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CASI Reading Assessment (Comprehension, Attitude, Strategies, Interests) 

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CASI Reading Assessment (Comprehension, Attitude, Strategies, Interests) 

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Link: https://ontarioteachers.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/its-casi-time/
Available for Grades 3 through 8, CASI is a form of assessment that helps teachers to identify students’ reading comprehension and fluency through age-appropriate, field validated reading passages and question booklet.

(Purchased from Nelson Educators: https://school.nelson.com/casi-reading-assessment/).

Literacy Concepts: Reading Comprehension Strategies, Writing Conventions, Writing Strategies and Critical Literacy

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V.O.I.C.E. A Mnemonic to Aid Assessment of Writing 

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V.O.I.C.E. A Mnemonic to Aid Assessment of Writing 

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Link: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/50109/
V.O.I.C.E. (V is for voice, O is for organization, I is for ideas and content, C is for conventions, and E is for effective use of language) helps teachers to formally or informally assess student’s writing and provide constructive feedback in each area no matter the genres of writing.
Literacy Concepts: Writing Processes & Strategies

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Book Talks: Building Literacy Motivation and Deeper Understanding Through Discussion 

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Book Talks: Building Literacy Motivation and Deeper Understanding Through Discussion 

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Link: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/50460/
An activity that inspires a love of reading, while developing students ability to analyze books and communicate information about the story to others (ex: the plot, characters, setting, themes, connection etc.)

Literacy Concepts: Motivation for Literacy, Reading Comprehension Strategies, Writing Processes & Strategies and Oral Language

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A self-assessment form for students to evaluate their proficiency in a variety of skills and abilities for reading accurately and fluency on a scale (0-2).

Literacy Concepts: Reading Fluency & Expression, Critical Literacy, Oral Language

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Link: https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/exit_slips
Reading Rockets webpage explaining how to conduct quick informal assessment using “Exit Slips”.

Literacy Concepts: Writing Conventions, Spelling & Word Study, and Reading Comprehension Strategies

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Visual Thinking Strategies: Exploring Artwork to Enhance Critical Thinking and Expression 

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Visual Thinking Strategies: Exploring Artwork to Enhance Critical Thinking and Expression 

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Link: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/00083/
An arts-based activity where students employ VTS to develop their inquiry skills and their ability to make inferences both orally and in writing.

Literacy Concepts: Oral Language, Media Literacy and Critical Literacy

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Reader’s Theater: Building Fluency and Expression 

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Reader’s Theater: Building Fluency and Expression 

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Link: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/00157/
An activity promoting the speed, accuracy and proper expression of student's reading. Students repeatedly read engaging theatrical adaptations of stories (rehearsing), with the end goal of performing the story for others.
Literacy Concepts: Reading Fluency & Expression and Oral Language

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Videos for Teaching and Reviewing Figurative Language 

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Videos for Teaching and Reviewing Figurative Language 

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Link: https://jenniferfindley.com/figurative-language-videos/
This article provides links to several engaging videos addressing figurative language – such as personification, similes, metaphors and hyperbole – that could be easily integrated into language lessons.
Literacy Concepts: Media Literacy and Writing Conventions

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To, Too, or Two: Developing an Understanding of Homophones 

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To, Too, or Two: Developing an Understanding of Homophones 

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Link: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/developing-understanding-homophones-284.html?tab=4#tabs
This lesson plan introduces and explores homophones through several arts-based activities (singing, skits, comic creation) designed to teach students about their meaning and spelling.

Literacy Concepts: Spelling & Word Study and Vocabulary

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The Said Web: Improving Written Compositions by Brainstorming Interesting Synonym 

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The Said Web: Improving Written Compositions by Brainstorming Interesting Synonym 

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Link: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/00068/
An activity where students find more interesting words to replace familiar words in order to expand vocabulary and improve written compositions.

Literacy Concepts: Vocabulary and Writing Processes & Strategies

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Write On: Getting Kids Started Writing Stories in Kindergarten! 

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Write On: Getting Kids Started Writing Stories in Kindergarten! 

