Best Practices in Early Literacy Preschool, Kindergarten & 1 st grade Chapter 3

1. Best Practices in Early LiteracyPreschool, Kindergarten & 1st gradeChapter 3 Tracey Roden Spring 2014

2. Controversy Importance of Early Literacy Instruction for Preschool & Kindergarten Children

3. Two Questions… • When should we begin literacy instruction? • What is the appropriate nature of instruction?

4. Child-Centered TheoriesHistorical Influences • Learning is best facilitated by providing children with motivation opportunities to explore and experiment in playful environments • Rousseau– learning evolves naturally from innate curiosity  follow children’s leads • Pestalozzi – informal instruction, but adults should facilitate and enhance development warm & caring classroom environments • Froebel – importance of play as a vehicle for learning coined Kindergarten “children’s garden” • Piaget – children acquire knowledge by interacting with object and experiences, changes & reorganizes knowledge in response Theory of Cognitive Development • Dewey – believed children learned through play and in real-life settings known for learning centers & thematic instruction

5. Child-Centered TheoriesSocial Constructivists Influences • Lev Vygotsky - Theory of Social Constructivism • Recognized that children learn as a result of social interaction with others • Children’s learning most affected by their mastery of language from their informal interactions with others • New tasks need to be modeled • To enhance learning teachers must model and scaffold

6. Child-Centered TheoriesEmergent Literacy Theory • Coined by Marie Clay • Emergent Literacy – a period in child’s life between birth and when the child can conventionally read and write • Based on belief that children’s development in areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing are all related • Literacy development begins at birth and grows through authentic experiences • Recognizes the crucial role of the child’s family and home environment

7. Skills-Based Theoretical InfluenceSkills-Based Instruction • Models involve systematic teaching of literacy • Views early childhood as a time when children are ready to learn early reading and writing skills that will improve literacy achievement in the future • Has roots in behaviorism • Complex cognitive activities can be broken down into composite skills and taught one at a time

8. Skills-Based Theoretical InfluenceDirect Instruction • Direct reading instruction clearly linked • Teachers focus students’ attention on isolated reading skills • Some believe most effective & efficient approach to reading instruction • Often scripted for teachers

9. Skills-Based Theoretical InfluenceReading Readiness • Educators focus on facilitating reading develop through direct instruction • Direction instruction in skills identified as prerequisites for reading • Worksheets often used

10. Federal Policies • Head Start program – to prepare low-income children for kindergarten; services address cognitive, physical, emotional and social needs • National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)- primary accrediting agency for independent preschools, follows a child-centered model • National Reading Panel – established by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD) reviewed SBRR and published The National Reading Panel Report: Teach Children to Read identified the Big 5

11. Federal Policies • National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) charged to synthesize SBRR related to early literacy development from birth to kindergarten • Key predictive skills & abilities: • Oral language (listening comprehension, oral language vocabulary) • Alphabetic code (Alphabetic Knowledge, Phonological/Phonemic awareness, invented spelling) • Print knowledge/concepts (environmental print, concepts about print) • Other indicators Rapid Automatic Naming, visual memory, and visual perception abilities

12. Federal Policies • K-12 Common Core State Standards – created by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practice (NGA Center) and the Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) • Goal was to define general cross-disciplinary expectations that must be met to be college and career ready • Focuses on the teaching of ELA being shared by entire school • 5 major categories • Reading Literature • Reading Informational Text • Foundational Skills • Writing • Speaking and Listening

13. Balanced & Comprehensive Literacy Instructional Model • Documents that focus on an integration of child-centered & skill-based instruction: • Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices (IRA & NAEYC, 1998) • Using Multiple Methods of Beginning Reading Instruction (IRA, 1999) • Literacy Development in the Early Years (Morrow, 2007) • Suggest there is no single method or combination of methods to teach all children to read • Select the best theories and instructional strategies that meet the needs of children

14. Organizing Effective Literacy InstructionDifferentiating Instruction to Meet Student Needs Tracey Roden Spring 2014

15. Evidence-Based Best Practices • When teachers make the decision to differentiate literacy instruction they also add to the complexity of managing the classroom environment. • The additional complexity and meeting the needs of a diverse group of students is a balancing act. • Decisions to differentiate should be based on student need not reduction of classroom management complexity • Workable model begins with a SIMPLE and MANAGABLE small-group instructional plan, THEN move to GRADUAL expansion

16. Evidence-Based Best Practices • Promotes a motivated and engaged classroom • Clear & Explicit organizational framework • Allocated spaces • Understood & well-trained rules, directions, and schedules • Familiar routines • Social collaboration and interaction • Supports individual literacy learner’s

17. Providing the Essentials of Literacy Instruction • Depending on their level of literacy development…Children need daily, sustained, high-quality instruction in the essential elements of literacy instruction: • Oral language, • Concepts about print • Phonological and phonemic awareness • Alphabetic Principle • Fluency • Vocabulary • Comprehension strategies • Writing and spelling • Current research suggests these elements need to be explicitly taught, modeled and scaffold during acquisition

18. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction • Assessment should “inform” instruction in helping teaches make decisions about instructional practices • Response to Intervention (RTI)- using assessment to differentiate instruction and to monitor progress to response to student needs • Identifies who, when and where for teaching specific literacy components

19. Gradual Release Model

20. Small-Group Instruction • Before being placed in small-groups, children should have had ample opportunities to experience literacy activities as a group, build community, complete screening assessments, and be observed by teacher • Dynamic Grouping for Literacy Instruction-grouped based on skill areas and reading levels • Literature Circles-groups chose books by interest • Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI): Learning from Informational Books-designed to improve science instruction but can be used in other content areas; allow students to be deeply involved in learning about a particular concept

21. Daily Literacy Block • 5 Block Model – based of the recommendations of Shanahan (2004) and the work of Mathes et al (2005) • Functional, flexible framework to allow teachers provide interactive, shared, and small-group reading & writing experiences