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Aleatra Nading Philosophy of Literacy Lynda Fernholz EDUC 319 23 April 2013

2 Philosophy of Literacy Every child is different and very unique in his or her own way. While a certain subject area could be a strength for one student, it may be a weakness for another student. No matter the subject area, students need a solid foundation both in reading and writing. Reading and writing go hand-and-hand and are used in every subject as well as everyday life. Valerie & Foss-Swanson (2012) state, learning to write is crucial to literacy development. Writing is just one of many components students need to learn to help them grow in literacy. This paper will discuss my personal philosophy of literacy: what it is, why literacy is important, and a variety of components that make up a good literacy teacher. Literacy is not only fundamental for learning in school, but also aids people in being successful in life. Without literacy, we would not be able to read, write, speak, listen, or think skillfully. Literacy is a life-long learning process, just like teaching we will never stop learning. It is important to expose children, at a young age, to the different areas of literacy because children are like sponges - they absorb everything. Students are constantly learning and growing to become proficient readers, writers, and better critical thinkers which is an awesome journey to be a part of as a teacher. Literacy is an essential life skill that may start small when children are younger, but has an immense impact later in life. As a future educator, I will instill in my students the importance of literacy and its various components in order for my students to be successful. One way to set my students up for success is to provide them with a positive learning environment. I will create a literacy-rich classroom, in which students will want to read and write. My walls will be covered with words and prints, such as a word wall. I will also display the students work to celebrate their reading and writing accomplishments. My

3 classroom will be arranged in a way to support whole group, small group and individual instruction. I will also dedicate a portion of my room to a reading corner, which will include a library. According to the International Reading Association (2000), a classroom library should contain at least seven books per child. The books should include a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction genres, such as: storybooks, novels, biographies, magazines, and poetry which will be at their reading level. That is why it is extremely important to build relationships with students so we can gain background knowledge of topics that interest them. I will provide numerous opportunities and tools that engage students in reading and writing activities. Having a literacy-rich classroom will excite the students and provide them with the proper learning environment to expand upon their literacy skills. Creating a literacy-rich classroom will give the students many resources, which will aid in teaching other components of literacy, such as modeling writing. Regardless the grade level teachers should model what is expected of the students, especially in writing as it can vary from one teacher to the next. Not only will this help the students with their writing, but it will also help the students learn my expectations. If we as teachers show students how excited we are about writing, they too will want to take part in the process. Jennifer Gobin (2009) states, writing is the perfect opportunity to let students see you make mistakes. It is important to show students that we are not perfect and that we are continually trying to grow as authors ourselves. The mistakes we make as educators are strong teachable moments. The students can become the editors of our work, which not only helps them feel important, but also teaches the useful skill of editing. Students also learn different techniques and strategies in writing when reading other peoples work and participating in peer editing. Sample pieces of either the teachers work or past students

4 work can be very helpful to students. It is important for students to be presented with a variety of models both good writing as well as not so good. While modeling writing is important in the classroom, I think it is equally important to model good reading. Good writing skills link to good reading skills. No matter the age, children should be read to daily, from infant on. According to Allington & Gabriel (2012), listening to an adult model fluent reading increases students own fluency and comprehension skills, as well as expanding their vocabulary, background knowledge, sense of story, awareness of genre, and text structure, and comprehension of the texts read. Again this emphasizes the importance of modeling for students, both writing and reading. According to Pinnell & Fountas (2011), a self-motivated literacy curriculum includes hearing teacher-selected and grade-appropriate texts read aloud. No matter which grade level I teach I will dedicate time to read-aloud to my students. Read-alouds will allow me to model expressive and enthusiastic reading, which will pass on the love for reading to my students. Read-alouds are a great way to stimulate childrens imagination and increase their attention span because they will be engaged in the book. Reading aloud to students can be very calming and relaxing to students, which is why it becomes enjoyable for the children. I have noticed this in one of the classrooms I observed in this past spring. The students looked forward to the twenty-minute read-aloud before lunch everyday. For some students this is the only chance they have when an adult reads to them. Some children do not have parents or other adults at home who can sit down at night and read to their children. A child is more likely to enjoy reading if it is modeled in the home and at school. Teachers cannot expect students to pick up a book on their owns; it starts at home at a young age. Reading aloud will help our students become better readers and writers.

