Post on 04-Apr-2018
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Literacy Plan- High School ScienceED 452
Alverno College
! ! ! ! ! Sara Zavadsky! ! ! ! ! Fall 2011
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Sara Zavadsky4645 S. Forest Point BlvdNew Berlin, WI 53151
Interview TeamDistrict OfficeCity, State, Zip
Dear Interview Team:
I would like to take this time to thank you for the opportunity that you have granted me in meeting withyou and learning more about your school and the philosophy that you all practice under. After our timetogether I am confident that we were able to fully explore the potential for me to join your team ofeducators, specifically as a member of the high school science department teaching Biology andChemistry. I am even more excited about the potential to join your staff and become a member of yourcommunity.
I believe that I could be an asset to your school and help to create the community of educators andlearners that you strive to achieve. I am very passionate about a whole community approach, and Ibelieve that this philosophy parallels nicely with the schools philosophy that you have shared with metoday. My experience with adolescents thus far has allowed me to establish this whole communityphilosophy. In addition, I understand the importance of a school community where both students andeducators work synergistically in the efforts to continuously challenge themselves and one another tostrive for their very best each day and, ultimately, prepare the students for the world that surrounds eachone of them.
I am enclosing my self-created High School Literacy Plan, based around science curriculum, for yourconsideration. My learning coursework at Alverno College and the outside experience that I have sharedwith you today has built a strong foundation where learning is not only challenging but very rewarding. I
have developed strong classroom management skills, a sound understanding of what it means to educatethe whole student with various instructional practices, as well as the importance of collaboration anddifferentiation in establishing a classroom environment that meets the varying needs of all learners. Indeveloping this literacy plan I have strengthened my own understanding and appreciation of the gravity ofinstructional practices that are literacy and technology-rich based. I have practiced implementing andevaluating a number of literacy techniques and I am eager to continue to implement more into myteaching. I am confident in the skill set that I have developed and I am enthusiastic to continue to learnand grow as an educator.
Thank you again for your time and the opportunity to interview me today. Please contact me if you haveany further questions. I look forward to having the chance to talk with you again.
Best,
Sara Zavadsky
email: zavadssm@alverno.edu
mailto:zavadssm@alverno.edumailto:zavadssm@alverno.edumailto:zavadssm@alverno.edu7/31/2019 Sara Final Literacy Plan
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Task I: Written Plan
1. Philosophy Statement:
Students learn best when:
* Literacy based practices and techniques are continuously incorporated
* Technology is included in instructional practices
* They are challenged with opportunities that allow them to develop their Problem Solving and
Critical Thinking Skills
* Learning is student centered and highly motivating
* They feel safe in their environment and confident in their ability to learn and grow and use
their voice to enrich their classroom experiences
* Each differing learning style and student is honored and they are given multiple opportunitiesto demonstrate their learning and understanding
* Teachers value them as members of the classroom community and guide them to reach high
standards for themselves by serving as a facilitator of learning
* They become autonomous learners and they begin to drive their own learning through
discovery
* They are granted numerous opportunities to reflect on their learning experiences
* Students offer and receive feedback to/from peers as well as the teacher in a timely manner
Although my personal philosophy of education and educating in science is primarily
based on the notion of discovery based learning and one that is student-centered, it is a work in
progress that is ever evolving as I continuously challenge myself to reflect upon my teaching
practices. This encompasses my beliefs that learning and growth must happen synergistically in
both the student and the teacher. Both student and teacher need to feel that they are apart of a
community that exists in the classroom and where each member of that community is valued and
respected. The role of the educator is to facilitate the learning of his/her students and allow the
students to have multiple opportunities to practice, explore, and reflect on his/her learning. This
continued relationship between building, growing, and reflecting of knowledge will serve as the
catalyst to the discoveries and autonomous learning that will begin to take shape in the
classroom. An environment where the students and the teacher learn and discover together must
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be safe and the learning that takes place must be meaningful to all contributors involved. In
order to accomplish this, students must be continuously challenged with authentic learning
practices that are rich in literacy integration and technology. Furthermore, when students are
granted the chance to guide their own learning in science through tactile and discovery based
activities and reflect on this learning, their ability to problem solve and critically think begin to
develop. My philosophy also includes differentiating material for students at different levels.
