on the developmental reading continuum. Students at this
stage are experiencing reading simple stories with 1-2 lines, at book levels A-B, and are initially
becoming aware of print. They are starting to notice that print holds importance in the
environment around them and that this print also translates into books. In this stage there are
some concepts of print being developed. The students work to read left to write, notice and use
spaces in between words, and do some one-to-one matching while they read orally. Students are
also able to make various connections between letters and sounds. For example, they are starting

to be able to hear sounds in words, recognize the names of some letters, and know some lettersound relationships. Eventually, students begin to recognize some repetitive high frequency
words. There is also a beginning level of using information from pictures to check reading, as
well as using meaning and language in simple texts (Fountas and Pinnell Readers and Writers
Continuum Handout ED225 Spring 2015). Once again, all students enter the room with differing
developmental levels and as the teacher I need to be able to see where my students are and where
I can take them from there.
Emergent writers are also going to be prevalent in the K5 classroom. Children at this
level of writing take on specific qualities. One large focus is being able to write their name from
left to write. Some other print concepts present include writing alphabet letters with increasingly
accurate letter formation, as well as sometimes using spaces to separate words or attempted
words. Pictures and drawings also still hold a lot of meaning and connection to writing for
students. Meaning may be communicated through a drawing, drawings are labeled, and there is
an established relationship between print and pictures. In terms of how children are spelling
words, many words are written phonetically, with maybe a few words spelled accurately. The
students may also hear and represent some consonant sounds at the beginning or ends of words
as well as use some letter names in the construction of words (Fountas and Pinnell Readers and
Writers Continuum Handout ED225 Spring 2015).
As I stated above, students entering the K5 classroom could also be exhibiting behaviors
in the developmental level of early readers and writers. Students who are reading at an early
level will be experiencing reading longer books, at levels B-H, with high frequency words and
supportive illustrations. Students in this stage will know the names of most alphabet letters and
many letter-sound relationships and use that knowledge to solve words in a text. Sometimes

these students read orally and without pointing. The use of punctuation becomes more obvious in
this stage as students incorporate their understanding of it in order to read more fluently. Highfrequency words are recognized and children check to make sure that their reading makes sense,
and looks and sounds right. Children are also using information from pictures while reading.
Students at an early stage of reading are most often seen in grade 1-2 classrooms; however, there
is a possibility that students in a K5 classroom could be exhibiting those behaviors.
Early writers may also be a part of the kindergarten classroom. These children may
exhibit the ability to write known words frequently, write left to right several times, and be able
to write 20-30 words correctly. Some of their letter-sound knowledge could also help them to
spell words correctly. In this stage students letter formations are accurate and they consistently
use spacing while writing. Students may also begin to write about familiar topics and include the
writing craft of an authors book they have read into their own writing. Childrens drawings at
this point may also relate to their writing to create a meaningful text. Once again, students at an
early writing stage are more often seen in grade 1-2 classrooms, but students in K5 may also be
showing that they are beginning to develop into this early writing stage (Fountas and Pinnell
Readers and Writers Continuum Handout ED225 Spring 2015). I think that it is important as a
teacher to encourage students to read and write no matter what level they are at. There is no right
and wrong when students are showing an interest in reading and writing, even if the child is
pretend reading or scribble writing. I want to reinforce to all of my students that they are readers
and writers, no matter what developmental skills they are portraying.

Word study behaviors:

To support developing readers and writers at the emergent, early, and transitional stages it
is also important as the teacher to understand and be aware of the students varying levels of
word knowledge and how I can support their developing needs through the use of word study. In
word study, pre-emergent and emergent readers and writers fall into the stage of Emergent. In
this stage, students may be pre-phonetic, meaning that they have little or no direct understanding
between a character on the page and an individual sound. Here is where students are beginning to
learn some letters, particularly the ones in their names. As students move through this stage they
begin to pay attention to sounds in words and their writing may also start to include the most
prominent sounds in words. At the end of this stage students are spelling memorized words and
moving onto the next stage of word development signals that these students are beginning to
learn the alphabetic principle, which means that they are understanding letters represent sounds
and words can be segmented into sequences of sound.
The next stage of development of word study is the Letter Name-Alphabetic Spelling, in
which Emergent-Early readers and writers would be a part of. In this stage the students are
working to make the leap of learning that there are matches between sounds and letters that are
made when writing and reading. With this limited knowledge of letter sounds they cannot
identify words by phonetic cues, therefore they may rely on consonant cues or support from
predictable, memorable texts. As the students in this stage continue to develop they will also start
to use and confuse vowels in words. Overall, students in this stage will read choppy and aloud in
order to vocalize the letter sounds they are hearing. Texts with phonetically regular words work
well to support these students as they are initially reading and decoding.

The next stage of word development is Within Word Pattern. This stage of development
would include students who are in Early-Transitional readers and writers. In this stage, students
can correctly spell many one-syllable short vowel words, and some other simple phonics
features. One these basics have been mastered, these students can work at a more abstract level
in which they move away from sound-by-sound reading and work to include the patterns and
chunks that they see. As students are working to master those chunks and patterns that are in the
onsets and rimes of words, it is an effective time to use word families and phonograms. Fluency
is a part of the end of this stage and students are working from needing support materials to
being able to pick from various texts independently. Not only does the reading of student change,
but so does their writing. It becomes more quick and efficient. Overall, students are working to
combine what they gathered from the two previous stages of word development in order to start
becoming fluent readers and more successful spellers (Bear, 2012, p. 10-18). It is important as
the teacher to recognize the reading and writing stages that students are at because it can also
lend itself to the level of word knowledge that students have. It also provides me with the means
to create successful word instruction to meet the needs of all of my students and help to improve
their reading and writing skills at the same time.

The role of the teacher:

Taking on the role of the teacher in the kindergarten classroom will mean providing the
best and most effective environment for the K5 students at Sunny Slope Elementary to flourish
in. I will work to develop an effective inclusive literacy learning environment. This includes
working to plan and differentiate instructional experiences that are going to address the diverse
needs of the students. The goal of literacy instruction should be to ensure that all students
achieve their full potential in literacy. Through this plan I am showing you various components
of a balanced literacy approach. I want to highlight two of Tompkins eight principles of balanced
literacy instruction that represent effective instruction. First, Principle Six says that Effective
Teachers Organize for Literacy Instruction. This principle surrounds the idea that teachers need
to create a program that does not try to make students fit a mold, but instead forms around the
needs of the students. This program needs to also reflect the school standards, curricular
guidelines, and the notion that the teacher is working to create a community of learners in the
classroom. Included in this program must be ways that will promote learners academic success,
for example; reading workshop, and writing workshop. Encompassing all of these things is what
allows the program to fit the students needs. Second, Principle Seven of balanced literacy
instruction states that Effective Teachers Differentiate Instruction. It is important that teachers
move away from the one-size-fits all instructional models and instead provide for their students
by giving them instruction that meets each ones similarities and differences in development. In
order to appropriately differentiate the teacher must adjust the content, the application process,
and the products (Tompkins, 2014, p. 26-31). These are all things that I want to do to support the
differing learners in the K5 classroom. I think that in my hope to provide the best literacy
learning environment for the K5 students, these two principles give a strong base for some things

that environment will consist of. I now want to explain to you more in-depth how I will
differentiate instruction to meet the diverse needs of students through the components of
assessment, concepts/skills/strategies, and instruction.

Assessments:
Assessments are a powerful ongoing tool that will allow me as the teacher to monitor my

students growth, diagnose individual strengths and weaknesses, and improve their learning.
The product of my students assessments also allows me to reflect upon the impact of my
own instructional practices. As students begin to build their stamina as independent learners,
I can then begin to assess their knowledge of the alphabet, phonological awareness, concepts
of print, understanding of the reading and writing process, etc. On a day to day basis I will
constantly be using various forms of formative assessments to monitor my students daily
learning. These assessments will be ongoing and be authentic in the notion that they are done
while students are engaged in literacy activities. There will be the use of various school and
state mandated summative tests, common forms of evaluations, which are not necessarily
authentic, but instead a more formal and compartmentalized test that will provide yet another
resource of my students knowledge of literacy up to the point that the test is given. I believe
that assessment is also tied into theory. As I stated earlier in this plan, one of Cambournes
Conditions is labeled as Response. Response is a way for students to receive feedback from
me, as the more expert other, in terms of their learning. Assessments, especially informal
ones, can be another way for me to provide feedback for students in an appropriate, relevant,
and non-threatening way. Vygotskys idea of the ZPD is also an important part of assessment.
The more I assess my students the clearer it will become over time what my students will
need at various points in their development. This is when I will be able to pinpoint how to

meet the needs of a child who just needs a small push into moving beyond their ZPD from
something that can only complete with the help of a more expert other to something they can
do independently. Assessments will help me to find those accurate teachable moments that
my students will benefit from most.
In this literacy plan I will review the literacy assessments, both formative and summative,
that I will be using for reading, writing, word study, and oral language development. There
will also be explanation as to why these assessments are relevant and appropriate for the
students in the K5 classroom as well as how those assessments will help me to plan
instruction. The various types of assessments will be separated under the categories of which
I plan to use them for. Some types of assessments cross between both reading and writing.

