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The Grade 3 curriculum in English Language Arts reflects the integrated
nature of a balanced approach to literacy. Instruction is provided in
reading and word study, and engagement in reading. Listening and speaking
are integrated into allcomponents of a comprehensive balanced approach to
literacy instruction.The Grade 3 program builds on the skills from second
grade and advances those skills through exposures to developmentally more
difficult texts.
Reading
Phonics
• Uses phonics skills to read multi-syllabic words
• Vocabulary skills
• Uses context clues, suffixes and prefixes to determine word meanings
• Begins to acquire new vocabulary from reading
Reading comprehensions strategies
• Reads grade level text fluently and accurately
• Reads for different purposes
• Applies appropriate grade level strategies to text
• Makes predictions based on background knowledge
and previewing text
• Visualizes or makes mental pictures to understand
text
• Determines importance of information in text
• Uses strategies to fix what does not make sense
• Understands characters, setting, conflict and plot when reading literature
• Revisits texts to think about what was learned
• Responds to reading through discussion and writing summaries of text
• Selects and independently reads at least 25 grade level appropriate books
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Balanced Literacy
Balanced Literacy is a framework designed to help all students
learn to read and write effectively. The program stands firmly on the
premise that all students can learn to read and write. This balance between
reading and writing allows students to receive the teaching needed in order
to reach grade level status, while allowing students to work at a level that
is not frustrating for them.
The Literacy Collaborative Model
The Literacy Collaborative is a model for teaching children in a
child-centered classroom, providing many opportunities for real life reading
and writing experiences. It is based on the research of Marie Clay, Irene
Fountas, and Gay Su Pennell. Children read and write each day independently
and in group settings (both large and small). Literacy Collaborative
classrooms focus on four different types of reading experiences:
Reading aloud to children
Shared reading - whole class
Guided reading - small group
Independent reading
Additionally, during many daily reading and writing experiences, children
are taught about letters, sounds, words and how they work. Listening and
speaking are also emphasized in this integrated language approach. All
experiences meet New York State Standards for Language Arts Instruction.
The goal of The Literacy Collaborative is to help children become readers
and writers who enjoy and value literacy. Children quickly learn that what
they say they can write and what they write they can read. The home-school
connection is also an important part of The Literacy Collaborative.
Read Aloud
In "Read Aloud" someone reads a story, book of fiction, news article,
picture book, essay, poem, or trade book to another person. Usually this is
a practice of parents who want to develop the enjoyment of reading in their
young children who want to develop the vocabulary knowledge, focused
listening skills, or critical thinking skills of children. Since children
usually ask questions about the Read Aloud selection, and these questions
lead to explanations, making connections and questions by the reader,
informal discussion skills are indirectly developed through Read Aloud
activities.
In Interactive Read Aloud teachers verbally interact with students before,
during and after reading to help them understand and make a variety of
connections with the read-aloud selection. The selection can be a non-
fiction or fiction narrative, a poem or picture book.
During an interactive read-aloud the teacher engages in a series of
activities, including: pre-viewing the book; asking students to make
predictions and connections to prior knowledge; stopping at purposeful
moments to emphasize story elements, ask guiding questions or focus
questions; and using oral or written responses to bring closure to the
selection.
Shared Reading
Shared Reading is a link in helping students become independent readers.
It allows the teacher to model and support students using prediction and
confirming skills. It allows less confident students the chance to share
stories/articles/poetry in a non-threatening situation. It focuses on the
meaning, fun, enjoyment, characters and sequence of a story and allows them
to relate it back to their own experiences. It promotes discussion, problem-
solving and critical thinking by students.
Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience. An integral
component of Shared Reading is an enlarged text that all children can see.
Children join in the reading of a big book or other enlarged text such as
songs, poems, charts, and lists created by the teacher or developed with the
class through Shared and Interactive Writing. During the reading the teacher
involves the children in reading together by pointing to or sliding below
each word in the text. The teacher deliberately draws attention to the print
and models early reading behaviors such as moving from left to right and
word-by-word matching. Shared reading models the reading process and
strategies used by readers.