Inevitably there will be a range of reading and writing behaviors present in my classroom and I
want each student to grow and feel engaged and challenged, regardless of where they are in their
literacy journey. I want my classroom to be a brain-compatible learning environment that is rich
and stimulating and non-threatening. This means that the classroom gives birth to active and
meaningful learning and students learn from me, their peers, and most importantly themselves.
My hopes are to create a classroom where learning is not only fun and rewarding but highly
motivating and stimulating. Students will feel free to ask questions and seek answers, take risks,
learn together alongside their peers and myself, and reflect on their learning. Finally, I believe in
integration of instructional strategies in the subject matter curriculum to deepen their learning
and understanding of the material and to encourage my students to examine social issues and
become agents of social change.
Theoretical Background:
There are three main educational theories that help to shape my overall philosophy of
education and drive my pedagogy of teaching. Mainly these theories are: Constructivism,
Cognitive/Information Processing Theory, and Sociolinguistic Theory. According to
Constructivists, learning occurs when students are active and engaged learners who create their
own knowledge through educational investigations and collaboration with their peers.
Constructivism also acknowledges the importance of students background knowledge inlearning new information (Thompkins, 5-6). This student-centered approach is the foundation of
constructivism and is mirrored in my teaching. I believe that students learn best when teachers
value them as members of the classroom community and guide them to reach high standards for
themselves by serving as a facilitator of learning and when they become autonomous learners
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and begin to drive their own learning through discovery. Dewey believed that students are
innately curious and actively create their own knowledge (Tompkins, 8). Both of these
philosophies align with the constructivist approach and Deweys ideas about the creation of
knowledge. As a science teacher I feel that teaching to these two theories parallels nicely with
the instructional strategies and classroom activities that are incorporated into my teaching.
While I teach I rely heavily on student participation and questions to drive my instruction.
Because of this, students begin to develop their ability to create their own knowledge that is
driven by their curiosity and interests. Students of science need to see and touch what is
happening and be the ones that are driving their investigations in order to fully understand what
it is that they are learning. This inherently gives rise to the curiosity that they feel towards
learning and helps to propel their ability to create their own knowledge as well as allowing them
to practice their Problem Solving and Critical Thinking Skills.
I state that I believe that students learn best when they are motivated. This is the
motivation construct of the Constructivism Theory. I feel that this occurs when the students feel
that what they are learning is meaningful and can be applied to their outside worlds. When
learning activities are engaging and authentic, students enjoy learning in different way and are
intrinsically motivated and do more reading and writing (Thompkins, 8). I want my students to
enjoy reading and writing because the knowledge that they gain doing these activities fuels themto want to keep learning. The world of science is full of ever-changing information and I want
my students to not only practice their abilities to read and write, but also to learn the language
of science. As a teacher of a certain discipline it is my job to teach my students how reading and
writing is different in science and to give them multiple opportunities to learn this language,
much like a foreign language teacher would. Because of this I must provide authentic learning
activities that incorporate literacy techniques. Ryder and Graves state, ...the purpose of content
area reading instruction is to improve students learning through the integration of instructionalstrategies in the subject matter curriculum, rather than the presentation of strategies in isolation
(Ryder & Graves,8). If I incorporate different techniques into my teaching on a daily basis
without teaching them in isolation then I am providing my students with the tools that are
necessary to begin to read and write the language on their own. When students have a set of
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skills and techniques that they can draw upon to better understand and learn the material that is
in front of them they will become more practiced and comfortable with the language. They will
begin to apply those concepts to their real world and make the learning more meaningful and
they will be engaged, To the teacher, content reading instruction provides a mechanism to
promote students understanding of subject matter and to engage students in activities and
strategies that promote independent learning and accomplish instructional objectives (Ryder &
Grave,7).
