Learning theories that have influenced
the teaching of reading and writing.
 From a historical perspective, what are
these theories?
 Which theories represent how each of us
teach?
 Which theories guide effective classroom
practice today?
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1. Teachers are committed to students and
their learning.
2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and
how to teach those subjects to their students.
3. Teachers are responsible for managing and
monitoring student learning
4. Teachers think systematically about their
practice and learn from experience.
5. Teachers are members of Learning
communities
The five core propositions of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Behaviorism
 Constructivism
 Interactive
 Sociolinguistics
 Reader Response
 Critical Literacy

Characteristics
 Teachers provide
direct instruction.
 Teachers motivate
children and control
behavior.
 Teachers use tests to
measure learning.
 Children are passive
learners.
Applications
 Teachers use basal
reader programs,
post word walls in
the classroom, and
use tests to measure
children’s learning
Characteristics
 Children are active
learners
 Children relate new
information to prior
knowledge
 Children organize
and relate
information to
schemata
Applications
 Children use K-W-L
charts, make
personal, world, and
literary connections
to books they are
reading, and choose
the books they read
and topics for writing
Characteristics
 Children use prior
knowledge and
features in the text to
guide
comprehension
 Children use word
identification skills
and comprehension
strategies
Applications
 Teachers use guided
reading and model
strategies using
think- alouds, and
children use reading
and writing strategies
and draw graphic
organizers to aid in
their comprehension
Characteristics
 Thought and
language are
related.
 Children use social
interaction as a
learning tool.
 Teachers provide
scaffolds for children
Applications
 Teachers read aloud
to children, use
shared reading, the
Language
Experience
Approach, and
interactive writing
because the
teacher provides a
scaffold
Characteristics
 Readers create
meaning as they read
and write
 Children vary how
they read and write
according to aesthetic
and efferent purposes
 The goal is for children
to become lifelong
reader and writers
Applications
 Children respond to
literature by writing in
reading logs and
participating in grand
conversations and
instructional
conversations. Other
applications include
reading and writing
workshop
Characteristics
 Children are
empowered through
reading and writing.
 Readers think critically
about books they are
reading.
 Children become
agents for social
change
Applications
 Children read
multicultural literature,
consider social issues
in books they read,
write letters to the
editor, and pursue
community projects,
and teachers apply
this theory when they
create inclusive
communities of
learners in their
classrooms
If I reflect on my
classroom practice, where
do I fit in.
What theory or theories best
reflect my instructional
practices
Please write in your journals
and provide examples of
what you do and what
learning theory is the best fit
for that example.
Tompkins, Gail, (2007). Literacy for the 21st
Century : Teaching Reading and Writing
in Pre-Kindergarten Through Grade 4.
Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall
National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards