Walden University Course 6706G-1 Dr. Martha Moore Analysis of a Literate Environment

1. Analysis of a Literate
Environment

2. Getting to Know Literacy
Learners,
P-3
An educator should get to
know their students on a It is important to use a
personal level and have variety of assessments that
an awareness of an will provide information
individual’s identity and an educator will find
learning preferences. useful pertaining to the
~Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a cognitive and noncognitive
aspects of a student’s
literacy development.
~Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a

3. How Did I Accomplish Getting to
Know My Students?
ERAS (Elementary
Reading Attitude
MRP (Motivation Running Record Survey)
to Read
Profile) •The questions posed by the
•It is an authentic assessment ERAS address both the
Afflerbach (2007) states, “The and it addresses word recreational and academic
reading survey portion of the identification and reading
attitudes of students.
MRP allows students to share fluency (Tompkins, 2010).
•This assessment method shows •If a student’s survey
their self-concepts, and how they
if students are struggling in responses describe the
value reading while the
reading due to miscues that enjoyment of reading at
conversational interview change the meaning of the home while, during school
explores individual aspects of sentence or text, which results in the student shows distaste
students’ motivation to read, the text not making sense to the towards reading, then I need
such as personal interests in reader or taking away an entirely
to find the underlying issue
reading” (p. 158). different meaning.
•The running record will help me as to why there is such a
to understand how the ELLs are difference in attitude in the
interpreting the story and if their two settings (Afflerbach,
determined reading level should 2007).
be re-evaluated and re-leveled.

4. Selecting Texts
What is the appropriate text for my
readers?
Students should be supplied with a linguistic text (word-oriented)
variety of texts. Texts should fall
throughout the various parts on the
literacy matrix.
~Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b
Consider Readability:
-sentence length
-number of sentences
-number of syllables
-concept density
-length of text
-text structure
~Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b
semiotic texts (texts that communicate in a
form other than words such as pictures,
graphs, and/or icons)

5. The Literacy Matrix
Utilized

6. Literacy Lesson: Interactive
PerspectiveWhat is the interactive perspective?
The interactive perspective deals with
reading and writing accurately, fluently
Time Span: including with comprehension. Students in a
Two 5o Minute literate environment are both metacognitive
Lessons and strategic readers and writers.
~Laureate Education, Inc., 2010c
Subject: Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
Learning Objectives: Students will…
-read and/or listen to stories about Dr. Martin Luther King’s life and think about
how his fight helped to improve the lives of others and consider possible changes
they could make on the future of society and humanity.
-identify the different meanings of the word “big” as it relates to the idea of “big
words” in story and lesson.
-think of personal dreams, goals, and ideas and create their own “big words”
either in the form of a found poem or an original.
-read through the MLK Jr. excerpts and identify, list, and discuss “big words”.

7. How Big Are Martin’s
OVERVIEW Words???
Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., tells of King's childhood
determination to use "big words" through biographical information and quotations.
Using this book as well as other resources on Dr. King, students explore information on
King's "big" words. They discuss both the literal and figurative meanings of the word
“big” and how they apply to Dr. King’s words. They read an excerpt from Dr. King’s "I
Have a Dream" speech and note the “big” words. Students then choose one of two
options: (1) they write about their own "big" words and dreams in stapled or stitched
books, or (2) they construct found poems using an excerpt from one of King's speeches.
~Traci Gardner
Adaptations
ELLs: To meet the needs of these students the teacher will present an assignment option that
allows them to work from the text that was read and discussed in class versus finding
Recommended Texts
different material and creating an original piece. Students will have the opportunity to use
•Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. by Doreen the Word Mover software to create a poem and be allowed to either print the poem directly
Rappaport from the program or rewrite the poem on a separate sheet of paper once it has been created
•A Picture Book of Martin Luther King Jr. online. Students will also have the advantage of hearing the speech aloud while following
by David A. Adler along versus having to read it alone. In the case of additional troubles, students can ask for
•Meet Martin Luther King Jr. by Johnny help from classmates and/or the teacher. Students will benefit from the multiple reviews and
Ray Moore discussions throughout the lesson to help make connections to the content and subject
•Dear Dr. King: Letters from Today’s matter. Struggling Readers: Struggling readers will be benefit from having audio recordings
Children to Martin Luther King Jr. by Jan to help with unfamiliar words as they follow along. Students will have several opportunities
Colbert, Ernest C. Withers, Roy Cajero to work with other students or work one-on-one with the teacher during the individual
•I Have a Dream Too: A Child’s View of
assignment time for further assistance. The teacher will be reading the primary text aloud,
Martin Luther King Day by Joann Owens
with other texts being read several times with students following along or paired with
•If You Lived at the Time of Martin
Luther King Jr. by Ellen Levine and Beth another individual. This group of students will also find it helpful to participate in the reviews
Peck and discussions to help retain and comprehend the lesson’s information. Students will have
•Martin Luther King, Jr. - I Have a Dream several opportunities to ask questions.
handout

8. Literacy Lesson: Critical &
Response Perspectives
The critical perspective deals
with the reader/writer
judging, evaluating, and
thinking critically about the
text they are reading.
~Laureate Education, Inc., 2010c
The response perspective
encourages the learner to
read, react, and respond to
the text in various meaningful
ways.
~Laureate Education, Inc., 2010c

9. Literacy Lesson: Critical &
Response Perspectives
Time Span:
Two 45 Minute
Lessons
Theme:
Applying
Question-Answer
Relationships to
Pictures
Learning Objectives: Students will…
-Categorize questions according to
the four picture-question-answer
relationships: right there, artist and
you, on my own, and putting it
together
-Answer basic and inferential
comprehension questions using the

10. Overview:
Texts for Lesson
Students are questioned about the words in
-Tuesday by David
a text on a daily basis, but what about the
images? Pictures can help increase students' Wiesner
understanding of the text, topic, or story. In -Zoom by Istvan
this multisession lesson designed for Banyai
struggling readers, students are guided -A Day, A Dog by
through a viewing of David Wiesner’s Gabrielle Vincent
Tuesday, a wordless picture book. As -Uncle Jed’s
students view the images, they are asked Barbershop by
four different types of questions about the Margaree
pictures. The questions range in difficulty Mitchell
from those with answers that can be found -The Red Book by
in the text to those that require inferences. Barbara Lehman
Students learn to categorize questions by
Adaptations:
the four question types and use pictures to
This lesson’s adaptations are meant to accommodate the needs of
help them better understand a story.
all the students involved in the lesson. The lesson is geared
Students then apply what they learned to
toward struggling readers especially. The key to meeting the
an independent reading of Istvan Banyai's
needs of the entire group lies in repeated practice, thorough
Zoom. Students complete a worksheet with
questioning/discussion, and partner opportunities for students to
a series of questions about the story and
talk over their learning and responses with a classmate before

11. How did the Lessons Create a
Literate Environment?

12. References