LITERACY BELIEFS

LEARNING AND THE LEARNER

CURRICULUM

TEACHER ROLES

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

Broaden Knowledge Base

Activities that extend students own particular interests and abilities serve to broaden their knowledge base. (Goodman 2000, Harste, Burke & Woodward 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)

Construct Meaning

Every reader constructs meaning through transactions with text by hypothesizing or predicting. A reader then confirms and/or disconfirms preexisting ideas and beliefs. Group discussions, partner-sharing, and collaborative assignments should be natural extensions of “silent reading” assignments. (Goodman 2000; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000; Rosenblatt 2000;Ruddell and Unrau 2000)

Collaboration

Social interaction and collaboration are critical components of an authentic and effective literacy program. An environment that motivates and fosters students' interest and development in all areas of reading and writing is paramount to literacy acquisition. (Brown, Palincsar & Armbruster 2000; Goodman 2000; Harste, Burke & Woodward 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)

Lively Classroom Discussions

Many students who have difficulty working independently “shine” during classroom discussions. (Halliday 1994; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)

Students and Teachers Share Schemata

Class discussions are perfect platforms for student/teachers to share their schema-their own organized knowledge of the world regarding the topic at hand. Additionally this provides the opportunity for students/teachers to appreciate one another's unique insights and continue to formulate new schemata. (Anderson 2000, Bransford 2000; Ruddell and Unrau 2000)

CURRICULUM

Technology

Technology is an integral part of the literacy curriculum. Students find computer usage highly motivating – capitalize on it! Word processing programs support writing acquisition skills. Access to the Internet allows children to collaborate and communicate with audiences that extend beyond their classroom. (Daiute 1985; Flood and Lapp 1994; Harste 2000)

Skills Instruction Embedded in the Curriculum

Direct instruction, whether in the area of decoding, comprehension, spelling or writing provides students with numerous strategies from which to choose when approaching various tasks. Skills instruction that is embedded within the curriculum help students “make the connection” between theory and practice. (Bransford 2000; Brown, Palincsar & Armbruster 2000; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000)

Integrated Curriculum

Integrated curriculum encompasses all subject areas. Teachers from each discipline collaborate to develop common topics and themes. Emphasis on continual development of language and literacy skills across the curriculum is a vital component of this model. (Goodman 2000; Rosenblatt 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)

Inquiry Based

Inquiry based curriculum: students are active learners. Naturally inquisitive, children are eager to learn, explore, examine, and formulate individual or joint questions in an attempt to confirm, clarify or expand their existing knowledge bases. (Harste, Burke & Woodward 2000; Hayes 1994; Moll 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)

Family and Community Involvement

Curriculum with a component that capitalizes on the multitude of cognitive resources that families and community have to offer can be extremely educational and rewarding for all involved. (Dyson 1994; Moll 2000; Ruddell and Ruddell 2000)

TEACHER ROLES

Parent/Teacher Partnerships

Form a parent/teacher partnership. Encourage parent participation in student literacy development. Educate parents how to work with their child.

(Dyson, 1994; Ruddell and Ruddell 2000; Schickendanz 1994)

Nurturing Environment

Encourage a supportive community of learners where students feel safe to “go out on a limb” and share their opinions in a safe and nurturing environment. (Brown, Palincsar & Amrbruster 2000; Rosenblatt 2000; Yopp and Singer 2000)

Uniqueness of Each Student

Appreciate and provide for the uniqueness of each student. Typical classrooms are comprised of students with various backgrounds in language, skill acquisition, learning styles and rates of learning. (Anderson 2000; Bransford 2000; Kintch 2000; Ruddell 2000)

Authentic Reading

Read, read, read. Expose, model and guide students through authentic activities that facilitate opportunities to develop and improve comprehension via authentic reading experiences. (Johnson 1994; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000, Rosenblatt 2000)

Demonstrate and Discuss

Stimulate learning by demonstrating, inviting, discussing, affirming, facilitating, collaborating. (Goodman 2000; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000; Ruddell and Ruddell 2000)

ASSESSMENT
AND
EVALUATION

Multiple Measures

Assessment methods that involve multiple measures over time will result in more accurate and reliable information than “one-shot' assessments. (Applebee 1994; Goodman 2000; Harste 2000; Rosenblatt 2000)

Transmediation

Successful acquisition and application of literacy skills and strategies are evidenced when these skills are transferred from one task to another—transmediation. (Goodman 2000; Halliday 2000; Harste 2000)

Authentic Assessments

Daily oral and written activities provide authentic evidence of students' actual work in the classroom that results from learning. Comparison of the level or quality of students work over time will help to determine students' progress as well as give insights as to which instructional methods to maintain or change. (Flood and Lapp 1994; Johnson 1994; Ruddell 2000)

