# data[].attributes.body
Research shows that a literacy learning environment is a group of students that engages with other classmates and puts effort into learning (Vander Kolk, 2024). Specifically, in my classroom, I will put effort into making my students feel safe, loved, and a have good self-esteem to create a positive literacy learning environment.

# data[].attributes.body
Safe.  To ensure that my students feel safe I am going to establish rules so I can create a positive and comfortable learning environment. Rules create safety (Vander Kolk, 2024), because students are able to know what to expect. I will also believe in my students I want to create a safe space so students can speak their minds and explore their own interests and learn more about their selves.

Loved. I will get to know my students on a personal level so that they feel accepted and valued in my room. I will get to know their background and interests (Simms & Marzano, 2019), and learn about what makes them who they are so that they feel appreciated.

Self-esteem. I will demonstrate resilience in my classroom and give specific feedback to show my students that they are enough and that they are going to be growing as individual students in my classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
My highest priority is to ensure that my classroom environment keeps growing and meeting my positive learning environment expectations. I will have one-on-one conversations with each student once per month to see how they are doing in school and in their personal life. This creates a relationship with my students, showing them that they are safe, on the path to having good self-esteem, and loved as individual students.

# data[].attributes.body
Simms, J. A., & Marzano, R. J. (2019). The new art and science of teaching

reading.

Vander Kolk, B. (2024, September, 4) Creating a Community of Learners[Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Motivation and engagement are critical for students because they drive learning and personal growth. I define motivation as having self-confidence and determination to put effort into developing literacy skills (Vander Kolk, 2024). I define engagement as contributing to the classroom by participating, showing interest, and critically thinking so that they are fully involved in literacy learning. I will promote motivation and engagement in my classroom by actively observing participation, demonstrating intensity and enthusiasm, and creating opportunities for student engagement.

# data[].attributes.body
Actively observing participation. To ensure that my students are engaged I will take the extra time to observe their levels of engagement. I will individually talk with a student if they are repeatedly showing signs of not being interested or engaged. We will then create a goal and find out what works best for the student to meet it so that they can contribute to our literacy environment.

Demonstrating intensity and enthusiasm. To create an engaged and motivated classroom I will model to my students what it looks like to be intense and enthusiastic about learning. According to Peter Dewitz, modeling should be done by people the students respect (Dewitz, 2019). By being intense and enthusiastic, I hope to gain the respect of my students, so our classroom can succeed in a literacy learning environment.

Creating opportunities for student engagement. In my classroom, to create opportunities for my students, I will give them the choice to choose books that interest them. This will lead to engaging in the reading because they are enthusiastic about the topic or book. I will also be filling my classroom walls with my student's work, such as writing because this shows that the student's work is important and valued. This creates a sense of engagement because they want their best work to be shown on the wall.

# data[].attributes.body
To ensure ongoing motivation and engagement, I will use a motivation/engagement checklist. I will walk around the classroom and check if each student is motivated and actively engaged while they work or listen. After gauging each student’s level of interaction with the material, I am going to ask them how they are feeling about it during our one-on-one meeting for writing work. The checklist will help me to see if my goals for class participation are being met. If I do not feel that it is being met, I will come up with a goal with each student that will help increase their motivation or engagement. After creating the goal, I will check in on them periodically to see if they are meeting the mark, and we will make changes as necessary.

# data[].attributes.body
Graves, M. F., Juel, C., Graves, B. B., & Dewitz, P. (2011). Teaching reading in the 21st century: Motivating all learners.

Vander Kolk, B. (2024, September, 18) Motivation/Engagement and Read Alouds [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
I define culturally responsive teaching as using cultural knowledge, background information, frames of references, and performance styles in order to create learning opportunities that are more relevant and effective for my students (Vander Kolk, 2024) culturally responsive practices benefit students by helping them feel like they are a part of a learning community, it builds their motivation, and makes learning relevant. Specifically, to ensure I meet these goals in my classroom I am going to provide scaffolds, have high expectations for each student, and connect the curriculum to my students background.

# data[].attributes.body
Print concepts are the foundational skills that students need to learn to become proficient readers. I define print concepts as the basic understanding of how printed language works. It is necessary that my students form a great attitude from reading early on because it is a critical factor in literacy development. To ensure growth in literacy skills, I am going to give a mini-lesson, provide students with daily opportunities to engage with print, and participate in read-aloud. (Vander Kolk, 2024)

# data[].attributes.body
Phonological awareness is the foundation for all literacy skills. I define phonological awareness as being able to manipulate, identify, and process sounds before giving any texts or posters. Phonological awareness is essentially the pre-work to reading. It doesn’t have letters because it is about hearing (Vander Kolk, 2024). I value phonological awareness highly, and I will take the time to explicitly teach these skills to my students. Specifically, in my classroom, I will be using the Haggerty approach, creative activities, and giving opportunities for practice.

