JessicaBoyle

S68W13548Bristleconelane
Muskego,WI53150
March10,2015

DearInterviewTeam,
Iwouldfirstliketosaythankyoufortakingthetimetomeetwithmetodiscussthefourthgrade
teachingpositionandIhopetocontinuetoworkwithallofyouinthefuture.Duringourfirst
meetingyouaskedifIcouldsendovermyComprehensiveLiteracyPlan,whichIhaveattached
tothisletter.Insideyouwillfindmygoalsforthestudents,myanalysisofthedata,my
instructionalplan,myphilosophystatement,andmyprofessionaldevelopmentplan.Allofthe
informationfoundinmyplanissupportedbythetheoryIhavelearnedandbelieve.

Ihopetohearbackfromyousoonandfeelfreetocontactmewithanyquestionsthatmayarise.

Sincerely,

JessicaBoyle

Task 1A: Set Goals

When thinking about what kinds of readers and writers I want my students to become, five
distinct goals come to mind. These goals are:

To become effective readers

To make connections between their personal lives and their reading and writing

Challenge their thinking to reach independence

Develop a stronger sense of academic language that they can use both in and out of the
classroom.

Understand the writing process

I feel that it is important for my students to become effective readers. I feel that this is important
because when students are able to effectively read, they are able to get more out of their reading
experience. On page 303 of the text Guiding Readers and Writers, table 18-1 highlights some of
the important behaviors an effective reader demonstrates which include:

Maintains focus on meaning.

Checks on understanding and print.

Uses language structures to anticipate text.

Processes print with fluency.

Varies the rate of reading.

Uses many different sources of information together.

Has question in mind.

Attends to important ideas.

Recognizes many words automatically.

Uses a variety of strategic activities for solving words while reading for meaning.

Extends the meaning of texts using synthesizing and inferencing skills.

Integrates information. (Fountas, 2001)

The above abilities are all important to help students understand print. These strategies also
connect to word study because in order for students to be able to process print with fluency,
recognize words automatically, and use a variety of strategic activities for solving words, the
students have to have word study experiences. Ultimately, they have to have an understanding of
how the English language works and are formed.
The second goal I have for my students is that I want them to challenge themselves to
become independent readers and writers. Becoming independent learners is important because at
some point, our students will no longer have us standing next to them offering reading and
writing support. Eventually our students will graduate and move on to the work force. When
this happens, they will be forced to independently use the strategies they learned in our
classrooms. By setting this goal for a group of fourth grade students, I am simply creating my
classroom instruction to become a stepping-stone to their independence. The two main strategies
I will focus much attention to are comprehension and composing. By lying the foundation for
my students to become independent, I am helping setting them up to eventually be independent
workers post graduation.
The third goal I have for these students is considered to be one of the effective reader
behaviors mentioned above. This goal is to be able to make connections between their personal
lives and their reading and writing. I feel that this is an important goal for my students because
when they are able to make connections to what they are reading and writing, they are able to
bring in another perspective, which may help them comprehend it better. Another reason why it

is important for students to make connections between what they are learning and their personal
experiences is that by doing this, they are able to further their knowledge and understanding.
Fountas and Pinnell give the example of a student who has visited a historical site and then later
reads about it in class. When the student begins to read, they are bringing in their personal
experiences to help them understand and expand their thinking (Fountas, 2001). Ultimately,
connections help students to expand and understand their thinking.
Another goal I am setting for these students specifically relates to word study
development. The goal I am making is, to develop a stronger sense of academic language that
they can then use both in and out of the classroom. Having a wide range of academic vocabulary
is important because this is the language that they are going to be seeing, hearing, and using in
the classroom. If students do not understand or know the academic vocabulary being used, they
will struggle with understanding and learning the content that is being taught. It is important for
students to use academic language outside of the classroom because in order for students to learn
something they first need to practice it. When students begin using academic language outside
of school, they are getting the practice they need to remember and learn it.
My last goal I have for these students is for them to understand the writing process.
Knowing the writing process helps students to produce effective pieces of writing. When
students learn how to write effective pieces of writing, they are then able to use their knowledge
to make their voices heard. Students can use their knowledge to write letters to city officials,
members of the community, and those of special interest to advocate for change. Knowing the
writing process will help students improve their overall quality of their writing.
Task 1B: Analyze Data and Diagnosis Literacy needs

The range of reading development varies greatly in this particular class of fourth grade
students. At the beginning of the year, the instructional levels ranged from level I, all the way up
to Q. At the end of the year, the instructional levels ranged from levels L to level T. During the
beginning and the end of the year, the students were reading both Narrative/Fiction reading,
which allows me to compare the reading levels of the students at these two times. At the middle
of the year the students were reading Informational/Expository texts, which makes it difficulty to
accurately assess their progress. The table below shows the exact breakdown of the number of
students at each level at the beginning and end of the year.
Level

Number of students at beginning of year

Number of students at end of year

I
2
None
J
1
None
K
1
None
L
2
1
M
2
2
N
1
None
O
7
1
P
5
3
Q
2
6
R
None
5
S
None
4
T
None
2
Before I begin to discuss my analysis of the range of readers in this class, I think it is important
to note that I considered any student who was at a benchmark score of three or higher to be at
grade level. I decided this after reading the description found at the bottom of the levels rubric.
At the bottom of the page, it specifically states, The level 1-3 benchmarks represent the average
text difficulty levels for the majority of reader who achieved that score on the ELA. There is no
pattern that allows for prediction of a 4. Because a score of 4 generally only allows for one or
two errors, it is hard to assure parents or students that a correlation will exist between level of
text difficulty and a score of 4 (College). As we all know, nobody is perfect, which means we
should accept that our students can make a few mistakes and still be performing at a satisfactory

level. That being said, at the beginning of the year, four students were below grade level, two
students were approaching grade level, 2 students performing at a satisfactory level, one student
performing on the high end of the third grade level, and fourteen were above grade level. Using
this data, I can conclude that the overall performance of the class improved. I came to this
conclusion by looking at the number of students who were reading at an instructional level that is
considered to be at grade level at the beginning and end of the year. I only looked at the
instructional levels during these two times because the students were being assessed on their
reading of Narrative texts. At the beginning of the year, seventeen students were performing at a
satisfactory level or higher. At the end of the year, all but three students were at a satisfactory
level or higher. By having four more students move up to their instructional grade level, I can
make the assertion that improvements were made.
Using the chart Building an Effective Reading Process Over Time, I would expect to see
Transitional, Self-Extending, and Advanced readers in this group of fourth grade students. I
would expect this because looking at the suggested reading levels for the different stages, the
levels the students are at, at the end of the year fall into these three stages. I decided to use this
continuum because the teacher, who collected the data I was given, used the assessments
created/used by Fountas and Pinnell. Since s/he used these assessment tools, I believe the best
way to accurately place these students are to use the same form of benchmarks. Below you will
find the behaviors that I will expect the students to demonstrate in each of the stages.
Stage
Transitional

Behaviors
-Read silently most of the time.
-Have a large core of known words that are
recognized automatically.
-Use multiple sources of information while
reading for meaning.
-Integrate sources of information such as lettersound relationships, meaning, and language

structure.
-Consistently check to be sure all sources of
information fit.
-Do not rely on illustrations but notice them to
gain additional meaning.
-Understand, Interpret, and use illustrations in
informational text.
-Know how to read differently in some
different genres.
-Have flexible ways of problem-solving words,
including analysis of letter-sound relationships
and visual patterns.

Self-extending

Advance readers

-Read with phrasing and fluency at appropriate

levels.
-Read silently; read fluently when reading
aloud.
-Use all sources of information flexibly in a
smoothly orchestrated way.
-Sustain reading over texts with many pages,
that require reading over several days or
weeks.
-Enjoy illustrations and gain additional
meaning from them as they interpret texts.
-Interpret and use information from a wide
variety of visual aids in expository texts.
-Analyze words in flexible ways and make
excellent attempts at new, multi-syllable
words.
-have systems for learning more about the
reading process as they read so that they build
skills simply by encountering many different
kinds of texts with a variety of new words.
-Are in a continuous process of building
background knowledge and realize that they
need to bring their own knowledge to their
reading.
-Become absorbed in books.
-Begin to identify with characters in books and
see themselves in the events of the stories.
-Connect texts with previous texts read.
- Understand the linguistic and social
functions of conventional spelling and
produce products that are carefully edited.
- Write almost all words quickly; accurately,
and fluently.

