Reading Competencies & Skills
"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out
is a spark."
— Victor Hugo, Les Miserable
Visit QUIA for additional resources.
Online Resources:
Emergent Literacy
http://www.fcrr.org/science/pdf/Phillips/powerpoint/EmergentLit
eracy.ppt
Bloom’s Taxonomy
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html
Vocabulary Charts:
Online Resources:
Emergent Literacy
http://www.fcrr.org/science/pdf/Phillips/powerpoint/EmergentLit
eracy.ppt
Bloom’s Taxonomy
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html
VOCABULARY CHARTS FOR LANGUAGE ARTS & READING
1 Knowledge of emergent literacy
Knowledge of emergent literacy
What is Emergent Literacy?
Emergent literacy involves the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are
developmental precursors to conventional forms of reading and writing
(Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998)
The five stages of literacy:
i. Emergent Literacy
ii. Beginning Reading
iii. Building Fluency
iv. Comprehension - Reading to Learn and for Pleasure
v. Mature Reader
1.
Identify the content of emergent literacy (e.g., oral language
development, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge,
decoding, concepts of print, motivation, text structures, written
language development).
Emergent Literacy – Grades Pre-k, Kindergarten First Grade
Phonemic Awareness and Print Awareness
Exposure to the basic concepts of reading and print:
a book has a front, a back and a cover.
read the words in the book, not the pictures.
print goes from left to right and from top to bottom.
language is made out of words.
words are made out of sounds.
sounds can be matched with letters.
there is a limited set of letters and the letters have names
other parts of print have names, too, such as sentence, word,
letter,
beginning and end.
Fundamental concepts and operations at the emergent level:
Concept of Word:
Speech-to-print matching:
Making learning fun with poetry or catchy phrases to help students
memorize the words that will assist them when they read the printed
version, pointing to each word as they go.
Speech-to-print matching:
Requires student to understand that language comes in units of words and
those units correspond to letters on a page.
Phonological Awareness:
Breaking down a word into its component sounds or phonemes.
Inability to break down individual sound units will result in student not being
able to sound out the word when they try to read it.
Practicing letter-to-sound correspondences results in better word recognition
and recollection.
Alphabet Recognition:
Knowledge of the letters of the alphabet
Link alphabet to listening and retelling activities
Emergent Storybook Reading:
Verbal method of pointing to pictures and naming them rather than the print
as the primary conveyor of meaning in text.
Children can begin to tell a little story about each picture separately when
prompted.
Student recognizes that the same book tells always tell the same story. The
more often the story is read with the child, the more the child will be able to
match the spoken words with the written ones.
Early Writing/Invented Spelling:
Discovering the relationships between letters and phonemes
Perceptual learning moves from whole to part.
Graphic principles related to writing as a whole before they
master individual letters.
Scribbling and pretend writing to assist student learn to form and
recognize letters.
Teachers need to capitalize on this discovery process and provide
daily opportunities for children to write and invent spellings.
Beginning Reading – Grade 1
Beginning to learn individual words and acquiring a sight vocabulary
Recognize words in different contexts.
Phonics instruction begins in stages:
Glance and guess (guessing what makes sense to the child)
Sophisticated guessing (focusing on an initial letter or final
letter)
Simple phoneme-grapheme correspondences (letter sound
correspondences)
Recognition by analogy (in larger patterns, sight, night, fright,
etc.)
Word recognition (looking for smaller parts within words)
Building Fluency - Grades 2-3
Recognize many words automatically
Understanding what is read
Begin to read rapidly, accurately, and with expression
Early comprehension develop
Comprehension - Reading to Learn and for Pleasure – Grades 3 and
up
Reading to learn
Reading for pleasure
Comprehension increases
Fluency and comprehension result in active reading practices
v.
Mature Reader – Grades 6 and up
Reading from a variety of sources
Appreciation of author's style
Critical reading skills emerge
2. Identify instructional methods for developing emergent literacy.
Read and reread books to children, including big books
Talk about letters and their sounds in the context of the reading
Provide an environment rich with literacy materials and experiences
Play language games
Help children break spoken words into individual sounds
Blend individual sounds into whole words
Provide literacy experiences as part of children’s play activities
Provide, use, and point out environmental print within the classroom
Model one-to-one match by pointing to words while reading
3. Identify common difficulties in emergent literacy development.
Common Difficulties in Emergent Literacy
Deficits in Phonemic Awareness and/or Print Awareness.