This section of my philosophy is also related to the Cognitive/Information Processing
Theory which outlines that true comprehension occurs when readers and writers use knowledge
and strategies to solve problems (Thompkins, 11). Cognitive/Information Processing theorists
view the process of reading and writing as a meaning making processes. They acknowledge that
readers reactions to what they read are influenced not only by the writing on the page, but also
by their background knowledge and previous experiences. It warns that teachers should
consider the purposes set for students, because when students continually read efferently rather
than aesthetically, they dont develop a love for reading and are less likely to become lifelong
readers (Thompkins, 12). As stated above, because science is an ever-growing field that is full
of new information, it is vital that I allow my students to read the things that keep them
interested to ensure that they will be life long readers and learners of science.In my philosophy I state, Students learn best when each differing learning style and
student is honored and they are given multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning and
understanding. My desire to differentiate material for students at different levels is closely
related to Vygotskys Theory of Sociolinguistics. Sociolinguistic Theory is based on the
importance of both language and social interaction in learning (Thompkins, 8). According to
Vygotsky, students use language to organize their thoughts and communicate and share
experiences with others. Because each student does have a varying literacy level, it is my job toknow the diversity that exists in my classroom so I can provide meaningful language and social
interactions for all the learners in my classroom. This diversity in the classroom is directly
connected to the next section of my philosophy and is influenced in part by the cultural
responsiveness piece of the Sociolinguistic Theory, Students learn best when they feel safe in
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their environment and confident in their ability to learn and grow and use their voice to enrich
their classroom experiences.
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Classroom/Instructional Design:
Role of Teachers
Create a Community of Learners:
The role of the teacher is creating a community of learners within the classroom. To the
sociolinguistic theorists, this means providing culturally responsive teaching, celebrating
approximations and nurturing risk. One of the other key components to my community of
learners is creating a risk-free environment that nurtures risk. Students will feel safe in my
classroom to ask questions, seek knowledge, and explore their interests in science. It is
important that the students and I learn together. According to Ryder and Graves, ...teachers and
students jointly assume the responsibility for learning (p.6). We will work together to achieve
the learning goals, and because we all have diverse needs and ways of learning, curriculum will
be presented in an engaging fashion so that everyone, including me learns together. We will all
respect the ways in which one another learns and we will all understand that each learner needs
different things to learn.
The physical environment plays a large role in creating my community of learners. My
students will sit in small groups, work with many different partners in lab, collaborate on
projects with one another, and publish and share their works in a variety of ways. As in the
science community, my classroom with share knowledge and help one another to understand
what was being explored and taught. If scientists do not share their findings with the science
community, then science cannot propel itself forward. This is how my students will feel about
the work that they are doing and they will all be a contributing member of our classroom and
share their learning with one another and motivate each other.
Addressing Diverse Needs:
To address the diverse needs of any group of students, a successful teacher will have
strategies and instructional modes to support the needs of the students. Children learn in
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different ways, so it will be my challenge to engage each child through the lessons with a variety
of approaches to learning (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, etc.). My students will leave my
classroom confident that they can problem solve and critically think no matter how they learn or
what they struggle with, and my belief that every child can be taught supports that.
Assessment
Natural classroom assessments that offer an authentic learning experience and are created
to mirror what was taught and truly reach the objectives of the lesson or unit are an integral part
of what we as educators must provide to our students. Through various formal and informal
reading and writing assessments we can ensure that we are teaching within the zone of proximal
development. This will ultimately ensure that each student is be able to achieve high standards
and ensure that objectives were met no matter what their diverse needs may be.
Type of
Assessment
Description Why is it appropriate? How will it inform
instruction?
Literacy
portfolios
A literacy portfolio is a
selected sample of a
students reading and
writing work. Some
teachers involve students
in the creation of their
own portfolio.
Literacy portfolios
allow students to be
actively involved in the
assessment of their own
work. Students assess
their own work as they
reflect on why they
want to include or not
include a particular
piece in their portfolio.
A teacher can analyze the
documents within a students
literacy portfolio to
determine his or her growth
in reading and writing over a
period of time. Furthermore,
analysis of these portfolios
help students to recognize the
kinds of goals they need to
set for themselves in terms of
literacy development. With
knowledge of students
strengths, weaknesses, and
goals, teachers can plan and
implement the instruction
necessary to help students
progress as readers andwriters.
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Basic Reading
Inventory
The Basic Reading
Inventory is individually
administrated informal
reading assessment which
identifies students'
strengths and weaknessesin reading.
The BRI contains
graded word lists and
graded passages that
begin at the preschool
level and go the entire
way through twelfthgrade. The results label
the childs reading level
as independent,
instructional, or
frustration.
