Ivelisse Gonzalez-Lozano

Literacy Plan
ED225
3/2017

Philosophy of Literacy

Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein —Geniuses who were once tagged “too difficult to

handle” and were told they would never make a success at anything, are the masterminds

behind the light bulb and E=mc²[1] Without a doubt, all students are their own genius. It is my

philosophy that they all have the capacity and intelligence to learn in their own, individual way,

and it is my goal as an educator to emblem this idea in their growing minds.

Teaching children to read and write is one of the tasks I delight in the most. Since I

believe that all students learn at their own pace and in their own style, I strive to differentiate my

instruction. I base this idea on Vygotsky’s theory, The Zone of Proximal Development[2], which

means that if instruction is neither too difficult nor too easy it is ineffective; therefore, I provide

instruction to meet the needs of all my students. I do this by modifying instructional material,

reading levels, and modifying assignments. If a student isn’t comprehending his readings, I will

teach him/her different reading strategies in order to assist him/her in comprehending the text.

If a student becomes frustrated with spelling during his/her writing time, I could print him/her a

detailed word list with and teach him/her how to use it so his/her writing time is more successful.

Whatever strategy works best for the students, works for me.

Lastly, I believe that all students have their own, authentic way of thinking, and it is my

goal to flourish and nurture that thinking. The way students interpret text, and give their opinion

as to why they believe the sun is hot, for example, proves that they are using their mind to

process ideas and thoughts, thus they become authentic thinkers. Theorist Piaget showed that

young children think in strikingly different ways than adults. He also stated that “cognitive

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development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological

maturation and environmental experience.”[3] Too many students today are told what to think

instead of thinking for themselves; therefore in my classroom I take advantage of every

opportunity to allow students to write their thinking on a book they read, or thoughts on the

movie they saw. I often provide them with a sentence stem and other times I freely let them

write their thoughts. Often time I end up learning a thing or two from them.

Seeing my students succeed academically, specifically in literacy, brings me immense

joy. The joy on their face when they can read a new word is a reward in itself. I know my

students, with appropriate instruction, can attain goals they think are impossible to attain.

[1] Heart, Concerned. "What Makes a Genius?" What Makes a Genius? N.p., 01 Jan. 1970.
Web. 26 Feb. 2017.
[2] Tompkins, Gail E. "Becoming an Effective Teacher of Reading." Literacy for the 21st
Century: A Balanced Approach. Boston: Pearson, 2014. 31. Print.
[3] McLoed, Saul. "Jean Piaget." Simply Psychology. N.p., 2015. Web.
<http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html.++>.

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 Ranges of reading and Writing Development

A first grade classroom could have many reading and writing levels. Students could

initiate first grade with a pre-k reading level while other students may be at a third or fourth

grade reading level. It is the teacher's responsibility to assess the students and identify the

student's’ reading level and plan his/her instruction accordingly. The teacher will determine

what books to begin the child with and what strategies to assign in order for the student to

adequately attack those words he/she struggles with. Some stages of readers and writers that

we typically find in a first grade classroom vary from emergent to independent. In this paper I

will go into further details on emergent and early readers and writers.

Emergent readers range between 2-5 years old. Typically, these children have had little

exposure to formal reading; therefore, they are not conventionally reading at this stage. A

common behavior for emergent readers in a first grade classroom is when students pretend

reading and read from memory. Bear, Templeton, Invernizzi, and Johnson in Words Their Way

state that “these practices are both valuable practices for movement into literacy.” therefore they

should be taken into consideration.

Pretend reading is when children look at the pictures of the book while turning the pages

and make up their own story based on what they see in the images. In memory reading is when

someone has continually read a specific to the student and they have memorized the words.

Emergent readers are able to identify some sounds of letters from the alphabet, as well

as some words, such as their names and CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant), of which

may include cat, dog, bat, hat, etc. Children at this stage are also able to identify common sight

words, and are able to identify the letters in their names on signs of stores and their

environment.

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 According to Bear, et al, most children have an oral vocabulary of 13,000 words by the

time they enter kindergarten. This of course depends on the exposure the student received at

home prior to initiating kindergarten. Students who were highly exposed to words early on in

their lives could enter school having heard 30 million more words than other students. Students

should engage in conversations with adult and peers as often as possible in order to expand

their growing vocabulary. This is particularly important for English Language Learners (ELL)

because they benefit from conversations with peers and adults who have better language skills.

Like emergent reading, emergent writing is largely pretend. Students usually begin with

scribbling and progress to partial phonetic. Scribbling is important however; because to the child

it means something-it is symbolic. Children at this stage also have a difficult time grasping a

pencil correctly.

