| Woodruff Primary School utilizes a balanced approach to literacy. This
approach is based upon the work of Dr. Irene Fountas and Dr. Gay Su Pinnell.
This approach is described in their book "Guided Reading."
BALANCED APPROACH TO LITERACY
A balanced literacy approach provides a variety of literacy experiences along
a continuum from teacher-directed to student-independent. These experiences
include, but are not limited to the following:
Reading Aloud (Teacher reads book aloud to the class.)
Shared Reading (Teacher and students read text together. Text may be a big
book, class-created chart, or poster.)
Guided Reading (Teacher supports student as student attempts to use reading
strategies. Teacher may take running record of reading during this time.)
Independent Reading (Student reads books on independent level. Reading
practice at independent level is critical in the improvement of reading.)
Shared Writing (Students dictate the information while the teacher writes on
a chart.)
Interactive Writing (Students and teacher "share the pen" and both contribute
to the writing chart.)
Guided Writing/Writing Conferences (Teacher confers with student on
his/her writing and provides explicit instruction.)
Independent Writing (Students write independently for variety of purposes.)
THREE CUE SYSTEM
Effective readers use the three cue system to interpret text. Struggling
readers depend on only one or two of the systems.
1. Meaning (semantics) - Students obtain meaning from pictures, previous
text, and general meaning of the story.
2. Structure (syntax) - Students form sentences based upon their knowledge of
the language (grammar).
3. Visual (graphophonics) - Students decode text based upon how the letters
and words look.
If a child is not using all three systems, it is helpful to prompt a child
with these questions or comments.
1. Meaning (semantics)
Does that make sense?
Look at the pictures
What happened in the story?
What do you think it might be?
Can you re-read this?
2. Structure (syntax)
Did that sound right?
Can you re-read that?
Can you say it another way?
What is another word that might fit here?
3. Visual (graphophonic)
Does it look right?
What sound/letter does it start with?
What would you expect to see at the beginning, middle, end?
Where do you start reading?
Point to the words.
Did that match?
Can you point to ______?
Can you find ______?
HOW TO HELP A CHILD WITH UNKNOWN WORDS
Wait!!! The child needs time to try to figure it out before you attempt to
help. Then provide help by using the following strategies:
1. Think about the story
2. Check the picture
3. Go back and get your mouth ready
4. Look for chunks
5. Does that make sense? Would we say it that way?
FIVE COMPONENTS OF READING INSTRUCTION (National Reading Panel):
1. Comprehension
2. Vocabulary
3. Fluency
4. Phonics
5. Phonetic Awareness
COMPREHENSION STRATEGY INSTRUCTION
Our comprehension strategy instruction is based upon the work of Ellin Keene,
author of "Mosaic of Thought," and Debbie Miller's work "Reading with
Meaning." First and second grade teachers adhere to the following sequence in
comprehension focus:
September & October - Schema (Background the reader brings to the text and
connections the reader makes with the text) - Text-to-self connections, text-
to-text connections, and text-to-world connections
November & December - Mental Images (Pictures that form in the mind from the
reading of the text or poem)
January - Inferring
February - Questions (Before, during, and after the reading)
March - Synthesis
April & May - Non-fiction
READING LEVELS:
DRA Level 3 - Beginning of First Grade
DRA Level 8 - December of First Grade
DRA Level 16 - End of First Grade/Beginning of Second Grade
DRA Level 20 - December of Second Grade
DRA Level 28 - End of Second Grade
The Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) is used to determine a student's
instructional reading level. It assesses accuracy in reading text, fluency in
reading text, and comprehension through retelling.
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