Use a dictionary, thesaurus, computer spell

check and other text resources; understand
organization plans for these resources.
Control a large body of known words that
constantly expands.
Demonstrate a large speaking and listening
vocabulary as well as knowledge of
vocabulary that is used often in written
pieces
Notice many aspects of the writers craft in
tests that they read and apply their
knowledge to their own witting.
Critically analyze their own writing and
that of others.
Write for a variety of functions-narrative,
expressive, informative, and poetic.
Write in various persons and tenses.
Write for different audiences, from known
to unknown.
Write about a wide range of topics beyond
the present time, known settings, and
personal experiences.

(Fountas, 2001)
Range of Writing Development
The range of writing development also varies greatly amongst these 24 students. To
decide the students writing development, I decided to look at their writing assessment scores. I
made the decision not to take into account the Fountas and Pinnell writing assessments because
after I looked at the criteria further, I believe that the scores reflect the students comprehension
rather than writing abilities. The writing assessments that the students took focused on the
structure, development, and language conventions. Due to the fact that the scores I have
received only gives the scaled score, and not the individual scores for the different scoring
sections, I can only make generalized responses. Another obstacle I faced when analyzing the
writing scores is that the students were assessed on three different writing styles, which were
narrative, informational, and opinion. This throws a wrench into things because the rubrics for

the different styles do not have the same criteria. This is troublesome because it does not
necessarily show progression in what the student were struggling and or excelling at. That being
said, I cannot draw an accurate conclusion of the students writing abilities. Again I will use a
chart to show the differences in scores at the three different assessment times.
Score
1
1.5
2
2.5

Writing assessment 1
(Narrative)
None
None
11
9

Writing assessment 2
(Informational)
1
1
7
4

Writing assessment 3
(Opinion)
None
2
4
6

3.5

None
2
3
First looking at the data, I see that the students strongest area of writing is Narrative

pieces. I am making this conclusion because when the students were assessed on this style of
writing, all students were at grade level. It also appears that Opinion writing was the area where
the students struggled the most with only eight students writing at grade level. The next thing I
noticed was that it appears the students did not improve greatly over the course of the year. As
mentioned above, it is very hard to assess the students writing progress due to the fact that the
scores reported were not all for the same style of writing. One of the reasons why I have come to
this conclusion is because the range of scores widened as time went on. I consider this to be a
bad thing because it shows that all students were not receiving the writing strategies being
taught. Ultimately, some of the students were beginning to fall behind. Another piece of
evidence that helped me come to the conclusion that the students did not make a whole lot of
writing progression during the third grade is the number of students at each of the three points
who were writing at their grade level or higher. Breaking their scores down even further, I see
that all students at the beginning of the year, fourteen students at the middle of the year, and only
eight students at the end of the year were writing at or above a third grade level according to the

Teachers College assessment. These two factors lead me to believe that the students did not
make the necessary strides to be considered at grade level by the end of the year.
When looking at the students writing development scores, I would expect to see a range
of students at the transitional, self-extending, and advanced writers stages. The reason why I
think the students will fall into one of these three stages is similar to the reason why I thought the
students would be in the reading stages above. I believe that the students will either be in the
transitional, self-extending, or advanced stage because based on the Fountas and Pinnell writing
behaviors chart found on page 8 of their book Guiding Readers and Writers, they suggest that
students at these ages and levels, be in in these three stages. Below you will find the behaviors
students demonstrate while in these stages.
Stage
Transitional

Behaviors
-Spell many words conventionally and make
near-accurate attempts at many more.
-Work on writing over several days to produce
longer, more complex text.
-Produce pieces of writing that have dialogue,
beginnings, and endings.
- Develop ideas to some degree.
-Employ a flexible range of strategies to spell
words.
-Consciously work on their own writing and
spelling skills.
-Write in a few different genres.
-Demonstrate ability to think about ideas while
encoding written language.
-Use basic punctuation and capitalization
skills.
-Continue to incorporate new understandings
about how authors use language to
communicate meaning.

Self-extending

-Spell most words quickly without conscious

attention to the process.
-Proofread to locate their own errors, recognize
accurate parts of words, and use references or

apply principles to correct words.

-Have ways to expand their writing
vocabularies.
-Understand ways to organize informational
writing such as compare/contrast, description,
temporal sequence, cause/effect.
-Develop a topic and extend a text over many
pages.
-Develop pieces of writing that have voice
-Use what they know from reading texts to
develop their writing.
-Recognize and use many aspects of their
writers craft to improve the quality of their
writing.
-Write for many purposes.
-Show a growing sense of the audience for
their writing.
-Critique own writing and offer suggestions to
other writers.

Advance Writers

Understand the linguistic and social

functions of conventional spelling and
produce products that are carefully edited.
Write almost all words quickly; accurately,
and fluently.
Use a dictionary, thesaurus, computer spell
check and other text resources; understand
organization plans for these resources.
Control a large body of known words that
constantly expands.
Demonstrate a large speaking and listening
vocabulary as well as knowledge of
vocabulary that is used often in written
pieces
Notice many aspects of the writers craft in
tests that they read and apply their
knowledge to their own witting.
Critically analyze their own writing and
that of others.
Write for a variety of functions-narrative,
expressive, informative, and poetic.
Write in various persons and tenses.
Write for different audiences, from known
to unknown.

Write about a wide range of topics beyond

the present time, known settings, and
personal experiences.

Range of Word Study Development

Looking at word study development, there is a large range in this class. The only
difference between the other categories is that the range is not as significant. I again feel it is
important to note before diving into my analysis is that I mainly focused on the Words Their Way
level at the end of the year. I chose to only look at the students end of the year scores because
for this plan I have to focus on where the students are, and what I am going to teach next based
on their current levels. Even though knowing the amount of progress made over their third grade
year is important, I do not believe that it is significant enough to factor in planning the next steps.
I feel that this is important to note in order to fully understand my analysis. Having said this I
can now explain why I believe the range of word study development is not as significant. I
believe this because the developmental stages of word study are somewhat flexible, and have
much overlap in the grades. For example, the Letter Name Alphabetic Stage, Within Word
Pattern Stage, and Syllables and Affixes Stage can all be found within a third grade classroom.
Overall, the differences and flexibility in range of word study development allows for students to
learn at their own pace.
Looking at the data given, I am given the different word study stages present in this class.
The students in this class are in the Letter Name Alphabetic Stage, Within Word Pattern Stage,
and the Syllables and Affixes Stage. Looking at the stages the students are in, I would say that
there are only two students who are considered to be below grade level at the end of the year.
These students are number 21 and 22. These two students finished the year working on sort

number 27 in the Letter Name Alphabetic Stage, which students should be through at the
beginning of the third grade. I came to this conclusion by looking at the suggested stages
students should be in at different ages and grades. The tables found on the inside cover of the
Words Their Way textbook supports my thinking. This table suggests that students in the Within
Word Pattern Stage should be in grades 1st- middle of 4th. In this particular group of students, 7
of them are in this stage. The suggested grades students should be in while in the Syllables and
Affixes stage is 3rd-8th. Out of these soon to be fourth grade students, 15 of them are in this stage.
Based on this information, I can conclude that all the students in this class are at a pretty good
spot in terms of word study development. The behaviors of each of the word study levels are
described in the tables below, which come from the Words Their Way text on pages 156,206,and
249.
Letter Name Alphabetic Stage Behaviors:

Early Letter
Name Alphabetic

Middle Letter
Name Alphabetic

What students do
correctly
Partial phonological
awareness
Represent prominent
sounds, usually
beginning consonants
Directionally
Use most letters of the
alphabet
Partial spelling of
consonant blends and
digraphs
Spell some know sight
words correctly: the, is
Developing
phonological
awareness
All of the above plus:
Spell beginning and
ending consonants

What students use but

What is absent
confuse
Letter name-sound
Vowels
matches
Complete
Consonants based on
blends and
manner and point of
digraphs
articulation
Concept of word is
rudimentary, gets off
track on two-syllable
words
Spaces between
words

Short vowels by
point of articulation
Consonant blends
and digraphs

Silent letters
Preconsonantal
nasals

Late Letter Name

Alphabetic

Spell frequently
occurring short vowel
words: cat, dog
Concept of word is
fully developed
Full phonological
awareness
All of the above plus:
Spell many short
vowels and most
consonant blends and
diagraphs
Spell frequently
occurring long vowel
words: like, come

Some short vowels

still confused
Substitutions of
common short
vowels for
ambiguous vowels:
COT for caught
Preconsonantal
nasals
Affricated blends
(dr, tr)