Reading and Writing Assessments:

Observations: Effective teachers are constantly watching their students. During reading
or writing workshop, to be an effective observer, a teacher must be concerned with what
students are doing in their reading and writing, not their behavior. Therefore, strong
behavioral expectations should be set up previously. During these observations, I will
have planned to observe certain groups of students each day so they at least see every
student in one week. These general observations may just give me a glimpse into what
students noticeable strengths and weaknesses are, or what things I notice about the class
as a whole that I want to address during the next mini lesson.
Anecdotal Notes: I want to always be taking notes of the specific events that I observe
students are taking part in as they read and write. The purpose of these notes is not to
evaluate, but instead to make note of activities during reading and writing, like use of
strategies and skills, and understanding of concepts. I will then document those notes in
order to pinpoint problem areas that I can address further with individual students, small
groups, or the whole group.
Checklist: A check list is a type of assessment that I will have prepared before I begin
independent reading or writing time. This checklist is going to have noted on it the
specific behaviors that I expect students to be exhibiting after a certain mini lesson was
given before they were sent to work. The same criteria will be used to evaluate each
students progress and understanding of that particular mini lesson focus that day; for

example, if my target or student objective is to comprehend the text through the use of
picture clues or activating background knowledge, then I might be noting and asking
students what they understand about the text when they look at the pictures or what they
understand based on previous experiences. These notes will tell me who I need to
remodel or prompt for and who is succeeding independently. It will also make me aware
of how I can plan to address what has just been taught again in another mini lesson or in
some small group time.
Conferences: One on one conference with the students is going to be something that I
will be conducting when the students are participating in authentic literacy experiences
during both independent reading and writing. A conference is a time when I sit next to a
child and monitor their progress, ask them questions, or simply observe on a closer level.
This is the prime time for me to take some notes on whatever students I plan to
conference with that day and notice a struggle or strength they have, and give a teaching
point. It is during these times when I can understand a childs ZPD and what I need to do
as an instructor next to meet that childs needs. An assessment like this is what really will
help me to authentically differentiate instruction and work to meet the needs of all of my
students. Some things to see will be comprehension, fluency, phonics, word recognition,
etc.
Reading Logs: Although reading logs may seem beyond the developmental level of
kindergarten students, it depends on the use that is put to that log. I would want to keep
reading logs in the classroom for use during independent reading/writing time,
encouraging students to possibly stop and jot if the target of the day requires that type of
thinking. There are unlimited reasons for why a reading log could be appropriate in a
kindergarten classroom. Most importantly, it is going to allow me to go back and revisit
some of the students thinking during their reading/writing time. Although what they
write may be brief or may be a picture, it is still an available source for me to consider
when questioning a childs understanding of a concept, or use of a strategy or skill.
Marie Clays Observation Survey: Marie Clays observation survey will be a great tool to
analyze some specific behaviors in both reading and writing. This assessment is a
systematic observation of children as they interact with six literacy tasks. These include:
Letter Identification, Concepts about Print, Word Lists, Hearing Sounds in Words,
Writing Vocabulary, and Text Reading. The six varying assessments allow me to have an
objective recording of how a child works on tasks and constructs responses. This includes
how the student works with the difficulties of written language, and how they search for
information in printed text and utilize that information. It also assesses a students focus
of attention, search for cues, cross-checking abilities, and problem solving skills. Some of
the assessments within this survey will be particularly important in K5; for example,
letter identification, running records, word tests, etc. This information will carry through

to my instruction and how I am emphasizing letter knowledge, talking about vocabulary,

focusing on phonemes, etc.

Reading Assessments:

Running Records: Running records are an assessment tool that I plan to use in my
classroom to analyze oral reading behaviors, comprehension, and reading levels.
Informally, a running record may be taken as I am conferencing with a child. I may make
note or check how many words the child gets correct and use that for a quicker analysis
on word identification or decoding skills. However, I also know that I will be using
running records to assess students reading levels three times throughout the year to make
sure that they are staying on target for the appropriate reading levels for K5. Doing this
more formal running record is what is going to allow me to more thoroughly analyze and
understand the mistakes that students are making based on the three cueing systems.
These cueing systems include meaning, structure, and visual. (Does it make sense? Does
it sound right? Does it look right?) The students miscues can be calculated to find
accuracy rate and the childs independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels.
Those miscues will also allow me to understand what meaning, structure, and visual
knowledge the student uses as they read.
Running records are also a strong indicator of students comprehension of a text.
Often after a formal running record has ended, there are opportunities for the teacher to
ask the student some inferential and literal questions to analyze what they understood
from the text and what aspects were still not clear to the student. Running records also
assess some other early good reader strategies. This includes strategies for operating on
print; being aware of conventions, directionality, where to begin reading, return sweep,
and one-to-one match. The use of searching for cues is also assessed through a running
record. I will be able to see how students use cues from text pictures, prior knowledge,
word cues, and book language. I will also be able to assess the students ability to selfcorrect their own errors to construct meaning from the text. All of these early good reader
strategies also contribute to the students comprehension of the text.
Concepts of Print: In the kindergarten grade level it is appropriate to give some simple
informal assessments on concepts of print in terms of text. For an assessment like this I
might simply hand a child a book and ask them various questions; for example, where is
the cover, where do I start reading, where do I stop reading, where is the picture, where
can I find the title, etc. Questions like these allow me to see things like directionality,
book-handling skills, punctuation, book language, word identification, etc.
Think-aloud/grand conversations: Grand conversations which are a type of thinking
aloud done by the students is another informal form of assessment that I want to use in
my classroom during the mini lesson times of reading and writing workshop. These
conversations are ones in which the students share their thoughts, ideas, feelings,

reactions, personal connections, interests, notices, confusions etc., about a book or the
topic at hand during that mini lesson time. Grand conversations are usually student lead.
This way I can get a firm understanding of student comprehension of the text, without
input or guidance from myself. I can also listen in and record the conversation the
students are having to get an understanding of what many of the students took away from
the book or idea I was emphasizing and how I can continue to move their thinking to get
to the target/objective of that day.
Cloze Procedure/Retellings: Cloze procedures and retellings are another way to assess
for student comprehension of a text. A cloze procedure is something that I would try to
implement during a mini lesson time in this K5 room. I might remove or tape over a word
or a few words in a book that we recently read and see if the students remember the
important words that I have covered in an effort to see what parts of the book really stuck
with the students. I might also ask for an informal retelling of the story (5 finger retell) to
see what students are comprehending and taking away from the texts that we read in
class. It will give me a general idea of what things I need to think-aloud more as I am
reading a story.
Writing Assessments:
Rubrics: I plan to use some forms of various writing rubrics to assess students writing in
the classroom. I am fully aware that some students may not be at a point where they have
adequate writing (with words) to be assessed, however, some will, so these rubrics will be
useful. One rubric I would consider using would be one that assesses the 6-traits of
writing, but for early-beginning writers. I would also plan to use the various writing
rubrics for kindergarten writing from the Lucy Calking Writing Project. These rubrics
include ideas of Overall, Lead, Transitions, Ending, Organization, Elaboration, Craft. A
rubric like that one could also be used for students of a lower writing level. These rubrics
are going to be helpful in noting where the students are in their writing development and
their understanding of the writing process and what I can do as the teacher to
appropriately move them along to the next best step to enhance their growth.
Student Samples: I believe that the use of student samples to assess is one of the most
wonderful resources. As the teacher I would have a clear look at each childs
development in writing separately. I would gain insight on their strengths and weaknesses
and I could create individual goals for each child to meet based on their sample for a
particular piece of writing. This works well for my goal to differentiate instruction. The
key is that there is a lot for children to learn, but being able to take that learning the
smallest step at a time is what is going to give students that time needed to fully
comprehend a new strategy or skill and implement it in their writing.

On-Demand Performance Assessment Prompt: An example of a type of student

sample that could be closely analyzed, especially at the end of a unit of study for
writing (narrative, opinion, information) would be an on-demand performance

assessment. This assessment would also qualify as being more formal as it is

given at the end of a large unit of study to gauge students overall understanding
and growth in many areas of writing. This assessment is given and students are
asked to write their best piece (for example their nest personal narrative) and are
given a short amount of time to complete the assessment in one sitting. This
assessment will allow me as the teacher to see the cumulative understanding of a
particular type of writing as well as other aspects of writing that a student is
strong or weak in.
Portfolios: Literacy portfolios are a collection of student writing throughout the year. I
think that this is a very appropriate form of monitoring student growth in K5. Many
students come into a K5 classroom with writing that is pre-emergent or emergent and
grow into early writers. A portfolio allows that growth to be documented and saved in a
place where I can observe when and how changes in development took place over the
course of the year for individual students. I also think that portfolios will provide the
students with a sense of self-reflection and accomplishment when they can watch
themselves change, learn, and grow throughout the year to see that everything they do in
the classroom is making an impact. I feel like a portfolio is just as much of a benefit to
me as the teacher as it could be for the students.