In middle emergent stage students begin to write in a top to bottom format while still

maintaining a linear arrangement. They begin drawing form that shape alphabet letters. By late

emergent stage student are familiar with the idea that letter produce sounds and many students

are able to read and write phonetically decodable words. Students should be allowed to write

freely in journals or paper their thoughts and ideas in order to get more and more experience.

The teacher of course is their to guide their writing process.

Early readers know that there is a relationship between letters, sounds and words. At

this stage they have escalated from pretend reading to real reading. They are able to match

sounds to words, read them, and store them in their mind for future use. If they are robot

reading, the more exposure and practice they have to reading, the better they get. One mistake

kids at this stage make often is reading words incorrectly by simply going off the beginning

sound of the word. For example, if the word they are attempting to read is hopping, the student

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may read it as happy, because both hopping and happy begin with the “h” sound. Further,

students at this level usually robot-read, where their reading is slow and choppy, and they

pronounce every letter in a word.

For early writers, and writers of all ages, phonological awareness and phonemic

awareness are critical in order for students to progress in literacy. If asked to write the word

float, they may write it as flot. Although the spelling is incorrect, the student is phonetically

spelling the word, which proves he/she has attained that skill. This skill does gradually progress

over time.

Some students, however, at this stage get frustrated because they want to spell correctly

but lack knowledge. It is crucial for teachers at this stage to do guided writing with her students

in order to accurately model the steps in writing, i.e. left to write, fluency, etc.

Although it may take them more time, English Language Learners can learn to write in

English. Some one-on-one with these students works well in order for the teacher to directly

attack where the student seems to be stuck and help them write sentences appropriately. The

student could also have a tool kit with different pictures and their name on the bottom, kind of

like a picture dictionary. The student may also work with another student who speaks their

language in order to better assist them.

As stated above, students entering the first grade can be in many different levels of

reading and writing. There are many strategies that could help students with their reading and

writing. In my classroom I want to be able to implement many writing strategies, of which I still

have many more to learn, in order to help my students grow.

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 Role of the Teacher

Hiam Ginott, teacher and author, once said:

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my
personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a
teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a
tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my
response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized
or dehumanized.”

Teachers possess an enormous influence over a child’s life, well-being, and future; therefore

preparing for effective instruction is key to receiving exceptional academic results. One of the

ways teachers can assure success for his/her students is by addressing each child’s individual

learning needs, especially when it comes to literacy. How is this accomplished, you may ask?

Well there are three ways in which addressing each child’s needs can be met: Assessments,

Strategies/Concepts, and teacher instruction. In the following paragraphs I will explain how I, as

a future educator, would develop my classroom in order to meet the diverse needs of my

students using the above mentioned components.

Assessments are an integral and ongoing part of both learning and teaching.

They are extremely important in collecting information to make decisions about how students

are performing, where they need extra help, and in deciding what academic plan to give each

child. Before the school year begins, I plan on scheduling individual appointments for each of

my students to assess their reading and writing levels. I will explain the assessments I plan to

give below, but also attach my son’s copies of each.

1. San Diego Quick Assessment

2. Spelling Test
3. Writing
4. Phonics Inventory

The Brown Quick Assessment is to assess the student’s reading ability without the context of

clues and pictures, as well as their decoding skills. The disadvantage of this assessment,

however, is comprehension. The student may be able to read many complex words such as

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grim or gallery, but have no idea as to what they mean. This test however, allows me to put

students in an a-z reading level.

The Spelling Test allows me to identify the students spelling level. It also allows me to see how

many phonetic sounds he/she is hearing.

The Phonics Inventory is categorized by phonic skills. This allows me to identify the student’s

weakness as far as vowels. I will then be able to determine what level of phonics to begin the

child with and see how much he/she progresses.

The Writing Test allows me to see how much the student knows about writing as far as

mechanics. Is he/she capitalizing in the beginning of the sentence, as well as nouns? Is the

students using proper punctuation? Do his/her sentences flow right? Is he/she connecting the

writing to the picture he/she draws? I will then be able to identify what areas the students would

need help with in writing.

Upon evaluating and examining my students work, I will be able to determine if the

student is ready for first or second grade, and if not, what will I do to boost him/her up? I will be

able to determine what reading and spelling level they will begin in and what strategies would

work best for them.

For English Language Learners (ELL) I would like to first explore their literacy knowledge

in their primary or first language, this is something that is suggested in our textbook, Words

Their Way. The authors’ state:

“A spelling inventory in the students’ spoken language can indicate their literacy levels in their
primary language and more specifically, show which orthographic features they already
understand…Bilingual learners rely on knowledge of their primary language to spell words in a
second language.”