The results of this inventory
can help teachers to select
texts that are the appropriate
reading level of each student.
In turn, students will be
motivated to readthoughtfully and reflect on
their reading.
RSQC2 RSQC2 stands for recall,
summarize, question,
comment, and connect.
For this assessment,
students recall and list inrank order the most
important ideas from a
previous class. Then they
summarize those points
in a single sentence.
ext, students write one
major question that they
want answered. Then,
students identify a thread
or theme to connect thismaterial to the overall
course. Finally, as an
option, students may add
a comment regarding
their confidence in or
wariness of the specific
course content.
The RSQC2 is
appropriate because it
allows students to
provide valuable
feedback on theirlearning that can help
teachers to target
instruction more
effectively.
Student feedback through
RSQC2 can aid a teacher in
identifying which areas
students are struggling with
and might need additionalinstruction.
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Content Area
Reading
Inventory
The Content Area
Reading Inventory
(CARI) is a teacher
created assessment to
determine at what level
the students are able toread the class textbook.
The assessment uses a
250- to 500-word passage
directly from the
textbook or reading
material and asks ten
questions on a variety of
comprehension levels
from Bloom's Taxonomy.
The types of questions
asked on the CARI are
typical kinds of
questions asked on
standardized tests such
as the SAT and ACT.Familiarity and practice
with these types of
questions is essential
for students.
The teacher can use
information from the CARI
to determine what types of
questions the students
typically miss and also
evaluate how muchinstruction is going to be
needed in the classroom to
ensure that all students
understand the intended
message and comprehend the
concepts in the reading
material.
Writing
projects
Students first drafts,
subsequent drafts, and
final drafts of writing can
all be used for purposes
of assessment.
Students are constantly
engaged in pre-writing,
drafting, and revising,
and therefore should be
continually perfecting
their writing craft.
Assessment of these
authentic projects
provides students with
valuable insights into
how to improve in their
writing especially as it
pertains to writing in
science.
Final drafts can be assessed
for the quality of content and
conventions. Also, evolution
of writing from one draft to
another offers rich
assessment data. The teacher
can notice revision strategies
and look at self-edits to see
what students know about
spelling and other
conventions. This
information helps teachers to
target instruction.
Performance
assessments
Students are asked to
perform literacy tasks and
their performance is
compared to standards of
what students should
know and be able to do.
A rubric is used to
evaluate the quality of astudents performance.
Required tasks can be
close to real reading
and writing students
experience in the
classroom. Rubrics help
students recognize what
is expected of them
identify areas of self-improvement.
By comparing students
demonstrated competence
levels with accepted levels or
standards, performance
assessments guide teachers to
examine identify areas of
need within reading and
writing. However, becausethey do focus on product and
not process, additional
assessment is also necessary.
Concepts and Strategies
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Listening, Reading, and Viewing Intelligently, Speaking, Writing and Visually
Representing will be the main components to how students will learn through literacy.. In my
classroom we will not only be working to refine these skills, but we will be functioning under the
need to learn the language of science as well. My students will begin to read, write, speak, and
think like a scientist would.
Concept, Skill,
or Strategy
Description Significance: Why is it
developmentally appropriate in a
sixth grade classroom?
Reading
The reading
process (What
good readers do)
Discuss: How do people read? What
does that little voice in your head say
before, during, and after reading?
Before: Setting a purpose, observing,predicting
During: Questioning, visualizing,
determining whats important,
inferring, monitoring
After: Retelling, connecting, evaluating
Essentially, reading is making
meaning. These strategies assist
students in making meaning before,
during, and after their reading andultimately comprehending the text.
Reading Comprehension
Reciprocal
teaching
Reciprocal teaching refers to an
instructional activity in which students
become the teacher in small group
reading sessions. Teachers model, thenhelp students learn to guide group
discussions using four strategies:
summarizing, question generating,
clarifying, and predicting. Once
students have learned the strategies,
they take turns assuming the role of
teacher in leading a dialogue about
what has been read.
Reciprocal teaching encourages
students to think about their own
thought process during reading. It also
helps students learn to be activelyinvolved and monitor their
comprehension as they read and to ask
questions during reading to help make
the text more comprehensible.
