Literate Environment Analysis Presentation

1. Amy Morey
Walden University
Cindee Easton M.Ed.
EDUC-6706R, The Beginning Reader, Pre K-3
August 18, 2013

2. Research
 Teachers need to have students’ interests at heart. Teachers need to
get to know students’ interests and what motivates them. Teachers
need to go beyond the typical inventories to get to know their students
(Laureate Education, 2010a)
 Reading inventories will give a wealth of information, however, a
teacher needs to be skilled in administering, interpreting, and using
the information (data) (Laureate Education, 2010b)
 Both cognitive and non-cognitive assessments should be done to get a
well-rounded idea about a student’s abilities. Reading motivation
profiles are great ways to find out what a student’s self-perception is
as a reader and what motivates them as a reader (Gambrell, Palmer,
Codling, Mazzoni, 1996).

3. Analysis
Cognitive assessments
measure where students currently are in their abilities.
The following were the cognitive assessments that I used on my students to get a better idea of what their literacy
abilities were according to their independent, instructional, and frustration levels:
CORE Assessments
• Silent Assessment of Reading Comprehension: assesses reading comprehension by means of the “cloze”
technique. Students read a series of passages and supply words that have been deleted throughout the passage.
Although the passages are arranged according to difficulty, they do not represent a specific grade level.
Dependent on how many correct words supplied determines level of reading comprehension.
•Fry Oral Reading Test: assesses the rate and accuracy with which a student reads text aloud. Student reads short
passages with readability levels from grade 1-7. After examination, evaluator can determine student’s
independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels based on oral reading errors.
•CORE Vocabulary Screening: measures how well student know the meaning of grade-level words they read
silently. Student reads a word and then picks (out of three given choices) the most likely synonym.
•Critchlow Verbal Language Scales: assesses a student’s vocabulary in English or Spanish by asking them to orally
say an antonym after a spoken word. Words are arranged in increasing order of difficulty.
•San Diego Quick Assessment: measures the recognition of words out of context. The test consists of 13 graded
word lists form pre-primer to eleventh grade.
•CORE Phonics Surveys: assesses the phonics and phonics-related skills that have a high rate of application in
beginning reading. (Consortium on Reading Excellence [CORE], 1999)

4. Analysis
Non-Cognitive assessments
measure student self perception and motivation.
The following were the non-cognitive assessments that I used on my students to get a
better idea of what their self perception as a reader, interests, and what motivated them as
a reader:
• Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) which is a pictorial survey that measures
student’s attitude towards recreational and academic reading (McKenna & Kear, 1990).
• Motivation to Read Profile (MRP) which accesses a student’s self perception as readers
and the value they acknowledge in reading (Gambrell et al, 1996). This assessment tool
contains a survey and a conversational interview.

5. Research
 Teachers should examine texts to see where the text falls on a literacy matrix .
 Teachers need to be cognizant of the text’s difficulty, the readability (text structure,
sentence length, concept density), singletons (unique new words), size of print, text
structure, and visual supports (Laureate Education, 2010c).
Narrative Informational
Linguistic: word orientated
Semiotic:
message communicated through things other than
words (pictures, symbols, icons, etc.
Literacy Matrix
3rd Dimension to matrix:
Dimension of difficulty
Informational
Narrative
Linguistic
Semiotic
Easy
Difficult

6. Analysis
When selecting texts it is important to select a variety of texts; including narrative, informational
texts, and new literacies.
It is important to fill the classroom with informational books in order to “demonstrate to their
students that reading can help them obtain information” (Duke, 2004, pg. 40).
Online texts are a great alternative to traditional texts in that online texts typically have
animation, sound, and video (Castek, Bevans-Mangelson, & Goldstone, 2006).
Narrativetext
OnlineText

7. What is the Interactive Perspective?
Teaching students to become strategic and metacognitive readers
and writers (Laureate Education, 2013)
The goal of the interactive perspective is for students to become
reflective and self-regulating learners; teaching children how to
process text independently in which they use strategies/skills
without teacher prompts (Laureate Education, 2010d)