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 I could use my first language, Spanish, to assess Spanish speaking students in this

language by giving them the same above mentioned tests in Spanish. Only then would I be able

to have a better idea on how advanced or behind they are. I remember last school year, in the

classroom I work in, a new student began first grade. This student was previously enrolled in a

dual language school where k-2 was taught primarily in Spanish. When this student initiated the

school year, his English reading level was pre-k, but his Spanish independent reading level was

third grade. I knew the transition from Spanish to English would not be as difficult for this child

given his advanced level in his first language. As the semester rolled by, the student began

reading and writing in English and showed significant progress by the end of the school year; he

was categorized with an independent reading level of fifth grade.

The authors of Words Their Way have written a book titled Word Their Way with English

Language Learners and I plan to read this book in order to receive further idea in assessing

students in various languages.

In addition, I would like to create a portfolio assessment for my English Language

Learners. This is a practical way of assessing the student's’ progress throughout the school

year. I will collect samples of the student’s work, such as stories, worksheets, drawings that

represent student’s content knowledge, my description on student’s performance, and tests data

to reflect growth. I plan on providing the parents with this portfolio so they too can store the

precious memories of how much their child has progressed academically.

In addition to assessing my students prior to the school year, I will continually assess

them throughout the school year. An assessment I’d like to complete early on in the school year

is just observing them play. I will put out many different toys, manipulatives, books, writing and

drawing materials, etc. to observe what their interests are and how they play with classmates.

This will give me an idea as to what sparks their interests (ex. cars, sports, dinosaurs, etc.), who

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likes to build, who is a leader, who likes art, and who likes to write. If I see students interested

in dinosaurs I could incorporate dinosaurs in a science or math lesson in order to make it more

interesting and appealing to students. For students who enjoy art, I could be able to modify

some assignments by allowing them to maybe draw a detailed picture on why their family is

important to them instead of writing about it.

Furthermore, during individual reading time I would like to listen to students read, and

watch them write, in order to get an idea as to how they are progressing. I would ask them

questions about the texts to see if they comprehend. I will provide them with strategies

accordingly. Every quarter I would like to repeat the San Diego Quick assessment to see how

much students have improved and be able to show their parents their progress.

All in all, assessing my students is a huge priority for me and something that I take

seriously. It is satisfying to witness first-hand how much students can actually grow throughout

the school year.

In order for students to grow into independent readers,

writers, and thinkers, they will need strategies and concepts to

guide them along the way.

In my classroom, the first task I’d like to accomplish is

to determine a perfect reading spot for my students. I believe

that choosing a reading spot is essential for adequate

concentration and learning because all students learn best in

different environments. Some students prefer to sit down in a

chair while other prefer to sit on a comfortable bean bag.

Some students prefer to lay down on the carpet while others prefer to sit upright on the carpet.

Some students prefer dim light while others prefer bright light. I will create and anchor chart

with the categories names above and will ask students what they prefer. They will tell me why

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they prefer that spot and I will make sure to inform them their spot is to help them concentrate

on their reading not to become distracted. I will place their name under their category and tell

them to give their spot a try for a few days and then we will revise, if need be.

In addition, I would like to provide students with an envelope, titled

“Toolkit” and inside this envelope there would be many resources students could

use in order to assist them with their reading and writing, such as fluency,

comprehension, punctuations, and word lists for writing. I would teach my

students how to use these tools and then let them reach into their kits as often as

they need to. One of the tools in the toolkit would be a “Smooth it Out”

bookmark. The strategy behind this bookmark is the students will be reminded

that if they have to pause to figure out a word, they should go back to the

beginning of the sentence and reread. This time, they are to read the word right

away like it’s a word they’ve always known. Reading the sentence as a whole after the student

has figured it out will help them hold on to the meaning.

Another tool that would be in the student's’ toolkit

would be a punctuation bookmark. This bookmark would

remind students to pay attention to the punctuation and the

end of a sentence. They should look ahead to the end of the

sentence and notice if there is an exclamation point,

questions mark, or period. They should make their voice

match the punctuation. When I introduce this tool, I’d like to

remind my students that good readers do more than just read the words--they also read the

marks on the page. Ending punctuations give us a really big clue about how the sentence

should be read. If we read a sentence with the wrong ending mark, it may change the meaning

of the sentence and confuse us about what is happening in the story.

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 Further, another tool I’d like to include in the toolkit

would be a “More than one Strategy” page. This will help my

students understand that one strategy may work on one word

but not the other. They will be able to try more than one

strategy and ask themselves, “What will help me read this

word?” One of the strategies students could try is to “Does it make sense?” and “Does it sound

right?” They could also break up the words to see if they know how to read any of the parts. The

important idea is for students not to give up on their reading, but to find the right tool/strategy for

them.

