Literacy Portfolio by Katelyn Mills

ABC Center for Early Childhood Literacy Development

kmills95 — 2016-12-05 22:43:47 UTC

Emergent Literacy is used to describe what knowledge a student has on reading and writing before they are actually able to read and write. This shows that even children as young as one year old are in the process of becoming literate.

Pre-K students can use this center to introduce themselves to literacy. The ABC center is full of learning games for children to use to have fun while learning. For example, students can learn to spell out their name while lacing letters. In addition to introducing students to letter recognition, alphabet awareness, and simple spelling, this activity also reinforces hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The link to this game is listed below.

Another activity that can be used in the ABC center is Highway ABC Cards. Teachers can print out and laminate letter cards and students can use racecars to drive over them. Students can also spell out words using multiple cards. The cards can be found at the following website.

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/racecarabccards.htm /",

Phonemic Awareness

kmills95 — 2016-12-05 22:51:18 UTC

"Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds-phonemes--in spoken words" (Begin to Read). Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning.

Adams (1990) and Stanovich (1986) stated that upon entering school, a child's level of phonemic awareness strongly determines the success that the child will have learning to read.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/phonemic-awareness-young-childrenThis activity is for manipulating phonemes. The student picks out a card that has a word or object. Then, they turn on the light as they say each sound.

In this activity, the student hops on a different circle as they say the different sounds in the word. This activity is great for kinesthetic learners.

http://mrsriccaskindergarten.blogspot.com/search/label/Phonemic%20Awareness

Phonics

kmills95 — 2016-12-05 23:22:47 UTC

Phonics is the science of sounds. By learning phonics, students learn to read by correlating sounds with letters or groups of letters.
Jeanne Chall stated that being aware of phonics is one of the most powerful predictors of reading success. Better readers are a result of intensive phonics instructions.
http://articles.latimes.com/1999/dec/02/local/me-39690

Rhyming is an important concept that students must learn. This activity focuses on rhyming words. The students are given a card with a picture and word. Underneath are three more pictures that rhyme with the first word.
http://www.themeasuredmom.com/teach-rhyming-words-fun-printable/

In this activity, students are looking at word families. A word family is placed next to the spinner, such as "ug". Then the student spins the spinner to select a letter. They record the letter and the word family and decide whether or not it makes a word. For example, if the spinner lands on "r" the word is "rug".
http://www.playdoughtoplato.com/spin-a-word-family/

Fluency

kmills95 — 2016-12-05 23:51:40 UTC

Fluency is being able to decode text accurately with automaticity and prosody, as well as with appropriate use of phrasing and expression. LaBerge and Samuels (1974) came up with the Automaticity Theory which centers on the belief that students focus on one component of reading at a time. Therefore, it is important that students are fluent readers and do not spend too much time decoding words or else they will not be able to focus on the meaning of the text.
http://www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/teaching/fluency/reading-fluency-is-it-really-that-important

The link below is for a fluency activity. In this activity, the teacher cuts up groups of sentences and puts them in a bag. Each student picks one and practices reading it independently. After practicing, they read their sentences in pairs with lots of expression, and then they read it in front of the class. To add to this activity, the teacher can turn it into an acting competition. The student with the best expression wins an "Oscar".

In this activity, students roll a dice to determine how they will read a passage. They are given a chart with a place to put a word card next to each side of the dice. Then they roll the dice and read the passage with the selected emotion.

Types of Reading in the Classroom

kmills95 — 2016-12-07 20:10:10 UTC

Read Aloud is when the teacher reads a book to the students.
Marie Clay (1991) believes that read aloud is a great way to negotiate meanings before, during, and after the story. Read aloud guide students into shared, guided and independent reading.
http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/teacher-read-aloud-that-30799.html

One activity that can follow a read aloud is Read Aloud Snapshot. Students fold a piece of paper into sixths. In the first block they write the title of the book. After each read aloud, the students draw the main event or a key point.

http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/readingaloud.php

Guided Reading is when the teacher works with a small group of students. The students are typically at the same level of reading.

Shared Reading is when students share the reading of a book or text while being guided and supported by the teacher. The teacher models the skills of proficient readers.

Independent Reading is where students choose and read material on their own. Lucy Calkins believes that when students are able to choose their own books, their passion for reading grows. http://educationnext.org/the-lucy-calkins-project/

Vocabulary Development

kmills95 — 2016-12-07 20:54:52 UTC

Vocabulary Development is the process in which individuals acquire words.