Most long
vowel markers
or silent vowels
Vowels in
unstressed
syllables

Within Word Pattern Spelling Stage Behaviors:

Early Within Word

Pattern

Middle Within Word

Pattern

What students do
correctly
Consonants,
blends, digraphs
Preconsonantal
nasals
Short vowels in
CVC words
R-influenced CVC
words: car, for,
her
Spell known sight
words

Late Within Word

Pattern

All of the above

plus:
Common long
vowel patterns
(CVCe, CVVC)

All of he
above plus:

What students use but

confuse
Silent letters in
long vowel
patterns
-k, -ck, and ke
endings: SMOCK
for smoke, PEKE
for peak
Substitutions of
short vowels for
ambiguous
vowels: COT for
caught
Less common and
ambiguous vowel
patterns
-ed and other
common
inflections:
MARCHT for
marched, BATID
for batted
Ambiguous
vowels

What is absent

Vowels in
unaccented
syllables: FLOWR
for flower
Consonant
doubling:
SHOPING for
shopping
E-drop: DRIVING
for driving
Consonant
doubling
e-drop

Consonant
doubling

Long vowel
patterns in
one-syllable
words
R-influenced
patterns

Complex
consonant
units: SWICH
for switch,
SMUGE for
smudge
Vowels in
unaccented
syllables:
COLER for
color

Changing y to
i: CAREES for
carries

Syllables and Affixes Stage Behaviors:

Early Syllables and

Affixes

Middle Syllables and

Affixes

Late Syllables and

Affixes

What students do
correctly
Blends, diagraphs,
short vowels
Vowel patterns in
one-syllable
words
Complex
consonant units in
one-syllable
words
Spell known sight
words correctly
All of the above
plus:
Doubling and edrop with
inflection endings
Syllable juncture:
open-and closedsyllable patterns
All of the above
plus:
Vowel patterns in
accented syllables
Unaccented final
syllables

What students use but

confuse
Ambiguous
vowels
Consonant
doubling and edrop
Syllable juncture:
open and closedsyllable patterns

What is absent

Vowel patterns in
accented syllables
Unaccented final
syllables

Some suffixes and

prefixes:
ATTENSION for
attention,
PERTEND for
pretend
Reduced vowels
in unaccented
syllables

Few things are

completely
missing
Occasional
deletion of
reduced syllables:
DIFFERENT for
different
Doubled
consonant for
absorbed prefixes
Doubled
consonant for
absorbed prefixes

Doubled
consonant for
absorbed prefixes

Strengths and Needs

The areas I believe the students need to improve on are comprehension, understanding
the writing process, fluency, and words per minute speed. I believe that comprehension is the
area that needs the most work. By improving the other areas of weakness, comprehension will
also be improved. The strengths of this group include accuracy and word study.
My strategy for analyzing the data I was given was to look at each individual students
grades and then look for patterns. One of the patterns I repeatedly saw was limited
comprehension. Since I did not receive many of the students end of the year comprehension
levels, I have to base my analysis on the January scores for most of the students. Looking at the
most recent scores given, I found that 17 out of the 24 students had limited comprehension. The
students Fountas and Pinnell writing scores support these findings. After looking at the writing
response question the students had to answer, it appears that the question is testing
comprehension rather than writing ability. I came to this conclusion after looking at the example
question given for a student at instructional level T. This question asks the student to, Write a
summary of the important information you learned about wolves and their howls. You can draw
a sketch to go with your writing (Pinnell). Summarizing is a specific way to assess
comprehension (Fountas, 2001). Knowing this, I strongly believe that the Fountas and Pinnell
writing assessment is another way to test comprehension rather than writing ability. Once I
learned what the students were writing about, I began looking at this assessment as an additional
test to help me understand the students comprehension. This comprehension assessment
strongly reflects the results of the standard Fountas and Pinnell comprehension assessment
because 16 students were at a partial understanding or worse. Knowing that well over half the

class scored lower then satisfactory on the comprehension assessments, leads me to strongly
believe the students need to continue working on this reading behavior.
The second goal I am setting for these students focuses on writing. I determined this by
looking at the scores of the writing assessment. When analyzing the students scores, I found it
to be very difficult to determine if they were struggling or understanding. One of the reasons
why is because the writing assessment they were given was never the same writing style. This
proved to be problematic because I was unable to see if the students made any progress before
being assessed on a new type of writing. Looking at the grading rubric for the different styles, I
saw some overlap in the criteria, which will be the points I will focus on at the beginning of the
year. These categories are the subject, purpose, and conclusion/ending. I will teach them the
writing process during mini lessons, which they then can practice and incorporate during
independent writing. The students can pick the type of writing that they want to practice these
strategies. Some of the these types include, opinion/ persuasive, narrative, biographies,
autobiographies, informational, poetry, free writes, and informative pieces. It is important for
students to understand the basics of the writing structure, before we can move on to more
specifics such as, spelling or grammar.
Thelastareathatcouldusesomeimprovementisthestudentswordsperminute.
Roughly10outofthe24studentsscoredaleveloneortwoonthemostrecentwordsperminute
score.Ideterminedthisbylookingattheinstructionallevelthestudentwasreadingataswell
astheirWPMscore.IthenreferencedtheTeachersCollegeBenchmarkforOralReadingRate
chart,whichhelpsthenplacesastudentatalevel1,2,3,or4.Iconsideredanystudentwhose
scorefellintothecategoryofalevel1or2tobebelowstandards.Eventhoughthenumberof
studentswhoneedimprovementinthisareaislessthenmyothertwoareasofconcern,Ifeel

improvementwillbeverybeneficial.Byincreasingtheclassesreadingrate,Ibelievetheir
scoreswillimproveintheothertestedsections.Oneoftheseareasiscomprehension.Ibelieve
thatlowwordsperminuteratecanbeanindicatorofalowcomprehensionscore.Forexample,
oneofthereasonsforhavingalowWPMaveragecanbethatthestudentshavetodecodemany
ofthewordsinthebookduetolowwordknowledge.Ifthiswerethecase,thestudentwouldno
longerbereadingformeaning,theywouldbereadingforaccuracy.Mostofthe understanding
would be lost. After analyzing the data, I saw a correlation between low comprehension and a
low WPM score with 10 of the students. Although this is not a very high number, for these 10
students, bettering their WPM score could be very beneficial.
One of the most impressive findings of this data is that based on the data I was given,
none of the students received an accuracy score below 96%. This is very impressive because it
implies that the students have great decoding scores. When students are reading at a high
accuracy rate, they are able to correctly decode the words on the page. This will be beneficial
because I know that the students word study skills are on point. This is helpful because it tells
me that the reason why students comprehension scores are lower is strictly meaning based, not
decoding based. The classes accuracy scores also connects back to what I said in the previous
paragraph in regards to comprehension being lost when students are focusing more on reading
the words on the page correctly. Seeing that many of the students in the classroom have a very
high accuracy score while also having very low comprehension and WPM score supports my
reasoning behind wanting to improve reading rate.
Information I Will Need to Collect
Through my analysis of the data I was given, I have learned a lot about these soon to be
fourth grade students. Even though I have learned a lot, there are still many things I still need to

know about these students in order to plan instruction. The things I still need to learn is if there
are any students with disabilities in the class, any English Language Learners, the end of the year
scores that were missing from the data chart, and all of the information that standardized tests do
not tell us. It is important to know if there are students with disabilities or English Language
Learners in the class, so that I can provide the necessary accommodations for these students to be
successful. It is equally important to learn the students final comprehension and two writing
style scores so I know where these students academically are at the end of the school year. This
will give me an approximation of what level the students will be entering my classroom.
Knowing if any of the 24 students have a disability or an English Language Learners is
also very important to know. As I have learned in the Exceptional Learners course I took at
Alverno College, students with disabilities sometimes require different kinds of support, or
additional support. The kind of support can vary depending on the needs of the child. For
example, a child with ADD might need longer periods of time to work on in-class assignments,
while a student with a social-emotional disorder may need reminders as to what is expected of
him or her. Planning instruction for ELL students can be very similar to students with disabilities
in that they both require varied instruction. Students who are still learning the English language,
will usually need to give extra attention to word knowledge. They may need to receive
additional support from a reading specialist to help them learn the foundations of the English
language. If I am aware of a student who has worked with a reading specialist in the past, I can
consult with this teacher to find out what they have learned about the students learning needs.
By knowing what kinds of learning disabilities, or number of ELL students present in this class, I
can plan my instruction to accommodate the learning needs of the whole class.

