How are all the components of Literacy connected?
![Picture](/uploads/9/8/9/1/9891547/9875697.jpg?740)
This graphic is my representation of how all the components of literacy are connected and how they work together. I got the idea to represent literacy as a sailboat when we were discussing the 15 key element of adolescent literacy, as recommended in the Reading Next article. As we were talking about the 6 infrastructure improvements and the 9 instructional improvements, I began envisioning these elements as the base, or primary support of the literacy program.
The six elements that are at the very base of my sailboat are infrastructure improvements or "improving the overall school climate." On top of these elements are the nine instructional improvements that can be implemented by a single teacher or the entire school. These fifteen elements must work together in order to be the most effective. "While the instructional improvements can have a tremendous impact, it is important to realize that they would be more effective if they were implemented in conjunction with infrastructure supports" (Biancarosa & Snow, p.13).
As the mast of my sailboat I have placed comprehension, with the sails of accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary 0coming off from it. I believe that the overall goal of teaching and assessing students for accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary, is to ensure that these students are comprehending, understanding, and able to access the text to its fullest. "Children who do not develop reading fluency, no matter how bright they are, will continue to read slowly and with great effort" (Adams, 1990). The more efforts students have to put into decoding and stumbling upon unknown words, the less energy they have to put into comprehending the text, enjoying the story, and thinking deeply about what they are reading.
I chose to stitch together fluency and accuracy sails because I feel that these two components of literacy are closely connected and dependent on one another. While accuracy is the percentage of words read correctly, fluency is the ability to read smoothly and easily at a good rate with phrasing and expression (read like you talk). You really can't have one without the other. A fluent reader that decodes words incorrectly will not understand the text and an accurate reader who is slow and choppy will also not be able to comprehend the text as so much energy will be spent on decoding. Stitched together, these two literacy component help to create an engaging and skilled reader.
Vocabulary is represented by the other sail and is also extremely important in helping students comprehend what they are reading.Children who enter school with limited vocabulary knowledge grow much more discrepant over time from their peers who have rich vocabulary knowledge (Baker, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 1997). Students with larger vocabularies are more successful with their reading. Vocabulary must be explicitly taught in fun and engaging way so that the vocabulary of all students can grow.
Writing is the wind that pushes students to grow in their literacy skills. I feel that writing is a vehicle in which students can practice all of their skills and demonstrate to teachers and peers their growth in comprehension, accuracy, fluency, vocabulary, and more. Writing is effected by a student's reading, and reading is effected by a student's writing. This symbiotic relationship allows for a student to develop their literacy skills and move along at an appropriate rate.
I have represented the family and teacher as the oars in this graphic. Just like oars can help move a boat along when there is not enough wind to push the sails, the teacher and family of each student can help to push the student along when he or she is struggling in any area of literacy. Both oars have to work together in order to move the boat along, and it is so important that the family and teacher also work together and communicate. The teacher has the responsibility of communicating with the family, involving the family, and setting goals together for the student. When the student, family, and teacher are all working together towards the same goals, the student will have the most academic success. It is important that educators draw upon "students' background knowledge and experiences to enhance learning" (Amaro-Jiminez & Semingson, 2011). Communicating with families can help us tap into these funds of knowledge and connect the classroom curriculum in meaningful ways.
Lastly, I decided to include oral language as part of my graphic. Although I originally had not planned to include this aspect of literacy, after doing my presentation on oral language as my area of weakness, its been hard to ignore this vital piece to the literacy curriculum. I chose to put oral language as the waves because "oral language is the building block that fosters all other areas of literacy" (Zhang & Alex, 1995). Like writing, oral language helps to move the other literacy skills along. The development of oral language is crucial to a student's literacy development just as waves are crucial for sailing a boat.
As you navigate through this website, keep this image in the back of your mind. Remember that all components of literacy work together to build the literacy skills of your students. As teachers we must spend time and energy on each of these components and connect them in meaningful ways. Our literacy block should address each of these components on a very regular basis. If we wish to help our students, especially our struggling readers, no component can or should be ignored.