8. Developing Language and Literacy in Children
Read Alouds
Small group read alouds
Providing a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts
Provide opportunities to extend children’s vocabulary
Engage in conversations with children
Use direct instruction when appropriate
Teach alphabet and sounds of letters
Provide a print rich environment
Infuse literacy throughout the curriculum
Develop relationships with parents (Laureate Education, 2010e)
Assessments, Strategies, and Skills
•Use both informal and informal assessments
•Teach a variety of strategies to invoke the cognitive and
non-cognitive needs of students
(Laureate Education, 2013)

9. Analysis: Teaching Strategies
 Summarizing is a strategy that helps students become
metacognitive when they are confused about what they are
reading (Tompkins, 2010).
 The strategy of summarizing: I want my students to be able to
read a passage, think about the main/big ideas, and then write a
concise story/paragraph. I believe having my students use this
process helps them become metacognitive and strategic thinkers.

10. What is the Critical Perspective?
 Teaching children to judge, evaluate, and think critically about
texts (Laureate Education, 2013)
What is the Response Perspective?
 Provide opportunities for students to read, react, and respond to
text in personal ways (Laureate Education, 2013)

11. Critical Literacy
 Critical literacy is analyzing texts from
multiple perspectives, critically
evaluating texts, and judging the
validity or veracity of text (believability)
(Laureate Education, 2010f)
 Students need to analyze texts to
understand why the author wrote the
text, understand how the author uses
the text to make the reader understand
in a certain way, see the author’s
perspective, and develop personal and
independent perspectives of text
(Molden, 2007).
 Evaluating texts from different points of
view
Research
Being Responsive
 Provide literacy experiences that will
affect students’ personal and emotional
levels (Laureate Education, 2010g)
 When student make personal
connections to text and have
opportunities to share their feelings,
thoughts, and ideas…this is where the
learning occurs (Laureate Education,
2010g)
 Evaluating texts from different points of
view
 The more students have opportunities
to write about what they read, the more
they will understand what they read
(Laureate Education, 2010h)

12. Analysis
 It is important for students to analyze texts from different perspectives and point
of views. This helps student critically think and develop personal ideas, values,
and perspectives.
 Open-mind portraits is a strategy that students can create to dig deep within a
character
 Open-mind portrait shows a portrait of the character and “thinking pages that
reveal the character’s thoughts at pivotal points in the story” (Tompkins, 2010, pg.
449).
VS

13. Castek, J., Bevans-Mangelson, J., & Goldsone, B. (2006). Reading adventures online: Five ways to
introduce the new literacies of the Internet through children’s literature. The Reading Teacher,
59(7), 714-728.
Consortium on Reading Excellence. (1999). Assessing reading: Multiple measures for kindergarten
through twelfth grade (2nd ed.). Novato, CA: Arena Press.
Duke, N. K. (2004). The case for informational text. Educational Leadership, 61(6), 40-44.
Gambrell, L. B., Palmer, B. M., Codling, R. M., & Mazzoni, S. A. (1996). Assessing motivation to read. The
Reading Teacher, 49(7), 518–533
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010a). Getting to know your students [DVD]. Beginning Reader
grades PK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010b). Reading Inventories [DVD]. Beginning Reader grades PK-3.
Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010c). Analyzing and selecting texts [DVD]. Beginning Reader
grades PK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010d). Strategic processing [DVD]. Beginning Reader grades PK-3.
Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010e). Developing language and literacy [DVD]. Beginning Reader
grades PK-3. Baltimore, MD: Author.

14. Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010f). Critical Perspective [DVD]. Beginning Reader grades PK-3.
Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010g). Response perspective [DVD]. Beginning Reader grades PK-3.
Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010h). Response perspective: Reading and writing connection
[DVD]. Beginning Reader grades PK-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 comprehension for reading improvement. Reading Improvement, 44(1), 50-56.
Tompkins, G. E. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.
Walden University. (2013). Framework for Literacy Instruction. Retrieved August 13, 2013
from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1url=%2Fweb
apps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_551764_1%26url%3D