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ReQuest The teacher leads the whole class in
reciprocal questioning. Students take
on the role of the teacher by
formulating their own list of questions
about a reading selection. The teacher
then answers the students' questions.
This exercise assists reading
comprehension at two levels. Students
deeply analyze the reading selection
to extract their "teacher" questions.
The teacher, in turn, reinforces
learning by answering the questionsand, if necessary, helping students to
refine their work into more focused
questions.
SMART (Self-
Monitoring
Approach to
Reading and
Thinking)
SMART has several steps. Students
read a section of a text and place a
checkmark next to each paragraph that
they understanding and a question
mark next to teach paragraph that they
feel confused about. At the end of the
section, they should stop and explain tothemselves what they have read in their
own words. Once they have finished
reading, students should return to teach
question mark and try to make sense of
the paragraphs. If not, they should use
fix-up strategies to clear up their
confusion or ask a teacher or classmate.
The SMART approach is designed to
facilitate remembering via
understanding. Its a strategy for
students to use as they read content
for classes. It encourages students to
think about the way they are thinking
as they read, analyzing theircomprehension, solving problems, and
asking for help when necessary.
Anticipation
guide
An anticipation guide is a
comprehension strategy that is used
before reading to activate students'prior knowledge and build curiosity
about a new topic. Before reading,
students listen to or read several
statements about key concepts
presented in the text; they're often
structured as a series of statements with
which the students can choose to agree
or disagree.
Anticipation guides stimulate students'
interest in a topic and set a purpose
for reading. They teach students tomake predictions, anticipate the text,
and verify their predictions. Students
also connect new information to prior
knowledge and build curiosity about a
topic.
Summarizing Summarizing teaches students how to
discern the most important ideas in a
text, how to ignore irrelevant
information, and how to integrate the
central ideas in a meaningful way.
Teaching students to summarize
improves their memory for what is
read. Summarization strategies can be
used in almost every content area.
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Making
connections
Students make personal connections
with the text by using their schema or
background knowledge. There are
three main types of connections we
make while reading text: text-to-self
connections, text-to-text connections,and text-to-world connections.
Making connections helps students to
relate more effectively to a text, and
therefore, improves overall
comprehension.
Concept map or
Tree organizers
A concept map is a visual organizer
that can enrich students' understanding
of a new concept. Using a graphic
organizer, students think about the
concept in several ways. Most concept
map organizers engage students in
answering questions such as: What is
it? What is it like? What are some
examples?
Concept maps deepen understanding
and comprehension. They help
students organize new information
and make meaningful connections
between the main idea and other
information. They can be used within
any content area.
Writing
The writing
process
Discuss: How do people write? What
does that little voice in your head say
before, during, and after writing?
Before (prewriting/brainstorming):
Purpose, audience, organization,
content, format
During(drafting): Sequence, word
choice, sentence fluency, transitions
After(revising content, drafting again,editing for conventions, publishing):
Grammar, spelling, punctuation, flow
Writing is a process and students must
understand what happens at various
stages of this process and why in
order to produce high-quality writing.
Cause and effect
chain
This strategy helps students recognize
cause and effect relationships. The
cause and effect chain may be used to
look at a series of events that are a
result of one another or are caused by
one another, like a chain reaction.
The cause and effect chain graphic
organizer reinforces the idea that each
cause brings about a related effect,
that in turn each effect becomes a
cause for the next effect, and that all
causes lead to the final effect.
Students can use these cause and
effect relationships in their ownwriting.
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I-Charts The Inquiry Chart (I-Chart) is a
strategy that enables students to
generate meaningful questions about a
topic and organize their writing.
Students integrate prior knowledge or
thoughts about the topic with additionalinformation found in several sources.
The I-Chart helps students to use
information that they know or have
found from various sources to
generate more questions about a given
topic. These questions foster critical
thinking and can guide studentswriting development.
Cartoon captions The teacher gathers cartoons and hides
or covers the original captions.
Students write their own captions for
the cartoons.
This writing strategy encourages
student creativity and fosters critical
thinking. Students must make
observations and inferences about the
cartoon drawing in order to design
their own captions.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
overview guide
For a vocabulary overview guide,
students select new and difficult wordsfrom a reading selection. The students
write clues which help them define the
word and then use these clues to
establish a definition.
