There will be five literacy centers in our classroom this year. The
activities in the centers
will coincide with the theme that we are focusing on at that time. These
five centers will
directly relate to the 5 big ideas in reading.
5 Big Ideas in Reading
1. Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with
the individual sounds in spoken words. Before children learn to read print,
they need to become aware of how sounds in words work. They must understand
that words are made up of speech sounds, or phonemes. Phonemes are the
smallest parts of sounds in a spoken word that make a difference in a word's
meaning.
2. Phonics Instruction
Phonics instruction teaches children the relationships between the
letters(graphemes)of written language and the individual sounds(phonemes) of
spoken language. It teaches children to use these relationships to read and
write words. The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn and
use the alphabetic principle----the understanding that there are systematic
and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds.
3. Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. When
fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group
words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers
read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural,
as
if they are speaking. Readers who have not yet developed fluency read
slowly,
word by word. Their oral reading is choppy and plodding. Fluency is
important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and
comprehension.
4. Vocabulary
Vocabulary refers to the words we must know to communicate effectively.
In general, vocabulary can be described as oral vocabulary or reading
vocabulary. Oral vocabulary refers to words that we use in speaking or
recognize in listening. Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize or
use in print.
Vocabulary contributes much to reading comprehension. Readers cannot
understand what they are reading without knowing what most of the words mean.
As children learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meanings
of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.
5. Comprehension
Comprehension is the reason for reading. As they read, good readers are
both purposeful and active.
Good readers have a purpose for reading. They may read to find out how
to use a food processor, read a guidebook to gather information about state
parks, read a textbook to satify an assignment, read a magazine for
entertainment, or read a classic novel to experience and share great
literature.
Good readers think actively as they read. To make sense of what they
read, good readers engage in a complicated process. Using their experiences
and knowledge of the world, knowledge of vocabulary, and knowledge of reading
strategies, they make sense of the text and know how to get the most out of
it.