Reading picture only, not words
Confusion or not understanding that print goes from left to right and
top to
bottom
Common Difficulties in Beginning Reading
Unable to read individual words
Unable to acquire a sight vocabulary
Recognize words in different contexts.
Difficulty with simple phoneme-grapheme correspondences
Common Difficulties in Building Fluency
Unable to recognize many words automatically
Struggles to read rapidly, accurately, and with expression
Lacks comprehension skills
Common Difficulties with Comprehension
Poor decoding and encoding skills
4. Identify methods for prevention of and intervention for common
emergent literacy difficulties.
Response to Intervention (RtI) is the change in behavior or performance as
a function of an intervention (Gresham, 1991).
The response to intervention (RtI) model is a multi-tiered approach to
providing services and interventions to students at increasing levels of
intensity based on progress monitoring and data analysis.
Prevention and Interventions:
Direct Instruction (DI) Approach
DI is a scientifically-based instructional program which accelerates student
learning by carefully controlling the features of curriculum design and
instructional delivery. DI lessons include explicit, sequenced instruction
provided by the teacher (model), frequent opportunities for students to
practice skills (independent practice), and over time (review).
Direction Instruction emphasizes the teaching of phonemic awareness and
phonics uses teaching to mastery, whereby the group does not move on
until everyone in the group understands the material. (example – Wilson
Reading Program)
Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the understanding, or insight, that a word is made
up of a series of discrete sounds.
Before children can use a knowledge of sound-spelling relationships to
decode words, they must understand that words are made up of sounds.
Phonics instruction
Phonics instruction uses sound-spelling relationships and syllable patterns in
English. This instruction helps children to decode words that follow
predictable sound-spelling relationships and syllable-spelling patterns.
By the age of six, most children already have about 6,000 words in their
listening and speaking vocabularies. With phonics, students learn to read
and write more words at a faster rate than they would without phonics.
Variety of Strategies
Using knowledge of sound-spelling relationships
Using context clues
Using structural clues and syllabication
Automaticity
Automaticity in decoding words is the word recognition speed at which
a student reads with minimal use of a1. Identify the content of emergent
literacy (e.g., oral language development, phonological awareness, alphabet
knowledge, decoding, concepts of print, motivation, text structures, written
language development).
2. Identify instructional methods for developing emergent literacy.
3. Identify common difficulties in emergent literacy development.
4. Identify methods for prevention of and intervention for common emergent
literacy difficulties.
2 Knowledge of reading
Knowledge of Reading
II.
Knowledge of reading
1. Identify the processes, skills, and phases of word recognition that
lead to effective decoding (e.g., pre-alphabetic, partial alphabetic,
full alphabetic, graphophonemic, morphemic, syntactic, semantic).
Pre-alphabetic
words are not decoded in an alphabetic sense but as
icons, using
visual reading cues identifies few phonemes
in words
Partial alphabetic
of
letter cues are added to context cues in the decoding
print.
student identifies the names and major sounds of most consonants makes
letter-sound associations
Full alphabetic
used
the major sound-symbol relationships for each letter are
systematically
student is able to decode many words letter-by-letter
students can recognize words by sight
Graphophonemic letter-sound correspondence
grapho-phonemic cue is only used to confirm predictions
that
are made based on semantics and syntax
Morphemic
the smallest meaningful unit of speech
Syntactic
the conventions and rules for assembling words into
meaningful sentences (the structural system of language grammar)
Semantic
forms.
the development and changes of the meanings of speech
the process by which meaning is derived from
symbols, signs,
the text (the
text, words that make sense in the context of
meaning system of language)
2. Identify instructional methods for promoting the development of
decoding and encoding skills.
Direct Instruction (DI) Approach (see previous section)
Variety of Strategies:
Using knowledge of sound-spelling relationships
Using context clues
Using structural clues and syllabication.
3. Identify the components of reading fluency (e.g., accuracy,
automaticity, rate, prosody).
Accuracy
-
accurate decoding of words in text
Automaticity
-
decoding words with minimal use of attentional
resources
Rate
-
number of words per minute
Prosody
-
the appropriate use of phrasing and expression
to
convey meaning.