A vocabulary overview guide helps
students develop an association with asignificant clue to a words meaning,
as well as determine its definition.
Concept
definition map
Concept definition maps consider
words in light of three properties or
attributes: What is it? What is it like?
What are some examples?
Oftentimes, definitions are one-
dimensional. Students need to
experience the shades of meaning of
words to help distinguish words more
precisely from one another. The best
way for students to comprehend a newvocabulary term is for them to
experience it, and concept definition
maps help broaden their experience of
new words.
Magnet
summaries
For magnet summaries, students
identify key terms or concepts, magnet
words, from the reading of a selection or
chapter. Students use the magnet words
to organize important information that
should be included in a summary.
This strategy helps students to identify
key terms in their reading, which aids
not only with the development of
vocabulary, but also with reading
comprehension.
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Marzanos six
steps
Students are introduced to a new
vocabulary term in six steps. First, the
teacher explains the term by providing
a student-friendly description,
explanation, or example of the new
term. Next, the students restate thedescription, explanation, or example in
their own words.
Third, the students construct a picture,
symbol, or graphic representation of
the term. Then, students periodically
engage in structured vocabulary
discussions that help them add to their
knowledge of the terms in their
vocabulary notebooks. Fifth, students
periodically return to their notebooks to
discuss and refine entries. Finally,students periodically participate in
games that allow them to play with
terms.
Research and theory point to
instructional activities that help
students understand new vocabulary
terms that are taught directly and also
remember what they have learned at a
later date. This six-step processenables classroom teachers to teach
and reinforce selected vocabulary
terms with success.
Analogy graphic
organizer
In an analogy graphic organizer,
students liken a new concept with a
familiar concepts by identifying
similarities, differences, and categories
of comparison.
Students will find it easier to
understand new ideas if they are
compared to concepts that they are
already familiar with.
Student VOC
strategy
This strategy targets specific content
vocabulary by having students work to
acquire a deeper meaning of a
vocabulary word. Students choose a
word, predict the meaning, and then
consult an expert for the actual
definition. Then, they write the word in
a sentence and choose a strategy to
help remember the words meaning.
Teachers can use this as a classroom
assessment for learning by observing
which words students select. This
strategy promotes differentiated
instruction because students identify
the words they need. A connection
between the reading content and
students' prior knowledge is made as
students devise a way to remember
the word.
Instructional Components
Teaching balanced literacy starts with explicit instruction through modeled reading and
writing. The next step in this process moves into shared reading and writing experiences, where
the teacher is doing the action and the student is making some contributions. In guided reading
and writing lessons, the students are doing the action and are supported by contributions from the
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teacher. The final phase in this process is independent reading and writing. In this last stage,
students are able to practice and apply strategies that were being taught in modeled, shared and
guided lessons.
Table 1
Balanced Literacy
Component
What is the purpose of this component?
Guided Reading In guided reading, students are grouped based on their
instructional reading level. In this small group instruction, the
teacher plans and implements reading lessons with focuses on
supporting and observing students use of early good reading
strategies.
Guided Writing In guided writing, the teacher gathers small groups of students
for coached practice on a writing procedure, strategy, or skill,based on formative assessment of student writing. Groups
consist of students who have similar needs at a particular time
and are flexible. This is very important in teaching students
how to write like a scientist.
Independent Reading During independent reading, students read texts that they have
selected with teacher guidance individually and silently. The
purpose of this component is for students to practice skills and
strategies they have learning during shared and guided reading.
While the students are reading, the teacher confers with them
one-on-one to assess their implementation of these skills andstrategies.
Independent Writing During independent writing, students work silently and
individually on their own writing. The purpose of this
component is for students to practice skills and strategies they
have learning during shared and guided writing. While the
students are writing, the teacher confers with them one-on-one
to assess their implementation of these skills and strategies.
Table 2
Balanced
Literacy
Component
Role of the Teacher Role of the Student Role of the Environment
(Genres and/or materials to
support instruction)
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Interactive
Read Aloud
The teacher reads aloud
with fluency and
expression,
communicating
enthusiasm for reading.