Word Study/Oral Language/Vocabulary:

Kindergarten Spelling Inventory: Using a developmentally appropriate spelling

inventory is going to be a useful way for me to asses if my students are able to write the
sounds that they hear in words. It is a good way to understand what alphabetic clues my
students might be using or not using in their writing. It also gives more information about
the students abilities to segment words and choose letters to represent beginning, middle,
and ending sounds. A spelling inventory can then allow me to differentiate my instruction
and notice which students are simply noticing letters and which are beginning to blend
word parts together to form a word. This will determine how I create future word work. It
also allows me to see what students could possibly be grouped together in word study
understanding.
PALS: The Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) is a state mandated test
in Wisconsin and something that I will be doing with my students in K5 each year, more
than once in a year. This test is a tool used to monitor progress in phonological
awareness. It identifies students at risk of developing reading difficulties, diagnoses
students knowledge of literacy fundamentals, and plans instruction that targets students
needs. The test would be given individually and would focus on some tasks like rhyme
awareness, beginning sounds awareness, alphabet knowledge, letter sounds, spelling, and
concept of word. Ultimately, the results of this test will give me a baseline for each
student and target areas in which a student may need more instruction or intervention.
Informal vocab knowledge assessments: In order for me to understand what level of
vocabulary my students both use and/or understand it is essential that I am informally

monitoring their use of language during both reading and writing workshop. During
observations I can watch how students use new words during word-study activities, mini
lessons, and discussions. This will show me their willingness to use new words, their
understanding of a words use in context, and where it is being applied in their daily
activities. I can also focus on oral language and vocabulary in conferences with students.
I may talk with students about the words that they have used in word-study activities or
even in their own writing. A great way to see students word understanding is to do word
sorts, especially ones based on varying themes, to see that they can identify the
connections among the words. Another way would be to have the student draw a picture
of what a word means. This is a developmentally appropriate task for K5 students. These
are great ways to see what words students are holding onto and utilizing and the best
ways in which I can implement those words so that the children do take them away and
use them on their own.

Resources used for assessment piece:

Tompkins Text , 2014, (p. 70-88)
KSI Inventory Handout Spring 2015
PALS Handout Spring 2015
Clays Observation Survey Handout Spring 2015
On-Demand Performance Assessment Prompt Handout Spring 2015

Concepts/Skills/Strategies:
In order to become successful readers and writers student must be introduced to and
given time to practice the concepts, skills, and strategies that remain a part of literacy
learning. When referring back to Vygotskys Theory, he notes that it is important that
students learning is scaffolded until they are ready to independently perform. Implementing
the use of strategies in various parts of literacy learning in the classroom is what provides the
students with the knowledge and practice they need to master a certain skill or understand a
concept. Using knowledge that is gained from various assessments I will be able to
successfully determine what specific concepts, skills, and strategies the students in the
classroom need to understand, learn, or utilize. Some may be taught or focused on
individually and others may be a part of whole group instruction. It is all dependent on the

students needs. The sections below depict the reading, writing, and word study concepts,
skills, and strategies that are relevant and appropriate for the students in K5 to become
proficient readers and writers. I have labeled the skills and strategies in sections together as
our ultimate goal as teachers is to have a strategy (a deliberate goal-orientated action that a
student does as they are reading and writing) transform into a skill (an automatic action that
occurs without deliberate control or conscious awareness, but is used effortlessly and
accurately). It is inevitable that some, if not most of these concepts, skills, and strategies fall
in all three categories of reading, writing, and word study, as we ultimately teach phonics
(word study) through writing for reading. The lists below are carefully thought through
and incorporate many concepts, skills, and strategies; however, they may not be all inclusive
for every aspect of teaching and learning that could happen in a K5 classroom.
Reading:
Concepts

Concepts about Print: Concepts about print will include the students ability to observe various
places that print is located, pointing to words as they are read, asking questions about print,
understanding that print says that same thing every time, one-to-one correspondence in that there
is a match between an individual spoken word and written word, recognition of the parts of a
book, and also the understanding of beginning, middle, and end.

Forms and Functions of Text: Forms and functions of text will be the understanding that text
surrounds us in our daily lives and having a look into what other functions text serve besides just
books.

Different genres: Understanding fiction and nonfiction texts.

Comprehension: Comprehension is the ultimate goal when teaching students to read. It is the
process in which students engage with the text and involves various processes. Readers will
develop a representation of the text and how they interpret it through the comprehension process.

Setting/Characters/Events: The students begin to gain an understanding for the various literacy
elements in stories, especially those that will help them to gain a deeper understanding of the
story.

Story Language: Students become more familiar with the rhyming, special words (Once upon a
time, etc.) and other language that comes with reading books (author, illustrator, cover, etc.)

Problem/Solution: Students begin to understand that often time in nonfiction books the character
is experiencing a problem and the end results in a solution. I would plan to show students this
concept in texts that are developmentally appropriate.

Compare/Contrast: I want the students to be aware of how some texts we read are similar and
how some are different, how we know they are the same or different, and what those books tell
us.

Main Idea/Details: Help students to see that books are filled with one big idea and that there are
also many parts that go along with that idea. I also think that this concept is reinforced by
learning about settings, characters, and events, and then working with the strategy of retelling.

Reading Process: Demonstrating and getting students involved in the reading process which
incorporates pre-reading, reading, responding, exploring, and applying.

Skills/Strategies:
Referring/Prompting Cueing Systems: As the teacher I need to understand how I can strategize
and use my knowledge of the cueing systems to help students to read and comprehend. There is a
strong chart made by Fountas and Pinnell titled, Prompts to Support Use of Strategies, which I
think is a great strategy to get students to use strategies. Here are some examples of prompts that I
could be using if I was listening to a child read, which I would encourage for independent use as
well:
i. To support control of early reading behaviors:
1. Read it with your finger
2. Were there enough words? Did it match?
3. Can you find____? (word)
ii. Use of self-monitoring or checking behavior:
1. Whats wrong?
2. Would ___ make sense?
3. Does it sound or look right to you?
iii. Use of all sources of information:
1. Check the picture.
2. Does that make sense?
3. What can you do to help yourself?
iv. Self-correction behaviors:
1. Try that again.
2. Something was not quite right.
3. You made a mistake. Can you find it?
v. To support phrased, fluent reading:
1. Can you read this quickly?
2. Put words together so it sounds like talking.

Early Good Reader Strategies:

Strategies for operating on print: Good readers should be aware of print, directionality,
where to begin reading, return sweep, and one-to-one match.
Self-monitoring: Good readers are using the meaning, structure, and visual information
successfully to monitor what they are reading. Students will begin to become aware of
when something does not look or sound right, or make sense.
Searching for cues: The students will be able to search for clues in the picture, their
prior knowledge, word cues, and book language to problem solve as they read.
Cross-checking: The students try to make predictions and check as they read.
Self-correction: The students are beginning to correct errors in reading to get meaning
from a book.

Comprehension Strategies: All of these strategies are completely necessary to use in K5. If our
children are beginning to learn to read then they should have access to every resource possible to
help them.
Activating Background Knowledge: As students think about what they already know
they are able to use that knowledge to fill in gaps in the text and enhance their
comprehension.
Connecting: Readers work to make text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text
connections to personalize what they are reading and make it more understandable.
Purpose setting: Students try to focus their attention as they read based on the purpose
that was set.
Determining Importance: Work to focus on the big ideas of a story so that students do
not get as overwhelmed.
Predicting: Readers become engaged in their story and think about what is going to
happen next.
Inferring: Begin to understand how to use clues from the text to make guesses that are
not explicit by the text.
Retelling: (5 finger retell) Students can recall the big ideas from a text and think about
what it was mostly about.
Monitoring: Students work to see where text makes sense and in places that it does not
make sense, what they will work to do about that problem.
Questioning: Students ask questions to about their reading.
Visualizing: Readers try to see what pictures, smells, sounds, tastes, and touches come to
mind as we read.
Evaluating: Students think about the text, why they like it, and how they can use the
information.
Deciding whats important: Noticing the most important parts about a text.
Context/Picture Clues: Having students refer to the pictures to help guide their
understanding of a book/certain page.