Although I could include many more strategies, I will only mention one last one. I would

like to include in their toolkit a book with many words in it, sort of like a word wall. In this book I

will type many common words for their use during writing; however, I will also leave extra pages

for students to write words they learn as the year progresses. If they need help spelling a word,

I could write down that new word in their book and like that the word keep piling up for their use

in writing.

My hope and desire is that these strategies work for my students. If they seem to not

work for a specific student I will look for a different strategy or concept that would work for them.

I want my students to use their tool kits everyday, every time they read.

Instruction and having a balanced literacy instruction will facilitate the development of the

literacy concepts and strategies stated above. But what are some components of a balanced

literacy instruction? Below I will explain read aloud, shared reading, and independent reading,

as well as modeled writing, guided writing, and word study.

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 Read aloud is a very important component of literacy. Although some individuals may

see few benefits, there truly are many. Even before children enter school, parents should spend

time reading to their little ones, as this has proven to be very beneficial in their literacy

experience. Lori Jamison Rod in Read, Write, Play, Learn, states “Children who are read to at

home have 1,000-1,700 hours in literacy experience before they even come to school.” Parental

involvement will help a child a great deal by the time they enter school.

Likewise, read aloud in the classroom is extremely beneficial for a child’s literacy

development. Jamison Rod continues to state:

“We as teachers read aloud to kindergartners for many different reasons: to enable
students to hear the fluency and flow of language and to expose them to rich vocabulary; to
introduce a topic, establish a context for study, or create a quiet transition from one activity to
another; to teach children about their world, provide vicarious experience not available in life,
and teach them things they didn’t know before.”

In my classroom, I plan on incorporating read aloud in my schedule everyday; but I don’t

just want to plainly read, I want to get interactive, passionate and excited about my reading.

The more enthusiastic I sound and seem, the more thrilled my students will get. I would like to

read books that contain rich language as well as a message or theme appropriate for the

children’s age. In addition, I would I would like to choose books my students can relate to in

some way or another; where there own lives are reflected in the books I read. I would like to

honor my student’s cultures and lifestyle by choosing books about different cultures and

religions.

My goal is for my students to learn through my reading how fluent they should sound

when reading, and to introduce them to new words. I hope to use read aloud as a powerful tool

in my literacy plan.

Unlike read aloud, where the teacher does all the reading, shared reading allows

students to join in, or share the reading, with the teacher. Shared reading usually involves

oversized books (otherwise known as big books) with oversized print and pictures. Shared

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reading could be done privately or with the whole group. Using this concept could allow me to

model the skill of a proficient reader, including reading with fluency and expression. In my

classroom, I would begin reading to my student and allow them to join in when instructed.

Shared reading allows for my student and I to talk about the plot and for them to summarize

what we have read. It also allows me to identify where they are struggling and suggest

strategies or concepts that could help him/her better their reading.

Independent Reading is children’s reading of text on their own with minimal to no

assistance from the teacher. They choose their own books and work at their own pace as they

read and respond to books. This doesn’t mean however that the teacher is not to be involved in

the students work; they are to still monitor the students and work one-on- one with them. Gail E.

Tompkins in Literacy for the 21st Century states, “Through independent reading, students learn

how pleasurable reading is and, teachers hope, become lifelong readers. In addition, as they

write, students come to view themselves as authors.” Independent reading give students

opportunity to practice literacy strategies and skills and allows for teachers to transfer more

responsibility to students. In my classroom, independent readers, during partner reading, could

assist students who are in need of help reading their text. They could also assist those students

in comprehending their book and possibly teach them certain strategies that have helped them

in their reading.

Modeled Writing is when the teacher demonstrates how to write a composition for

students, creating the text, doing the writing, and thinking aloud about their use of strategies and

skills. This allows the teachers to explain writing strategies, fluency, and to demonstrate that

writing should flow smoothly and that it should be cohesive. I would like to teach my students

that if they are to write on the weather, they shouldn’t write about how hungry they are or what

games they like to play at home. It should all be connected. I will emphasize on the use of

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punctuation and capitalization. I would model my writing using a whiteboard in order for

everyone to see. I could also leave my writing up as a guide for my students as they write.

Guided Writing is when the teacher plans and teaches lesson on a writing strategy, skill,

or procedure, and students participate in supervised activities. In my classroom, during guided

writing, I will supervise my students as they complete writing activities. I will provide guidance

and strategies to them as they write. If they are to need the spelling of the word, I will tell them

to check in their toolkits for their word lists. If a word they need is not in their word list, I will

write down the word for them; this way, they will have the word to refer to in future uses.

There are so many components to literacy that I could literally write a book about it. I, as

a future educator, hope to become highly knowledgeable in literacy in order to adequately meet

the needs of my students and to watch them succeed academically. I want to target their need,

provide them with strategies that will help them get where they need to be (or going) and be the

best teacher I could be for them.

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