In the shared reading model there are multiple readings of the books over
several days. Throughout, children are actively involved in the reading
(Yaden, 1988). During the initial reading, the teacher:
Introduces the book (shares theme, examines title, cover, illustrations, and
makes predictions)
Relates prior experience to text
Concentrates on enjoying the text as a whole
Encourages students to use background knowledge to make predictions
Encourages spontaneous participation in the reading of the story
Discusses personal responses to the book
Texts are usually read multiple times over a period of days or weeks. The
first reading emphasizes reading for enjoyment. Subsequent readings aim to
increase participation, teach about book characteristics and print
conventions, teach reading strategies, help develop a sight vocabulary of
high frequency words, and teach phonics. During subsequent readings, the
teacher:
Directs children's attention to various aspects of the text, and reading
strategies, and skills.
Identifies vocabulary, ideas and facts,
Discusses author's style
Experiments with intonation and expression
Discusses colorful phrases or words.
Students participate by:
choral reading
dramatization
masking activities
word work such as "Be the Words" or sorting the words
Through repeated readings and the predictable text, children become
familiar with word forms and begin to recognize words and phrases (Bridge,
Winograd, & Haley, 1983; Pikulski & Kellner, 1992).
During Shared Reading...
Rich, authentic, interesting literature can be used, even in the earliest
phases of a reading program, with children whose word-identification skills
would not otherwise allow them access to this quality literature.
Each reading of a selection provides opportunities for the teacher to model
reading for the children.
Opportunities for concept and language expansion exist that would not be
possible if instruction relied only on selections that students could read
independently.
Awareness of the functions of print, familiarity with language patterns, and
word-recognition skills grow as children interact several times with the
same selection.
Individual needs of students can be more adequately met. Accelerated readers
are challenged by the interesting, natural language of selections. Because
of the support offered by the teacher, students who are more slowly
acquiring reading skills experience success.
Guided Reading
Guided reading is an instructional reading strategy during which a teacher
works with small groups of children who have similar reading processes and
needs. The teacher selects and introduces new books carefully chosen to
match the instructional levels of students and supports whole text reading.
Readers are carefully prepared when being introduced to a new text and
various teaching points are made during and after reading. Guided reading
fosters comprehension skills and strategies, develops background knowledge
and oral language skills, and provides as much instructional-level reading
as possible. During guided reading, students are given exposure to a wide
variety of texts and are challenged to select from a growing repertoire of
strategies that allow them to tackle new texts more independently. Ongoing
observation and assessment help to inform instruction and grouping of
students is flexible and may be changed often.
Independent Reading
Independent Reading is a time when students self-select and independently
read appropriate books.
Independent Reading provides an opportunity to apply strategies that are
introduced and taught during teacher read aloud, shared reading, and guided
reading. When materials are appropriate and students can read independently,
they become confident, motivated and enthusiastic about their ability to
read.
Children make great contributions to their own learning when they are given
some control and ownership of the reading process. The self-selection
process of Independent Reading places the responsibility for choosing books
in the hands of the student. This teaches them that they have the ability to
choose their own reading materials and that reading by themselves is a
valuable and important activity.
While students are free to choose what they like, they must be encouraged to
select a variety of literature and to select materials at their independent
reading level. Independent means 95% to 100% accuracy as defined by running
records. These materials should be able to be read without teacher support.
It is at the independent level that comprehension, vocabulary extension, and
fluency are improved.
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Comprehensive Strategies Good Readers Use
Current literacy research has identified the following strategies proven to
raise students' levels of reading comprehension.
Prediction/Prior Knowledge:
Use of relevant prior knowledge to predict when reading helps students.
*Bring Knowledge from life experiences to their reading.
*Form predictions based on this prior knowledge
*Engage more actively with the text
Questions and Questioning:
Fluent readers acrively and strategically engage when reading by asking
questions.
*Focus on their reading
*Clarify meaning
*Critically reflect what they have read
Think Aloud: By thinking aloud students learn to:
*Monitor their own thought process
*Adjust their reading to achieve meaningful comprehension.
*Clarify meaning as they continue to read
Text Structures and Features:
Students who focus into text structure and meaning are able to:
*Comprehend and recall texts more effectively
*Analyze and synthesize written texts
*Think critically about their reading
Visualizing:
The use of visualizing techniques and visual representations
help students to:
*Use mental imagery as a comprehension strategy (Thinking Maps)
*Focus on concepts and relations between concepts, as they read
*Learn how to view information critically and thoughtfully
Summarization:
Summarization is an essential comprehension strategy that
enables students to:
*Focus on the major points of the texts
*Establish in their own minds what they think the text is saying
*Deepen their knowledge of what they read