Conferences

Scheduled or impromptu conferences between a teacher and student, where each share an equally important role, provide the opportunity for informal assessment of a student's literacy status. (Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000; Rosenblatt 2000; Ruddell and Unrau 2000)

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	LEARNING AND THE LEARNER
	CURRICULUM
	TEACHER ROLES
	ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION


	Activities that extend students own particular interests and abilities serve to broaden their knowledge base. (Goodman 2000, Harste, Burke & Woodward 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)


	Every reader constructs meaning through transactions with text by hypothesizing or predicting. A reader then confirms and/or disconfirms preexisting ideas and beliefs. Group discussions, partner-sharing, and collaborative assignments should be natural extensions of “silent reading” assignments. (Goodman 2000; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000; Rosenblatt 2000;Ruddell and Unrau 2000)


	Social interaction and collaboration are critical components of an authentic and effective literacy program. An environment that motivates and fosters students' interest and development in all areas of reading and writing is paramount to literacy acquisition. (Brown, Palincsar & Armbruster 2000; Goodman 2000; Harste, Burke & Woodward 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)


	Many students who have difficulty working independently “shine” during classroom discussions. (Halliday 1994; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)


	Class discussions are perfect platforms for student/teachers to share their schema-their own organized knowledge of the world regarding the topic at hand. Additionally this provides the opportunity for students/teachers to appreciate one another's unique insights and continue to formulate new schemata. (Anderson 2000, Bransford 2000; Ruddell and Unrau 2000)


	Technology is an integral part of the literacy curriculum. Students find computer usage highly motivating – capitalize on it! Word processing programs support writing acquisition skills. Access to the Internet allows children to collaborate and communicate with audiences that extend beyond their classroom. (Daiute 1985; Flood and Lapp 1994; Harste 2000)


	Direct instruction, whether in the area of decoding, comprehension, spelling or writing provides students with numerous strategies from which to choose when approaching various tasks. Skills instruction that is embedded within the curriculum help students “make the connection” between theory and practice. (Bransford 2000; Brown, Palincsar & Armbruster 2000; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000)


	Integrated curriculum encompasses all subject areas. Teachers from each discipline collaborate to develop common topics and themes. Emphasis on continual development of language and literacy skills across the curriculum is a vital component of this model. (Goodman 2000; Rosenblatt 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)


	Inquiry based curriculum: students are active learners. Naturally inquisitive, children are eager to learn, explore, examine, and formulate individual or joint questions in an attempt to confirm, clarify or expand their existing knowledge bases. (Harste, Burke & Woodward 2000; Hayes 1994; Moll 2000; Ruddell and Unreau 2000)


	Curriculum with a component that capitalizes on the multitude of cognitive resources that families and community have to offer can be extremely educational and rewarding for all involved. (Dyson 1994; Moll 2000; Ruddell and Ruddell 2000)


	Form a parent/teacher partnership. Encourage parent participation in student literacy development. Educate parents how to work with their child.
	(Dyson, 1994; Ruddell and Ruddell 2000; Schickendanz 1994)


	Encourage a supportive community of learners where students feel safe to “go out on a limb” and share their opinions in a safe and nurturing environment. (Brown, Palincsar & Amrbruster 2000; Rosenblatt 2000; Yopp and Singer 2000)


	Appreciate and provide for the uniqueness of each student. Typical classrooms are comprised of students with various backgrounds in language, skill acquisition, learning styles and rates of learning. (Anderson 2000; Bransford 2000; Kintch 2000; Ruddell 2000)


	Read, read, read. Expose, model and guide students through authentic activities that facilitate opportunities to develop and improve comprehension via authentic reading experiences. (Johnson 1994; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000, Rosenblatt 2000)


	Stimulate learning by demonstrating, inviting, discussing, affirming, facilitating, collaborating. (Goodman 2000; Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000; Ruddell and Ruddell 2000)


	Assessment methods that involve multiple measures over time will result in more accurate and reliable information than “one-shot' assessments. (Applebee 1994; Goodman 2000; Harste 2000; Rosenblatt 2000)


	Successful acquisition and application of literacy skills and strategies are evidenced when these skills are transferred from one task to another—transmediation. (Goodman 2000; Halliday 2000; Harste 2000)


	Daily oral and written activities provide authentic evidence of students' actual work in the classroom that results from learning. Comparison of the level or quality of students work over time will help to determine students' progress as well as give insights as to which instructional methods to maintain or change. (Flood and Lapp 1994; Johnson 1994; Ruddell 2000)


	Scheduled or impromptu conferences between a teacher and student, where each share an equally important role, provide the opportunity for informal assessment of a student's literacy status. (Paris, Lipson & Wixson 2000; Rosenblatt 2000; Ruddell and Unrau 2000)

	Back to Home