4. Identify instructional methods (e.g., practice with high-frequency
words, timed readings) for developing reading fluency.
Speed Drills
timing.
-
reading lists of words with 1-minute
timed passages
5. Identify instructional methods and strategies to increase
vocabulary acquisition (e.g., word analysis, choice of words, context
clues, multiple exposures) across the content areas.
word analysis
the process of using the relationships between
spelling and pronunciation at the letter, syllable,
and word levels to figure out unfamiliar words.
(phonics or decoding)
choice of words
-
context clues
other words or phrases to help with the
understanding of the new word
multiple exposures
the appropriate word or expression
-
thematic instruction
6. Identify instructional methods (e.g., summarizing, monitoring
comprehension, question answering, question generating, use of
graphic and semantic organizers, recognizing story structure, use of
multiple strategy instruction) to facilitate students’ reading
comprehension.
Summarizing text read (main idea, details)
monitoring comprehension (portfolios, inventories)
question answering (literal)
question generating (KWL)
use of graphic and semantic organizers (mapping)
recognizing story structure (setting, characters, problem, plot)
use of multiple strategy instruction (Scaffolding - teacher models the
desired learning strategy or task, then gradually shifts responsibility to
the)
7. Identify essential comprehension skills (e.g., main idea,
supporting details and facts, author’s purpose, fact and opinion,
point of view, inference, conclusion).
Finding Main Idea
The main idea of a reading passage tells what the passage is mostly about.
Recalling Facts and Details
The facts and details tell more about the main idea.
Understanding Sequence
The order, or sequence, of events or details.
Recognizing Cause and Effect
A cause is something that happens. An effect is something that happens
because of the cause.
Comparing and Contrasting
Find how two things are alike or different.
Making Predictions
What you think will happen next.
Finding Word Meaning in Context
Finding the meaning of a word by the way the word is used in the sentence.
Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences
Surmising or figuring out what the author doesn’t always tell you from what
the author has written,
Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion
A fact is something that is true. An opinion tells how a person feels about
something. Facts can be proven. Opinions cannot be proven.
x.
Identifying Author’s Purpose
Refers to why the author wrote the passage. (P.I.D.E. - Persuade,
Information, Description, Entertain.)
Interpreting Figurative Language
A meaning which is different from it’s usual meaning (ex., idioms)
Summarizing
The main points of a passage.
8. Identify appropriate classroom organizational formats (e.g.,
literature circles, small groups, individuals, workshops, reading
centers, multi-age groups) for specific instructional objectives.
Literature Circles
In literature circles, small groups of students gather together to discuss a
piece of literature in depth. The discussion is guided by students' response
to what they have read.
9. Identify appropriate uses of multiple representations of
information (e.g., charts, tables, graphs, pictures, print and nonprint
media) for a variety of purposes.
Non-print media
Non-print media includes games, cassettes, videos, compact discs, dvds,
pictures, posters, study prints, and slides.
10. Identify strategies for developing critical thinking skills (e.g.,
analysis, synthesis, evaluation).
Bloom’s Taxonomy includes three domains of educational activities:
Cognitive: mental skills (Knowledge)
Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (Attitude)
Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (Skills)
Cognitive Domain
The cognitive domain (Bloom, 1956) involves knowledge and the
development of intellectual skills. The recall or recognition of specific facts,
procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of
intellectual abilities and skills.
Category
Example and Key Words
Knowledge: Recall data or
information.
Examples: Recite a policy. Quote prices from
memory to a customer. Knows the safety rules.
Key Words: defines, describes, identifies, knows,
labels, lists
Comprehension:
Understand the meaning,
translation, interpolation,
and interpretation of
instructions and problems.
State a problem in one's
own words.
Examples: Rewrites the principles of test writing.
Explain in one's own words the steps for performing
a complex task. Translates an equation into a
computer spreadsheet.
Key Words: comprehends, converts, defends,
distinguishes, estimates, explains, extends,
generalizes
Application: Use a concept
in a new situation or
unprompted use of an
abstraction. Applies what
was learned in the
classroom into novel
situations in the work place.
Examples: Use a manual to calculate an
employee's vacation time. Apply laws of statistics to
evaluate the reliability of a written test.
Key Words: applies, changes, computes,
constructs
Analysis: Separates
Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of equipment by
material or concepts into
component parts so that its
organizational structure
may be understood.
