Multiliteracies and Grade One Readers
Interweaving proven practices in the classroom.
Overt Reading Instruction for the Struggling Reader
Dr. Allan Luke provides a very concise view of the learner and the teacher. He explains that an effective teacher knows the student, knows their next step for literacy development, and puts the repertoire in place so the student can successfully learn (Luke, 2009). In this video, Dr. Luke also explains explicit teaching as well as critical thinking and how struggling readers can contribute to intellectual conversations.
Below, I have provided a description of the Overt Instruction for the struggling reader in each of the four main areas of my grade one literacy program (Morning Message, Independent Reading, Guided Reading, and Read A Loud).
In the book Catching Readers Before They Fall (2010), Pat Johnason and Katie Keier explain, "The daily morning message is a time for writing to children as well as reading and writing with children" (p. 84). Every morning, when the students settle onto the class carpet, they read a morning message. The teaching focus for the message stems from the Ontario Writing Curriculum and may encompass a variety of topics including but not limited to writing a letter, a list, an interesting sentence, high-frequency words, word families, word endings, or a short paragraph of two to three sentences (Johnason & Keier, 2010). Most of the time the message looks like a hangman game with only a few letters shown and a lot of lines waiting for letters. The students try to complete the message before they lose at hangman. Our class, known as the Super Learners, really enjoys the competition of trying to "beat the teacher." We keep a tally chart and every so often the students receive a class reward for winning.
Knowing the zone of proximal development of all students, I call on them so they experience success. For example, in September, some students only knew the /s/ and /t/ so every time the message contained the /s/ or /t/ I was sure to ask them to respond. In October, I purchased sound cards and set up our Sound Board on the easel to the left of our Morning Message board. Our Sound Board has multimodal LipSync cards that have photographic images of sound formation, a large visual representation of the sound, and the target sound printed in red ink within the word. Struggling readers have become increasingly more independent in their reading and writing skills as a result of this multimodal Sound Board. When they are stuck on a sound I will say, "That's like i as in ink." Some struggling readers have internalized this relationship and can respond immediately, while others quickly look to the board for support. This Sound Board has been a pivotal part of the gradual release of support with struggling readers.
Students work to solve the Morning Message.
LipSync Card
Sample Morning Message
Ongoing Tally Marks
A complete reading program includes time for students to read on their own (Johnson & Keier, 2010). In our grade one classroom, all students choose their own books from levelled bins for independent reading. They follow the criteria of choosing two books at their level, one easy book, one free book, and one non-fiction text in their independent reading bag.
While students are reading, we have a "Tally Mark Student" who gives student's tally marks for reading. This motivates the students to stay focused and read during our fifteen minutes of independent reading time. Once students earn 50 tally marks, they are able to choose a prize from our class prize bin.
Every student in the class has an opportunity to give tally marks to their peers. Having this concrete, visual feedback has motivated the struggling readers to improve their stamina for reading on their own. To facilitate literacy as a social practice, every Wednesday students sit with a friend or friends and they read to each other. The struggling student is able to practice reading within this social context (Hassett & Curwood, 2010).
While students are reading, I will conference with four to five students each day (Johnson & Keier, 2010). When I sit with a struggling reader I record a running record of their reading and provide explicit feedback (e.g., What beanie baby strategy would help you here? Can you use Chunky Monkey? The word ends the same as day. What do you think it says?). Student responses and running records are recorded on class chart and at the end of each month, each student is provided a summary of their independent reading progress.
Self Selecting Independent Reading Books
A Student gives tally marks (on student books marks)
to engaged readers.
Reading with a Friend
A small group of four or five struggling readers meet with me three times a week for approximately fifteen minutes. Students join me at our guided reading table and know to begin reading their specific guided reading book right away. I listen to them read and will work one on one to move them along their individual literacy continuum while meeting them in their zone of proximal development. Even though the struggling readers come to me as group, each student typically has a different text because they each progress and learn at such unique rates. As Johnson and Keier (2010) describe guided reading as "every child is in the role of reader with his or her own copy of the book and reads at his or her own pace" (p. 78). Slavin et al. completed an extensive study on how to best meet the needs of a struggling reader and they found that "one to one instruction from certified teachers and reading specialist is the gold standard among interventions for struggling readers" (Slavin. et al., p. 6, 2010). Having colourful and up to date text is also key to engaging the students in learning to read. Struggling students have been consistently interested in texts from the Literacy Place series and the Abrams High Interest Low Vocabulary books (pictured below).
When introducing a new text, it is imperative that we prepare stuggling readers for the text (Johnson & Keier, 2010) and provide all students an opportunity to orally participate in a picture walk. Here, I specifically target any new or trickly vocabulary in the text. For example, one of the books has a picture of a ferry. When the students describe what they see in the picture, they usually say it is a boat. I overtly explain this boat is called a ferry and we discuss the difference between a boat and a ferry. I may also ask a child to locate and guess what a word means (Johnson & Keier, 2010). This front loading of vocabulary and thinking before reading truly sets the struggling reader up for success for when they read the text on their own.
I view our Read Aloud time as my "hook" for struggling readers. This is my opportunity to engage them in literature and demonstrate that books are interesting and fun! Johnson and Keier (2010) posit that "for many readers that struggle, reading is not yet seen as something enjoyable, fun, and meaningful" (p. 98). Read Aloud in my classroom is a very interactive time. Students orally participate in a variety of ways such as saying the repeating sentence or phrase in the text, completing the rhyming sentences, and reading the examples of onomatopoeia in the text. When students are engaged and interacting during read aloud they are more likely able to understand the story elements (Hassett & Curwood, 2010).
For students in grade one, overt reading instruction occurs during the Morning Message, Independent Reading, Guided Reading, and Read A Loud. During Read A Loud, I use the decoding and comprehension beanie baby strategies. These beanie babies sit on top of my easel and as I use a specific strategy, I move the beanie baby from the top of the easel to the sound board (pictured on the left). All students are fluid at using different strategies depending on the discussions around a specific text. In the above video, Dr. Allen Luke provides a very concise description of the struggling reader and the importance of them participating in Read Aloud and critical thinking skills.
Read Aloud
Not all beanie baby strategies are equally effective. There are word level strategies and high yield strategeis. Once students are able to read they are typically using several strategies at a time (e.g., Trying Lion, Eagle Eye, Clucking Chicken). It is also important to note that all strategies should be taught at the beginning of the school year rather than introducing one strategy at a time. As the teacher, we do not know which strategies will connect with students. For example one student may be making connections to a story and another student may be able to retell the events without having personal connections. For more beanie baby explanations, please play the student audio descriptions.
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Word Level Decoding Stragegies High Yield Strategies
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