Vocabulary bingo is a fun way to practice new vocabulary words. Students fill out a bingo sheet with their vocabulary words. Instead of calling out the actual word, the teacher will read the definition.
http://www.education.com/activity/article/Vocabulary_Bingo_fifth/

Another fun way to practice vocabulary is Vocabulary Cubes. Students work in pairs and they each write down 6 vocabulary words. The first dice rolled will determine which word they are using, and the second dice rolled will determine which strategy they will use.

https://devotedtovocabulary.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/4-14-40-method/

Comprehension Strategies

kmills95 — 2016-12-07 21:06:50 UTC

Reading comprehension is the ability to read a text, process it, and understand its meaning. Michael Pressley believed that there are several strategies to teach comprehension. Students should learn decoding skills and vocabulary, and build word knowledge. They should also engage in active comprehension strategies and monitor their comprehension.
https://my.vanderbilt.edu/specialeducationinduction/files/2013/07/1-Comprehension.pdf

To check comprehension, students can play a game after they finished reading the story. In groups, the students can use a spinner to pick a question to answer.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guided-Reading-Games-and-Activities-for-Comprehension-1275277

While reading, students can use post-its to keep track of their thoughts and the story.

Readers Workshop and Centers

kmills95 — 2016-12-08 21:44:31 UTC

In a reading workshop, students learn reading and comprehension strategies. A workshop allows for a teacher to meet the needs of all students.
Lucy Calkins is one of the original creators of the "workshop". She believes that students should work in small groups and help one another, and the teacher should conference with the students as much as possible. http://educationnext.org/the-lucy-calkins-project/

Below is a worksheet the student can fill out after working with the teacher during readers workshop. This will help the parents know where the student is struggling and how they can help.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/94/71/59/94715972d6429db7f7f44f93bf547680.jpg

Below is a readers workshop schedule.
http://teachingsweetshoppe.blogspot.com/2014/02/sneak-peek-at-my-reading-workshop-board.html

http://triciasterrificteachingtrinkets.blogspot.com/

Writing as a Process and Writers Workshop

kmills95 — 2016-12-10 21:53:09 UTC

Writing is a process that involves four steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. During writers workshop, students are being repeatedly exposed to the process of writing.
Donald Graves stated that all children are able to write if they are given proper guidance. Through the writing process, children will be able to become better writers.
http://micromaster14.weebly.com/donald-graves.html

Below is a checklist for writer's workshop. Students are able to keep track of each step in the process of writing.
http://performingineducation.com/2015/12/how-to-run-a-successful-writers-workshop.html

Below is a chart that shows a list of goals for the student. As they each reach a goal in writers workshop, their name is moved.

http://www.mrsjonessclass.com/search/label/writer's%20workshop

Integrating Technology: New Literacies

kmills95 — 2016-12-11 22:40:03 UTC

New Literacies involve online reading comprehension and learning skills that are required by the Internet or other information and communication technologies (Reading Rockets). Students need to learn how to navigate the web and how to use these technologies.

http://peppyzestyteacherista.com/category/Technology
This website has many different ideas to integrate technology into the classroom, such as a Google Doc that helps document when students do not hand in their homework.

Below are 27 apps that help teachers teach and help students learn.

Children's Literature

kmills95 — 2016-12-11 22:55:17 UTC

Children's Literature is written material for the information or entertainment of children.

Attached is a list of children's literature with activities for the students.

Children's books can be used to teach both reading and math. This website provides lists of books to teach many different math concepts.
http://proudtobeprimary.com/childrens-books-teaching-math/

Reflection

kmills95 — 2016-12-12 20:25:44 UTC

This portfolio will help me as a future teacher for when I teach reading. It will be easy for me to go back to this portfolio to quickly look up a definition, or to find activities for my students. It will also be beneficial when I am looking for research to support my teaching. From doing this portfolio, I have learned about several theorists. I have also learned that there are many different ways to teach a topic. Having several activities for a certain topic is helpful because there will be many different types of learners in my classroom. Professional development in literacy is important because it will help teachers to be more successful in their teaching. It is important that teachers learn new techniques and incorporate them into their classroom. Activities should meet the needs of all students, and make learning a fun and interactive process. This assignment address InTasc Standard #8: Instructional Strategies which states “The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.” This portfolio addresses this standard because many different instructional strategies were listed and described.