EDLI635 Theory and Practice of Literacy Instruction

View my Running Record on the passage "Lost at the Beach". You can also view Tzvi's Benchmark Passage Quick Check   and Retelling Scoring Form . Here is my lesson plan geared to help Tzivi improve his fluency rate and my reflection on running record assessments.

There are three levels of words: The first, are the familiar words that we have lots of exposure to. These words don’t need to be taught since they are common and used in everyday language and reading. The second category of words are those words that appear often enough in print or daily conversations yet need to be taught explicitly, such as: freeway, democracy , hurricane . The teacher can focus on these words during a vocabulary lesson, or introduce them while chancing upon them during reading time. The teacher’s focal point should be words that fall under this category. The third level, are highly technical words that are unique to a specific subject such as chemistry or biology. Odds are that the students will learn these words when learning the subject they pertain to, so it is unnecessary for teachers to spend time teaching these words. Students should be taught the chunking strategy to use when they encounter a difficult word. As Professor Allington explains, at firs...

It is important for struggling readers to gain confidence in their reading by having easy access to texts on their level. One way of doing so is by setting up a classroom library of books of various genres, topics and levels. This way the struggling readers also have the opportunity to choose books on their level and of interest to them. Students should learn how to determine which books are just right for them, which books are too easy and those that are challenging for them to read. This will help them select the appropriate books that they can accurately read. Practice is the key to improve one’s fluency in reading. A teacher should find appropriate texts that match her students’ level of reading proficiency and conceptual development. This way, her students will have an interest in what they are reading. Teachers should include guided reading, shared reading and independent reading in her lesson, so her students have many opportunities to practice fluent reading. Modeling flu...

View my fluency and word study chart here . Every classroom should be equipped with a variety of leveled books that are easily accessible to the students. One way of doing so, is by arranging a class library where books of different genres are neatly organized so students know where and how to select books of their choice and level. A word wall with brightly decorated vocabulary words, which are always visible to the students, is a great way to reinforce and strengthen vocabulary words they learned. Also, reading from enlarged books where students can easily follow along while the teacher models fluent reading supports students’ development of fluent reading. Prior to reading a book, the teacher selects any word/words she feels are too difficult for her students. Exposing her students to these words before they begin reading gives them an easier time since they are already familiar with the words. The teacher uses her judgement how much time is necessary to allocate for the word s...

You can view my phonics lesson here

You can view my lesson plan here .