# data[].attributes.body
Phonics is a foundational skill for students because it leads to confident and proficient readers. I define phonics as the ability to connect letters with sounds. Teaching phonics requires an intentional plan. I value phonics highly and in my classroom specifically, I will be having my students do activities, read books, and engage in phonics group work to grow their skills.

# data[].attributes.body
Sight words are very important to learn at an early age because if students can identify them, they can have higher level thinking. Sight words are developed by a lot of practice. I define Sight words as words that are memorized visually (Vander Kolk, 2024). Students should be able to recognize sight words automatically because then they become more proficient readers by being able to focus on the meaning of the text. I will teach sight words in my class by using the stick band game, anchor charts, and sight word swat.

# data[].attributes.body
Being able to read fluently is an important skill and takes practice. It an essential skill because it bridges the gap between decoding and comprehension. “Fluency is the ability to read accurately and with appropriate expression at an appropriate pace. ”(the new art and science teaching reading) being fluent you need to have complete accuracy, have a solid pacing, and prosody, using expression. Specially to ensure growth in my classroom I will model and give direct instructions, provide opportunities for practice, and encourage reading.

# data[].attributes.body
Teaching vocabulary in my classroom is something that I value highly. I define vocabulary as the building block for language and communication. More specifically, vocabulary is the words that a person knows and uses. Vocabulary plays a huge role in the way that students can understand texts and others. I will implement the use of vocabulary purposefully by using rich language, assigning activities that promote vocabulary engagement, and reading books to my students.

# data[].attributes.body
Reading comprehension is a crucial skill for students to have and it takes time, practice, and work to develop it. I define comprehension as being able to completely understand, interpret, and make meaning with the texts. Specifically in my classroom to develop reading comprehension I will give explicit instructions, engaging in read alouds, and activate prior knowledge.

# data[].attributes.body
Dialogue is essential in a classroom when creating critical thinking skills. I define dialogue as a special, constructive process where my students thoughtfully listen and respond (Vander Kolk, 2024). Dialogue is building on each other’s ideas and creating knowledge that one student couldn’t create on their own. I will value dialogue highly and will promote it in my classroom by teaching my students how to have a good discussion, modeling good listening, and exploring opposing opinions.

# data[].attributes.body
Provide Scaffolds- Providing a variety of scaffolds is important in a culturally responsive classroom because I want to meet the needs of all my students and make learning accessible for them all.  To do this I will use a variety of visual aids, I will help them to be aware of their background knowledge, and use my student's real-life experiments to connect school learning to their life outside of school. (Vander Kolk, 2024) By using scaffolds I will create a supportive environment where every single student feels like they can succeed and celebrate diversity.

High expectations-  to make sure that all my students are constantly growing I will set high expectations for every student. I want all my students to succeed and by setting high expectations they will be always striving to do their best. If my students, see that I believe in them they will gain confidence and a sense of belonging. Every student in my classroom is capable of success no matter their background.

Connect curriculum to students background- By connecting the curriculum to my students background they will feel more engaged and feel like their learning is relevant. When integrating my students background into the curriculum they will feel seen and valued (Vander Kolk, 2024).

# data[].attributes.body
Daily engagement with print- I am going to provide opportunities for your child because students develop when they are reading print. The more that my students read the more familiar they become with the prints. By reading daily it creates exposure and helps students see the prints as useful and engaging.

Mini lesson- to ensure that my students understand what print concepts are, I am going to teach them about it. Every student has a different development of print awareness and one way for them to improve their skills is active engagement and modeling from adults. I will point out the features of print and my students will know that the prints carry meaning, can be used for different purposes, and lastly know that print corresponds to speech, word for word (Vader Kolk, 2024).

Read-alouds- I am going to specifically implement read-alouds in my classroom so that my students can learn how books work. Read-alouds also create engagement with the text because my students will be answering questions or making predictions. Lastly, read- alouds are important because students are going to be introduced to new words that they wouldn’t encounter in independent reading.

# data[].attributes.body
Haggerty approach.  I will be using the Haggerty approach in my classroom to help my students visually. I will be using hand motions like choppers to break up words into small sounds and over time my students will be able to chop and smooth out words themselves.

Creative activities. To help my students learn phonological awareness, I will be using activities such as creating poems with rhyming words. This will make learning personal for my students. We will recite the poem every class while I slow it down and put emphasis on the sounds. I will also use activities that involve deletion, substitution, and reversal.

