1. DR. GENE PEASE
EDUC 6706: THE BEGINNING READER, PREK–3
JUNE 20, 2013
Literate Environment Analysis Presentation
Travis Volk
Walden University

2. Creating a Literate Environment
Tompkins (2010) states, “Reading is a constructive process
of creating meaning that involves the reader, the text and
the purpose within social and cultural contexts” (p. 42).
Ensuring that all students have equal access to learning is
essential to create a literate environment. The learners,
texts and instructional need to be aligned and match the
cognitive demand that is appropriate for students.

3. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
There are a multitude of reading assessments that allow
educators to understand student strengths and needs.
Afflerbach (2012) explains, “Our assessments should
reflect, at minimum, those things that we believe to be
vital to growth and development in early reading” (p.
141).

4. Getting to Know Literacy Learners: Cognitive
Assessments
Cognitive Assessments indentify students’ specific
abilities in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
vocabulary and comprehension.
Assessment results provide specific information so that
educators can align instruction to students’ needs.
Afflerbach (2007) states, “A key feature of most
inventories is the means to identify a student’s
independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels”
(p. 28).

5. Getting to Know Literacy Learners: Noncognitive
Assessments
Noncognitive assessments, such as McKenna and Kear’s
(1990) Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (p. 630)
allow teachers to further understand students’ literacy
development
Afflerbach (2013) states, “Factors such as motivation and
self-esteem are possible outcomes of becoming a better
reader” (p. 174).
Teachers can adjust grouping and activities based upon
students’ interests and attitudes.

6. Selecting Texts
“The better you know your students, the better you
can connect them with texts that will impact them in
profound ways” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a)
Using both cognitive assessments and noncognitive
assessments allow teachers to select texts that match
their needs.
Being intentional with text selection results in
choosing books that connect to students’ interest and
expand their thinking

7. Selecting Texts
Tompkins (2010) states, “Comprehension involves more
than just reader factors: It involves text factors” (p. 290).
The format of text depends upon the text’s genre.
Text structure varies depending on the important ideas
the author wants to emphasize.
Depending upon the effect an author wants to achieve,
various text features are used.
Online text can be used to demonstrate the variety of text
factors, engage students and help English language
learners attain new information and comprehend text.
Tompkins explains that when students understand how
authors present and organize ideas, students can greater
comprehend and scaffold their learning (p. 290).

8. Selecting Texts
To help identify whether or not my approach to
selecting text is balanced, I use the literacy matrix
discussed in Analyzing and Selecting Texts (Laureate
Education Inc., 2010b) to determine if my approach
is balanced.
Linguistic
Informational
Semiotic
Narrative

9. Selecting Texts
Considering different aspects of literature on the
literacy continuum can aid in a teacher’s work of
helping students arrive at a particular goal. The
implication of selecting text with intention can lead
to greater student understanding and engagement.

10. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective
Tompkins (2010) states, “Students assume an
increasingly important role in interactive reading
and writing” (p. 22).
 In order for students to interact with text
independently, instructional practices need to match
their cognitive and noncognitive needs.
The interactive promotes students’ use of
metacognitive strategies and strategic processing.
Tompkins (2010) explains that metacognition
inolves students thinking about their own thinking
(p. 12).

11. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective
Strategic processing involves the dymanics
addressed in cognitive reading assessments: phonics,
phonemic awareness, fluency, comprehension and
vocabulary.
To demonstrate how the interactive perspective is
addressed in a first grade literate environment.

12. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective
I worked with three students to focus on comprehension in a
reading lesson focused on first grade social studies standards.
(A student reading far above grade level, an English Language
Learner and a student with little interest in reading)
I utilized three different texts to meet the cognitive and
noncogntive needs outlined by their assessment results.
For my student who is reading at a third grade level I chose
The Relatives Came (Rylant, 1993), which is leveled at a 3.7
For my ELL student, I chose My Very Own Room (Pérez,
2000) an online, bilingual, interactive text.
For my student who is often disengaged, I chose a pattern
book at his level with engaging illustrations, The Family Book
(Parr, 2010).

13. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective
I promoted students’ use of metacogntive strategies
through the lesson.
Students engaged in a discussion prior to the lesson
to active background knowledge and scaffold new
learning.
Students work on a comprehension strategies
specific to their needs and the text their were
working with to promote independent use of
strategic processing and metacognitve strategies.

14. Literacy Lesson: Interactive Perspective
The lesson effectively allowed students to interact with the
text appropriately as their interest and instructional needs
were taken into account.
Effectiveness was demonstrated by students’ ability to
complete their comprehension activity after interacting with
the text.
Tompkins (2010) states, “To match students’ needs, teachers
create several tiered or related activities that focus on the
same essential knowledge but vary in complexity” (p. 367).
The new learning in each group was synthesized as students
shared out during the lesson closure. This activity allow
students to reflect on their own learning and the learning of
others as it related to our lesson objective.

15. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives
Durrand, Howell, Schumacher and Sutton (2008) explains
that when students are encouraged to read analytically
they uncover hidden values in the text.
The critical perspective teaches students how to judge,
evaluate and think critically about text.
Tompkins (2010) states, “Students use literacy to
challenge social injustices and inequities. Critical literacy
emphasizes students’ potential to become thoughtful,
active citizens” (p. 10).

16. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives
The response perspective provides students with the
opportunity to read, react and engage in a personal
response to the text.
The critical and response perspectives are both enhanced
through the selection of text that not only connects to
students’ interests and identities, but evokes a personal or
emotional response.

17. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives
I implemented a reading lesson to address the critical and
response perspectives.
I worked with the three students in focus from the
previous lesson.
I chose a specific book, Fly Away Home (Bunting,
1991) to allow students to connect to the text
personally and emotionally.
Students had time to reflect and respond as they
formulated a response to the character’s experience
in the story.

18. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives
Students evaluated the text to think critically about
the character’s life of being homeless. The text
provided many examples of positives and negatives
about being homeless and living in airport.
Students were able to examine their own thoughts
and reflect on their own thinking as students shared
their responses in the synthesis of the lesson.

19. Literacy Lesson: Critical and Response Perspectives
Molden (2007) explains that books can be just as powerful
as unpowerful depending on how much one questions the
text (p. 50).
These perspectives allow students to develop their own
thinking, connect to text and build upon their prior
knowledge.
Literature can expose students to new ideas and help them
examine their world when critical thinking is taught and
reinforced.

20. References
Afflerbach, P. (2007). Understanding and using reading assessments, K-12. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Durand, C., Howell, R., Schumacher, L., & Sutton, J. (2008). Using interactive read-alouds and reader resonse to shape students’ concepts of care.
Illinois Reading Council Journal, 36(1), 22-29.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Getting to know your students [Webcast]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Analyzing and selecting text[Webcast]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
McKenna, M. C., & Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(9), 626--639.
Molden, K. (2007). Critical literacy, the right answer for the reading classroom: strategies to move beyond comprehensionfor reading improvement.
Reading Improvement, 44(1), 50-56.
Parr, T. (2010). The Family Book. New York: Little Brown.
Pérez, A. (2000). My Very Own Room. Children’s Book Press. Retrieved from: http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/BookPreview?
bookid=pervery_00030024&route=simple_0_0_family_English_0&lang=English&msg=&ilang=English
Rylant, C. (1993). The Relatives Came. New York: Bradbury Press.
Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.