Distinguishes between facts
and inferences.
using logical deduction. Recognize logical fallacies in
reasoning. Gathers information from a department
and selects the required tasks for training.
Key Words: analyzes, breaks down, compares,
contrasts, diagrams, deconstructs, differentiates,
discriminates
Synthesis: Builds a
structure or pattern from
diverse elements. Put parts
together to form a whole,
with emphasis on creating a
new meaning or structure.
Examples: Write a company operations or process
manual. Design a machine to perform a specific
task. Integrates training from several sources to
solve a problem. Revises and process to improve
the outcome.
Key Words: categorizes, combines, compiles,
composes, creates, devises, designs, explains,
generates, modifies
Examples: Select the most effective solution. Hire
Evaluation: Make
judgments about the value
of ideas or materials.
the most qualified candidate. Explain and justify a
new budget.
Key Words: appraises, compares, concludes,
contrasts, supports.
Affective Domain:
The affective domain (Krathwohl, Bloom, Masia, 1973) includes the manner
in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values,
appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes:
Category
Example and Key Words
Receiving Phenomena:
Awareness, willingness to
hear, selected attention.
Examples: Listen to others with respect. Listen for
and remember the name of newly introduced
people.
Key Words: asks, chooses, describes, follows,
gives, holds
Responding to Phenomena:
Examples: Participates in class discussions. Gives
a presentation. Questions new ideals, concepts,
Active participation on the part
of the learners. Attends and
reacts to a particular
phenomenon. (motivation).
Valuing: The worth or value a
person attaches to a particular
models, etc. in order to fully understand them.
Know the safety rules and practices them.
Key Words: answers, assists, aids, complies,
conforms
Examples: Demonstrates belief in the democratic
process. Is sensitive towards individual and cultural
object, phenomenon, or
behavior. Valuing is based on
the internalization of a set of
specified values, while clues to
these values are expressed in
the learner's overt behavior
and are often identifiable.
differences (value diversity). Shows the ability to
solve problems. Proposes a plan to social
improvement and follows through with
commitment. Informs management on matters that
one feels strongly about.
Key Words: completes, demonstrates,
differentiates
Organization: Organizes
Examples: Recognizes the need for balance
between freedom and responsible behavior. Accepts
values into priorities by
contrasting different values,
resolving conflicts between
them, and creating an unique
value system. The emphasis
is on comparing, relating, and
synthesizing values.
responsibility for one's behavior. Explains the role
of systematic planning in solving problems. Accepts
professional ethical standards. Prioritizes time
effectively to meet the needs of the organization,
family, and self.
Key Words: adheres, alters, arranges, combines,
compares
Internalizing values
Examples: Shows self-reliance when working
(characterization): Has a value
system that controls their
behavior. The behavior is
pervasive, consistent,
predictable, and most
importantly, characteristic of
the learner. Instructional
objectives are concerned with
the student's general patterns
independently. Cooperates in group
activities (displays teamwork). Uses an objective
approach in problem solving. Displays a
professional commitment to ethical practice on a
daily basis. Revises judgments and changes
behavior in light of new evidence. Values people for
what they are, not how they look.
Key Words: acts, discriminates, displays,
influences, listens, modifies, performs, practices,
of adjustment (personal,
social, emotional).
proposes, qualifies, questions, revises, serves,
solves, verifies.
Psychomotor Domain
The psychomotor domain (Simpson, 1972) includes physical movement,
coordination, and use of the motor-skill areas. Development of these skills
requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance,
procedures, or techniques in execution. The seven major categories are
listed from the simplest behavior to the most complex:
Category
Example and Key Words
Perception: The ability to
use sensory cues to guide
motor activity. This ranges
from sensory stimulation,
through cue selection, to
Examples: Detects non-verbal communication
cues. Estimate where a ball will land after it is
thrown and then moving to the correct location to
catch the ball. Adjusts heat of stove to correct
temperature by smell and taste of food.
Key Words: chooses, describes, detects,
translation.
differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates,
relates, selects.
Set: Readiness to act. It
includes mental, physical, and
emotional sets. These three
sets are dispositions that
predetermine a person's
response to different
Examples: Knows and acts upon a sequence of
steps in a manufacturing process. Recognize
one's abilities and limitations. Shows desire to
learn a new process (motivation). NOTE: This
subdivision of Psychomotor is closely related with
the "Responding to phenomena" subdivision of
situations (sometimes called
mindsets).
the Affective domain.
