Supporting Early Literacy Learning Session 1 Julie Zrna March 2011

Explicit teaching in first 3 years (and beyond if necessary)... §Phonics l Relationship between sounds and letters §Phonemic Awareness l Ability to hear and manipulate the sounds in oral language §Vocabulary Development l Understanding new words §Fluency l Ability to read quickly and naturally §Comprehension l Understanding what is being read

Basic Beliefs §Children learn to read by reading §Meaning is the given in all reading §Teaching must be centred on the needs of the child §Teaching must incorporate a combination of approaches §Good teaching is vital §Literacy foundations are laid in the early years

Effective Instruction §Time (for practicing) §Texts (at appropriate levels) §Teaching (active instruction) §Talk (teacher/student + student/student) §Tasks (longer assignments) §Testing (effort and improvement) Allington

Components of the SELL Program Reading By Children (Familiar Reading) Shared Reading Reading To Children Modelled/Interactive Writing Reading With Children (Guided Reading)

The SELL Program §Prep to Year 2:Daily, 30 minutes l Reading By Children (8 – 10 minutes) l Shared Book (3 - 4 minutes) l Reading To Children (3 - 4 minutes) l Writing (7 – 8 minutes) l Reading With Children (7 – 8 minutes)

The SELL Program §Year 2 - Year 4:Daily, 40 minutes l Reading By Children (10 – 12 minutes) l Shared Reading OR Reading To Children ( minutes) l Writing (10 – 12 minutes) l Reading With Children (10 – 12 minutes)

Assessment §Prep to Year 2 l Observation Survey Running Records Letter Identification Concepts About Print Word Reading Writing Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words l Burt l 2-3 Writing Samples, 1st draft

Assessment §Year 2 to Year 4 l Observation Survey (if appropriate)OR l WRAP Reading Survey Reading Assessment Writing Sample l Peters Spelling or SA Spelling

Observation Survey §Running Records l Analysis needs to be done carefully l Consider sentence only up to the error l Total number of M or S or V circles is only a guide l Instructional Level is highest level below Hard Level l Record how the reading sounds l Difference between seen and unseen text

Observation Survey §Changes to look for in Running Records as children are progressing l Readers use M + S + V (eg house/home) l Readers utter word beginning then whole word (eg pl/play) l Readers correct what might have been an error (eg pr/teacher) l Sometimes there are more repetitions l Self corrections occur less frequently

Observation Survey §Letter Identification l Not a stand alone indicator of preparation for literacy learning l Letter names are a limited way of testing what children know about letters l Not assessing whole set may miss half of what some children know l Designed to find what children do and do not know rather than for predicting progress l Cautions about assessing letter-sound relationships At a different time Difficulties are surprising (U-37%, q-35%, x-34%, X-33%, Y-19%, Q-18%, y-17%)

Observation Survey §Word Reading l Does not give a reading age l Does not discriminate between better readers after one year of instruction l Differences of less than 3 score points are not sufficiently reliable l Does not sample child’s Word Reading beyond early reading books

Observation Survey §Writing Vocabulary l Correct spelling l Reversed letters l Words written right to left l Series of words l Capital letters

Observation Survey §Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words l Children have to learn sounds buried within words l Children have to learn to visually discriminate the symbols we use in print l Children have to learn to link single sounds and clusters of symbols with sounds l Children have to learn there are many alternatives and exceptions

W.R.A.P. §The Reading Survey l Complete as part of reading conference l Work through response sheet with students – have students fill in answers l Develop good relationship and easy rapport l Help children feel confident

W.R.A.P. §The Reading Assessment l Preparation l Choosing the First Text Passage l Introducing the Text l Reading the Text l Recording the Oral Reading Behaviour l Retelling l Comprehension Prompts l Deciding on another passage

W.R.A.P. §Analyzing the Assessment Information l Calculate the percentage accuracy l Add retelling and comprehension scores l Determine the description which best fits the students reading and responses l Compare the students scores with the benchmarks

Using the Assessment Information §Reading groups §Addressing areas of need l Fluency l Retelling l Comprehension responses

W.R.A.P. §Assessing Students’ Writing l Assessing Writing Samples Clarity and interest Organization Conventions of writing Revising, editing and checking l Ongoing Assessment

W.R.A.P. §The writing is interesting §The writing is clear and coherent §The ideas are well organized §Conventions of writing are used appropriately §There is evidence of revising, editing and checking

W.R.A.P. §Analyzing the Writing 4=Always 3=Mostly 2=Sometimes 1=Seldom or never

W.R.A.P. §Analyzing the Writing 17 – 20 excellent 13 – 10competent 10 – 12fair Below 10of concern