Writing:
Concepts

Concepts about Print: Concepts about print will include the students ability to observe various
places that print is located, pointing to words as they are read, asking questions about print,
understanding that print says that same thing every time, one-to-one correspondence in that there
is a match between an individual spoken word and written word, recognition of the parts of a
book, and also the understanding of beginning, middle, and end.

Writing Process: Students will begin to be acclimated the process of writing and what authors
do. This includes prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Of course this is taught at
an appropriate level. It could include the students making their own books as that is what they
will be influenced a lot by during readers and writers workshop.

Writing traits (kindergarten level): Talk to students about appropriate traits to be in their
writing; adopted from Lucy Calkins Writing Project. They include things like overall, lead,
transitions, ending, organization, elaboration, and craft. Some other students in the room may also
be ready to look at items like conventions, ideas, etc.

Pictures=Meaning: Making students aware that their writing can be done though drawings and
their stories can be told through pictures.

Hand-writing: Introducing students to how to properly hold a pencil and beginning to strengthen
their small motor skills for writing.

Writer Identity: Making sure to encourage students to think of themselves as authors, to relate to
authors, and to be proud and excited to write. Demonstrations will be done during both reading
and writing to make sure students know that we are just as much authors as the people who write
the books that we read.

Writing Styles (Narrative, Opinion, and Informational): Starting to have students notice the
various types of writing that we are able to do as authors.

Skills/Strategies

How does my story go? (sheet): I think that this sheet provided by Lucy Calkins which visually
shows kindergarten students how their story should go can be a tool that is provided for them as
they begin to write. It will serve as a reminder of what they need to be exhibiting in their own
stories.
Referring/Prompting Cueing Systems: As the teacher I need to understand how I can strategize
and use my knowledge of the cueing systems to help students to read, write, and comprehend.
The same questions that we ask our students when they are reading can also be asked (to
themselves) when they are writing or to review their own writing in an editing or revising
process. (Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?)

Beginning, Middle, End: Students begin to understand that their stories have parts to them. This
understanding continues to grow as stories are read in the classroom.
Think, Draw, Label, and Write: This strategy reminds students and introduces them to their
own writing process. It is a strategy to provide a scaffold for their writing.
Scaffold Writing Lines: Writing down as many lines on a childs paper for the amount of words
that they want to write.
Reading books for ideas: Using books to help students brainstorm ideas about what they could
write about. Giving them their own small books to then mimic and recreate.
Envisioning: Begin to have students understand that they can see ideas in other writing and use
them in their own writing.
Punctuation with voice change: Although conventions may not be as important at this point,
making sure that students are aware of punctuation is important. Using the way our voice changes
as we read to help students remember what type of punctuation a sentence needs.
Hand-writing song/letter direction sheet: Providing students and constantly reminding them of
how to write letters. Use Zaner-Blosers simplified stroke descriptions to depict how letters are
formed. Also, sing song with students to help them remember to start writing letters from the top.
Have students draw letters in the air, in clay, in sand, etc.

Word Study
Concepts

Phonological Awareness: Students will be able to reflect on various sound segments of speech,
(Ex. syllables)

Phonemic Awareness: Students will be able to reflect on the smallest units of speech known as
phonemes.

Phonics: Students will work to develop letter-sound correspondence, relationships between

phonemes and graphemes, understand phonograms (onsets/rimes), etc.

Alphabetic Principle: Students develop the understanding that there are predictable and
consistent relations between letters and spoken words.

Oral Language/Vocabulary: Students continue to build language skills and vocabulary.

Name Writing: Teaching students that there name is something that has meaning and can
transfer to written word. Works to help them to connect symbols and sounds and combine them
into letters and words.

Concepts of Word: Students are able to understand how to track text in a book, develop more
precise movement where syllables and sounds are tracked (eventually leads to spacing in
writing), and work with dictations in which students make connections between speech, print, and
print captions on their pictures.

Alphabet knowledge: Students start to understand how to correctly name letters, know
uppercase/lowercase, and identify letters in text, sound commonalities, formation of letters, and
their visual features.

Articulation: Understanding that letter sounds are made with differing formations of the mouth.

Skills/Strategies
Phonological/Phonemic Awareness:

Decoding-Students are able to successfully sound through words and read them.
Tricky Word Strategies: These kid-friendly strategies will be implemented in an effort to help
students when they come across a tricky word when they are reading.
o Lips the Fish-Get your lips ready to say the word
o Eagle Eye-Look at the pictures for clues
o Stretchy Snake-Stretch through the word sound by sound
o Chunky Monkey-Look for chunks in the word that you know
o Skippy Frog-Skip over the word and come back to it
o Flippy Dolphin-Try flipping between the long and short vowel sound
o Helpful Hippo-If you cannot figure it out you can ask someone
o Tryin Lion-Reread the sentence, try a word that makes sense
Counting Words (word level)- Students understand how many words that are on a page are how
many words that are read.
Syllable Counting-Students begin to learn how segment words into the number of syllable
o Chant and Clap-this is one way to count syllables, also using an arm or putting a hand
under the chin
o Syllable Level- counting and deletion
Phoneme Level: Onset/Rime Meaning-Students begin to identify beginning sounds (onset) and
the rime that comes after to understand various words that they read. In word work when students
encounter word families they begin to see how words relate through their onsets and rimes.
Rhyme Recognition- Students begin to generate more rhymes from a word they already know
Beginning Sounds/Alliteration- Students understand how to pick out the beginning sound in a
word(Elkonin boxes help with this)
o Elkonin Boxes- Boxes are drawn with the number of corresponding sounds in a word. As
I pronounce the sound or as the student pronounces each sound in the word, it is written
into a part of the segmented box
Sound manipulation- being able to take words they know to make a new word
Sound Blending-being able to slowly say a word to put it together as a whole
Sound Segmentation-breaking up sounds into words, begins the ability to spell
Articulation- Showing students how some letter sounds are made with lips together (b&p) and
some are made with teeth and lips (v &f), etc.
Sight Words-Students are beginning to read and write high-frequency words

Phonics:

Letter-sound understanding- students are able to successfully match a letter to its appropriate
sound
Phoneme- students learn letter sounds and combinations of letter sounds to form phonemes
Grapheme- understanding that a letter or letters spell out sounds in a word

Vocabulary:

Morpheme Analysis- looking at the meaningful parts of words to find similarity and
understanding compared to other known words
Cognate Awareness- (ELL) seeing how words in both languages share similar meaning/spelling
Reading a variety of books- exposure to new vocabulary through independent reading
Contextual Analysis- students infer or predict the meaning of a word based on picture or text
clues

Resources used for concepts/skills/strategies piece:

Tompkins Text , 2014, p. 36-94, 141-164
Rog Text, 2011, p. 16-24
Bear Text, 2012, p. 93-147
Phonological Awareness Handout Spring 2015
The Three Reading Cue Systems Handout Spring 2015
Clays Reading strategies of good readers Handout Spring 2015
Prompts to Support the Use of Strategies Handout Spring 2015
Lucy Calkins Rubrics for Kindergarten Writing Handouts Spring 2015
How does my story go? Handout Spring 2015
Zaner-Bloser Simplified Stroke Descriptions Handout Spring 2015

Instruction:
Effective and meaningful literacy instruction is what will foster my students success in
learning to read and write. Kindergartners-and for that matter, all children-are best served by
teaching that is appropriate to their age and developmental stage and sensitive to their
uniqueness as individuals (Rog, 2011, p. 11). As the teacher in the K5 classroom I need to
set learning goals that are going to be challenging and attainable for my students and then
support and guide them as they work towards reaching those goals. This type of instruction is
what is going to honor each childs stage of development and what is appropriate in meeting
their individual social, emotional, and cognitive needs. This connects directly to my strong

support for differentiating instruction in the classroom. I want to vary my instruction in an

effort to meet the students varying levels and abilities. I know I can do this by providing
instruction to individuals, whole group, and small group. I can also do this through
scaffolding. Vygotskys theory notes the importance of being able to scaffold a childs
learning so that they are not expected to perform an objective independently right away. I
want to provide ample explicit instruction and time for my students to move from I do, You
watch, to You do, I watch. For students who are ready to move beyond their peers and no
longer need that scaffold I can challenge them with activities that require higher level
thinking. In order to have the level of Engagement in my classroom, as Cambourne describes
it to be, my instruction must give students a sense of meaning and connection to their own
lives as well as a feeling of safety and motivation when they take the learning away to apply
it themselves. In creating developmentally appropriate and differentiated instruction, I
believe that I will reach that level of Engagement. Much of the instruction that I will be
conducting in literacy in the K5 classroom will be through reading and writing workshops.
Teaching literacy in this manner allows the students to experience authentic reading and
writing opportunities. Through reading and writing workshop students also assume
responsibility of their learning through the self-selection of books they read and topics they
write about. Students also have the opportunity to get relevant and timely response from me
as they work through their independent learning. Reading and writing workshop will allow
me as the teacher to emphasize to students that they create their own knowledge through
experimentation and exploration (Tompkins, 2014, p. 347-349). To successfully teach the
concepts, skills, and strategies that I have previously listed, I will be implementing a
balanced approach to literacy in the K5 classroom through reading and writing workshops.