She pauses at significantpoints and invite brief
discussion. She shares her
thinking and demonstrates
how experienced readers
engage with text as they
read. She keeps the lesson
focused on the learning
objective.
The students are
engaged in active
listening. They
share their thinking
as they process the
text together withtheir teacher.
The teacher should be
located in front of the
students, so they can easily
see her reading. A
supportive community of
learners where it is safe totake risks is important.
Shared ReadingDuring a shared reading
mini-lesson, the teacherreads text out loud,
inviting students to join or
take over form time to
time. She makes
connections to larger
context (what we have
been learning about
experienced readers),
yesterdays learning, and
todays focus (theobjective of the lesson).
She demonstrates using
think aloud I language
including the what, when,
why, and how for the
focus of the lesson. She
sets expectations for the
use of learning today and
always and everywhere.
Students are
actively engaged,following as the
teacher reads the
text out loud. The
students join in or
take over from time
to time. Students
listen to the
teachers
demonstration, then
participate bysharing their
thinking and turning
and talking to
partners.
The teacher should read an
authentic text that thestudents can relate to.
Teacher and students
should have a copy of the
same text or the text should
be projected or copied for
students to see. The teacher
should be located in front
of the students, so they can
easily see her reading. A
supportive community oflearners where it is safe to
take risks is important for
sharing and discussion.
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Shared Writing During a shared writing
mini-lesson, the teacher
demonstrates one aspect o
writing. She makes
connections to larger
context and shedemonstrates using think
aloud I language
including the what, when,
why, and how for the
focus of the lesson. She
uses clear examples,
invites students to
participate, and sets
expectations for the use of
learning today and alwaysand everywhere. If the
class is composing a piece
of writing, the teacher acts
as a scribe.
The students are
actively engaged,
observing the
process or strategy
in action. Then,
they participate bysharing their
thinking and turning
and talking to
partners.
The teacher should be
located in front of the
students, so they can easily
see her writing. A
supportive community of
learners where it is safe totake risks is important for
sharing and discussion.
Guided Writing The teacher identifies
small groups of students
who need to work on a
particular aspect of
writing. She implements
structured activities andprovides feedback. She
works explicitly with
students until new
understandings become
part of writing.
Students may
request group help
with an aspect of
writing and
sometimes sign up
for a topic. Studentswork on the
activities designed
by the teacher and
write, read, and
revise their own
pieces of writing.
They evaluate their
own work and assist
their peers.
A kidney table is and
writing materials are
necessary. The teacher uses
a clipboard to take notes. A
supportive community of
learners where it is safe totake risks is important.
Students who are not in a
guided reading group at the
time are expected to be
reading or writing
independently or
responding to their reading.
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Independent
Writing
The teacher holds
conferences with
individual students. She
discusses their writing
with them and checks if
they are applying learningfrom shared writing mini-
lessons. She documents
behaviors for future mini-
lessons. At the end of
independent writing, she
invites students to share
insights gained from their
writing with their
classmates.
The students write,
read, and revise
their own pieces of
writing. They
evaluate their own
work and assisttheir peers. They
use the skills and
strategies they have
learned during
shared and guided
writing instruction.
The teacher needs resources
to take notes during
individual conferences. A
supportive community of
learners where it is safe to
take risks is important forsharing and discussion.
This will be vital in the
early stages of developing a
science voice.
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II: Classroom Design
Pictured above is the layout of my ideal classroom that promotes the best learning
environment and opportunities for my students. This layout speaks to the way in which I align
my philosophy of learning and my pedagogy for instruction. I feel that the layout that I have
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designed allows for my students to feel comfortable in their classroom and develop the sense of
autonomy in their individual learning as well as their learning along side their peers that I hope
to accomplish.
I chose to include desks in my classroom rather than tables for my students to sit at
during instruction. Although I fully believe in group interaction in my classroom, I feel that
desks allow me the option to make groups in any way I see fit more easily. Desks are much
more mobile and students can arrange them in any way that is needed for any given day.
