Philosophy on Literacy Instruction
As a teacher, it is my job to instill the values and skills of lifelong readers into the minds and hearts of my students. This begins in the classroom by establishing an effective literacy block that offers an abundance of opportunities for students to be immersed in reading, writing, and language. My approach to creating this effective environment will be driven by my philosophy of literacy instruction outlined below.
- Passion and Enthusiasm for Literacy: Each day it is imperative that teachers exemplify a love for reading and writing in the classroom. As a teacher, I must show students my passion for literacy by showing them that I am a lifelong reader and writer. In doing so, I will make it a point to read and write in front of students often as well as engage in book talks and author shares to show students the value of reading and writing. That being said, if we do not show students that we read and write, how can we expect them to do the same.
- Modeling: As a teacher, I am the master reader and writer in the classroom. It is imperative that I show students what effective reading and writing looks like. Modeling will be conducted during mini-lessons in which a brief, clear principle or procedure is taught to students. In modeling a strategy during a mini-lesson, students learn how readers (or writers) use a specific literacy skill, management strategy, or analysis strategy to better comprehend what they are reading (or improve their writing).
- Differentiating Instruction: I believe that every child is unique. Moreover, students learn at their own pace and to their own strengths. Therefore, students must be provided literacy instruction that is tailored to meet individual needs and addresses their interests. Differentiation is illuminated during conferencing and guided reading and writing groups in which students will learn and practice a particular skill that is based on what they need as a reader and a writer.
- Opportunity to Read and Write: Students become literate when given ample opportunity in class to read and write. During each reading and writing literacy block, it is imperative that students be given at least 20 minutes to read and 20 minutes to write. The opportunity to practice the conventions of reading and writing allows students to connect what they are learning during explicit instruction to their own reading and writing. By offering students time in class to read on level text, we are giving them time to acquire new vocabulary, develop comprehension strategies, and build background knowledge. By offering students time in class to write, we are allowing them to immerse themselves in the writer’s craft and become well informed on the writing process.
- Collaboration: I believe it is crucial for students to be given time to engage in authentic conversation about literature with others. Authentic conversation allows for students to see the value of reading as well as practice what lifelong readers do daily; discuss and connect to literature. Collaboration can be seen during literature study, peer editing, book talks, and shared reading and writing, where students are immersed in discussions of literature and conventions of the English language.
- Student Autonomy: Donalyn Miller once stated, "I realized that every lesson, conference, response, and assignment I taught must lead students away from me and toward their autonomy as literate people." Offering students opportunity to choose what they want to read and write increases student engagement, fosters literacy, and holds students accountable for their own learning. It is then imperative that students are able to choose books they want to read and topics they wish to write about. If we force students to read and write about topics they are not interested in, we are showing students that literacy is a chore, rather than a gratifying aspect of life.
- Exposure to Literacy: Students must be exposed and immersed in a range of genres in order to become literate citizens. In higher education and the workforce, students will be exposed to a variety of written texts that they must be able to comprehend. Therefore, it is our job, as teachers to prepare students for this and in doing so we must present each genre of literature to students by using texts from each genre in explicit instruction and mandating that students read at least 2 pieces of text from each genre throughout the school year.
"Literacy is the fertilizer needed for development and democracy to take root and grow."
-David Archer
-David Archer