The components of balanced literacy instruction that I will be using in the K5 classroom
include interactive read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, modeled
writing, shared writing, interactive writing, guided writing, independent writing, and word
study. Below you will find sections in which I break the components of literacy instruction
into reading, writing, and word study, and explain how each will facilitate literacy learning in
the K5 classroom.
Reading Instruction:
Interactive Read Aloud: An interactive read aloud is an instructional practice in which
the teacher reads aloud a book to her students that may be above their appropriate reading
levels. However, in doing this, students get to still interact with the thinking surrounding
that book as its content is now being read aloud to them. Some reasons to use an
interactive read aloud are so students can hear fluency and flow of language, be exposed
to rich vocabulary, establish a context for study, provide vicarious real life experiences,
and also to teach them new things. The role of a teacher is key in this instructional
practice. In order to make this read aloud meaningful and effective I must select quality
literature that will work to extend students knowledge, make students active participants
in the reading process, and reread familiar texts. The most important thing to remember is
that each read aloud needs to have a purpose and I need to be able to pick a book that fits
that purpose. I may also have an anchor chart during the read aloud that refers to ideas or
concepts that we have learned about previously in reference to our reading. During the
reading I will work to take purposeful pause points in which I will model my thinking or
do some explicit instruction. It is during that pause point in which I am modeling for
students some of the strategies that I have listed above for reading. Many times during
interactive read alouds the Early Good Reader strategies will be emphasized as well as
various strategies for comprehension. During the read aloud I may read through a
sentence incorrectly and then to show my readers that I am self-monitoring I may ask
myself aloud, Hmmdid that sound right? An extremely appropriate strategy to focus
on during this time would also be operating on print. I might take the time to emphasize
directionality, where to begin reading, and one-to-one match. To focus on certain aspects
of comprehension during a think aloud I may also use prompts like, I predict that,
Im thinking that, I want to think about what I just read This reminds me of
What does this mean and many more. I might also focus students in on the pictures
of the story and or context clues to get them thinking about how those aspects can
influence their understanding. It is important to have these stop and think aloud moments

because that is the scaffold for students learning. Vygotsky explains how important
language is in organizing our thoughts. An interactive read aloud allows me to give
students the highest scaffold possible. In thinking aloud I am creating that little voice in
students minds that I hope remains with them when the work independently so they
remember the various strategies that will allow them to succeed in their reading.
Cambourne also signifies the importance of Demonstration. During an interactive read
aloud, when I stop to think aloud, I am demonstrating for the students the type of thinking
that should be occurring as they are reading. Continuing to do this same thinking aloud
for students will eventually result in their use of the strategies that I use in my reading to
them. In order to make this experience meaningful for an ELL student I may try to preteach some important or new vocabulary so that it has meaning to them when I read the
book. I also may take the time to focus on some particular words and word sounds in an
effort to increase their understanding of what sounds certain letters or letter blends make.
In an interactive read aloud the students are learning by doing, through
demonstrations by me. The students are also participating with my demonstrations and
prompts, which shows their approximations and relative thinking as I read the text. In
order for an interactive read aloud to be effective the environment must also be
considered. The setting must be comfortable with freedom from ridicule or exclusions.
There should be no rote learning or severe concentration on mistakes and corrections.
The materials used must be genuine and the students must have a comfortable space
where they can interact as a classroom community (Rog, 2011, 59-72).
Shared Reading: Shared reading is an interactive reading experience that takes place
when students join in or share the reading of a book or other text while being guided by
the teacher. A shared reading is another type of instructional practice that involves the
teacher reading aloud, stopping to allow for thinking aloud, focus on comprehension, and
also allowing students to participate and engage with the text. However, because a book
for shared reading is often read many times, in subsequent readings the focus moves to
drawing students attention to print and how it works; for example, tracking, pointing out
spaces, highlighting graphophonic elements, like initial sounds or letter patterns, and
students are often encouraged to chime in on the reading. Because both concepts of print
and concepts of word are large components to shared reading, as well and some phonics
awareness, it is necessary to use big books. This makes it easier for students to notice the
specific elements in the text that are being taught or referred to. For a K5 classroom it
would be appropriate to choose books that have repetitive language, a few lines on each
page, pictures to match the text, rich language, and a strong story line with a predictable
structure. In a shared reading it might be effective to use a pocket chart or interactive
chart that would allow the students to identify certain words/text features, letters, letter
sounds, manipulate the text (rhyming, substitution, missing words), etc. Shared reading as
a whole is effective for ELL students as it gives these students a chance to be exposed to
the English print concepts on a smaller and more narrowed view. Often only small

aspects of the print are being noticed which does not cause such a sense of being
overwhelmed. Shared reading is also a multilevel experience which often allows students
to chime in with whatever knowledge or abilities they have at the moment. This may help
to encourage the participation of an ELL student who may otherwise feel excluded. In a
shared reading students gather together and should be immersed in the print in which they
are working with. They should also feel welcomed and comfortable to share their
knowledge and participate in the conversations. During shared reading students have the
opportunity to talk to their peers, become engaged with the book, and participate in the
use of manipulatives to help practice word studies. Overall, shared reading can be linked
to Vygotskys theory as it is linked close with the gradual release of responsibility model.
In the beginning of shared reading experiences the teacher is the only one reading the text
to the students. After the book is read a couple of times and students become more
familiar with it they are able to take over the reading of the text and the teachers voice
fades into the background. It allows the teacher to see that the students are beginning to
understand the language of the text and can speak and understand it on a more
independent level (Rog, 2011, p. 73-83).
Guided Reading: Guided reading is an instructional practice that I will use to create
small, needs-based groups (changed often based on needs), and pull them aside for some
differentiated instruction. For guided reading I will carefully selects texts that meet
specific students levels of difficulty as well as incorporate the specific types of strategies
and skills that the students need more support in. As the teacher, I will serve as the guide
as students practice the focus skills and strategies with the connected text. As students are
working with the texts I will be monitoring for their use of the early good reader
strategies, and using the prompting sheet that I mentioned earlier to help them when they
are struggling or using miscues, not self-monitoring, or inappropriately using concepts of
operating with print. After reading the story there may be additional emphasis on the new
vocabulary in the story, patterns, print matching, letter sounds, and phonics (use elkonin
boxes as a support for sound segmentation), retelling for comprehension, etc. In guided
reading students should be provided with their just right texts and have the opportunity
to experience the first read completely independently. They also have the chance to
participate with prompts by the teacher and engage in various aspects of thinking that
may also be prompted by the teacher. An ELL student would thrive in a guided reading
session as the teacher would get a bit of time to focus on their specific literacy strengths
and weaknesses. This is yet another place where they can develop more vocabulary
instruction as well as key phonics strategies. This might be a useful time for me to listen
in on an ELL child reading and explain how the sounds in their language connect to
certain letters versus the sounds that those letters make in English. The environment
during a guided reading session must be a bit secluded from other students and other
students should be kept busy with another task, possibly independent reading. There
needs to be a small area for the students to meet with the teacher, like a kidney table.

Guided reading has a strong connection to Vygotskys idea of ZPD. The overall purpose
of guided reading is to provide students with just enough challenge that the teacher needs
to be there to help them as needed. Guided reading is a key time in which students are
working to move from what they know and need help to succeed at, to a level where that
strategy or skill can be used independently. Guided reading can be filled with those key
teachable moments (Rog, 2011, p. 84-102).
Independent Reading: Independent reading is the portion of the reading workshop in
which students get to read independently for their own purpose and at their own pace. At
this point in the workshop there is little to no scaffold from me as the teacher.
Independent reading time gives me the opportunity to walk around and conference with
students, observing their strengths and weaknesses, giving them some type of
compliment on their work, and also establishing a teachable moment in which I
emphasize a certain skill or strategy that I see the students lacking in the moment. This
may be in relation to the early good reader strategies, comprehension, or whatever
particular target we were working on together that day in the mini lesson. Through
collecting these various notes from conferences I can establish the next move in my
whole or small group instruction. As the teacher I need to provide students with book
boxes that are filled with a range of reading materials that relate to the specific level of
difficulty for the child. These books should be at the childs independent level. For
independent reading time to be successful I must establish it as a main part of our daily
routine and model for the students the appropriate behaviors during independent time.
The classroom must also have a large classroom library with various different types of
text in order to create that authentic reading experience for students where they are in
control of the reading they want to do. At this point it is necessary to immerse the
students in print and other necessary resources, like anchor charts, that they may need to
work successfully independently. It is important to remember that I need to build the
students reading stamina and allow for them to read in whatever way they feel
appropriate, which might be simply flipping through the pages, making up their own
story, or actually reading the book (Rog, 2011, p. 103-111). Independent Reading ties
directly into Cambournes Conditions of Employment, Expectation, and Responsibility.
In a kindergarten classroom students take on the responsibility of their learning by
deciding what aspects of a skill, concept, or strategy they are going to internalize during
independent reading time. There are also certain expectations set in terms of what the
students need to accomplish during their independent reading time. This reading time is
also when students get practice with the concepts, skills, and strategies that they are
learning.