Opportunities for practice. To ensure that my students are getting time in class to practice phonological awareness I will put my students into small groups. To fully understand phonological awareness, it takes rigorous work, which is why there needs to be opportunities for practice.

# data[].attributes.body
Activities- I will incorporate activities into my classroom to keep learning engaging and exciting for my students. One specific activity that I will have my students do is using magnet letters for building and taking apart words (Vander Kolk, 2024). This activity helps them visualize how sounds blend together to form words. Activities are important in my classroom because it encourages participation while keeping it engaging.

Read books- To ensure that my students are getting the opportunity to apply the skills that they are learning, I will have them read daily. Reading is rewarding because students are able to practice decoding words and understand the sounds that form words.

Phonics group work- Group work is very important in my classroom because it allows collaboration. In groups, my students are able to learn from each other. The stronger readers will be able to help their group with sounds or pronunciations. Lastly, group work encourages engagement and active learning which is crucial in my classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
Stick band game-  I will be specifically incorporating the stick band game into my classroom weekly. In this game, I will have my students partner up, and they will take turns pulling a stick. Whoever pulled the stick reads the word, and if they get it correct, they get to keep it. Whoever has the most sticks at the end wins.

Anchor charts- I will give my students a set of directions every single time I introduce a new word. I will have them look at, spell, and write the word. This quizzes their brain and will help imprint the newly learned word into their brain (Vander Kolk, 2024). Once I feel like we have learned the word, I will put it on the board so that they can always refer to it.

Sight word swat. I will write a bunch of words on the board, and whatever word that I shout out they need to swat as fast as they can. They need to swat the correct word to move on. If they cannot get it, I will have another student come up and explain it to them. This is a very engaging game because it adds competitiveness and an interactive element.

# data[].attributes.body
Model and give direct instructions- In order for fluency to develop students need clear direct instruction with modeling. Read aloud are important way to model fluent reading. While reading I will model the correct pacing and expression. Once they see their teacher modeling fluency, they will gain confidence and see that fluency is achievable.

Provide opportunities for practice- After I  teach and model the important skills needed for fluency will have my students practice. when students are constantly practicing the skills that were modeled, they will get more comfortable and confident. Repeated reading practice build automaticity they are able to shift their focus from decoding each word to being able to comprehend the text.

Encourage reading-I am going to encourage reading because fluency develops through repeated practice. I will encourage my students to read on their own and I will help them find a book that they enjoy so that they can take it home and read. Reading on their own will give them confidence became they will start to know and understand the words that they are reading, and they will be able to advance their skills.

# data[].attributes.body
Hear rich language- To ensure that my students are developing their vocabulary I will provide them with a rich language environment where my students are being exposed to new words (Vander Kolk, 2024).I will be using complex language in classroom discussions or conversations so that their vocabulary will expand.

Activities that promote vocabulary engagement-  To keep learning engaging, my students will be interacting with vocabulary activities throughout the week. One specific activity that they will be doing is show and tell. This is a great activity because it helps connect a word to a real-life object, making it easier for the students to retain the word learned.

Read books to students- I will read more advanced books to my students to expose them to more mature, and figurative language (Vander Kolk, 2024). While I am reading, I will make the experience interactive by asking questions about the text so that I can see if my students are understanding. Through these interactive discussions, my students will develop critical thinking skills while deepening their use of vocabulary.

# data[].attributes.body
Explicit instructions-  to ensure growth in reading comprehension  I will give my students clear and structured guidance on how to understand the texts. I will teach them how to make predictions or ask questions. I will teach them to not guess but specifically how to analyze texts by showing them what to focus on and how to approach specific tasks. Explicit instruction can  “can reduce mind wandering and improve reading comprehension” (Simms, 2019). By using explicit instruction, I hope to see all my students become confident in their skills.

Engaging read alouds-  To make sure that my students are understanding the texts I will specifically implement read alouds. While I am reading to my students I will pause and ask specific questions to gauge if they are understanding the text. I will have them predict, question, and visualize. By implementing read alouds my students will be able to engage and make sense of the book by making the comprehension strategies understandable.

Activate prior knowledge- Activating prior knowledge is important because it helps students connect new information to what they already know, making it easier to understand. I will activate their prior knowledge and integrate it with text-based information from the text and illustrations (Vander Kolk, 2024). By activating prior knowledge my students are able to connect personally with the text and better understand what the story is about.

# data[].attributes.body
Creating good discussions. I will be presenting a mini lesson to my students before we start our big discussions. I will go over the importance of considering different points of views, raising questions, and being able to express opinions without being criticized (Vander Kolk, 2024). It is important that we create a safe place and understand that we aren’t trying to “win” the discussion, but we are learning together and creating something that they couldn’t have done alone.

