Purposeful teaching and Learning Improving Student learning

Effective classrooms: Regular practice of read-aloud/think-aloud Shared reading modeled writing shared interactive writing guided reading/writing independent reading/writing

Key Instructional Approaches for an Effective Literacy Program Teacher Models explains, models, thinks-aloud Shared Practice teacher and student practice strategy instruction Guided Practice students practice the strategy with coaching from the teacher Independent Practice students apply strategy on their own students get feedback Student Application new genre or format/more difficult text High teacher support Low teacher support

Planning considerations Overall planning of a literacy program to cater to diverse students/needs Planning and implementing the learning block of teaching/learning systematic observation, assessment, monitoring and record keeping of individual student’s reading and writing development home/school links: informing parents, volunteer helpers in the classroom dove-tailing literacy program and interventions links with reading, speaking, listening, viewing and integrated curriculum

Taking time for Literacy “...Students need to read and write every day. Out of the five hours of instruction available each day, an effective timetable will provide large blocks of dedicated time... for students to develop their literacy skills, explore topics thoughtfully and thoroughly, engage in research and inquiry in all subject areas and apply their learning to new contexts... Learning blocks also provide time for purposeful talk and collaborative learning.” (Literacy for Learning p. 29)

Maximizing instructional time In classrooms in which... children are transformed into readers and writers, teachers do whatever in their power to help children make connections. They take whatever time is allocated to them and create a schedule that allows for as much integrated learning as possible. Cunningham & Allington, 1999, p. 238 Learning blocks provide time for rich teacher- student and student to student interaction

Sample instructional sequence Whole class Common modeled or shared mini-lesson min Small groups small groups or individual instruction with strategies based on skill, interest, need or grade min Group 1 shared, guided, independent practice and application Group 2 shared, guided independent practice and application Group 3 shared, guided, independent practice and application 5-15 min whole class sharing, reflection on and consolidation of learning

Read-Aloud/Think-Aloud Usually whole group- full teacher support Teacher Reads to students models skills/strategies of a proficient reader through think-alouds May read challenging materials students may not normally read provides opportunities to talk about text

What skilled readers do implicitly Activate prior knowledge Set a purpose/goal/reason for reading decode text into words and meanings make tt/tw/ts connections make predictions visualize ask questions monitor understanding and summarize apply what has been learned

read-aloud/think-aloud stop to model comprehension strategies let them see what effective readers do inside their heads a great structure to use to slow down the reading process and let students get a good look at how skilled readers construct meaning from a text when we teach reading, we need to keep in mind that we must take what we know and do implicitly and make it explicit for our students, especially for our struggling readers