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Link: http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/04/write-on-week-30.html
An article outlining a variety of strategies for implementing shared writing into a primary (Kindergarten) classroom. Teacher provides a “Writing Rubric” for assessing writing samples that identifies different developments of writing abilities (ex: pre-writing, beginning sounds, developmental spelling etc.).
Literacy Concepts: Writing Conventions, Writing Strategies, Spelling & Word Study and Letter Sounds & Phonics

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An end of year checklist that assesses individual students progress and enables teachers to identify students strength and any existing gaps in knowledge.

Literacy Concepts: Letter-Sounds & Phonics, Writing Conventions and Phonemic Awareness

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Overview of Informal Reading Assessments 

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Overview of Informal Reading Assessments 

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Link: https://www.readingrockets.org/pdfs/assessments_overviewchart.pdf
This document highlights informal reading assessments that can be administered to students one-on-one, to assess several essential literacy components for primary-level students. Although it is not comprehensive, it offers information on what skill is measured, examples of assessment questions, typical grade/age of mastery and when it should be assessed throughout the learning cycle.
Literacy Concepts: Letter-Sounds & Phonics, Phonemic Awareness and Reading Fluency

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“Catch Them Before They Fall: Identification and Assessment to Prevent Reading Failure in Young Children” by Joseph K. Torgensen 

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“Catch Them Before They Fall: Identification and Assessment to Prevent Reading Failure in Young Children” by Joseph K. Torgensen 

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Link: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/catch-them-they-fall-identification-and-assessment-prevent-reading-failure-young-children
An article that highlights assessment process and reviews the more commonly used assessment tools, focusing upon early identification and prevention of reading failure in the early stages of literacy development.
Literacy Concepts: Reading Comprehensions Strategies, Reading Fluency, Phonemic Awareness, Letter-Sounds and Phonics.

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Link: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/phonemic-awareness-assessment
An article on the informal assessment of phonemic awareness, including what the assessment measures, when it should be assessed, examples of questions and the age/grade at which the assessment is ideally mastered.

Literacy Concepts: Phonemic Awareness

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Link: https://earlylearningideas.com/beginning-sound-clip-cards/?epik=dj0yJnU9cHJSMzdTbnVmOENodEFqVmZfRWY3VmdBazRpUmlxVFomcD0wJm49LTdwX3dDeVl6amppa3cxbkdZeWlPQSZ0PUFBQUFBR0NJYURR
A hands-on activity to help students hear and identify the beginning sounds in words, as well as rhyming.
Literacy Concepts: Letter-Sounds & Phonics and Phonemic Awareness

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Fix the Morning Message: Providing Meaningful Practice with Editing and Revising 

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Fix the Morning Message: Providing Meaningful Practice with Editing and Revising 

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Link: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/00181/
An activity that facilitates student-led editing and revision of written work.
Literacy Concepts: Writing Conventions, Spelling & Word Work and Writing Strategies

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A hands-on method for practicing forming uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numerals. After the teacher demonstrates the printing method , students draw the letter on a chalk board, then trace the letter with a wet cloth, and lastly trace it with a dry cloth.
Literacy Concepts: Writing Conventions, Writing Strategies and Letter-Sounds and Phonics

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Mystery Bag: Developing Oral Language Skills in Pre-Kindergarten 

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Mystery Bag: Developing Oral Language Skills in Pre-Kindergarten 

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Video Link: https://youtu.be/NoTT0JQ-am8
An activity that encourages both listening and speaking skills, students take turns introducing their “mystery object” to the class, giving their peers clues they wrote.
Literacy Concepts: Oral Language Skills, Vocabulary and Knowledge Building

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The Lost Suitcase: Creating a Purpose for Descriptive Writing 

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The Lost Suitcase: Creating a Purpose for Descriptive Writing 

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Link: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/00050/
An activity where students develop their ability to choose precise, descriptive words in writing by having them engage in a realistic opportunity to create a "found" notice for a lost suitcase filled with a variety of items for students to identify and describe.
Literacy Concepts: Writing Processes & Strategies, Vocabulary and Motivation for Literacy