Key Words: begins, displays, explains, moves,
proceeds,
Guided Response: The early
stages in learning a complex
skill that includes imitation
and trial and error. Adequacy
of performance is achieved by
practicing.
Examples: Performs a mathematical equation
as demonstrated. Follows instructions to build a
model. Responds hand-signals of instructor while
learning to operate a forklift.
Key Words: copies, traces, follows, react,
reproduce, responds
Mechanism: This is the
intermediate stage in learning
a complex skill. Learned
responses have become
habitual and the movements
can be performed with some
Examples: Use a personal computer. Repair a
leaking faucet. Drive a car.
Key Words: assembles, calibrates, constructs,
dismantles,
confidence and proficiency.
Psychomotor Domain - continued
Complex Overt Response:
The skillful performance of
motor acts that involve
complex movement
patterns. Proficiency is
indicated by a quick,
accurate, and highly
coordinated performance,
requiring a minimum of
energy. This category
includes performing without
hesitation, and automatic
performance.
Adaptation: Skills are well
developed and the individual
can modify movement
patterns to fit special
requirements.
Origination: Creating new
movement patterns to fit a
particular situation or specific
problem. Learning outcomes
emphasize creativity based
upon highly developed skills.
Examples: Maneuvers a car into a tight parallel
parking spot. Operates a computer quickly and
accurately. Displays competence while playing the
piano.
Key Words: assembles, builds, calibrates,
constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes,
grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends,
mixes, organizes, sketches.
NOTE: The Key Words are the same as Mechanism,
but will have adverbs or adjectives that indicate that
the performance is quicker, better, more accurate,
etc.
Examples: Responds effectively to unexpected
experiences. Modifies instruction to meet the needs
of the learners. Perform a task with a machine that
it was not originally intended to do (machine is not
damaged and there is no danger in performing the
new task).
Key Words: adapts, alters, changes, rearranges,
reorganizes
Examples: Constructs a new theory. Develops a
new and comprehensive training programming.
Creates a new gymnastic routine.
Key Words: arranges, builds, combines, composes
11. Identify instructional methods to teach a variety of informational
and literary text structures.
Informational and Literary Text Structures:
Reading for information is most commonly associated with textbooks,
primary and secondary sources, newspaper and magazine articles, essays,
and speeches.
3 Knowledge of the process of constructing meaning
from a variety of texts
III. Knowledge of the process of constructing meaning from a
variety of texts
Constructing Meaning
Monitoring comprehension
Comprehension monitoring instruction teaches students to:
Be aware of what they do understand
Identify what they do not understand
Use appropriate strategies to resolve problems in comprehension
Metacognition
Metacognition can be defined as "thinking about thinking."
Use Before, During and After Reading Strategies
Graphic and semantic organizers
Graphic organizers illustrate concepts and relationships between concepts in
a text or using diagrams.
Graphic organizers can:
Help students focus on text structure "differences between fiction and
nonfiction" as they read
Provide students with tools they can use to examine and show relationships
in a text
Help students write well-organized summaries of a text
(Venn Diagrams, Story Map)
Answering questions
The Question-Answer Relationship strategy (QAR) encourages students to
learn how to answer questions better.
There are four different types of questions:
"Right There"
Questions found right in the text that ask students to find the one right
answer located in one place as a word or a sentence in the passage.
"Think and Search"
Questions based on the recall of facts that can be found directly in the text.
Answers are typically found in more than one place, thus requiring students
to "think" and "search" through the passage to find the answer.
"Author and You"
Questions require students to use what they already know, with what they
have learned from reading the text.
"On Your Own"
Questions are answered based on a students prior knowledge and
experiences
4 Knowledge of literature
IV.
Knowledge of literature
Identify characteristics and elements of a variety of literary genres
(e.g., short stories, poetry, plays, personal narratives).
Common Literary Genres
Autobiography--The story of a person's life, written by him or herself;
often in the form of diaries, journals, or letters.
Biography--As Dryden defined it in 1683, "the history of particular men's
lives"; the story of a person's life according to another person who writes it.
Drama--Aristotle termed it "imitated human action". It can simply be
thought of as a story creatively constructed and acted out on a stage.
