Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Common Core State Standards Literacy eHandbook


Don't waste another minute enjoying your summer! Why lounge by the pool when you could be creating a long term literacy plan for the coming school year?

As you dive into literacy planning this summer, use the following link as a resource:

McGraw-Hill Education

In the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Literacy eHandbook, you'll find teaching resources arranged by anchor standards for grades K-6. Resources include sample texts for each standard, as well as practice questions.

In addition to the eHandbook, be sure to check out Appendices A, B, and C through the CCSS website. A link to the website is provided on the homepage of the Literacy Curriculum Guides.
  • Appendix A includes research supporting key elements of the standards, and a glossary of key terms.
  • Appendix B includes text exemplars and sample performance tasks
  • Appendix C includes student writing samples
Happy planning!
-TC Literacy Curriculum Guides Planning Team


Monday, March 4, 2013

Why Move Away From Round Robin Reading?


Experts in the literacy field unanimously agree that round robin reading is not a good tool for teaching reading – it’s an easy tool, but not a good tool.

       “Round-robin reading in itself does not increase fluency. This may be because students only read small amounts of text, and they usually read this small portion only once” (Fluency instruction).
       No repeated reading – students need to practice the same passages over and over. Would you ever expect a student to learn the 4 times tables once and then be able to repeat them without practice? Yet this is what we do when we expect students to read without practice.
       “Is listed as a major reason why fragile students continue to read below grade level (Tatum, 2004, p. 29)
       No modeling for our struggling student to hear – they hear other struggling readers with bad habits, or they ignore what is being read aloud while they fumble to find where they will be expected to read.
       “Has the potential to develop negative attitudes to reading through the anxiety developed over performance reading when it is "your turn" to read. Consider how you feel when asked to read aloud in a public place!” (Limbrick, 2001).
       Remember the read aloud – read alouds are vital for students to be able to hear good oral reading – the teacher is the best model for showing how to use inflection, where to pause for thinking, and how readers go back and fix mistakes automatically when meaning breaks down.
       It provides students with an inaccurate view of everyday reading
       In everyday life, we are rarely expected to read aloud in front of a group before we have prepared.
       It can potentially cause faulty reading habits and slower reading rates
       As a good reader, you listen to the struggling readers over and over – you start to follow along the way they read and you can short-circuit and develop those bad reading habits
       It can cause inattentive behaviors leading to discipline problems
       Although students are expected to follow along, they rarely do even though they look as if they are. Instead they are reading ahead because they are faster readers than the one reading or they are practicing the part they think they will be expected to read or they aren’t paying attention at all and are poking and whispering to other children. When you reprimand them, they develop an unfavorable view of reading and you’ve lost the meaning of the reading and flow of the class.
       It can work against all children developing to their full potential (Opitz and Rasinski, 1998, pp. 6-7).