Students can work independently, with a partner, or in a small group. This supports my
constructivist philosophy of education as well as the sociolinguistic ideal of collaboration. This
feature allows the students to work together to create their own knowledge when appropriate, but
the space permits giving students independent work areas based on the days activities. If there
are any behavioral issues that arise then I have an easy way to separate and manage my
classroom by moving individual desks. I interact with my students a lot while I teach and I tend
to move around a lot while I teach and desks make it easier for me to weave in and out and get
around the room. Having a SMART board, or other interactive white board, I will be able to
save notes from classes to allow for better communication between home and school, assisting
the needs of learners with diverse needs.
Although I continuously walk around the classroom as I am instructing, it is stillimportant to establish a space for myself away from my students so they can begin to learn
independently. Next to the board and the lab benches is the teacher desk and several storage and
shelving units. I did this to ensure that I was positioned in a place that allowed me to be in close
proximity to my students working both at their desks and at the lab benches. Here, I am in view
of the students working at the lab benches at all times to ensure that everyones safety is cared
for. It is important that I be in close proximity to working students so that they are able to seek
out assistance when they have exhausted their strategies, a component of cognitive/informationprocessing theories. This also promotes effective classroom management strategies.
Learning in science is best understood through multiple experiences with experimenting
and hands on activities. Instruction and practice often go hand in hand. Because of this students
need to have easy access to lab benches. You will notice that the flow of the desks to the lab
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Overall, my classroom design supports my philosophy of education in a number of ways.
This design allows for a safe environment where students are both challenged and supported by
one another and myself as the leader of the classroom and where they have many resources to
use as they begin to take risks and become autonomous learners and begin to problem solve and
critically think while making learning something of their own. The layout of the classroom
promotes student-centered learning and keeps students actively engaged and absorbed in learning
at all times while they learn to apply concepts in varying ways around the classroom. The many
resources available in the room foster an environment where authentic learning is permitted and
crucial for understanding of the material and development as a student. The layout of the
classroom allows for organized learning groups and differentiation of material.
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III: Self Reflection and Goal Setting
In writing this literacy plan, I have learned more than I ever knew about becoming an
effective teacher of literacy learning. I have had one class devoted to the idea of incorporating
literacy into my discipline teaching, and although the idea of reading and learning in content
areas is still something that I would like to continue to learn even more about, I feel that I have a
better understanding of that than about basic literacy in the classroom. This was a huge learning
experience for me and I am not done yet, I would actually like to revisit this literacy plan before
Portfolio and edit it a lot after I have done some more learning on my own. I feel that I struggled
a lot with the section about classroom/instructional design and what my role is in developing an
effective literacy learning environment and in planning optimal instructional experiences to
address the diverse need of the students, specifically how that looks in assessments, strategies,
and instructional components. I have developed three goals that will help me to become a better
literacy teacher. My first goal is to spend more time reading texts based around literacy in the
classroom. Additionally, I would like to spend more time in a classroom where literacy is
incorporated into the daily lessons. Finally, I would like to spend some downtime preparing
mock lessons where literacy techniques are incorporated into the instruction and not taught in
isolation.
Unfortunately I have not had much of my own experience with literacy classes because of
my heavy science courses that I have to take. I find this to be a little disappointing because I am
very interested in learning what my peers are learning and I feel that this would make me a better
educator. Because of that, I will have to do the extra work outside on my own time. I really
believe that it would be beneficial for me to read through some texts that are rich in theories that
incorporate the balanced literacy approach and offer multiple examples so I can model them in
my own teaching.
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As I reflect back on the field work that I have had I am disappointed to say that I cannot
say that I had a very rich experience with the science teachers incorporating literacy into their
teaching. I tried my best to incorporate what little I knew, and tried new things, and this really
seemed to help the students learn and get excited about learning and in turn become self-
motivated to learn. It was very rewarding to see, but I was left feeling disappointed that I was
not in a classroom that modeled a rich literacy based learning approach. Most of my learning has
come from what experiences my peers share with me about their teaching. I would like to really
spend a solid week or two at the end of the semester in a classroom where either I or the CT can
model this for me. I think that I will be in contact with a few teachers I know so I can give
myself this opportunity.
Much like we did this semester in class, I would like to write up lesson plans based on
various science topics that incorporate different literacy techniques. This was a great learning
experience and really challenged me to think outside of the box and come up with multiple ways
to teach the material. These exercises challenged me to research and learn new things that I had
never thought of before. It also helped me a lot in deepening my understanding with
differentiated learning for all of my students.