The other pieces of information I will need to learn about these students include their
current comprehension levels, reading levels, and narrative and informational writing abilities.
Even though I was given data on these categories, I still need to know where there are currently
at. I need to know this since the students have had about three months away from the classroom
and may or may not have lost some of the skills/strategies that they learned in the third grade. As
many teachers know, many students do not read or write on a regular basis during summer
vacation. In order for students to remember what they have learned, they need to be
continuously practicing their reading and writing strategies. Since many of the students are not
reading or writing on a regular basis, they will lose some of what they have learned. Because of
this, I will need to know the comprehension, instructional, narrative and informational writing
scores in order to plan effective instruction.
Another thing I will need to find out about these students are the strategies that they are
using when reading, writing, and word solving. Some of these strategies include decoding,
chunking predicting, inferring, evaluating, connecting, summarizing, and comparing and
contrasting. Like I have said earlier, I was given a lot of data about these students. However, the
data does not tell me what strategies the students were using when they were being assessed. I
ultimately do not know how the students got the score that they did. There are many things I still
need to find out about these students in order to accurately and effectively plan instruction.
How I Will Get the Data:
In order to find out if there are any students in the classroom with disabilities, English
Language Learners, and current ability levels, I will need to assess the students right away. The
assessments I will use right away include a student information sheet, spelling inventory,
benchmark assessments, and the writing rubrics used the previous year. I will use benchmark

assessments to determine the students accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Student

information sheets will help me to learn about my students. I will give them two copies, one that
they will fill out, and one that their parents will fill out. I will ask the students the following
questions on the inventory, how many books did you read over the summer? How much writing
did you do over the summer? How many books do you have at home? What reading goals do
you have for yourself? What writing goals do you have for yourself? What do you think are
your reading/writing strengths? Where is your favorite place to read and write? These questions
will help me to learn how much reading and writing the students did over their summer vacation,
what they believe to be their strengths and weaknesses are, what environment they learn best in,
how the students view themselves as readers and writers, and what languages they speak. I will
also assess these students by using the Words Their Way Developmental Spelling Inventory,
which will help me to lean what kind of word study knowledge they have. To evaluate the
students writing capabilities at the beginning of the year I will give the students informal
prompts, which I will then assess using the prompts that were used to score their writing when in
the third grade. I will use the same rubrics that were used in the third grade because it will show
me what behaviors the students have mastered and which ones I will have to review before
moving on. I will use these three assessment tools to help determine the range of readers and
writers in this class.
What Assessments Will I Use to Monitor Growth:

Assessment

What it is, and how I will use it:

Running Records

Running records is a yearlong assessment that teachers can use to

monitor the progress of students reading strategies. When
assessing students reading teachers listen to the students read their
book. While the students read the teacher is making a check for
each word the student reads correctly. When an error is made the
teacher will also make a note. Examples of errors that should be
noted are words that the student substitutes, repeats,
mispronounces, or doesnt know (Tompkins, 2012). After
listening to the child read, a conclusion needs to be formed. The
conclusion should include what the child did well, what they need
to work on, and a decision if the book the student read was a just
right book. I will begin using running records fairly early in the
begging of the school year. I am going to start tracking student
progress right away so I can start planning for instruction and
begin to have an understanding of the range of readers in my
classroom. I plan to use running records in my classroom to help
identify what strategies the child has mastered as well as what
needs a little more attention. I will assess the students fluency and
accuracy strictly based on their reading. I will specifically count
the number of errors made to determine their accuracy rate. While
I am listening to them read, I will use my best judgment to
determine how fluent they are reading. To assess their
comprehension, I will ask them a couple of questions regarding the
plot of their book. Some questions I may ask the students include,
what was the main idea of the book? What does this information in
the book make you think about? What did you learn about this
topic? How can you relate this book to your own life? How did
the writer begin the book? If the student shows no understanding
for the text, I will give a score of a zero. If the student shows very
limited understanding I will give a score of one. If the child shows
partial understanding of the text then I will give a score of two. If
the student shows excellent understanding of the text, I will give a
score of a three. After asking the questions, I will give them a
final score. These strategies include comprehension, fluency, and
decoding. I will also use running records to show parents during
conferences. I think that running records is a great thing to show
to parents because it is physical evidence that backs up what Im
saying about their childs reading development. Overall running
records are used to show a students growth over time.

Benchmark
Assessments

Benchmark assessments are very similar to running records. The

main difference is that benchmark assessments are more formal
than running records. The basic characteristics of benchmark
assessments include, they take longer then running records, will
produce the same results no matter who gives the assessment, and
is given three times a year. Benchmark assessments assess
instructional level, words per minute, comprehension, accuracy,
and fluency., I will begin the year off with giving each student a
benchmark assessment, which will give me a more accurate gauge
of where the students are at, as well as o guide instruction. I will

Task 1C: Comprehensive Instructional Plan

There are many different components in learning how to become an effective reader and
writer. Through my different educational courses that I have taken on my journey to become a
teacher I have learned that reading is not just being able to recite words on a page. Instead the
main focus of reading is being able to attach meaning to the words by using different strategies.
In addition to learning what reading truly is, I also learned that writing is not just being able to
properly write and spell words; it is also being able to use writing skills to convey thoughts and
ideas. In order to be able to convey thoughts and ideas through writing as well as other literacy
techniques, teachers have to provide students with experiences that allow them to learn and grow
to become effective readers and writers. I have used these ideas combined with the knowledge
about the different theories pertaining to reading and writing to form my philosophy about
learning literacy. I believe children learn literacy best by:

Physically seeing effective reading and writing strategies modeled by the teacher.

Being given the opportunity to work with and practice the strategies they are taught. This
practice can be either independent or dependent.

Discussing their thoughts and insights with others.

The ideas I have stated above are what I believe are most important for children to have to most
effectively learn literacy. My beliefs are based on the ideas of the Sociolinguistics theorists,
specifically Lev Vygotsky. There are three sub parts to the sociolinguistic theory, which are
sociocultural theory, situated learning theory, and critical literacy. Sociocultural theory concerns
itself with culturally responsive teaching and classrooms. Each culture has its own educational
expectations in regards to what is taught and how. Knowing this, teachers need to use reading
and writing, which are very social activities to reflect the beliefs and cultures of the communities

his or her students come from. One way teachers can create a culturally responsive environment
is to help students develop cross-cultural awareness. An example of what this might look like in
a fourth grade classroom is to use the book Angel Child, Dragon Child, a story of a student
refugee who is dealing with the loss of having to leave her mother back in Vietnam to teach
students the hardships children from other countries go through due to the state of their home
countries. Situated learning theory emphasizes a very hands on approach to learning. This
subgroup believes that students will benefit far greater by engaging in activities that allow them
to learn by doing. Tompkins gives a great example on page nine of her text saying, if you
want to become a chef, you could go to cooking school or learn as you work in a restaurant
(Tompkins, 2012). Situated learning theory suggest that students learn best when they are given
authentic and meaningful activities. Critical literacy is formed around students examine
fundamental questions about justice and equity (Tompkins, 2012). Students become advocates
for social change through their use of language. Students see and analyze a social issue, then use
their language and literacy strategies to become agents of social change.
One of the main components of Vygotskys theory is explained by Tompkins as Vygotsky
realized that students can accomplish more challenging tasks in collaboration with adults then on
their own, but they learn very little when they perform tasks that they can already do
independently (Tompkins, 8). Through this idea the terms zone of proximal development,
expert other, scaffolding, and the gradual release of responsibility are developed.
The zone of proximal development describes where the student starts out and what they
can eventually achieve. The zone examines where a student is in relation to where they will be.
Once a students zone is found, the teacher plans instruction to give the student the necessary
support to help them reach that goal. This goal is to be able to use the desired strategy correctly,

effectively, and independently. Depending on a childs zone, a scaffold is formed. Scaffolding is

the process of the student being totally supported by the teacher or expert other to be able to
eventually work independently, using the desired strategy.
A heavily supported scaffold would be when the teacher is doing the work while the
student watches. This heavy scaffold occurs when the students zone is in the beginning stages.
When the scaffold begins to support the student less, the student slowly begins to take on the
responsibility of using the strategy. The transition of responsibility from teacher to student is
known as the gradual release of responsibility. The gradual release of responsibility is adaptive
to the needs of the student. When the student is in the beginning phase of their zone, they
receive more of a scaffold from the more expert other. As they begin to move up in their zone,
they receive less support. When less support is given, the responsibility the child has for using
the strategy increases.
During scaffolding, the gradual release of responsibility, and the zone, there must be a
more expert other. A more expert other also known as a more knowledgeable other is
someone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level then the other learner, with
respect to a particular task, process, or concept (Mceod, 2013). The more expert other does not
necessarily have to be the teacher or other adult. This person can be another student. As long as
a person has more knowledge or experience, they can serve as a more expert other. When
scaffolding, the gradual release of responsibility, and the zone are used, the more expert other
supports the child achieve skills to difficult for a child to master on his/her own, but that can be
done with guidance and encouragement from a knowledgeable person (Mceod, 2013). The
more expert other provides the necessary support for the student to support their scaffold.