The six elements that are at the very base of my sailboat are infrastructure improvements or "improving the overall school climate." On top of these elements are the nine instructional improvements that can be implemented by a single teacher or the entire school. These fifteen elements must work together in order to be the most effective. "While the instructional improvements can have a tremendous impact, it is important to realize that they would be more effective if they were implemented in conjunction with infrastructure supports" (Biancarosa & Snow, p.13).
As the mast of my sailboat I have placed comprehension, with the sails of accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary 0coming off from it. I believe that the overall goal of teaching and assessing students for accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary, is to ensure that these students are comprehending, understanding, and able to access the text to its fullest. "Children who do not develop reading fluency, no matter how bright they are, will continue to read slowly and with great effort" (Adams, 1990). The more efforts students have to put into decoding and stumbling upon unknown words, the less energy they have to put into comprehending the text, enjoying the story, and thinking deeply about what they are reading.
I chose to stitch together fluency and accuracy sails because I feel that these two components of literacy are closely connected and dependent on one another. While accuracy is the percentage of words read correctly, fluency is the ability to read smoothly and easily at a good rate with phrasing and expression (read like you talk). You really can't have one without the other. A fluent reader that decodes words incorrectly will not understand the text and an accurate reader who is slow and choppy will also not be able to comprehend the text as so much energy will be spent on decoding. Stitched together, these two literacy component help to create an engaging and skilled reader.
Vocabulary is represented by the other sail and is also extremely important in helping students comprehend what they are reading.Children who enter school with limited vocabulary knowledge grow much more discrepant over time from their peers who have rich vocabulary knowledge (Baker, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 1997). Students with larger vocabularies are more successful with their reading. Vocabulary must be explicitly taught in fun and engaging way so that the vocabulary of all students can grow.
Writing is the wind that pushes students to grow in their literacy skills. I feel that writing is a vehicle in which students can practice all of their skills and demonstrate to teachers and peers their growth in comprehension, accuracy, fluency, vocabulary, and more. Writing is effected by a student's reading, and reading is effected by a student's writing. This symbiotic relationship allows for a student to develop their literacy skills and move along at an appropriate rate.
I have represented the family and teacher as the oars in this graphic. Just like oars can help move a boat along when there is not enough wind to push the sails, the teacher and family of each student can help to push the student along when he or she is struggling in any area of literacy. Both oars have to work together in order to move the boat along, and it is so important that the family and teacher also work together and communicate. The teacher has the responsibility of communicating with the family, involving the family, and setting goals together for the student. When the student, family, and teacher are all working together towards the same goals, the student will have the most academic success. It is important that educators draw upon "students' background knowledge and experiences to enhance learning" (Amaro-Jiminez & Semingson, 2011). Communicating with families can help us tap into these funds of knowledge and connect the classroom curriculum in meaningful ways.
Lastly, I decided to include oral language as part of my graphic. Although I originally had not planned to include this aspect of literacy, after doing my presentation on oral language as my area of weakness, its been hard to ignore this vital piece to the literacy curriculum. I chose to put oral language as the waves because "oral language is the building block that fosters all other areas of literacy" (Zhang & Alex, 1995). Like writing, oral language helps to move the other literacy skills along. The development of oral language is crucial to a student's literacy development just as waves are crucial for sailing a boat.
As you navigate through this website, keep this image in the back of your mind. Remember that all components of literacy work together to build the literacy skills of your students. As teachers we must spend time and energy on each of these components and connect them in meaningful ways. Our literacy block should address each of these components on a very regular basis. If we wish to help our students, especially our struggling readers, no component can or should be ignored.
Self-reflective Piece
This literacy website that I have created for myself will be an amazing resource for me as I continue my career as a teacher. This website includes so many great resources, links, and websites that I can use and turn to when I'm needing help in different areas of literacy teaching. Additionally, this website can be something that I expand on throughout the years. I think this would be a great place to add more resources as I find them. Instead of bookmarking useful websites on my home or work computer, I can add the website links to this website and have all of them in one spot, accessible from anywhere with internet. I chose to make a website as opposed to a binder because of this accessibility. I can access my website from any where in the world. I won't have to worry about losing it or carrying it around with me. I can also share the web address with my colleagues, principals, and parents when they have questions about my literacy curriculum or perhaps need help with literacy instruction as well. I am eager to use this resource in the future and watch it grow as I learn more and more about teaching literacy.