Creating a Literate Environment for Walden University

1. Literate Environment Analysis
Presentation
By
Angie Aguilar

2. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
Analysis
• In order to create a literate environment it is
essential to get to know your students, this
includes their interests as well as their reading
abilities. The more information you have the
better equipped to connect text with
them(Laureate Education, 2009a).
• I used cognitive and non-cognitive assessments to
gather information on my students. Tompkins
states that effective teachers link instruction with
assessment ( 2010).

3. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
Analysis Continued
• One key factor in determining whether
students will be life long readers is their
motivation to read (Laureate
Education, 2008).
• In order to find my students interest and help
motivate them to read I used The Elementary
Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) with my
students (McKenna & Kear, 1990).

4. Getting to Know Literacy Leaners
Analysis Continued
• I chose to use the Motivation to Read Profile
assessment (MPR), found in the article, “
Assessing Motivation to Read,” (Gambrell,
Palmer, Codling, & Mazzoni, 1996). Since there
is a strong link between motivation and
achievement, I wanted to find out as much as I
could that would help me in motivating these
beginning readers (Gambrell et al., 1996).

5. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
Analysis Continued
• To help me determine my students’
independent reading and instructional
level, which in turn can guide my literacy
instruction I used the Leveled Reading
Passages Assessment Kit (Houghton
Mifflin, 2003). It also addressed three of the
five literacy
pillars, comprehension, fluency, and
vocabulary (Walden University, 2012).

6. Getting to Know Literacy Learners
Research
• The information I obtained from the
assessments is vital for me to guide them to
the right books for recreational reading as well
as for instructional reading (Tompkins, 2010).
• Administering oral interviews as those found in the
motivation assessments lends itself to knowing valuable
personal information about our students (Laureate
Education, 2009a).

7. Selecting Texts
• Dr. Hartman describes the Literacy Matrix and its usefulness
for selecting texts ( Laureate Education, 2010b). This tool was
useful in evaluating the text on the informational vs. the
narrative continuum ( Laureate Education, 2010b).
• This matrix helped balance the amount of narrative and
informational text. This matrix along with what we know
about our students can help to select informational texts that
match my students’ needs and goals.
• When selecting a text we must consider
length, readability, and structure according to Dr. Almasi
(Laureate Education, 2009b).

8. Interactive Perspective
• The goal of interactive perspective is to teach students how to
read and write accurately, fluently, and with comprehension
(Laureate Education, 2009b).
• The perspective focuses on the five pillars of literacy
instruction: phonemic awareness, phoincs, fluency,
comprehension, and vocabulary development (Laureate
Education, 2009 c).
• It is the teachers’ responsibility to teach these students how
to use literacy strategies on their own to become
metacognitive in the use of strategies (Laureate Education,
2009c).

9. Critical and Response Perspective
• This critical perspective provides students with opportunities
to think analytically about text and make judgments about the
validity of the text (Laureate Education, 2009c).
• The response perspective allows students to take risks and
share what they are thinking about the text and with their
peers. They connect personally with the texts they are reading
(Laureate Education, 2009d).
• Making personal connections to the text helps students with
comprehending the text (Tompkins, 2010).

10. References:
• Afflerbach, P. (2007). Understanding and using reading assessment, K–12. Newark, DE:
• International Reading Association.
• Gambrell, L. B., Palmer, B. M., Codling, R. M., & Mazzoni, S. A. (1996). Assessing
• motivation to read. The Reading Teacher, 49(7), 518–533. Retrieved from the Education Research Complete database.
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a).Getting to know your students.
• The Beginning Reader, PreK–3. Baltimore,MD: Author.
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009b). The Beginning Reader, Prek-3 [DVD].
• Analyzing and Selecting Text. Baltimore, MD: Author.
•
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009c). Critical Perspective: Word Study[Video webcast] The beginning reader, Prek-3 . Baltimore:
Author. Retrieved from
http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6071941&Survey1&47=8683062&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
•
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Motivation [DVD]. Baltimore,
• MD: Author.
• Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009d). Response Perspective: Word Study [Video webcast] The beginning reader, Prek-3.
Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6071941&Survey=
• 1&47=8683062&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
• McKenna, M. C., & Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool
• for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 43(9), 626–639. Retrieved from theEducation
• Research Complete database.
•