5 Another important factor to consider when helping students grow in their literacy skills is to allow them time to read and write. Valerie and Foss-Swanson (2012) write that family message journals require little planning time and no grading time for teachers, yet students increase the time that they spend on writing. I love the idea of journaling in the classroom and making it a daily routine for the children. Journaling not only gives the students an opportunity to jot down their thoughts and ideas, but to really express themselves. The journals that Valerie & Foss-Swanson (2012) talk about provided a built-in authentic purpose for increased writing time, and assisted in communication between school and home. Students knew that their parents or guardians were the audience and their messages had a purpose. Children take pride in their work and communicate more effectively when given opportunities to write for authentic purposes. I believe journaling is a great way to start the day. It allows students to come into class and get settled. It is a time for students to organize their thoughts and build oral language with family members at night. Along with giving time for writing teachers need to make sure there is a lot of time for reading. Children need the opportunity to have free read, which means they can read the text of their choice. Students are more likely to comprehend, read more, and want to read if they are allowed to choose what to read (Allington & Gabriel, 2012). This does not mean take away assigned texts, as assigned texts are important for variety and building background knowledge. A strong literacy curriculum provides many daily opportunities for students to read books of their choice independently and to read more challenging material with teacher guidance. Students also need to talk about texts with the teacher and other students, as it aids the ability to read and comprehend texts (Pinnell & Fountas, 2011). One strategy I will use to engage the students in text and conversation is by having guided

6 reading lessons. Throughout guided reading lessons, I will continually have conversations with the students to guide their thinking, which will give meaning to both reading and writing. I will gradually reduce support and assistance as the children become more skilled and take on greater responsibility, which will lead to students conversing between one another (International Reading Association, 2000). Students enjoy talking about what they are reading and sharing it with their friends, so why not give them time to do this. Children can learn a lot from one another and this would be a great way for students to share different books and add them to their own list of books to read. Reading and writing are essential life skills and should be implemented every day, even if it is only for a short time period. Every teacher wants his or her students to succeed not only in school, but also in life; that is why it is extremely important to help build that solid literacy foundation for students, as it is an essential life skill. With the world of literacy always changing, it is important that students are being taught the most up-to-date curriculum to meet these altered types of communication. As a future educator I will help my students grow in literacy by modeling good reading and writing in the classroom. It can be as simple as reading aloud to the students every day, even if it is only for a short while. Lastly, teachers cannot expect their students to excel in these areas if adequate time is not given to reading and writing. I will always give students time to read and write, no matter how busy the schedule might look. When teachers dedicate time to these areas the students will see how important reading and writing is in their life. These strategies do not take a lot of time and are very easy to implement into the everyday classroom routine. I will do whatever it takes

7 to help my students become successful in literacy. I believe teachers have one of the most influential roles in students lives and I cant wait to make a difference!

8 References Allington, R. L., & Gabriel, R. E. (2012). Every child, every day. Educational Leadership, 69(6), 10-15. Gobin, J. (2009). Successful and less stressful: Improving writing instruction in the elementary grades. Kentucky English Bulletin, 58(2/3), 29-31. IRA (2000). Excellent reading teachers: A position statement of the international reading association. Newark, DE. Pinnell, G.S. & Fountas, I.C. (2011). The continuum of literacy learning grades preK-8: A guide to teaching (2nd edition). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Valerie, L. M., & Foss-Swanson, S. (2012). Hey! Guess what I did in school today. Teaching Exceptional Children, 44(3), 40-48. Vassallo, P. (2012). Reflections on writing in the twenty-first century and GS strategies for teaching it. ETC: A Review Of General Semantics, 69(2), 115-122.