Writing Instruction:

Modeled Writing: Modeled writing is an instructional practice that involves the highest
level of scaffolding for the students by the teacher. I do all of the writing and the students
are simply observing. In a modeled writing experience I would be explaining the thinking
going on in my mind out loud to my students while demonstrating what writers do. In
doing this I am able to actively teach the students the process of writing, rather than just
giving them a writing task. A variety of strategies and skills can be taught during this
experience. It is important to remember, especially for K5, that these mini lessons are
brief and focused. While writing I will show students how writers think of ideas, talk
about their ideas, and put those ideas on paper using letters and words. As the teacher I
may also describe some mechanics of writing, like stretching through words, the use of
punctuation, and putting spaghetti spaces between letters and meatball spaces
between words. I also may point out important aspects of the writing process like
rereading our work and thinking about details. Students main role at this point is to be
observers who then work to practice the skills and strategies I have emphasized during
their independent time. Modeled writing can take the form of a morning message or
another self-written text. In order to encourage the strategy is used beyond this mini
lesson, especially for ELL students, it might be useful to try out the strategy in a situation
to support practice and success with some partner work (Rog, 2011, 112-114). This type
of instruction once again relates to Cambournes Condition of Demonstration in that
children need to be provided with opportunities to observe and see modeling of how print
is created and used in both reading and writing.
Shared Writing: Shared writing is an instructional experience in which I invite students
to contribute ideas to the writing, but I as the teacher do the actual writing. In terms of
Vygotskys theory, I am moving the students through gradual release of responsibly to a
point where they are at I do, You help. In terms of Cambournes Conditions I am
allowing the students an opportunity to approximate in a space where I will be there to
support them. A shared writing experience enables students to see their spoken word
transformed into print. Students are learning how to put words and ideas into coherent
sentences. A wonderful aspect of shared writing is that it is a multilevel experience in
which students of all developmental levels can contribute. If I know that I have an ELL
student I may just ask them to tell me the beginning letter or sound of a word if I know
that those abilities are their strength at that particular point in time. It is necessary for me
to use enlarged print for shared writing to allow the students too all be able to see the
words and text features being written. Shared writing can take on many forms in the K5
classroom; for example, daily news, class rules, a group message, recount of an
experience, retelling a text, etc. (Rog, 2011, p. 116-117).
Interactive Writing: Interactive writing is an experience in which students work to share
the task of writing and composing. In this type of instruction I am sharing the pen with
the students. Together the students and I write a message, which is usually conventionally

correct as I am teaching students that our writing it meant to be read by others. Interactive
writing is again a multilevel experience as students of all developmental abilities can
contribute their ideas and knowledge. For ELL students this allows an opportunity to
have their knowledge acknowledged by their peers as well as supported by their teacher.
In an activity like this I might encourage another student to display a particular letter,
word, text feature, and then ask ELL student to contribute the same. This instruction is
what is allowing students to practice letters, letter formation, sight word writing, spacing,
directionality, and ultimately forms and functions of written language. While students are
writing on the interactive large writing chart, students seated on the carpet can have paper
in front of them or a whiteboard to also be writing. The product of an interactive writing
experience is kept and becomes a part of the classroom environment so students can refer
to it and continue to reread it again and again. Interactive writing experiences support
beginning writers in their ability to stretch beyond what they can do independently. This
means that this type of instruction is what is carrying students past their ZPD to bridge
the gap of what they can do with support in the moment and what they will be able to do
later independently (Rog, 2011, 118-122).
Guided Writing: Guided writing puts a focus on what the students are learning as writers
instead of the end product of their writing. Sometimes this type of instruction occurs in
small groups, one-to-one work, or partnerships, but it can also just be a prompt or type of
framework that I as the teacher would give the students to guide them in experimenting
with a new form of writing. One of the most effective ways to provide this instruction in
the K5 classroom will be in small groups so I can offer intervention and extension with
students who have common needs. Much like guided reading I will be focusing in on
students use of specific writing strategies or skills, working with the cueing systems and
prompting questions like does it make sense, does it sound right, and does it look right.
Once again this small group setting will allow me to have some time with ELL students
and similar to what I would do for other students, work to enhance vocabulary
understanding and usage in writing, and how to transfer letters to make complete words,
or more important sound to letter correspondence. Similar to shared and modeled writing,
guided writing is going to work to support and stretch the kindergarten students from
where they are at a particular moment in time to where they can be. This is also a place
where students are able to take part in Cambournes Condition of Approximation as I will
be there for support and guidance (Rog, 2011, p. 122-124).
Independent Writing: After the mini lesson portion of the writing workshop is over it is
the students turn to write. In kindergarten it is important that I as the teacher allow the
students to talk before they begin writing. As students write they need to be aware of
many things, like how to form letters, how to represent sounds, how to make words sound
right together, etc. Therefore, allowing them to verbalize their ideas before writing will
give them some mental energy to transfer those ideas to paper. I think that it would be

effective, especially for ELL students, to partner students up for independent writing time
so the children have someone to collaboratively think with and even ask questions if need
be. As independent writing is going on it would be my job to walk the classroom and take
note of students behaviors and uses of writing skills and strategies (Rog, 2011, p. 128130). I would carry with me and reference the Lucy Calkins framework for How does
my story go? as I think this is a great resource in reference to the kindergarten writing
process of tell, draw, write, label. I might also work to give students individual copies
of that framework to reference during their writing. It would be meaningful to add
sharing time after independent writing time to reflect on what the students have
accomplished and learned as writers. Independent writing time is giving students that
necessary employment time that Cambourne refers to in his Conditions of Learning.
Students are able to engage in and practice with the skills and strategies that they are
learning. This time also allows the students to approximate and make mistakes in their
writing, but to have me there to provide appropriate and relevant response. Continuing
those approximations with response from me is what will eventually allow those
approximations to fade away. Independent writing is also setting meaningful expectations
for students in that they are all writers, they all write in different ways, and we can all
help each other with our writing.

Word Instruction:

To support developing readers and writers in the emergent years there must be
inclusion of word study in order to successfully build up reading and writing skills.
According to author of Words Their Way, Donald R. Bear, word study appropriate for the
students in a K5 classroom must aim toward developing six main components:
1. Oral language, concepts, and vocabulary
2. Phonological awareness (PA)
3. Alphabet knowledge
4. Letter-sound knowledge
5. Concepts about print (CAP)
6. Concept of word in text (COW)
If all components are addressed on a daily basis, no matter how far along the
emergent continuum a child may be, conventional reading and writing should inevitably
follow (Bear, 2012, p. 101). I think that it is important to give a short overview on each
of the six components of word study instruction because this is something that I will
value and use if I have the opportunity to teach in your schools K5 classroom. There are
endless ways to incorporate word study in the classroom, from small to more in-depth
procedures. Word study is often largely incorporated into reading and writing instruction.

Below I have separated the six components and have provided lists which are not all
inclusive of some instructional procedures or strategies that may be used to enhance and
teach to those six components in a K5 classroom.
o Oral Language, concepts, and vocabulary: It is important to remember that
students entering a K5 classroom only have the knowledge of words in
context with the short amount of time that they have been alive. Certainly
students will come into school with differing language experiences and
exposure, as well as differing native languages, but a well-developed
vocabulary is essential to school success.
Using read aloud to develop vocabulary- drawing attention to
specific words and planning ways in which they are acquired and used
ELL: Discuss meanings of the words throughout the week as
needed and supple photos to enhance meaning
Turn and talk- giving students the chance for oral interaction and
vocabulary use with their peers. It gives all students the chance to
share their thinking and it invites students who may be more reluctant
to speak, like ELL students, the chance to do so.
Concept sorts (words and pictures)- this allows students to work to
categorize words and understand how some words relate and connect
to one another (real/imaginary, smooth/rough, big/little, and many
more)
ELL: Reduce number of words in a word sort so students will
not be too overwhelmed with new vocabulary
Retellings and Dramatic Play- encouraging students to retell a story
using different language, or use new vocabulary in a real life
situation through dramatic play
o Phonological Awareness: Phonological awareness reflects on students ability
to identify various sound segments in speech. Phonemic awareness is a
subcategory in which students can identify and reflect on the smallest units of
sound, individual phonemes.

