Time:

Component:

10-15 minutes

Read-Aloud - when I do book talks.

10-15 minutes

Shared Reading - This is the time where I do reading mini-lessons.

30-40 minutes

Guided Reading - I meet with small groups to do a guided reading lesson as my other groups rotate through literacy activities. Examples of these include: Reading Response Logs, Spelling Sorts, Writing Journals, and Poetry Work.

10-20 minutes

Word Work - This time is spent working on word skills and phonics.

10-20 minutes

Guided Writing - Mini-lessons on grammar and word usage.

15-20 minutes

Independent Reading - This is not a part of the 90 minute block but is done either first thing in the morning or right after lunch.

Literacy Block

Below are brief explanations of the Literacy Block's components. This is just the bare bones.

What is a Read-Aloud?

A read-aloud is an activity in which I read a book aloud to the whole group. The purpose of the read-aloud is to model appropriate reading behaviors and reading strategies.  It is also a time to expose my students to a variety of genres and literary styles.  This time also gives me the opportunity to show my students the joys of reading and teach them how to think and discuss text. I always have a set purpose for each read-aloud and I read with the proper fluency, rhythm, and intonation.

What is Shared Reading?

Shared reading is the time when I introduce a mini-lesson to the whole group using text that is read aloud together. 

Some mini-lessons include:

• comprehension skills
• word attack skills
• reading strategies
• fluency
• literary styles/content of text

What is Guided Reading?

Guided reading is when I work with a small group of students that are on the same reading level. Each student usually has their own text and I work with my students on skills depending on their needs, whether it is phonemic awareness, work attack skills, fluency, or reading comprehension. During this time my other groups either work independently with a text, practicing the skills taught in the Shared Reading session, or they rotate through assigned literacy activities.

What is Word Work?

Word Work, usually referred to as spelling or phonics, is the time when I work with my whole class on phonics skills and spelling strategies.  This is important in second grade because it helps children learn the decoding skills needed to read. 

What is Guided Writing?

Guided writing refers to what was once called grammar or language arts. During this block, my students are taught sentence structure, punctuation, parts of speech, etc... I usually teach this in a whole group but I follow-through in small groups. This is not to be confused with Writing Workshop.

What is Independent Reading?

Independent reading is a time for students to read text on their own for enjoyment.  Students choose text based on their reading level.  My classroom library contains a collection of leveled books based on the Fountas & Pinnell method: matching books to readers. My class Book Club was developed to encourage my students to read independently.

Why use a Literacy Block?

The Literacy Block is a way to teach using a balanced approach. It provides various ways to teach reading and writing to my students by using differentiated learning and providing activities that support various learning styles.  I learn from each new group of students what works best for them. I change my methods throughout the first few months until I feel that I've found the right balance. 

How do I plan?

I first look at all the NM and APS standards and then using the Second Grade Fundations Phonics Program I map out my lesson plans for my Literacy Block. I also use the DRA2 Reading Assessment and my teacher generated running records to determine the lessons I teach.