Literacy Curriculum Philosophy
Literacy and a language arts curriculum are very important for young children. I believe that there needs to be a balanced literacy block where students are learning word study, guided reading, book clubs, read aloud, and writing. All of these different literacy learning blocks are important to incorporate because children all learn differently and teachers can manipulate their lessons different ways by using all of the different literacy blocks.
Reading- Reading is so important for students to do because that is how they will get better at it. Students will not get better at reading if they do not have the time or take the time to actually read. I believe that students should get time at home to read but get time in the classroom especially. Teachers only have the ability to structure a child's day in the classroom. We have no control over what they will do at home therefore making time to read is essential. As a teacher I also need to model good reading habits so that my students will gain good critical thinking skills, fluency in reading and again the love of reading. It is entirely essential for a teacher to show that she is a reader because if the teacher is a reader she can give recommendations and help students more if she knows the actual text and books the students are reading. As the teacher I am the model for the class, and I know how to read and how to think while reading and students need to see this modeled when I am either reading to them or reading for my own pleasure. If students see that you as the teacher make time to read and make time to critically think about texts then they will see the importance and have the time to gain the love of reading and gain the knowledge that comes with it.
Reader's workshop- Reader's workshop is so important to a classroom. The workshop models allow students to maintain a structure and a schedule when reading. They will know what they need to do and how to get it done once taught the workshop model. Students should get a 10-15 minute mini lesson and this is where I will teach the children small lessons on how to make their thinking grow while reading. I will spend the time to gradually release them onto their own so that they can effectively independent read. During the beginning of the year I will implement book clubs where discussion is more teacher led and students can learn to talk and collaborate about books. I believe that reading and talking about books should be actually student led, so after students understand how to talk and collaborate about books I will implement literature circles where these discussions will be entirely student led. Students will decide on topics of choice to read, they will learn how to talk about different books with different people and students will be incorporated in a heterogeneous group where abilities vary so that students can learn from each other and gain knowledge and skills based on student achievement and student achieved answers.
Writing workshop- Again, the workshop model is implemented because it helps students understand a structure and it allows them to freely work on their own using skills that I teach them. I will again start with a mini lesson usually 10-15 minutes. This is where I will teach the students things that will improve their writing. Small things, so that gradually their own pieces will grow into magnificent pieces of writing. I will have each and every student carry around a writers notebook because I want them to understand that they can write about anything, and anything they see or hear can be a small kernel to a larger piece of writing. They can be creative in this way collecting these kernels to use in their own writing pieces. I will use mentor text to help students see how professional authors are able to use different components in their writing to make a detailed, enticing and well written piece of text. Students will work on larger pieces of writing by writing, editing, revising and finalizing. However I believe that any piece of writing can be revised even after it is finalized. Writing is never perfect and it is never over, students can use a variety of components and techniques to improve writing even after they have concluded a piece and I want them to understand that they need to think about all these techniques and mentor pieces of writing and how it can effect their own writing.
Language and Word Study- This last component of the literacy and language arts curriculum is very important. This is where students gain the language that they will be using to write and to read. I will use this literacy block to do Read alouds, and teach vocabulary. I believe that Read Alouds are essential to the literacy curriculum because read alouds allow a teacher to not only model good reading skills but also to model good thinking skills and good writing skills from the author. Good mentor texts are a must when teaching a class. Not only will I read the text to the class multiple times but we will use the text multiple times for examples in reading and writing. A good mentor text will allow a teacher to go back into it and pick out so many different lessons that she can teach her class and this is something i really agree with. Read alouds also help with vocabulary. Teaching vocabulary is something that can be boring or tedious but I believe that vocabulary can be taught in a way where it can change the way students use words they speak, and write about. If a teacher wants students to use certain types of vocabulary she will use them while instructing and teaching them. She will also pick out the words from instructional activities and texts that they use. I read an article about different tiers of vocabulary and that the second tier of vocabulary is words that students don't often use or may not know how to spell but words they see a lot in texts. This is something I want to teach my class. I want my class to pick these tier two words out from texts and be able to use it in their own language and their own writing. Once they become familiar with these types of vocabulary they can use it in their everyday lives which is something that will benefit them in writing, reading and for the future.