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Created by Indigenous author Carole Lindstrom, We Are Water Protectors highlights Indigenous voices. The story's repetition of specific phrases and the lyrical writing style promotes the development of reading fluency and word recognition. The expressive vocabulary used in Daniel Haack's Prince & Knight makes the modern fairy-tale well suited for directly expanding student's vocabulary and improving word choice. The story uses several complex adjectives that students can employ to improve their writing. Shel Silverstein's Runny Babbit is a collection of humorous poetry that uses spoonerisms (switching the initial sounds of two or more words), developing student's phonological awareness during a read-aloud. Peter H. Reynold's The Word Collector shows the power of words, promoting spelling and word comprehension. Jessie Sima's Not Quite Narwhal is a heartwarming story that engages students in conversation about inclusion, representation and identity. This tale appeals to student's interests and provides an opportunity for them to engage with relevant and meaningful literacy.

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Written & Illustrated by Jessie Sima

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Written by Carole Lindstrom
Illustrated by Michaela Goade

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Written & Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

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Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein

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Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein

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Written & Illustrated by Shel Silverstein

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Written by Daniel Haack
Illustrated by Stevie Lewis

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Literacy Guide Review: "The Balanced Literacy Diet"

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Literacy Guide Review: "The Balanced Literacy Diet"

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Link to The Balanced Literacy Diet Website: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Home/index.html.

The teacher guide that contributed the most to my understanding of the complexities of literacy education is The Balanced Literacy Diet Website, created by OISE. The Balanced Literacy Diet is a framework that presents the various literacy concepts within the metaphor of a healthy diet so that educators can better understand how to structure their lessons to meet the needs of students at every stage of literacy development. For instance, we all learn that to grow, certain food groups should be consumed daily. For literacy, these “food groups” include vocabulary, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, writing conventions and many others. Each “food group” represents a building block within the reading and writing pyramids - visuals of the print and language-related skills and abilities required to achieve literacy.

I have found the four stages of literacy development to be incredibly informative; depicted as pie charts, these stages highlight how the “nutritional needs” of learners change as literacy develops. As an educator, I frequently refer to these stages when planning to ensure that the necessary literacy components receive appropriate attention in class. For instance, when working in a Kindergarten classroom, I reviewed the Stage 0 and 1 charts; I found that although I should primarily focus on phonemic awareness, developing oral language and vocabulary skills is also especially important during these early stages. Consequently, I chose to integrate more direct teaching of vocabulary words into our read-aloud, singing and learning centres.

Finally, this resource offers multitudes of strategies and activities for making each “food group” appealing to students. The website provides “recipes” (lesson plans) organized by food groups and grades to make finding relevant lesson plans simple and accessible. Overall, this guide is comprehensive and would support any educator – experienced or not – to improve the effectiveness of their literacy program.

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I would define literacy as the complex interweaving of skills that allow one to fully engage with society, including communicating and interacting with others through reading and writing. Literacy is not just one’s ability to decode the words written on a page, but rather the ability to communicate freely through reading comprehension and written expression. While oral language is an effective form of communication and a natural part of human development, in today’s society, reading and writing are central to sharing ideas, consuming information and self-expression. In order to support student’s ability to express their ideas, I incorporate resources like “Mystery Bag” and “Visual Thinking Strategies” which develop students inquiry skills and their ability to make inferences both orally and in writing.

In the 21st-century, I believe that literacy also entails digital and technological proficiency, that is, one’s ability to locate, evaluate and compose information through various digital platforms or using digital technology. As technologies continue to break down barriers between communities, the ability to communicate and interact with others is increasingly fundamental to being an engaged global citizen. The “Videos for Teaching and Reviewing Figurative Language” resource is a great example of how I might incorporate technology into language lessons, not only to differentiate instruction but also to engage students with relevant media.

As an educator, I believe it is of the utmost importance that I am providing high-quality, balanced reading and writing instruction to all of my students. In an effort to ensure that no students are left behind, I am conscious of research and resource such as “Catch Them Before They Fall: Identification and Assessment to Prevent Reading Failure in Young Children” by Joseph K. Torgensen. This article in particular highlights helpful assessment processes and tools, focusing upon early identification and prevention of reading failure in the early stages of literacy development.