Between Vygotskys theories and my own person beliefs there are many connections.
The first connection is with the ideas of scaffolding and modeling. During scaffolding the teacher
begins using the strategy while the child watches, which is exactly what I believe. Vygotsky and
myself believe that in order for the child to be able to correctly use the strategy the teacher has to
first model the desired behavior or strategy. The connection between modeling and scaffolding
is that modeling is a component of scaffolding. Modeling offers the highest level of support.
While the students are observing they are specifically watching the steps the teacher took as well
listening to the thought process the he or she was demonstrating. The language used during
scaffolding relates to Vygotskys theory about language. Language is present all throughout
Vygotskys idea of scaffolding because the teacher and student are constantly communicating
with one another as well as students communicating amongst themselves. Written language can
be present when the teacher is modeling the strategy for the student; which is the first step in
scaffolding. During minilessons, teachers will sometimes write down their thinking process.
Anchor charts are used to display thinking processes when using a certain strategy. These anchor
charts are usually made together during whole group work time with both student and teacher
writing their thinking on them. Oral language is also present all throughout scaffolding. During
scaffolding the teacher and student are in constant communication talking through the steps of
the material.
Vygotsky was also a Sociolinguistic theorist. Sociolinguists believe that people organize
their thoughts using language. This connects greatly to what Vygotsky believed because much of
his work revolved around using language. He suggested that teachers create opportunities for
students to talk about what they are learning and doing. This belief is found in his idea of
scaffolding, the gradual release of responsibility, and the zone. In order for scaffolding, the

gradual release of responsibility, and collaboration among students, language must be used.
Language is ultimately the building blocks of these strategies.
My philosophy for how students learn literacy best is students need to be supported and
given opportunities to practice including hands on experiences with the material. As a teacher I
strongly believe that my role in the classroom is to provide the necessary amount of support for
the students in my classroom. I understand that each child is different and each requires different
amounts of support. Some students may grasp a concept right away and will not require much
assistance, while other students may struggle to develop reading and writing strategies right
away and may need a little more support.
Concepts and Strategies I Will Teach:
There are many important concepts and strategies I want to teach this group of students.
The concepts and strategies that really stick out to me as being crucial include The concepts I
plan on teaching this fourth grade class include making connections, characteristics of different
genres, summarizing, and analyzing their texts.
Concept/Strategy
Making connections

Rationale
I believe that it is important for students to
make text-to-text, text to self, text to world,
and text to world connections. When teachers
are teaching students how to make connections
they are teaching them how to
Understand/develop purposes for reading
texts, Connect knowledge of topic, plot,
characters, or setting to personal experiences
and their knowledge of the world and other
texts, Bring background knowledge to their
reading of a text, Interpret new texts using
personal experiences and background of world
knowledge, and Make connections between
and among texts they have read, seeing
similarities and differences (Fountas, 2001).

Genre study

Summarizing

I plan to teach these students about the

different genre features. This will not only
help students with their reading but with their
writing as well. According to Fountas and
Pinnell, knowing about genres:
Gives students language with which to talk
about texts.
Helps them learn how information is
organized and presented, a process that
supports comprehension.
Helps them use what they know about the
characteristics of texts to write in various
genres.
Lets them anticipate the form texts in a
particular genre will take.
Helps them identify the kinds of books they
like and want to read more of.
Allows them to evaluate the breadth of
their reading (Fountas, 2001).
Genre study is important for students because
it teaches them students the structure of the
different styles of writing. When students are
able to understand the writing craft they will
have a better time reading, which will in turn
help them in their writing. Understanding the
text structure also helps improve
comprehension because they will be able to
understand how and why the author chose to
present the information. In my classroom, I
will teach my students about the features of
realistic fiction, poetry, historical fiction,
fantasy/science fiction, informational texts,
biographies, and autobiographies.
Summarizing is the act of retelling the big
ideas of a piece of literature. Summarizing is
important part of comprehension. One way
students demonstrate their ability to
comprehend something is to summarize. As I
have learned in my analysis of the class data,
the students need a lot of work with

Analyzing

comprehension. I believe that by learning how

to summarize and look for key details, their
comprehension scores will improve. Some of
the strategies teachers can teach their students
to help with summarizing include Relate
important ideas, events, details, or other
information related to comprehending the
whole text, Continually organize information
extracted from print, Distinguish between
summarizing important information and
remembering/retelling all the details of a text,
Select important information after reading and
bring together in a concise report (Fountas,
2001).
Analyzing is the process of breaking apart a
piece of literature to learn the nature,
proportion, function, interrelationship, or
properties (Fountas, 2001). Analyzing is an
important strategy for students to have and use
because it helps them to understand and
comprehend their books. When students
analyze what they are reading, they are taking
an in-depth look into the meaning. When
teachers teach students how to analyze, they
are teaching them to Recognize plot
development based on knowledge of text
structure, Recognize and use text
characteristics related to genre, Discover the
underlying organization of a text related to
topic, genre, or theme, Recognize the
authors use of language to communicate
meaning and emotions in various ways,
Analyze elements of a fiction or nonfiction
text to gain an understanding of how the author
communicated meaning, Analyze
illustrations or other graphic features as to how
they evoke aesthetic response and
communicate meaning, Recognize and use
graphic features of texts (such as maps and
charts) to increase understanding, Recognize
and use literary features of texts to expand

Word solving skills when reading

Patterns of text structure

Writing process

understanding, and Analyze the whole text to

determine how illustrations, text, and format
communicate meaning in an integrated way
(Fountas, 2001).
After analyzing the data given about this group
of students, I believe that they could benefit
from learning additional word solving
strategies. I believe this because as I stated in
my analysis section, many of the students had
high accuracy rates, but low comprehension
scores. I believe that part of the reason is
because the students focus on reading the
words accurately instead of for meaning. I
think that if I teach these students additional
word solving strategies, their comprehension
levels will increase as well. Some of the
specific strategies I will teach the students
include using word patterns, and using
syllables to take words apart. I will also use
word sorts to help the students improve their
ability to recognize essential spelling features.
I plan on teaching the students the different
structures of texts. I will teach the students the
patterns of description temporal sequence,
comparison, cause and effect, and
problem/solution. By teaching the students
these different patterns because it will help the
students to visualize the process, present ideas
in chronological order, discuss two different
events, provide explanations, and identify
problems. These different text patterns will
help students comprehend what they are
reading better.
Knowing the exact steps of the writing process
can be very beneficial for students. As
students begin learning the steps of the writing
process, they are also beginning to learn the
traits of good writing. When students know
and are able to implement the traits, they are
then able to produce effective pieces of

writing. They can then use their writing to

help get their voices heard. Students can use
their knowledge to write letters to city officials,
members of the community, and those of
special interest to advocate for change.
Instructional Strategies:
In order to teach the concepts and strategies to this group of students I plan to use the
three-block framework, which consists of the components of balanced literacy. Balanced literacy
is a combination of different teaching strategies that vary in the amount of support the teacher
provides. The teacher provides the most support for reading during interactive read-alouds,
followed by, guided reading, and independent reading which slowly start to provide less and less
support. For writing the highest level of support is provided during modeled writing, followed
by guided writing, and independent writing, again providing less and less support as we move
down the list of instruction strategies. The three-block framework can be broken up into three
distinct stages, hence the name. These three sections are language and word study, reading
workshop, and writing workshop. The components of block one include shared language,
interactive edit, handwriting, word study, modeled reading/writing, and interactive read-alouds.
Block-two, reading workshop mainly focus on independent reading, guided reading, and
literature study. Writing workshop, which is block three focuses on independent writing, guided
writing, and investigations. I will use the balanced literacy components within the three-block
framework in order to teach the concepts and strategies listed above.
The main focus of block one is to teach word study. During this time, students learn the
way words are combined into sentences and paragraphs. On page 28 of Guiding Readers and
Writers, the langue/word study block is describes as, a springboard for students to engage in
independent work on spelling, word study, reading, or writing (Fountas, 2001). It is also