Essay--A moderately brief prose piece of writing that focuses upon a
particular topic; the examination by the author of a specific subject, usually
in an opinionated manner.
Novel--Any extended fictional prose narrative; generally this type of writing
has several characters and a distinct plot.
Poem--A piece of writing characterized by its compact, powerful, concrete
language; it usually presents truth, emotion, or beauty through rhythmic
and orderly arrangement.
Short story--A relatively brief fictional narrative written in prose form (a
long short from 500 up to 20,00 words).
Identify the terminology and appropriate use of literary devices.
Analogy - the comparison of two pairs which have the same
relationship.
i.e. shoe is to foot as tire is to wheel
Climax - the turning point of the action in the plot of a play or story.
The
climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work.
Foreshadowing - hints of what is to come in the action of a play or a
story
Hyperbole - a figure of speech involving exaggeration.
Metaphor - A comparison in which one thing is said to be another.
i.e. The cat's eyes were jewels, gleaming in the darkness.
Identify and apply professional guidelines for selecting multicultural
literature.
Positive portrayals of characters with authentic and realistic behaviors, to
avoid stereotypes of a particular cultural group
Authentic illustrations to enhance the quality of the text, since illustrations
can have a strong impact on children
Pluralistic themes to foster belief in cultural diversity as a national asset as
well as to reflect the changing nature of this country's population
Contemporary as well as historical fiction that captures changing trends in
the roles played by minority groups in America
High literary quality, including strong plots and well-developed
characterization
Historical accuracy when appropriate
Identify appropriate techniques for encouraging students to respond
to literature in a variety of ways.
Respond to literature by summarizing, retelling, and re-enacting stories,
songs, poems, etc. to develop comprehension
Respond to literature by making comparisons of texts.
Respond to literature by making text to self and text to text connections.
Text to self connections are personal connections the reader make to that
which is being read. Text to text connections are connections made between
the text being read and other texts.
Respond to literature by justifying our claims/interpretations to the text
read.
5 Knowledge of writing
V.
Knowledge of writing
Demonstrate knowledge of the developmental stages of writing.
Scribbling
Scribbling looks like random assortment of marks on a child's paper.
Letter-like Symbols
Letter-like forms emerge, sometimes randomly placed, and are
interspersed
with numbers.
Strings of Letters
In the strings-of-letters phase, children write some legible letters that tell us
they know more about writing.
Children are developing awareness of the sound-to-symbol relationship,
Beginning Sounds Emerge
At this stage, children begin to see the differences between a letter and a
word, but they may not use spacing between words.
Their message makes sense and matches the picture, especially when they
choose the topic.
Consonants Represent Words
Child begins to leave spaces between their words and may often mix upperand lowercase letters in their writing. Children write sentences that tell
ideas.
Initial, Middle, and Final Sounds
Children in this phase may spell correctly some sight words, siblings' names,
and environmental print, but other words are spelled the way they sound.
Children’s writing is readable.
Transitional Phases
This writing is readable and approaches conventional spelling. The writing is
interspersed with words that are in standard form and have standard letter
patterns.
Standard Spelling
Children in this phase can spell most words correctly and are developing an
understanding of root words, compound words, and contractions. This
understanding helps students spell similar words.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the writing process.
See Transitional Phases and Standard Spelling Phase.
3. Distinguish between revising and editing.
Editing refers to correcting mistakes such as spelling errors, punctuation,
word choice. Editing targets grammar problems, the revision process
should focus on readability, logic, and clarity.
Revising refers to examining the paper to determine if the organization is
logical, does it flow.
4. Identify characteristics of the modes of writing (e.g., narrative,
descriptive, expository, persuasive).
Narrative Writing
The primary purpose of narrative writing is to describe an experience, event,
or sequence of events in the form of a story.
Descriptive Writing
The primary purpose of descriptive writing is to describe a person, place, or
event so that the topic can be clearly seen in the reader's mind. The writer
must use vivid details that paint a picture for the reader.
Expository Writing
The primary purpose of expository writing is to provide information such as
an explanation or directions.
Persuasive Writing
The primary purpose of persuasive writing is to give an opinion and try to
influence the reader's way of thinking with supporting evidence.
5. Select the appropriate mode of writing for a variety of occasions,
purposes, and audiences.
