1. Opening

2. “Using the Four Blocks Model for Exemplary Literacy Instruction”
Presented by Susan Roberts
Carson-Newman College
Teacher Education Division

3. Spotlight on Reading
“Our obligation to America’s teachers is as clear and strong as our obligation to America’s children. Teachers deserve all the knowledge and support we can give them. And children deserve the quality education that comes from excellent teachers. This is their birthright.”
First Lady Laura Bush
Mandate: No less than a “qualified teacher” in every public school classroom.
Federal No Child Left Behind Law of 2002

4. “A Balanced Literacy Framework… Using Patricia Cunningham’s Four Blocks Literacy Model”

5. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, National Research Council Snow, Burns, and Griffin, 1998
“Academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skill at the end of grade three. A person who is not at least a modestly skilled reader by the end of third grade is quite unlikely to graduate from high school.”

6. Teaching Approaches: 1950’s – 1960’s “Look, Say” “Sight Reading”

7. Teaching Approaches: 1960’s – 1990’s “Phonics”

8. Teaching Approaches: 1990’s – 2000 “Whole Language”

9. Balance Traditional (Phonics) Whole Language Direct skill Instruction
Oral Reading by teachers and students
Explicit, systematic teaching
Flexible Grouping Formats
Systematic Phonics
Process Writing
Basal readers
Language rich environment
Decodable text
Trade Books

10. Balanced Reading Diet
To become good readers, students need a balanced reading diet. The different “food groups” of balanced reading instruction are:
Guided Reading
Self-Selected Reading
Writing
Working with Words
Cunningham and Allington, 1999

12. The “Big Five” Areas of Reading Development
Phonemic Awareness
Vocabulary
Phonics & Decoding Strategies
Comprehension Strategies
Fluency

13. Four Blocks Framework
The Four Blocks framework was developed by teachers who believe that to be successful in teaching all children to read and write, we have to do it all! Doing it all means incorporating daily the different approaches to beginning reading.

14. Working with Words
Purpose: To ensure that children read, spell, and use high-frequency words correctly, and that they learn the patterns necessary for decoding and spelling.
“In February of 2000, Time reported this trend in the vocabularies of typical 14-year-olds:
Vocabulary of 25,000 words
Vocabulary of 10,000 words

15. Working With Words Segment One (Ten Minutes) Segment Two (20 Minutes)
Word Wall
Segment Two (20 Minutes)
Decoding and Spelling Activities
Making Words
Guess the Covered Word
Rounding Up the Rhymes
Reading and Writing Rhymes
Using Words You Know

16. Working with Words

17. AUTOMATICITY AND THE BRAIN
The brain has the remarkable ability to make things “automatic” after having processed (words) several times.
Once something is put in the automatic part of the brain, it is carried out without any conscious thought.
Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy P. Hall, 1998

18. AUTOMATICITY AND THE BRAIN:
This automatic-making function of the brain is a wonderful asset when it makes things “automatic right.”
However, it isn’t really the student’s fault that their brains have learned (words) automatically but wrong.
But, it is their responsibility to fix it.
Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy P. Hall, 1998

19. AUTOMATICITY AND THE BRAIN:
The brain does not like to take things out of the automatic compartment, throw them away, and put them back in there right!
Thus, the need for lots of repetition and practice…perfect practice, that is.
Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy P. Hall, 1998

20. AUTOMATICITY AND THE BRAIN:
The brain can do many automatic things at a time, but only one nonautomatic thing at a time.
Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy P. Hall, 1998

21. WORD WALLS:
Tell students that one way to practice words is to say them aloud in a rhythmic chanting fashion. The brain responds to sound and rhythm.
Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy P. Hall, 1998

22. WORD WALLS: Chant It! Cheer It! Cunningham, Dottie Hall, 1998)
Chant words, cheerleader style from the word wall. Emphasize the hard to spell words in our English language. (Illogical words but very high frequency)
Examples:
braid, laid paid --- said
tray, stray, pray --- they
mend, tend, send --- friend
DON’T JUST HAVE A WORD WALL, DO A WORD WALL EVERYDAY!
Cunningham, Dottie Hall, 1998)

23. Guided Reading
Purpose: To build comprehension and fluency with reading, and to introduce students to a variety of literature.
Total Time: minutes
Segment One: Before Reading
Segment Two: Reading:
Flexible Grouping: Paired (Partner), Individual, Small groups reading with the teacher, Three-ring circus, Book Club Groups
Teacher Coaching
Segment Three: After Reading
Research: NCTE 2003

24. Teaching Comprehension in the Information Age
Informational text (nonfiction) presents different kinds of comprehension obstacles for younger readers.
Many young readers have trouble following the organizational structures of nonfiction text.
(Reutzel and Cooter 2004)

25. Teaching Comprehension in the Information Age
More time in the primary grades devoted to teaching comprehension using informational (nonfiction) texts.
Research:
Low socioeconomic children read informational text 3.6 minutes / day on average.
(Pearson & Duke, 2002)

26. Modeled Reading
According to Dr. Patricia Cunningham, teachers need to read aloud daily from four types of text:
Fiction (Everybody Books)
Non-Fiction
Poetry
Classics (Old Favorites)

27. Self-Selected Reading
Purpose: To build fluency in reading, to allow students to read and enjoy text that is appropriate to their own independent reading levels, and to build confidence in students as readers.
Total Time: minutes
Segment One: Teacher Read-Aloud
Segment Two: Independent Reading and Conferencing:
Segment Three: Sharing

28. Advantages of the Four Blocks Framework
The model is considered “Best Practices”
The framework helps teachers maximize time on task and better organize the teaching / learning environment.
Active engagement of students alone makes a tremendous difference.
Sigmon, 2001

32. Three Rules for Good Teaching (Lola May)
Know your stuff!
Know whom you stuff!
Stuff them elegantly!