LITERACY IN
PRIMARY/JUNIOR
DIANE NEWMAN
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
OECTA
WHAT IS LITERACY?
ORAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
LISTENING
SPEAKING
READING
WRITING
INTEGRATED APPROACH
DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE
HOW DO CHILDREN LEARN?
Stages in physical, emotional and
intellectual development
Current brain research on learning
Piaget’s developmental theory
Literacy theories – Clay, Cambourne
DEVELOPMENTALLY
APPROPRIATE LITERACY
Literacy goals are aligned with the child’s
development
Teaching strategies support the child
A reading and writing continuum is useful
in planning a literacy program
Challenging but achievable with sufficient
adult support- IRA and NAEYC
BALANCED LITERACYFOUR BLOCKS
 Shared and Guided Reading
 Self-selected or Independent Reading
 Writing-Modeled, Shared, Guided and
Independent
 Word Study
 Balance between teacher directed/student
directed
 Balance between whole group, small group and
independent
READERS’/WRITERS’
WORKSHOP
Two Hour Literacy Block
Readers’ Workshop- Reading, responding
sharing, teaching mini-lessons, reading
aloud
Writers’ Workshop- teaching mini-lessons,
writing and sharing
MANAGING BALANCED
LITERACY CLASSROOMS
Space
Time
Resources
Grouping
Activities
Centres
READING
READING ALOUD
Teacher reads to students
Reading is valued
Variety of genre
GUIDED READING
Reading by students
Small Group
Students read, teacher guides
SHARED READING
Teacher reads with students
Big Books
Often large group
INDEPENDENT READING
Student reads on their own
Student selected
Reading Conferences
BENEFITS TO READING
ALOUD
Models reading for pleasure and
information
Motivates children to read
Models expression and fluency
Develops vocabulary
Fosters higher level thinking skills
READING ALOUD
Book selection
Pre-reading
Reading
Post-reading
SHARED READING
Teacher reads with students, often in large
group
Reading strategies are practiced
Materials include: big books, charts,
poems, chants, basal readers and songs
Goal is for students to participate in
reading and experience success
GUIDED READING
 Reading by students in a small group
 Students often grouped by book level, however
grouping can be dynamic
 Students are responsible for the first reading of
the text after teacher introduces the text
 Teacher guides the reading experience with
questions that focus on reading strategies and
comprehension
 Each student has their own copy of the text
 Support + challenge = success
INDEPENDENT READING
Students make their own reading selections
often from prepared book baskets or library
centre
An opportunity for students to practice and
consolidate effective reading strategies
Teacher-student reading conferences
Running records
Book-talks
WRITING
Modeled Writing
Shared Writing
Interactive or Guided Writing
Independent Writing
MODELLED WRITING
Demonstrates the processes and products
of writing
Teacher “thinks aloud” while writing for
the audience of children
Shows how writers make selections about
what to write and hoe to write
SHARED WRITING
Shared Writing is when the teacher writes
down on chart paper the responses from
the students to create a chart, message,
story, report, letter, etc.
The students can view their own words as
they are written down by the teacher.
INTERACTIVE OR GUIDED
WRITING
Interactive or guided writing involves both
the teacher and the students sharing parts
of the writing process.
The teacher writes some of the message
and the students write some of the
message.
BENEFITS OF SUPPORTED
WRITING
Writing can be used for different purposes
and audiences
Shows connection between written and
oral language
Writers make selections about hoe and
what to write
Writing can be modified
You can read what you write
INDEPENDENT WRITING
 The students makes the choice of what to write
about
 Students are writers long before they have control
over the mechanics of writing
 Students should be encouraged to write
everyday- journals, book publishing, reports,
drawings, messages, stories
 Teachers should celebrate children’s writing
efforts by through reading, displays, authors chair
WRITING PROCESS
Pre-writing
Drafting
Responding
Revising
Editing
Publishing
Assessing
WRITING TRAITS
Ideas
Organization
Voice
Word choice
Sentence fluency
Conventions
PHONEMIC
AWARENESS/WORD STUDY
To develop phonemic awareness
To develop grapho-phonemic connections
and alphabetic principles
To build up a store of high frequency
words
To develop strategies for reading and
spelling
LANGUAGE ELEMENTS
Content-meaning and context
Function-speaking for a purpose
Form- patterns like “Brown Bear, Brown
Bear”
Sound Structure-Syllables, Onsets, Rime
PHONEMIC AWARENESS
The ability to identify patterns and
structures in language like rimes and onsets
The ability to manipulate the sounds of
oral speech
GRAPHO-PHONIC
ACQUISITION
The ability to make connections between
written letters and sounds.
Acquired after the child has a well
developed sense of phonemic awareness
PHONEMIC AWARENESS
1.Rhythm and Rhyme
2.Parts of a Word
3.Sequence of Sounds
4.Separation of Sounds
5.Manipulation of Sounds
GRAPHO-PHONICS
Word Walls
Word Books
Word Sorts
Word Families
HOME/SCHOOL
CONNECTIONS
Snuggle Up and Read
Adventure Bear
Reading clubs
Family Literacy Nights
Newsletters
ASSESSMENT
Use of developmental Continuums in
reading and writing
Retell, relate, reflect
Variety of methods and data
Authentic assessment
Rubrics vs. developmental assessment
LITERACY
Guiding children on the road to
literacy, I must remember.. To walk
beside them so that our encounters
may be shared….Susan R. Marshall