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Literacy Experience #3 - Love of Reading 

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Literacy Experience #3 - Love of Reading 

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As a child, my parents were great encouragers of my journey through literacy. My parents read to me every single night, and they took me to the library at least once a week. My dad read to me in his Native language as well and showed me books that he brought with him to the United States. Every summer, I would enroll in a summer reading program to collect prizes. My goal as a fourth grader was to read 100 books during the summer months, and I actually succeeded! I loved to read series such as Harry Potter. I would stay up all night with a night light once my parents went to sleep, often finishing an entire book in one day. Having such a passion and for reading has inspired me as a teacher. I want to help provide literature for my students that fosters a love for reading that will last for their whole life. I truly believe that a love of reading is key to the promotion and development of literacy.

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English Language Learners
I will support ELL students by offering differentiated instruction tiered towards their needs. Instead of ignoring my students, I will use literature as a tool to provide individualized instruction. I will find literature that fits the interests and ability levels of my students. I will not assume that all ELL students read below grade level, and will strive to provide literature that stimulates and challenges them. I will encourage ELL students to incorporate their culture and/or first language into our classroom curriculum. I will value this diversity and welcome the opportunity to learn more alongside my other students. I will label the objects in our classroom with words in native languages along with English.

Special Needs Students
I will support students of varying special needs by again, differentiating instruction and following IEPs put into place. I will understand the child's reading level while providing challenges and opportunities for growth. I will meet with students in individual conferences to best fit the needs of the student and provide feedback for students to make and follow goals. I will also try my best to be inclusive of students, providing time for one-on-one feedback but also incorporating all students in class discussions and activities. I will also make activities very hands-on with clear instructions to provide support and engagement for diverse learners. I will collaborate with special education teachers as well for support and advice.

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1. Read-aloud (15 minutes)
I believe that read-alouds are fun, engaging, and incredibly important. Having the opportunity to read aloud to my students presents an opportunity to model expression, best practices, and skills/strategies learned in mini lessons. The literature used for read-alouds will be purposefully chosen to meet the needs of students and the objectives of the day.

2. Mini-lesson  (15 minutes)
After reading aloud to my students, I will teach a mini-lesson that shows students strategies and skills that they should utilize while engaging in the literacy process. I will model best practices that I want my students to apply in literature circles and the Daily 3 routines. I believe that the modeling of best practices helps to promote skillful processes that will help students along in their learning process.

3. Literature circles (30 minutes)
At the beginning of the year and throughout a series of mini-lessons, I will explain what literature circles will look like while modeling jobs that will exist within each group. These jobs include discussion director, creative connector, literary luminary, word wizard, and stupendous summarizer. Students will be grouped a combination of ability and interest depending on the varying ability levels in my classroom. Students will fill out notecards that rank their top 3 most desired jobs and the teacher will place students into roles accordingly. The students will learn to become independent of the teacher, working alone to reach goals created by the discussion director. The teacher will pull groups of students from the same job in different groups to assess understanding and check for best practices. I believe that this allows students to practice independence, work in groups to collaborate, and make choices.

4. Daily 3 (10 minutes each - 30 minutes total)
Students will travel to all three stations in groups for a total for 3 rotations.

Work on Writing
Students will continue to synthesize and revise work from Writer's Workshop. They will write in their writer's notebooks or choose from a number of writing activities that promote best practices while allowing for student choice. Students can write letters to peers/teachers/officials, or write stories about a topic of choice, write to pen pals from a class that we partner with as well. On some days, students will have a prompt to write about in their writer's notebook. I believe that making choices and working independently encourages students to grow as writers.

Read to Self
Students will find a comfortable place in the classroom to read independently. Students will choose from books in their book bin. These book bins will include choice books from the classroom library and school library along with books from literature circles. Students will have learned strategies to use while reading to self during mini-lessons. I believe that reading to self provides students the opportunity to pursue interests, practice skills, and become independent and engaged readers.

Listen to Reading
Students will use 1-to-1 technology or technology features available in a school to listen to audio books of choice, approved by the teacher based on reading level, content, appropriateness, and interests of the students. This will allow students to hear stories spoken aloud, listening for expression and highlighting text features.

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1. Our classroom will be a community where everyone can comfortably take risks and share their thoughts.
I believe that this is important because my literacy block will be discussion and whole class-based. I want everyone to participate and get something out of our time together, and this is only possible through a climate of respect and inclusion.

2. Literature used in our classroom will be representative and inclusive of diversity of all types.
I believe that it is important for all students to see their selves in the literature that they experience. I want my students to know that they have a place in the world and matter.

3. We will read literature that challenges us to think deeply about the world around us and within us.
I believe that challenges and opportunities to think beyond the surface-level allow students to reach their potential and explore their abilities in a meaningful way.

4. We will explore our interests while trying new things to stretch ourselves as learners.
I believe that it is important to incorporate the interests and strengths of students in the curriculum, while allowing opportunities for flexibility and growth so that learners can experience new things.

5. We will come to Miss B. for resources and questions, but also practice independence and self-motivation in the classroom.
I believe that it is important for teachers to be available to students for guidance and support, without promoting learned helplessness or behaviors that take away from independence.

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1.  I believe that students learn best in an environment where they feel supported and comfortable.
If students feel supported by their teacher and peers, they will be able to take risks and accept challenges that allow them to grow. I believe that making mistakes and being able to take risks is key to the learning process, especially when it comes to literacy.

2. I believe that the literacy experience must be authentic and applicable to the real world for students to feel invested in the process.
I believe that being able to apply what is learned in the classroom to the real world is so important and necessary. If students understand the purpose of their work, they will be more motivated to work harder and learn more.

3. I believe that the literacy classroom should be a place of growth and exploration through discussion.
I believe that allowing students to discuss what they have learned, develop and support opinions, and explore their interests is key to literacy. If students are excited to show what they know and share knowledge with others, what is learned in the classroom will become all the more meaningful.

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When I transferred into the public school system, my beliefs of literacy changed. My teachers focused less on choice and more on making sure that everyone was reading at grade level. I remember being tested by the school psychologist and being told that I read at a really high level. My teacher said that there weren't any other kids in my class that read at my level so I didn't have a literacy circle to join, like everyone else in my class. While I got to pick the books I read, working alone was isolating and embarrassing. I would actually make mistakes in hopes that my teacher would put me in a group so I wouldn't be alone. As a teacher, this has taught me to be careful and thoughtful when grouping students, especially when it comes to ability grouping. Students who perform below grade level and above grade level shouldn't feel isolated with how they receive support in the classroom. Again, inclusion is a goal of my classroom, and grouping should be a strategy to promote this.

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Literacy Experience #1 - Montessori School

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Literacy Experience #1 - Montessori School

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I attended Montessori school before eventually transferring into the public school system. The structure of Montessori school greatly impacted the way I view reading and integrate literacy into my life. In my school, we had lots of choice when it came to when we wanted to read and what we wanted to read. Having this choice led me to become an independent and motivated reader. I remember being excited to experience stories and dig into text each day at school, and share with my parents when I got home. As a teacher, this experience has taught that allowing choice and flexibility with support encourages literacy. If students can choose literature that they care about or are interested in, they will become more invested in the literacy process. As a teacher, I want to build my classroom library with my students' interests in mind. I also want to be representative of all cultures and exceptionalities to promote a climate of inclusion.