This document discusses creating a literate environment for early readers. It emphasizes the importance of getting to know students as literacy learners through assessments of cognitive and non-cognitive abilities. A variety of texts should be selected that allow students to connect to ideas. Literacy lessons should incorporate interactive, critical, and response perspectives. The interactive perspective focuses on teaching reading skills and strategies while the critical perspective encourages deeper thinking about texts. The response perspective gives students a chance to respond and connect personally to what they read.

1. Literate
Environment
Analysis
LaRae McRae
Walden University
Dr. Moore
Educ 6706 The Beginning Reader
pk-3

2. Creating a literate
environment
 Getting
to know Literacy Learners
 Selecting
 Literacy
 Literacy
texts
Lesson: Interactive Perspective
Lesson: Critical and Response
Perspective

3. Getting to know your literacy
learners
 Knowing
our students through their
identity as a reader, their background
knowledge, their attitudes, skills, and
motivation is a major part of being an
effective reading teacher
(Laureate Education, 2013)

4. Getting to know Literacy
Learners: Analysis
 Incorporating
a
variety of
assessment tools
has helped me get
to know my
students on a
personal literacy
level.
I
used two
assessments to
understand my
students cognitive
and non-cognitive
abilities.
 Elementary
Reading Attitude
Survey (McKenna and Kear,
1990)
 DIBELS
Assessment

5. DIBELS Assessment
Cognitive assessment

Using this analysis tool, I
was able to measure
my students fluency
and to regularly
monitor my students
development and
growth of their reading
skills. This tool also
allowed me to place
my students into the
correct fluency guided
reading groups

6. Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
Non-Cognitive Assessment
 This
analysis tool
provided me with
data in regards to
my students
attitude and
interest in reading.

7. Research
This framework helped me in creating a literate
environment. It is a great tool to use when planning.

8. Selecting Texts

Selecting texts for
students is very important.
Texts should allow
students the opportunity
to connect to a larger
idea.

According to research,
students who are
exposed to a variety of
texts at an early age tend
to show growth at a
quicker rate in obtaining
needed literacy skills.
(Tompkins, 2010)


9. The literacy Matrix

This tool can be used to ensure
you are using a variety of text in
your classroom.

The more exposure students have
to different text the better they
get at knowing how to approach
and comprehend text

For example: narrative and
informational text must be
comprehended differently.

10. Literacy Lesson:
Interactive Perspective

As I analyzed the interactive perspective, I
noticed that this perspective focuses on
teaching students how to read. During my
reading lesson my students had to define and
use the prefix un- and make inferences. My
students were given the opportunity to see
and use this prefix in context. My students
were also introduced to a strategy that that
will allow them to examine the validity of their
thinking.

11. Instructional activities for the
interactive perspective
 Choral
reading
 Guided reading
 Interactive read alouds
 Word walls
 KWL Charts

12. Interactive Perspective
Research

According to Dr. Almasi,
while we are teaching
students to read, it is also
important to teach them to
be strategic thinkers and
processors of the text.
(Laureate Education, n.d.)

This means we must teach
our students to be
reflective and think about
their thinking

13. Literacy Lesson: Critical and
Response perspectives

Students are engaged in the critical
perspective when they evaluate and critically
judge information in a text. This allows
students to think more deeply about the text.

Students engage in the response perspective
when they respond to the text. Teachers must
provide an experience for students to
engage in a text that not only transforms the
child but their identity as well.

14. Critical and Response
Perspective Analysis
 Through
a lesson on Thurgood Marshall my
students used the subtext strategy and
were able to clearly and accurately
identify and evaluate problems raised.
They were also able to accurately
interpret evidence and critically respond
to text using connections stems.

15. Ways to engage students in
critical thinking and reflecting
 Discussions
 Subtext
strategy
 Connection Stems
 Response Journals
 Quiet time

16. Research on the Critical
Perspective

According to Dr.
Almasi, the critical
perspective is
imperative and by
providing students with
opportunities to
question text critically
we provide them with
the tools to arrive at a
more thoughtful
understanding of the
text.

17. Research on the Response
Perspective

According to Dr.
Almasi, the key
element to any
response is that it
should reflect the
readers experience
with the text . Providing
space for students’
responses gives them
voice, it empowers
them, and it motivates
them.

18. What good is it to teach
children to read if once they
learn, they never want to do
it?” Illiteracy is hard enough to
overcome, but aliteracy is even
harder.

Dr. Almasi
“

19. References








Clyde, J. A. (2003). Stepping inside the story world: The subtext strategy—a tool for
connecting and comprehending. The Reading Teacher, 57(2), 150–160.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Analyzing and Selecting text. [Webcast]. The
Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Changes in Literacy Education. [Webcast].
The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore ,MD: author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010c). Critical Perspective. [Webcast]. The
Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore ,MD: author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010d). Interactive Perspective: Strategic Processing.
[Webcast]. The Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010e). Response Perspective. [Webcast]. The
Beginning Reader, PreK-3. Baltimore, MD: author.
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.