Long words vs. short words- teaching students how a word size does
not always carry meaning to its referent
Syllable Counting- using a hand under the chin to count syllables in
words that we encounter in read alouds or in writing experiences to
allow students to notice that words break up into parts
Rhyme Awareness- using rhymes, songs, and jingles to gain students
focus on speech sounds. Extension work to this might mean providing

students with a rhyme sort in which they match up pictures of objects

that rhyme or words that rhyme for more advanced students
Beginning sounds and alliteration- in daily activities, like simply
calling the students names, referencing the first sound in their name,
using read alouds to notice common beginning, middle, and end
sounds in words, drawing attention to common letters and sounds in
words
ELL: model careful pronunciation

o Alphabet Knowledge: Aspects of letter knowledge that need to be focused on

in a K5 classroom are letter recognition (upper and lower case), letter naming,
letter writing, and letter sounds.

Sing the alphabet song and supplying students with alphabet

strips- allows for daily exposure to alphabet letters and their
formations
ELL: expose students to similarities in their alphabet
formations to English if that is possible
Letter sorts
Create alphabet/word centers
Point out the use of letters in other areas of the school
Name walls- when letters are taught in the context of childrens names
they see a meaningful purpose for letters and how they fit into
processes of decoding and creating words, students get to learn more
than one letter at a time
Drawing letters during writing time
Focusing on font and print in read alouds

o Letter-sound knowledge: Students understand the connection between letters

and sounds.

Using books in order to enhance letters through words that start

with the targeted letter
ELL: expose to similar and different sounds of English
alphabet to their native language
Sorting objects by sounds
Introduce sound blends- pick two letters from a bag and see if they
blend to form a sound
Begin to work with vowels for students who are advanced

o Concepts about Print: Students understanding of functions of print as well as

forms of print. Concepts of print are best learned in the context of reading and
writing.

Who can find? using this question as a prompt during reading

and writing mini lessons for students to notice various aspects of the
print-this allows for instruction to easily be differentiated by asking
questions related to various students abilities
Draw students attention to print in the environment and all of the
forms that it can take
Interactive Writing
Creating a morning message

o Concepts of word in text: This is the ability for the child to finger point and
track accurately to printed words in a text while reading from memory.

Cutting up known and repetitive sentences for students to be able

to manipulate the text, work with the word parts, and work with
the letter parts
Have the students be the sentence-They can hold up large cards
with words on them and recreate the sentence correctly as they know it
from the text or a book.
Point to words as they reread memorized text- draw attention to
letters and sounds as they point
Dictations- Allowing students to draw a picture and then say
something about it. I as the teacher write what they say and read it
through with them. This then stays with the students for reviewing and
rereading.

When specifically referring to ELL students it is important that as the teacher I

know something about their native language and what literacy experiences they
have had. Knowing these things will also allow me to guide comparisons and
understand what the ELL students in my classroom face.

Resource used for Word Study:

Bear Text, 2012, p. 102-146, p. 219-221

Classroom Design:

Classroom Design Rationale:

I know that the classroom environment is a key part of effective and successful learning. I
want my classroom to be a place that is organized, with thoughtful placement of materials and
furniture, so it is conducive to kindergarten children. I believe that the space I have created
depicts a rich learning environment. Ultimately, I want my classroom environment to allow my
students to flourish in all aspects of learning; cognitive, social, physical, and emotional. My
classroom design is a direct reflection of my philosophy of teaching literacy as well as my
instructional plan. Below I will attend to the specific reasons as to why I have included some of
the materials, furniture, and spaces that are present in my design.
To the right of the doorway of my classroom is a spot labeled mailboxes. I know that
there are going to be papers, newsletters, homework sheets, books, etc., that the students are

going to have to take home with them, so I think it is necessary to have an organized place for
those items. I also think that these mailboxes reflect on my philosophy of me as the teacher
giving feedback to my students. The mailboxes might be a place where I put notes or newsletters
which are not only giving students feedback on their learning in the classroom, but also their
parents.
Along the left wall of my classroom there is a kidney table. I have chosen to have a
kidney table in my classroom in order to have a place to do both the guided reading and guided
writing that I have written about in my instructional plan. A kidney table will allow me the ability
to listen and look at the strengths and weaknesses of all six students sitting at that table and
respond to them in a way that does not involve me stretching or yelling across the table. The
kidney table is also a great support for my philosophy of providing students with feedback. The
primary goal at the kidney table will be to provide feedback for students on what skills and
strategies could become more a part of their learning in order to create their success. I have also
chosen to put the kidney table at a bit of a distance from the rest of the classroom to create a
somewhat secluded, quieter, and secure area for small group work.
Further into the classroom there is a desk for me. To the right of that desk is a large carpet
titled as a Meeting Space, which sits on the floor in front of a SMART board. In my
philosophy I explicitly state that I want my students to have the opportunity to work
collaboratively with their peers. This meeting space is going to allow for those close
conversations and turn and talks that I want to incorporate into my instruction, which allows the
students to work together. I also believe that this space will be conducive to doing our morning
circle time. The SMART Board can serve as a resource for daily attendance, calendars, the
weather, literacy resources, videos, and so much more. I believe that having the SMART Board
in the classroom is also going to allow me to further immerse my students in the literacy learning
that they are experiencing in the classroom, as my philosophy states. This technology will allow
us as a class to manipulate and work with some tools that can improve our literacy as well; for
example, interactive books, word games, writing practice, etc.
Against the wall, under a window, to the right of the Meeting Space carpet, I have
labeled an area for writing supplies. This could include paper, lined paper, paper with a spot for a
picture and some writing, pencils, erasers, etc. In my plan for instruction I include time for
independent writing. I want there to be a place in my classroom where students can access those

materials when it is necessary or even when they just want to write. I think that it is important for
students to see those materials available to them and not in a place where I take them out as
needed. These supplies might also be used for word work and alphabet work as well. I think
providing these materials to the students is immersing them in the literacy work and learning that
they should be doing. In relation to my philosophy, I also believe that openly providing those
supplies creates an environment where students are being encouraged to approximate and make
mistakes with their learning.
A large focal point of my classroom that involves many different aspects in the Mini
Lesson, carpet area. At the front of the mini lesson carpet there is also a place for an anchor
chart to be used during instruction. In my instructional plan I have included many procedures
that will require a space for my students and me to gather to be instructed on the target of the
day. These reading and writing practices include modeled writing, shared writing, interactive
writing, interactive read alouds, and shared reading. All of these aspects of the reading and
writing workshop involve doing some type of mini lesson together before students have the
opportunity to move to independent work. As I stated in my philosophy, I believe students learn
literacy best when they are provided with effective demonstration and modeling of a
skill/concept/strategy. The mini lesson carpet in the place where I will be providing students with
that necessary thinking aloud, modeling, explicit instruction, and demonstration, which are also
parts of my instructional plan. The anchor chart serves as a tool for the students and me to do
some learning together. This area serves as a place for students to again work collaboratively as
well through turn and talks and participation to my prompting.
Surrounding the mini lesson carpet is a large u-shaped classroom library. My philosophy
clearly states that students learn literacy best when they are immersed in the learning, which
includes print. The classroom library is going to be full of books that range in the appropriate
levels of the readers in my classroom. I also think that it provides a cozy and inspiring enclosure
for mini lesson time. Having books readily available to the students is also a part of the
independent reading portion of my instructional plan. Students need to be able to choose the
books they want to read and also need a variety to choose from. This large classroom library
fulfills those needs. Sitting on the top of the shelves of the classroom library are the students
book buckets. These book buckets are the places where they will be able to gather and keep
organized their just right books for independent reading time.

Behind the classroom library there is a yellow bar which extends a little bit further down
the right wall of the classroom. This wall would have some designated space for the important
anchor charts that we create together in the classroom for students use as a reference later.
Anchor charts can be used again for modeled writing, shared writing, interactive writing,
interactive read alouds, and shared reading. Placing these anchor charts in the classroom will not
only allow students to be immersed in their literacy learning, but they are then provided with
yearlong tools and resources that they can refer to, which they helped to create. On this anchor
chart wall I would also have a space for a name wall, which is something that I mentioned above
in my instructional plan under word study in the section of alphabet knowledge. I want to work
to study students names in the classroom as a way to work with phonological and phonemic
awareness and I think that having the name wall with the anchor charts is an effective placement.
On the right wall, underneath my classroom library is a reading corner. This area has a
large circle rug and a couple of bean bag chairs. I know that part of my instructional plan
includes independent reading. I also know that kindergarteners are not all going to want to sit in
their desks and independently read. I thought that having an area like the reading corner would
be developmentally appropriate for the students to sit or lay on the carpet and bean bag chairs to
read. I also thought that for the time that I would implement free choice or free work in the
classroom, the reading corner would provide a nice place for those students who chose to read
instead of be a part of a different center.
Next to my reading corner are two tables with are labeled, Art/ABC Center and
Art/Word Center. When these tables are not being utilized as an art center during free choice
time, I thought that they would serve as a great place for me to have an alphabet center as well as
a word work center. In my instructional plan I have a space under word study in which I mention
creating alphabet and word centers. I think that having secluded areas like this and setting them
up with supplies and materials that reflect some things that the students are learning would be a
great resources for them to use again during a free time or perhaps a more highly supported
activity. I know that I want to have designated places in the classroom where if a child feels that
they want to work with their alphabet or word knowledge, then they have the opportunity. There
is also a small whiteboard in that area for practicing letter and word formations. It could possibly
be filled with items like magnetic letters. My hope is that this area is yet another space where
students can be immersed in their literacy learning.