important to note that during block one, there is no set schedule for when the different shard
language/literacy components take place. During this time we are teaching students about the
way that words are formed as well as their meaning.
Many times a block begins with a minilesson. This minilesson can include the balanced
literacy components of interactive read-alouds or modeled writing. Minilessons are short lesson
in which the teacher directly teaches the entire class. Minilessons can either cover management,
strategies and skills, and literary analysis. Lessons on management are important because they
help to teach students how to be independent in their reading and writing. Skills and strategy
lessons helps readers and writers construct meaning from print. Literary analysis helps students
become familiar with techniques that authors use to create pieces of literature (Fountas, 2001).
Minlessons are a great tool to grab the students attention and get them focused on the strategies
and skills I am teaching. Some of these strategies and skills include the writing process,
figurative language, paragraphing techniques, grammar, adding dialogue, decoding, inferring,
summarizing, using text features and structures, and using context clues.
Tompkins highlights interactive read-alouds (IRA) on page 443of her textbook and
explains, The focus is on enhancing students comprehension by engaging them in the reading
process before, during, and after reading. Throughout interactive read-alouds, the teacher stops
frequently to emphasize and model how to use different reading strategies. Interactive readalouds are ultimately used to help students learn and focus on different reading strategies they
can use while independently reading, without having to worry just yet about reading the text.
During an interactive read aloud the teacher should also be the one to be reading the story while
the students listen.

The role of the teacher during IRAs is to first pick an enriched text to read to the
students. Before starting an interactive read-aloud the teacher should preview the text and find
specific points where s/he can stop and demonstrate using a specific reading strategy. The
demonstrating portion is usually the teacher stopping and doing a think aloud. A think aloud is
the teacher modeling the use of the strategy while talking through the thinking process she is
doing out loud. While planning the lesson the teacher should also plan stopping points that will
require student participation. The role of the student during this time should be engaged in the
lesson and answering/ participating when asked. When wrapping up the lesson, the teacher
should explain to the students when they can use the different strategies just worked on. I plan to
use interactive read-alouds to help teach my students the different comprehension strategies that I
discussed in the above sections. In the past I have used interactive read-alouds to help children
make inferences about how characters are feeling as well as identifying the authors main
message. In addition to the purposes I have used IRAs for, they can also help students develop
the comprehension strategies of predicting, making connections, inferring, and retelling.
Interactive read-alouds are used to provide the students with high levels of support in addition to
teaching them different strategies they can use when reading.
Interactive read alouds are also a great instructional tool for ELL students. One-way
teachers can tailor an interactive read aloud to meet the needs of all students including ELLs or
ESLs is by using picture books. By using picture books, one of the challenges ELLs and ESLs
face in the classroom is taken away, that is relying on spoken language to understand what is
going on. Picture books allow the students to use the pictures as cues to understand the plot of
the story. Another way interactive read alouds support ELL and ESL learners are that they are
being immersed in the language. When students repeatedly hear the language being spoken, they

will begin to pick up on certain words or phrases. Interactive read alouds are a great
instructional tool for ELL and ESL students because it provides the heavy support that they need.
The balanced literacy component that provides the highest level of support for writing
time is modeled writing. Throughout modeled writing the teacher demonstrates a certain writing
behavior or strategy that the students are then to implement into their own writing. Modeled
writing can be used to teach students that writing is important, the writing process, and
mechanics. The role of the teacher also includes thinking out loud, and explaining what writers
do as well as the thinking process she is going through. Throughout this experience, the students
are not actively participating as much as they would in other balanced literacy components. In
the classroom the students should have access to word walls, colored markers, and places to sit
and edit their writing and help others. I will use modeled writing to help introduce my students
to the writing process as well as show them what writers do.
The second block, reading workshop has several different components as well. These
components include guided reading, literature circles, and independent reading. Reading
workshop can be very beneficial in that it builds an effective reading process, it increases the
amount students read, it increases ownership of and commitment to reading, it broadens readers
literacy experiences, it develops responsibility for reading, it encourages personal connections,
and it teaches collaboration. The ultimate goal of the reading workshop should be to engross
students in books considered to be just right to help them become more effective readers.
Guided reading is the stage right before students are sent on their own to read
independently using the strategies they were taught. During guided reading, the teacher meets
with small groups. This is a more personal experience for the student. Students are placed in

groups according to their instructional level as well as the learning needs. These groups are only
temporary and change as students change.
During guided reading the role of the teacher includes picking books that support the
skills and strategies the students are focusing on, placing students in groups of similar
development levels, and modeling what the students should be focusing on. These groups should
only include a few students so the teacher can provide the necessary support to all the students
needs. The role of the students includes reading the books independently, revisiting these guided
reading books by keeping them in their book boxes, and practice the strategies discussed during
guided reading. The role of the environment for guided reading plays a big role. Throughout the
guided reading, the teacher should be within a close distance with the students, to allow her to
assess what strategies the student is using and which ones need to be worked on. One piece of
furniture that helps keep teachers in close contact with their students is a half-circle shaped table
that allows the teacher to sit in the center so that the children surround her. Being in close reach
of the students is important because the teacher needs to be able to see and hear the children
read. I will use guided reading in my classroom to help assess students to see if they are
developmentally at where I think they are, see what strategies they are using, and help reinforce
ac concept or strategy the students are struggling with.
Next comes independent reading time. During this period of time students are provided
with the smallest amount of teacher support. Independent reading is the time when students
should be practicing the concepts and strategies they have learned in my lessons. Teachers can
also use independent reading time to her advantage. While the teacher meets with a small group
to conduct a guided reading, she can have the other students in the classroom independently read.
Teachers can also use independent reading time to meet and conference with students like I

mentioned above. When conferencing with students the teacher can assess the development
level they are at, see if the books they are reading are challenging enough/ not too difficult, as
well as discover what strategies the students are using while independently reading. The
environment is very important for independent reading time. The teacher should make sure that
the anchor charts that were made and used during previous lessons are hung around the
classroom to allow students to reference while reading. Classroom libraries should be available
for student use to encourage students to pick their own books that they seem to interest them.
The only thing teachers need to be careful of when allowing students to choose their own books
is to make sure that students are picking appropriate books that meet their needs. In my
classroom, I plan to use independent reading time to conference with the children as well as
allow my students time to practice the strategies I am teaching them.
The last component of reading workshop is literature study. The components of literature
study include, reading and thinking about works of literature, collaborating with others to reflect
on, analyze, and criticize literature, developing and sharing aesthetic responses to literature,
extending understanding through talk and/or writing. On page 47 of Guiding Readers and
Writers, the main purpose of literature study is explained perfectly in a few short sentences. It
states, The purpose of literature study is to enable readers to develop understanding of the
things they read. The meaning they construct as they listen to one anothers interpretations is
greater than any of them could construct alone. Literature study also helps students become
aware of the inner workings of texts-how plots unfold and how characters develop. They
appreciate the skill involved and enjoy reading more. Most important, literature study helps
students connect complex concepts and ideas to their own lives and encourages them to become
life long readers (Fountas, 2001). These couple of sentences really captures the true purpose

behind literature circles and helps to emphasize their importance. Literature study is a great tool
for getting students to think about their reading.
I plan on using literature circles with my students as an instructional tool to help improve
my students comprehension. Literature circles are heterogeneous, which means that it does not
matter what instructional level the student is reading at. During this time, students get together
and talk about the text. They explore the plot, characters, and text structure. As they listen to
their peers speak, they are deepening their thinking and constructing the meaning further. Seeing
as the students in this fourth grade class have large area for improvement when it comes to
comprehension, I plan to utilize literature circles quite a bit.
The last block in the three-block framework is writing workshop. This framework has
three main components. These components are independent writing, guided writing, and
investigations. During writing workshop, students explore what it means to be a writer.
The balanced literacy component with the second lowest amount of support is guided
writing. Guided writing is usually done in small group. When the teacher does a guided writing,
she is able to do interventions with students of similar writing development levels, or students
who need the same support with a certain strategy. It is also important to note that theses groups
of students are always changing and based on the students needs. Before the teacher begins the
guided writing, she should have some preplanned teaching points she wants to work on with the
students to help strengthen their writing. The role of the teacher is to provide support for the
student who is now doing the writing and thinking. To start out the writing session the teacher
should model and give the students specific instructions of what is expected as well as set the
purpose. When the guided writing session is over, the teacher can either collect the students
writing to further assess, or have the students keep in their writing folders for future use.