Modeling good listening. To create an environment where there is healthy dialogue, I will model good listening. This will set a high standard in my classroom showing that I expect respect.  If my students feel respected, they will feel heard and be more likely to share their opinions in our discussions. Modeling good listening enhances good classroom discussions and creates a culture of collaboration and trust.

Exploring opposing opinions. To ensure a classroom where students are not just communicating but growing in their discussions, I will teach the importance of valuing other people opinions. Every student comes with a different experience, and it is essential that we ask questions and get to know their thoughts and opinions. In my classroom, we will create something better than we found it because we are learning other people’s opinions and using it to grow as a classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
To make sure that my students are improving in their literacy skills, I will be watching and listening to my students daily as we have group discussions or read-alouds. This will help me determine if my students are growing and understanding books and print, or if they need more help. I will also be having a test in the middle of the school year. This will help me see what my students need help with.

# data[].attributes.body
To ensure that my students are learning, I will be listening and watching my students daily as they engage in discussions. I will notice who isn’t understanding, and I will pull them aside and teach them separately or more in depth. When I give assessments, I will be using encouraging words such as “do your best,” “I want to know what you know so I can teach the right things,” or “you are working so hard.” This gives students confidence in their skills. (Mesmer, 2019)

# data[].attributes.body
To ensure that my classroom is making progress in phonics, I will be paying attention when my students are doing activities or group work. I will walk around with a checklist making note of who is not understanding. I will then have frequent one-on-one meetings with the struggling readers for longer blocks of time (Graves, 2011). I will be continuing to check in with students daily to make sure that we are making progress.

# data[].attributes.body
To assess the progress of my students, I will be pulling kids aside and I will have a sheet with words typed on it. I will have the kids point to the words and if they can read the words automatically, then we move on. If they get it incorrect, I will mark it and put those words back into the practice pile and we will keep practicing those words. I also will be watching my students daily and I will pull aside students who I notice aren’t understanding as quickly as others.

# data[].attributes.body
I will make sure that my students are developing the needed skills for reading fluency by having mt students read a passage to me one on one every month. The passage will be short, and I will have them read the first 100 words out loud. I will be keeping track of errors such as mispronunciations, substitutions or hesitations will then calculate the number of words per minute by subtracting the errors from the number of words per minute. This will help me determine what instructional level they are at, and how I can best go forward teaching them. (Vander Kolk, 2024)

# data[].attributes.body
I value vocabulary so I will be holding my students to a high standard. I will assess my students’ growth in their vocabulary through weekly written work. I will check to see if they are using the new words that we have learned in class. If some of my students aren’t using the new complex words in their writings, I will pull them aside and have them use that word in a sentence to me. If they can’t use the words in a sentence, then I will be spending one-on -one time with them giving them extra help and explaining the words

# data[].attributes.body
To assess my students, I will give them each a passage to read. After they are done reading there will be a specific set of questions that go along with the book. If were able to comprehend what was happening, they will be able to answer the questions. If they were not able to answer the questions, I will pull them aside and work one on one with them to continue to practice the skills needed for reading comprehension.

# data[].attributes.body
To ensure that my students are creating the skills for dialogue, I will be putting aside class time once a week to have a class discussion. My class will discuss a different question every week that may be controversial. While my class is having a discussion, I will have a checklist in front of me. I will be checking if each student is respectfully listening to other ideas, expressing their opinions without criticism, and raising questions. This checklist will help me understand what we still need to work on as a class.

# data[].attributes.body
Vander Kolk, B. (2024, November 13) Culturally Responsive Teaching of Literacy [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Vander Kolk, B. (2024, October 16) Concepts of Print [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Mesmer, H. A. E. (2019). Letter lessons and first words: Phonics foundations that work, prek-2

Vander Kolk, B. (2024, October 21) How Aware are You? [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Graves, M. F., Juel, C., Graves, B. B., & Dewitz, P. (2011). Teaching reading in the 21st century: Motivating all learners.

Vander Kolk, B. (2024, October 23) Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Instruction [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Vander Kolk, B. (2024, October 28) Sight Word and Fluency Instruction [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Simms, J. A., & Marzano, R. J. (2019). The new art and science of teaching reading.

Vander Kolk, B. (2024, October 30) Sight Word and Fluency Instruction [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Vander Kolk, B. (2024, October 9) Vocabulary [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Simms, J. A., & Marzano, R. J. (2019). The new art and science of teaching

reading.

Vander Kolk, B. (2024, November 4) Comprehension [Lecture].

# data[].attributes.body
Vander Kolk, B. (2024, October 1) Oral Language Instruction and teaching Dialogue [Lecture].