On the bottom wall of the classroom there is a dramatic play area, equipped with items
like a play kitchen, a cash register, a table, and dress up clothes. To the left of that there is also an
enclosed block and small toys area. It is extremely developmentally appropriate to have areas
like this in the classroom where students can have the chance to play with their peers. I note in
my instructional plan how students need to be interacting with one another for oral language and
vocabulary development. In both of those play settings, children are constantly talking and
playing with one another. I also note in my instructional plan the importance of having an area
like a dramatic play area where students can use the vocabulary that we are learning in the
classroom in simulated real life experiences.
Finally, encompassed in the center of my room are round tables that are for the students
to sit and work at throughout the day. These round tables support my philosophy in that I believe
students need to be able to work collaboratively with their peers. Being able to sit next to one
another in a round table setting will allow for that easy conversation with one another, which is
also a positive in terms of oral language and vocabulary development. I know that there are
places in my instruction that are also more effective with the use of round tables. During
independent writing time I note how it is important for the students to be able to work together
with a partner to verbalize ideas to. Having the children next to each other at a round table can
help to facilitate those conversations. Also, in my instructional plan I talk about my being able to
conference with my students to take notes on their observed behaviors during independent
writing and reading. The round table setting allows me to pull a chair up to various students
tables and work one-on-one or conference with them, in order to also give them that feedback
that I believe is important.
I know that with my careful consideration for the various materials, furniture, resources,
and spaces in this classroom, your K5 students would flourish in terms literacy and all types of
learning. My classroom design is clearly supported by my philosophies for literacy learning as
well as my instructional plan. My strong connection between instruction and classroom makes
this an effective and positive learning space for the kindergarten students.

Self-Reflection and Goal Setting:

I understand that my role as a teacher also means that I am taking on the role of an
ongoing learner. The education world creates the possibility for me to continue learning new and
more effective ways to teach my future students. I myself also create the possibility to reflect
deeply on my own knowledge, what I need to grow in, or what my strengths are to further
improve my teaching. In my mind there is always room for more growth. After reflecting upon
my entire literacy plan I observe three areas in which I would like to improve my knowledge
about for my future role as a teacher as well as for the future learning of my students. These three
areas consist of some aspects of teaching and assessing word study, how to effectively provide
for ELL students, and how to further develop vocabulary development for children in K5 the
classroom.
My first goal for myself as a future learner is to become more knowledge about
instructional practices for word study as well as assessing word study. When referring back to
my literacy plan it is clear to see that I can successfully identify the important word study
behaviors of emergent, early, and transitional readers and writers. I understand that these
behaviors are often noticeable through various reading and writing experiences, however, I am
not all clear on what the proper assessment techniques are for word study. I do name three key
assessments for word study which include a Kindergarten Spelling Inventory, the PALS
assessment, and informal vocabulary assessments. I also believe that some analysis of word
study knowledge could be observed through listening to the students read as well as collecting
writing samples. I would just like to become more aware of some specific assessments, informal
or formal, that would specifically target aspects of word knowledge like phonological awareness,
phonemic awareness, and phonics. I also think that it would be useful to understand what
assessment techniques are appropriate for students with varying levels of development in word
study. Looking back on the word study piece of both the concepts/skills/and strategies as well as
the instructional section for word study I believe that I have clearly articulated what concepts,
skills, and strategies I know need to be in prevalent use in a K5 classroom as well as what
instructional practices must be used to help the students grow in their wordy study abilities. I
also know that a lot of these strategies and skills, as well as instructional practices happen once
again through reading and writing instruction. My only concern is how I would work to focus on
a specific element of word study or if it is more appropriate to include that instruction when I see
fit during a mini lesson. I also have concerns as to whether this instruction should be carefully

sequenced based on students developmental levels. Overall, it would be more useful to get a
more concrete understanding of how to appropriately facilitate word study assessments and
instruction for the various learners in the K5 classroom.
My second goal is to grow in my understanding of how to effectively provide instruction,
assessments, and learning for ELL students. In the beginning of my literacy plan I believe that I
effectively describe how important I know it is to foster meaningful learning for ELL students
and how that will certainly be a part of my classroom. There I also explain my strong belief in
getting to know more about my students native language in an effort to better understand what
difficulties they may have when learning English. Almost every aspect of my instructional plan
for reading and writing workshop works to provide some strategy to facilitate learning
specifically for ELL students. However, I would also like to learn more strategies that would
work to specifically adhere to those students needs as I am doing a mini lesson or a guided
writing experience, etc. In terms of Vygotskys theory, I want to know of more appropriate ways
to modify my scaffolding so it works more efficiently for ELL learning. I also know that my
word study instruction highlights various strategies and instructional practices that may be well
suited for ELL students in a particular area of learning, but I do know that my repertoire needs to
be expanded as word study is going to be a key place for oral and written language development
for ELL students. To further expand my knowledge of modifying my practices for ELL students
I think it is also necessary for me to understand how assessments could be modified for them in
order to get an authentic and reliable result of their level of development in a particular area of
learning. Cambourne notes the importance of Response in student learning and I want to be able
to provide that reliable and relevant response to my ELL students in a way that will be
meaningful for their learning. I think the modification of assessments would be helpful to create
that necessary and appropriate feedback for their specific needs. In my future classroom
observations as well as in my future career as a teacher I hope to have a strong and collaborative
relationship with the ELL teacher in order to become more knowledgeable about what I can do to
meet the needs of my ELL students.
A third goal that I have for myself as an ongoing learner is to understand how to
effectively incorporate vocabulary development into a K5 classroom. In the beginning of my
literacy plan I discuss oral language considerations and I note my understanding that students
who are coming into a K5 classroom have varying language experiences, exposures, and

vocabularies. However, I also note how important a rich vocabulary is for the success of students
throughout their lives. I know that for those reasons it is essential that as the teacher, I work to
incorporate opportunities in the classroom for students to enhance and build their vocabulary.
Looking at my concepts/skills/strategies section as well as my instructional section on word
study, I have a specific space where I consider what I can do to facilitate language and
vocabulary growth. I know that reviewing words when reading aloud is effective, as well as
doing concept sorts, and analyzing pictures to understand word meaning, etc. I want to find more
ways in which I can authentically introduce children to new vocabulary in a way that will be
meaningful for them and encourage their future use of the words. I want my students to
continually be adding words to their vocabulary; therefore I want to be aware of as many ways as
possible to provide the opportunity or instruction that will allow for that growth.
I know that my role as a teacher has also put me into the role of an ongoing learner,
which is something that I will always be reaping the benefits of, for both my own teaching and
my students learning. Through this literacy plan I was able to successfully reflect on my limited
knowledge in the three areas of word study, ELL instruction, and vocabulary development, and
how I hope to learn more about what I can do to enhance my teaching practice in each.
Reflecting on my own knowledge and teaching practice and making goals to keep learning is
something that I will continue doing throughout my years as an educator.

Works Cited
Bear, D. (2012). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling
ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education
Calkins, L. How does my story go? Handout ED225 Spring 2015.

instruction (5th

Calkins, L. On-Demand Performance Assessment Prompt. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.

Calkins, L. Rubrics for Kindergarten Writing. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Cambournes Conditions of Learning-A model of learning as it applies to literacy.
Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Clays Observation Survey. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Clay, M. Reading Strategies of Good Readers. Handout ED25 Spring 2015.
Fountas, I. and Pinnell, G. (2001). Guiding Readers and Writers. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Fountas, I. and Pinnell, G. Prompts to Support the Use of Strategies. Handout ED225 Spring 2015
Kindergarten Spelling Inventory (KSI). Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
PALS Overview. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Phonological Awareness. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Rog, L.G. (2011). Read, write, play, learn: Literacy instruction in todays kindergarten. Newark,
DE: International Reading Association.
The Three Cueing Systems. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Tompkins, G. (2014). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (6th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Vygotsky-Key Aspects of Socio-Linguistic Theory. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Wauwatosa School District. K-5 Developmental Writing Scale. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.
Zaner-Bloser Simplified Stroke Descriptions. Handout ED225 Spring 2015.