Through these small group interventions teachers are able to identify what strategies students are
and are not using in their writing.
The point when students begin to write without much if any support is independent
writing. Many times independent writing is incorporated into a workshop. Typically the
workshop begins with the teacher doing a mini-lesson. This mini-lesson usually highlights a
specific teaching point that the teacher wants the students to focus on and incorporate into their
writing. After the short lesson students are released to their seats to write. While the students are
working the teacher walks around to conference with them. To wrap up the workshop, the
teacher has share time. When sharing, the teacher should highlight what she saw students doing
well while writing in addition to calling attention to student work. Independent writing time can
also be used for teachers to do a guided writing with a small group of students. This is an ideal
time to do a guided writing because the other students are kept busy with their own work and
typically do not need much teacher support. I will use independent writing in my classroom to
conference with students as well as use the time to do a guided writing with students.
Investigations involve long-term projects in which the student explores a topic in-depth.
After researching, the student usually writes about their findings as well as gives an oral
presentation. The main purposes for investigations is for students to make connections between
reading and writing, to use written language to display knowledge gained through inquiry, and to
use various formats for writing (Fountas, 2001). Investigations are a great way for students at
different levels to come together and work with each other. This is a way for students to become
the more expert other and help scaffold each others learning. Investigations are also a great way
to integrate the different content subjects. When investigating, students can research topics or
issues they are learning about outside of reading and writing time. From what I have learned in

my science and social studies curriculum courses at Alverno, schools are starting to cut back on
the time dedicated to these two subjects. By integrating reading and writing with other areas, the
time taken away can be made up through the integration.
The different components of balanced literacy easily connect back to Vygotskys idea of
scaffolding. There are four main phases a child will go through before reaching the stage where
they are independently working. The first phase of scaffolding is when the teacher does the
thinking while the student watches. Both interactive read-alouds and modeled writing fall under
this first stage because they both involve the teacher modeling the different strategies the
students should be working towards using on their own. The second phase involves the teacher
still doing most of the thinking, while getting the students more involved in the thinking process.
Moving into the next stage, the roles start to reverse and the student starts to do most of the
thinking while the teacher supports. When the roles reverse, the teacher uses the balanced
literacy components of guided reading and writing. Even though during guided reading and
writing the students are doing all of the reading and writing, the teacher is still there offering
support as well as informally assessing them. The final stage is when the student does all the
work and thinking while the teacher strictly watches. In this performance stage, the students
independently read and write. In the different components of balanced literacy the teacher offers
different levels of support, which follows Vygotskys scaffolding. When using the different
components of balanced literacy the teacher does not have to offer the same amount of support
each time. Instead, if the teacher sees that a child needs greater or lesser amounts of support
based on the students needs. The different levels of support the teacher offers students ties
directly to Vygotskys theory on scaffolding.

Usually during the modeling stage the teacher is doing all of the thinking, which applies
to interactive read-alouds and modeled writing. After modeling, the students participate and
practice. The participation stage is the point when the students start to help the teacher do some
of the thinking but are not totally on their own. When practicing the students start to take on
most of the responsibility of reading and writing. Shared, guided reading and writing as well as
interactive writing are the components that support student participation and practice. The
demonstration period relates to independent reading and writing. As the teacher is conferencing
with students the student is given the chance to show what they are able to do. Independent
writing pieces can also be turned in to teachers to be able to see what they are able to do.
Materials/Classroom Design:
Material
Multiple types of literature

Classroom library

How/ why I am incorporating this in my classroom

I plan to have many different types of literature available in
my classroom. For example, I will have nonfiction, fiction,
realistic fiction, informational, historical fiction, biographies,
autobiographies, fantasy, science fiction, and poetry available
for students to read. I plan to incorporate these various types
of genres into my classroom because I want to be sure that I
am providing materials that are engaging for all the students
in my classroom.
Another important key item I want to have in my class is a
classroom library. After taking education courses at Alverno,
I have developed a greater appreciation for childrens books.
I now look at books as being a wonderful educational tool.
Children can learn so much through reading. Children can
learn not only literacy behaviors, but information about the
other subjects (math, science, art). I have learned this first
hand through my non-literacy based field placements. For
example, when I was placed in a 4K class, I started out a
lesson on counting by reading the book Counting on Clifford.
After this lesson, I then used a movement activity, which
allowed the students to practice their counting. For this
particular lesson, I used a book as an introduction to my
lessons main activity. Through learning the importance

childrens literature plays in students learning, I want to be

sure I incorporate a classroom library into my classroom. In
my classroom library I plan to have the books I have used in
my teachings, books of varying development levels, student
writing, many books from different genres and comfortable
chairs for students to sit and read in. By having the books I
used during lessons available to the students, especially those
used in interactive read-alouds the students are able to go
back and read the books using the strategies they were
learning. While working independently, students can go find
the book in the classroom library to scaffold their thinking and
work.
Another reason why I want to incorporate a classroom
library is because it allows students to choose what books
they want to read, of course with some guidance. By allowing
students to choose, I am giving them a sense of responsibility.
This directly relates to the gradual release of responsibility.
As the year goes on I will slowly start to give them more and
more responsibility, gradually releasing it. By having a
classroom library, my students will be practicing the strategies
I am teaching them, as well as slowly releasing responsibility
to them.
Another great advantage to having a classroom library
is that students can refer to the books while independently
writing. Students can use the classroom library to help
generate ideas that they then can incorporate into their
writing. For example, students can incorporate introductions
similar to the ones authors use. Students can also refer to
these libraries for spelling, if they remember reading it in one
of the books they have previously read. Students can also
utilize the classroom library to help with their writing by
referring to how authors use different techniques. A
classroom library not only supports a students reading
development, but their writing development as well.
I will also make sure that I have plenty of books from
different genres. As you have read in the section regarding
the concepts and strategies as well as the above column, I plan
to teach to these students, genre study is very important.
Knowing this, I am going to be sure that I have a balanced
classroom library that incorporates all the different genres so

Crescent shaped table

Anchor charts

that the students can familiarize themselves with the many

different types of books.
In order to support guided reading and writing, I think it is
imperative for a crescent shaped table to be located in my
classroom. During guided reading and writing, the teacher
needs to be able to offer support to the students when they
need it. By having a half shaped table the teacher is able to be
in close proximity to the students as well as facing them all at
the same time. This table relates to the scaffolding because it
allows the teacher to provide the support the student needs in
order to learn. When I use this table for guided reading and
writing I am providing the scaffold of you do, I help. This
table allows the teacher to work with a couple of students at a
time, while still providing the necessary support.
Anchor charts are reminders of the behaviors the students are
learning during lessons. These charts can either be posters or
large pieces of paper that the teacher used or created during
past lessons that display the different reading and writing
strategies. Usually anchor charts are made during interactive
read-alouds or modeled writing. It is especially important for
students to be able to see that the writing they helped to create
during shared and interactive writing is hung around the room
being displayed. This is important because it will help the
students see themselves as writers and contributors to writing.
These charts should be hung around the classroom for
students to access and refer to during independent work. I
will use anchor charts in my own classroom to help my
students become independent readers and writers by learning
the strategies in addition to learning to use their resources.

Classroom Management/ Student Motivation:

Strategy
Engaging, relevant, and relatable instruction

Morning meeting

Leveled texts

Giving choice

Rationale
One of the things that I have learned during my
time at Alverno, is that effective and engaging
instruction is one of the best forms of
classroom management. When students are
engaged, the number of times a teacher has to
stop and redirected is decreased. Knowing
this, I will plan lessons that the students can
connect with and are interested in.
Another important fact I learned during my
studies at Alverno is that students need
structure. I will use the first 5-10 minutes of
the day to have a morning meeting with
students to discuss what the schedule of the
day looks like. We will also talk about what
went well the day before and what did not go
as well. When talking about these things, I
will ask the students to think about how they
can continue their great work, or how to
change the not so great work and behavior.
Using leveled texts can be both a form of
classroom management or student motivation.
When students are reading books that are
below or above their instructional level, they
will become frustrated and off task. Once they
become frustrated they will no longer want to
stay on task, which can create distractions. By
choosing texts that are on point with the
students instructional level, I will be
addressing both classroom management and
student motivation.
In my classroom, I will be sure to give the
students choice as much as possible. I think
that this is important because when students
get to choose things such as the books they are
reading, the topics they are writing about, and
what they want to research, they are picking
what appeals to them. By doing this they are
more engaged and motivated to work. They

think of it less as being just another boring

assignment and more as a fun activity. As I
said in the above columns, when students are
engaged, there are less behavior problems,
which means more time for learning. I will
provide choice for my students in things such
as the books they read and the topics they write
about during independent time, as well as the
topics they research.
Workshop model

It has been proven time and time again that

children function better when there is structure
and routines in place. When there is a routine,
things tend to run more smoothly. The threeblock workshop model is one of the daily
routines that provide structure for students.
Seeing as the three-block writing workshop
and three-block reading workshop both consist
of three main components that generally follow
the same order, students will know what to
expect. When students know what to expect,
the transition from one activity to the next will
run a lot smoother.