Modes of Writing:
Narrative
Descriptive
Expository
Persuasive
6. Identify elements and appropriate use of rubrics to assess
writing.
A rubric for student and teacher are used for both formative and summative
assessment purposes. (See assessment section)
6 Knowledge and use of reading assessment
"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."
— Emilie Buchwald
VI.
Knowledge and use of reading assessment
Identify measurement concepts, characteristics, and uses of normreferenced, criterion-referenced, and performance-based
assessments.
The purpose of all assessments is to focus on student’s strengths and
progress.
Assessments and evaluations are tools used for helping the teacher plan
effective instruction, monitor student gains, help determine present level of
student performance, target areas of strength and weakness, and define the
specific focus of instruction.
Internal Assessments: Internal assessments and evaluations assist teachers
in gathering data that will be of assistance to them in planning instruction.
Types of internal assessments:
Running record
Self-Assessment
Portfolios
Observations
Performance Tasks
Standardized Tests
Internal Assessments for Primary and Secondary Teachers:
Letter recognition
Sight word recognition
Phonemic segmentation
Comprehension skill
Decoding skills/Encoding skills
External assessments provide achievement data to external audiences
such as state, county, district, and community agencies, as well as parents
and school governing agencies. External audiences use the data for
comparison purposes in order to measure the effectiveness of established
and new programs. The results of the comparisons are used to improve
curriculum. External assessments compare one state to another and tests
scores and data are used for determining the needs of the school.
Types of External Assessments:
Criterion Referenced Tests – compare the performance of an individual
against a standard, not against the performance of other individuals.
Florida Writes
FCAT SSS
Norm-Referenced Tests – compare the performance of an individual to a
representative national or regional sample of students of the same age or at
the same grade level.
FCAT
NRT
SAT
Standardized Tests – tests administered and scored under a standard or
uniform set of conditions. The testing procedures and scoring criteria are
the same for all students taking the test. .
FCAT
ACT
Identify oral and written methods for assessing student progress
(e.g., informal reading inventories, fluency checks, think alouds,
rubrics, running records, story retelling, portfolios).
Interpret assessment data (e.g., screening, progress monitoring,
diagnostic) to guide instructional decisions.
Individual:
Assessment data is used to monitor progress or gains, and to
determine strengths and weaknesses in literacy development.
Classroom:
Test scores and data are used to plan instruction around the literacy
development needs of all students in the classroom.
School:
Tests scores and data are used for determining the needs of the
school’s
literacy development programs and initiatives.
4. Use individual student reading data to differentiate instruction.
Differentiated instruction is matching instruction to meet the different needs
of learners in a given classroom. The range of instructional need within one
classroom is large. In order to accommodate these instructional needs, it is
recommended that teachers plan for:
Small group, differentiated instruction
Ample student practice opportunities in the form of Reading Centers
5. Interpret a student’s formal and informal assessment results to
inform students and parents.
Formal Assessments:
Formative evaluations – are part of the instructional practice.
Observations go beyond walking around the room to see if students
are on task or need clarification. Observations assist teachers in gathering
evidence of student learning to inform instructional planning. This evidence
can be recorded and used as feedback for students about their learning or as
anecdotal data shared with them during conferences.
Questioning strategies should be embedded in lesson/unit planning.
Asking better questions allows an opportunity for deeper thinking and
provides teachers with significant insight into the degree and depth of
understanding.
Self and peer assessment helps to create a learning community
within a classroom. Students who can reflect while engaged in metacognitive
thinking are involved in their learning.
Student record keeping helps students better understand their own
learning as evidenced by their classroom work.
Summative Evaluations:
State assessments
District benchmark or interim assessments
End-of-unit or chapter tests
End-of-term or semester exams
Scores that are used for accountability for schools (AYP) and students
(report card grades).
6. Evaluate the appropriateness (e.g., curriculum alignment, cultural
bias) of assessment instruments and practices.
Curriculum Alignment - Accuracy:
Assessments are accurate when they measure what they purport to
measure. To this end, the assessments should be aligned with the standards
and/or learning proficiencies that they are designed to measure.
Cultural Bias - Fairness:
Assessments are fair when they assess what has been taught. Students
should be exposed to the knowledge, skills, and dispositions which are
measured in the assessments. Without this type of exposure, it is not fair to
expect students to have mastered the material.