All of these different components or blocks combined help students learn a balanced and interesting literacy curriculum. I believe that student growth and achievement happens when students take charge of their own learning through student driven conversation. I also believe that student driven conversation will only happen when the teacher is a good model and shows and teaches students how to think, read, and write not only in the classroom but outside of the classroom as well.
Reading- Reading is so important for students to do because that is how they will get better at it. Students will not get better at reading if they do not have the time or take the time to actually read. I believe that students should get time at home to read but get time in the classroom especially. Teachers only have the ability to structure a child's day in the classroom. We have no control over what they will do at home therefore making time to read is essential. As a teacher I also need to model good reading habits so that my students will gain good critical thinking skills, fluency in reading and again the love of reading. It is entirely essential for a teacher to show that she is a reader because if the teacher is a reader she can give recommendations and help students more if she knows the actual text and books the students are reading. As the teacher I am the model for the class, and I know how to read and how to think while reading and students need to see this modeled when I am either reading to them or reading for my own pleasure. If students see that you as the teacher make time to read and make time to critically think about texts then they will see the importance and have the time to gain the love of reading and gain the knowledge that comes with it.
Reader's workshop- Reader's workshop is so important to a classroom. The workshop models allow students to maintain a structure and a schedule when reading. They will know what they need to do and how to get it done once taught the workshop model. Students should get a 10-15 minute mini lesson and this is where I will teach the children small lessons on how to make their thinking grow while reading. I will spend the time to gradually release them onto their own so that they can effectively independent read. During the beginning of the year I will implement book clubs where discussion is more teacher led and students can learn to talk and collaborate about books. I believe that reading and talking about books should be actually student led, so after students understand how to talk and collaborate about books I will implement literature circles where these discussions will be entirely student led. Students will decide on topics of choice to read, they will learn how to talk about different books with different people and students will be incorporated in a heterogeneous group where abilities vary so that students can learn from each other and gain knowledge and skills based on student achievement and student achieved answers.
Writing workshop- Again, the workshop model is implemented because it helps students understand a structure and it allows them to freely work on their own using skills that I teach them. I will again start with a mini lesson usually 10-15 minutes. This is where I will teach the students things that will improve their writing. Small things, so that gradually their own pieces will grow into magnificent pieces of writing. I will have each and every student carry around a writers notebook because I want them to understand that they can write about anything, and anything they see or hear can be a small kernel to a larger piece of writing. They can be creative in this way collecting these kernels to use in their own writing pieces. I will use mentor text to help students see how professional authors are able to use different components in their writing to make a detailed, enticing and well written piece of text. Students will work on larger pieces of writing by writing, editing, revising and finalizing. However I believe that any piece of writing can be revised even after it is finalized. Writing is never perfect and it is never over, students can use a variety of components and techniques to improve writing even after they have concluded a piece and I want them to understand that they need to think about all these techniques and mentor pieces of writing and how it can effect their own writing.
Language and Word Study- This last component of the literacy and language arts curriculum is very important. This is where students gain the language that they will be using to write and to read. I will use this literacy block to do Read alouds, and teach vocabulary. I believe that Read Alouds are essential to the literacy curriculum because read alouds allow a teacher to not only model good reading skills but also to model good thinking skills and good writing skills from the author. Good mentor texts are a must when teaching a class. Not only will I read the text to the class multiple times but we will use the text multiple times for examples in reading and writing. A good mentor text will allow a teacher to go back into it and pick out so many different lessons that she can teach her class and this is something i really agree with. Read alouds also help with vocabulary. Teaching vocabulary is something that can be boring or tedious but I believe that vocabulary can be taught in a way where it can change the way students use words they speak, and write about. If a teacher wants students to use certain types of vocabulary she will use them while instructing and teaching them. She will also pick out the words from instructional activities and texts that they use. I read an article about different tiers of vocabulary and that the second tier of vocabulary is words that students don't often use or may not know how to spell but words they see a lot in texts. This is something I want to teach my class. I want my class to pick these tier two words out from texts and be able to use it in their own language and their own writing. Once they become familiar with these types of vocabulary they can use it in their everyday lives which is something that will benefit them in writing, reading and for the future.
All of these different components or blocks combined help students learn a balanced and interesting literacy curriculum. I believe that student growth and achievement happens when students take charge of their own learning through student driven conversation. I also believe that student driven conversation will only happen when the teacher is a good model and shows and teaches students how to think, read, and write not only in the classroom but outside of the classroom as well.