Differentiating Instruction:
Differentiation instruction is something that all teachers need to do in order to meet the needs of
all of his or her students. This is important because children learn at different rates. Even in the
perfect world, you will never have a classroom of students who are learning at the same rate.
Knowing this, I have many different strategies on how I can differentiate my instruction to
ensure that all students learn. In the chart below I have organized the different strategies I plan
to use as well as a rationale.
Strategy
Scaffolding

Rationale
As stated above, scaffolding can be a great way
to support students through their learning. As I
have learned in my literacy courses at Alverno,
no two students learn the same. Knowing this,
I also know that students will need varying

Leveled texts

Feedback

levels of support when learning new strategies.

Scaffolding is a great way to address this issue.
When I am conferring and working one-on-one
with students I can provide the necessary
amount of support that the individual student
needs.
Using leveled texts in the classroom is one of
the best ways to differentiate instruction.
Leveled texts allow students to read books that
are not too hard, and not too easy, they are just
right. We do not want students to be reading
books that are too easy because they will not
be practicing their new strategies. We also do
not want students to be reading books that are
too hard because the value of the reading will
be lost in the student simply trying to get
through the book.
Even though some may not think of feedback
as being a tool for differentiating instruction, I
plan to use it in a way that it can. When
teachers give students feedback, they are
informing students of what their strengths and
weaknesses are. It is imperative that teachers
give students accurate and thorough feedback
on their work and not generic responses that
the teacher uses for multiple students. This is
important because as stated above no two
students perform the same, which means that
their strengths and weaknesses will ever be
identical. As teachers we want our students to
improve their work, which means that we need
to give them meaningful responses that will
help take their thinking one step further. I will
provide written and oral feedback to students.
When conferring, I will provide immediate oral
feedback to the student, highlighting their areas
of strengths and weaknesses. I will also
provide suggestions on how they can improve
in the future as well as immediately. After
giving a formal assessment, I will provide
written and sometimes oral feedback. If there

Word sorts

Workshop model

is something I feel needs to be immediately

addressed, I will address the concern with the
student right away.
Feedback can easily be related back to
the theory. Anytime feedback is given,
language is involved. Teachers can give
immediate oral feedback while conferring or
during a lesson that involves student
participation. Written feedback also involves
language. When the teacher (and sometimes
the student) gives written feedback, language is
being used. When teachers use written or oral
language, language is being used to
communicate ideas related to student work.
In my classroom, I will be using word sorts as
a way to differentiate instruction. Word sorts
are a great way for teachers to tailor to the
individual students needs. At the beginning of
the year, I will use a spelling inventory to find
out what stage the students are in. Once I
know what stage they are in, I can assign them
to a numbered word sort based on their needs.
By allowing students to work on the sorts that
will best fit their needs, I am differentiating
instruction.
The workshop model incorporates many
different opportunities for teachers to
differentiate instruction. During the time
designated to independent reading and writing,
the teacher can differentiate instruction in two
ways. The fist way is by going around the
room to confer with students. As the teacher
moves from student to student, s/he can assess
the student, while offering support through
explicit instruction based on the individual
needs of the student. The second way is for
teachers to run guided reading/writing groups.
As we know, guided groups are always
changing based on the instructional needs of
the student. The lessons the teacher designs
focuses on strategies a handful of students are

struggling with.

Evaluation and Implication of Plan on Student Learning:

Looking at my instructional plan for this particular group of fourth grade students, I feel
that I have a really great plan to help teach these students learn. Even though I feel that I have a
great plan, I do acknowledge that I do not know enough about this group of readers and writers.
Once I do some initial assessments and find out more I will refine my plan to better meet the
needs of the students. If I were to implement my plan right now using the information I was
given, I would expect to see the comprehension scores, writing scores, and words per minute
score to increase. I would expect this to be the result of the instructional strategies, concepts and
strategies, and yearlong assessments I plan to use with these fourth graders.
I believe that the strengths of my plan include my analysis of the data provided as well as
the instructional practices I have chosen to implement. To tackle all of the information I was
given, I went student by student looking at each individual score they received on the various
assessments. When looking at each score, I would determine if they performed below grade
level, at grade level, or above grade level. After I did this for each student and assessment, I then
tallied the number of students who were below grade level for each assessment. Next, I decided
if there were a significant number of students who were struggling with the strategies the
assessment was testing to make it a focus of my instruction. By doing this, I was able to
determine that I would need to focus on comprehension, writing, fluency, and words per minute
speed with this group of students. I was also able to conclude that the students were excelling at
accuracy. Through this process, I believe I really excelled at analyzing the data I was given.
The area that I think needs further development is section that outlines the strengths and
weaknesses of the students. As stated above, the data I was given does not tell me everything

about the children. Knowing this, I understand that this section will require further development.
To address this, I will use assessments at the beginning of the year to help get a better picture as
to what the strengths and weaknesses are of these students.

Problem-Solving Process Self-Reflection

You completed a plan in which you addressed the following real-life problem you may
encounter as a new teacher.
At the close of your first interview, you were given a set of data for these children from
assessments taken at the end of their third grade year and asked to design a comprehensive
literacy plan that address these needs to implement with these children in your fourth
grade inclusive classroom in the fall.
Complete the following statements as you reflect on the process/model you used to
successfully solve this problem.
The process I used to approach this problem was
First, I . I looked at each individual students individual assessment sores and recorded if they
were below, at, or above grade level.
Then, I tallied up the total number of students who I thought based on their performance
would require further instruction on the assessments focus. After that, I looked at the tally totals
and made generalizations about the results.
After that, I determined what I wanted to focus on and work on with the students, I decided
what instructional strategies I would use in addition to how I would assess and track their
progress.
The parts of this process that worked well for me were
The parts of this process that worked well for me was the analyzing portion. By picking apart
every data point, I was able to get a pretty clear picture of the abilities of these students.

Knowing the capabilities of these students then helped me to decide what instructional
techniques, materials, and assessments I would be using in my classroom.
An area of the process I struggled with was.
An area of the process I struggled with was giving rationales for why I was choosing the
strategies, assessments, and materials in my classroom. I believe that I struggled with this
because after learning about all of the things I have learned in my education classes at Alverno, it
seems so obvious to incorporate the things I believe are effective practices. After looking over
the notes I have taken, looking through my textbooks, and talking with peers, I was able form
rationales for why I am incorporating the different components into my practices.
When I approach a similar problem in the future:
When I approach a similar problem in the future, I will use similar problem solving strategies
because through this process I learned that in order to create an effective educational plan I first
need to have a solid understanding of the students I will be teaching. I will need to know what
their strengths and weaknesses are in order to effectively plan instruction.

Works Cited
Bear D., I. M. (2012). Words Their Way (5th ed.). Pearson.
College, T. (n.d.). Running Records, Foundational Assessments and Benchmarks.
Retrieved March 19, 2015, from Teachers College Columbia University Reading and
Writing Projcet: http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/assessments/runningrecords
Fountas, a. P. (2001). Guiding Readers and Writers. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Holdaway, D. (1999). Affinities and Contradictions: The Dynamics of Social or
Acquisition Learning. Literacy Teaching and Learning , 13-16.
Mceod, S. (2013). Theory in Cognitive Development, Lev Vytotsky .
Pinnell, F. &. Why Do Wolves Howel? In F. &. Pinnell, Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark
Assessment Sytem 2 (pp. 118-123).
Rog, L. J. (2011). Read, Write, Play, Learn Literacy Instruction in Today's
Kindergarten. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Tompkins, G. E. (2012). Literacy for the 21st Century A Balanced Approach (Sixth
ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.