COMPREHENSIVE

LITERACY PLAN
Kelly McGonagil
 ■ Reading Specialist
– Experience with K-12 graders
– Support Teachers
– Ensure literacy remains a

Introduction
high priority school-wide
focus
■ Core Values that guide my
instruction:
– Lifelong learning
– Fluid Instruction
– Individualize Programming
– Collaboration
■ I will:
– Implement a literacy plan to
help improve test scores
– Create a positive, interactive,
and comprehensive literacy
environment, starting at the
first grade level
– Serve as a resource to
teachers
– Apply framework to the rest
of the school
 Rationale
Statement
By using a greater researched-based
foundation, I will strive to improve
literacy test scores across grade levels
as state-wide mandates for literacy
improvement increases. In doing so, I
will help close the achievement gap
across early developmental age groups
by implementing a highly interactive
reading and writing workshop. I strive for
excellence in my instruction, and cater
to the individual needs of my students.
Key Concepts:
■ Based on the extensive research and experience of Professional
Development Provider, Sharon Taberski, with support from:
– Dr. Douglas Fisher (Professor of Language and Literacy
Education
■ With reference to Pearson & Gallagher
– Kathy Collins (Primary Reading Specialist)
■ Taberski’s Workshop Framework (Reading and Writing) Workshop will
be based on:
– Sharon Taberski’s New Thinking on the 5 PILLARS of READING
■ OLD: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary,
Comprehension
■ NEW: See Photo
– Gradual release of responsibility:
“The gradual release of responsibility model of instruction has been documented as an
effective approach for improving literacy achievement, reading comprehension, and
literacy outcomes for English language learners.” (Fisher, Dr. D.)
Format: Readers Workshop
■ Interactive Read Aloud
– Provides teacher modeling of important literacy skills and strategies
– Significant source of vocabulary acquisition
– Allows students to “see” thinking
■ 60 Minute Workshop
■ Mini-Workshop 1 (25 minutes)
– Mini lesson 1 (10 minutes)
– Reading conferences or small group reading
– Independent reading 1 (partner reading)
■ Mini-Workshop 2 (25 minutes)
– Mini-lesson 2 (10 minutes)
– Reading conferences or small group reading
– Independent reading 2 (read alone)
■ Reading Share (10 minutes)
■ Writing Workshop to follow
Format: Writers Workshop

■ Daily 45-Minute Workshop

■ Mini-lesson or Writing Share (10 minutes)
– Use literature or student samples to present skill
■ Conferences OR small group (25 minutes)
– Meet one-on-one or with a small group
■ Independent writing
– Students not with the teacher use time to write
■ Writing share (10 minutes)
– “What did you learn about yourself as a writer?”
– “What worked well for you today?”
Literacy Components

■ Readers Workshop ■ Writers Workshop

– Self-Correct – Idea development
– Cross-checking for meaning, – Beginning, Middle, End
syntax and visual cues – Punctuation &
– Re-read and retell Conventions
– Phonological awareness skill – Letter Formation
development – Spelling
■ Syllables
Data-based Instructional Focus:
READING
■ Among students A-J:
Students are reading at levels D – J indicating a range from Transitional readers to the
Advanced Beginner
– Running Record Indications:
■ Self-Correction
■ Monitoring reading
■ Check for meaning
– Phonemic-Awareness Skills Screening:
■ Syllable Segmentation (3/10)
■ Phoneme Isolation
■ Phoneme Segmentation
■ Phoneme Substitution
READING WORKSHOP:
Unit of Focus- Monitoring my Reading

Whole Group Focus Small Group Focus

■ Improve Self-Correction Rate
■ Cross-Checking for Meaning
– “Does it look right?”
– “Does it make sense?”
– “Does it sound right?”
■ Syllable Segmentation
-Using Physical Responses:
-Handclap
-Tapping
Data-based Instructional Focus:
WRITING
■ Among students A-J:
Students in the sample fell between the Emergent – Developing Writer Stages on the
Writing Continuum.
■ Writing Sample:
– Use of details
– Upper case letters vs. Lower case letters
■ Gentry Spelling Test:
– Letter Formation B/D (2/10)
WRITING WORKSHOP

Whole Group Focus Small Group Focus

■ Writers use details to present their ■ Letter Formation B/D
ideas. – Use of whiteboards
■ Details enhance the understanding
of the reader (connection to reading
workshop)
– Share literature during Mini-
lesson
Common Core Standards
■ The skills and strategies previously indicated in my workshop focus adhere to the following
Common Core Standards:

■ Reading
– Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds
– Decoding regularly spelled one-syllable words
– Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of
syllables in a printed word.
– Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables.
– Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as
necessary
■ Writing
– Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the
topic, and provide some sense of closure
– Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include
some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and
provide some sense of closure
Alternate Instructional Option: READING

This plan is very fluid and flexible and does not represent a concrete way of teaching.
Best practice would be to individualize areas of instructions as much as possible. This
may mean restructuring, reformatting, and re-evaluating data to best meet the needs of
every learner in the class.

■ Reading: Whole Group—Self-Correction

-Redefine what it means to self correct
-Use of aides after each sentence or page to ensure “Does it make sense, look
right, sound right”
Small Group---Syllable Segmentation
-Extended practice with Elkonin Boxes
-Revert to Syllable Blending, as this is an easier task to master
Alternate Instructional Option: WRITING

This plan is very fluid and flexible and does not represent a concrete way of teaching.
Best practice would be to individualize areas of instruction as much as possible. This
may mean restructuring, reformatting, and re-evaluating data to best meet the needs of
every learner in the class.

■ Writing: Whole Group---Writers Use Detail

-More guided practice with this skill
Small Group---Letter Formation
-Use of classroom visual supports during writing
-Reteach self-checking to monitor their skill
 Workshop Roles
■ TEACHER:
– To set individual goals for her students, as well as a class whole
– To inform students of the workshop structure, skills, and strategies
– To assess the student’s current levels of functioning, and monitor
progress
– To model appropriate strategies and skills and release responsibility to
the students
■ STUDENT:
– To follow classroom rules and guidelines for workshop time
– To participate in discussion and be an active learner
– To take care of the classroom library and writing materials
– To work independently or with a partner
– To inquire, communicate, and think
■ ENVIRONMENT:
– To provide a rich reading and writing culture
– To house the classroom library filled with appropriate leveled books
– To encourage and promote lifelong skills
– To showcase writing work
– To guide and remind students of strategies
Sources

■ Collins, Kathy. (2004). Growing Readers. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

■ Fisher, Dr. Douglas. Effective Use of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model.

■ Taberski, Sharon. (2011). Comprehension from the Ground Up. Portsmouth, New
Hamshire. Heinemann.