Creating a Literacy Environment
Literacy development is dependent on instruction meaning that if one finds quality instruction, then they are likely to develop better literary skills. Children are passed through successive stages of literacy and in each stage there are qualitative changes in writing and reading tasks meaning that the quality of instruction has to change at all stages. The purpose of this essay is to describe the different elements of a literature rich environment in a classroom.
The early literacy lesson is about a kindergarten teacher conducting a literature lesson. The lesson begins with a ‘read aloud’ lesson after which the students perform a writing activity. The areas within the literary framework that can be observed from this media are reading and writing. The teacher is guiding the students to read and write on different topics like science, math and social studies. The classroom material is adapted to meet the learning needs of the students and also to motivate the students to reading. When in need of more information, students use dictionaries, computers, word walls, encyclopedias and their peers. The teacher is also of great help to the students in case they need assistance from him.
The Common Core State Standards is an educational initiative which has information on what K-12 learners should know in mathematics and English. The media example of teacher evokes conversation on language while reading aloud helps in improving the vocabulary of the learners. This can be integrated with the components of a literary environment where the classroom may be filled with pictures and words, and mathematical notions and expressions. The purpose of this is to increase student interaction with the course content thereby promoting retention of the content (Ragains & Wood, 2015). There is a session for practical everyday practice where students use signs, watches and schedules to understand the different ways in which words can be used. Children with learning disabilities like those with visual impairments are allowed to use Braille in order to make the classroom more inclusive.
The two components of the framework for literary instruction which I feel I am confident are the interactive and critical component. I feel I can instruct reading, writing and comprehension very easily. I also feel I have the analytical skills to critically examine and evaluate text. However, I feel that I need to develop more skills that form the basis for reading, writing and comprehension.
The literary framework can be used as a planning tool in enhancing literary instruction (Powell & Rightmyer, 2012). I will collaborate with my colleagues to ensure that we always have literary rich environments in the classrooms. This is where we will emphasize the importance of reading, speaking and writing. The materials that will be selected in the classroom environment will be those that facilitate development of language among the students. Together with my colleagues, we will inform the students to always relate the course content with whatever they experience in their daily lives. We will have a wide selection of books from different subjects to ensure that we can alternate the books. This will help evoke and maintain the interests of the students and also expose them to different topical issues. In order to accommodate the learning needs of the students, there are instances when the environments will be adapted to individual students. This is where as a teacher I will create both directed and group activities during the process of assessing student performance in the course contents. Students will be allowed to participate actively in the process. For example, students may be required to dictate some words. When a student who is not yet fluent in pronunciation dictates words, then the other students may understand the translation of oral language into written.
References
Powell, R., & Rightmyer, E. (2012). Literacy for all students: An instructional framework for
closing the gap. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Ragains, P., & Wood, M.S. (2015). The new information literacy instruction: Best practices.
New York: Rowman & Littlefield.