Running head: LITERACY PORTFOLIO

Literacy Portfolio
Federico R. Lastra
Florida International University

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Literacy Portfolio
Oral Language

Language Experience Approach (LEA) Lesson

I model the Language Experience Approach (LEA) lesson around Shavout, because LEA
calls for very personal experiences that are expressed as they say it while guided by the teacher,
are organized into a short story. Shavout in Hebrew means weeks; it a Jewish festival that
follows Passover, seven weeks after. Shavout celebrates when Mosses gave the Torah to the Jews
on Mount Sanai (which coincided with the harvest festival). Shavout also embraces certain
customs, such as staying up all night studying the tikun, Jewish text, and also reading the Book of
Ruth. Moreover, traditionally dairy foods are prepared, in this case in Kosher kitchens, and
because it is also an agricultural festival the house and synagogues are decorated with floral
themes, like fresh flowers or decorations commonly made by children. I chose this holiday
because Reeva (Jewish) and Maria (Catholic) are commonly together during the holidays. Reeva
is the youngest child of partner, my niece; and Maria, is the daughter of the housekeeper (a
single mother who speaks only Spanish), who works additional hours on the holidays for the
family. However, they both go to school and enjoy creating and helping to cook and love the
holydays (Gunning, 2013; MLJ Staff, 2015). Although Maria is older than Reeva she is one
grade level behind, Reeva is in Fourth grade (Hebrew Academy) and Maria (MDCPS) in third;
they both speak English clearly; however, only Reeva receives reading support from her parents
at home, and I help out Maria weekly on Shabbat.
The lesson plan was simple and uncomplicated, I had noticed when I walked in that the
girls had created the small flower arrangements that were on the table, and one big paper one,
made up of eight smaller ones as a center piece (as seen on the table behind them). The women

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and older girls were busy in the kitchen, and the younger girls were told by Johanna, Reevas
mother, to arrange the flowers and to stay out of the kitchen. Using LEA on Reeva was easy
because she likes to create story books, which she reads to her American Girl Dolls, especially
Grace, the 2015 doll of the year that I gave her for her birthday, Maria plays with her other two
in the playroom that is a walk-in hall closet that has been converted into a makeshift playroom.
Knowing that Reeva likes to write and Maria likes to play I asked them if they would like to
create a story book for their dolls about what they did on Shavout? They agreed (Gunning, 2013).
I sat them down and we read a few lines from the Book of Ruth to set the tone. As LEA
demands, the kids tell the story and I am just there to write it
down for them, the girls began
On Shavout we wear pretty dresses. So pretty our moms
wont let us cook. They throw us out of the kitchen. But we
say we want to help make the food. She said we can make
flowers. So she handed us 3 little vases & 2 bunches of
flowers. We dont want to get dirty, we change our clothes. We filled the three vases, all the
same, and put them on the table together. We got bored. So we decided to make some out of
paper. We grabbed all the different colors we could find, and some green pipe cleaner for stems.
We made small ones and then tied them together. We opened them up and made one big flower
ball. We put it on the table. Isnt it beautiful? (Yes, its the prettiest one Ive ever seen) (Gunning,
2013).

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Phonics
I am a huge proponent of technology when it comes to teaching, even more so when
trying to overcome the barriers of regional pronunciation and accents as well. I was born in
Manhattan, New York, moved to Madrid, Spain, and then to Miami, Florida, and have lived in or
traveled to many states in the United States. Honestly, at times, find myself trying to decipher
how someone in a new location pronounces different words and sometimes just my name.
Americans have the unusually capacity to change pronunciation to match their own needs than
rather learning to pronounce it the way it was intended such as my name, or even more so
changing it or shortening it all together. This is why I prefer to use technological systems that
adhere to one universally accepted model, free from regional bias when it comes to teaching
pronunciation, and apply the best scientifically proven methods of teaching, one such program is
the Scholastic Phonics Inventory (SPI) (Gunning , 2013, Scholastic Phonics Inventory [SPI].
2015).

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Scholastic Phonics Inventory Webpage

As a reliable and validated measure of decoding and sight word reading fluency, the SPI
serves as an invaluable tool to developing foundational reading skills by measuring both fluency
and accuracy that is both cost-effective and fun, which stimulates interest and motivation, the test
in addition to making sure the students become familiar with the device being used for the
program (e.g., mouse) but also their recognition of lower-case letters, sight-word recognition to
measure recognition of high-fluency words, and non-word decoding tests. Even better they
provide progress reports, and worksheets to address challenges (SPI, 2015).

MOUSE TEST

LETTER RECOGNITION

SIGHT WORD

NON WORD DECODING

Once, the placement report has been pulled, the teacher can
assess where the student is at, and also alongside the
program implement other strategies such as either a word
sort or word game. This is where Starfall (2014) comes in

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again and can be used to reinforce the teaching strategies. In this case I chose Make a Match
game, and went up all three levels of an animated memory matching game that increased in
complexity, it matches the word to the corresponding object or action, such as snail or concept
like under. As displayed below, the students did rather well, completing all three levels.

Matching Board

Completion: Level 1

Completion: Level 2

Completion: Level 3

Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic Awareness in Words
Learning the sounds in words in this particular case the u sound, and using online tools
such as Starfall, can be very effective and fun, especially since the onset on technology is
changing the face of how to teach (Gunning 2013, Starfall, 2014). Yes, as homework
assignments it is useful for those children that have access to the internet at home; however,
when modeling is used within the classroom alongside it, then it becomes an even more powerful
teaching tool. Modeling makes scaffolding even more effective and teaching the student how to
sound out letters with you in the classroom and having access at home to do so as well, either
alone but ideally with a parent or older sibling, is ideal. A program like Starfall (2014), also

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allows the child to choose their own stories and exercises. Moreover, it uses several approaches
simultaneously as witnessed with their program. It begins by introducing the letter that it wishes
to emphasize, incorporates it into a fun little rhyme song to introduce the sound, then refocuses
on the letter and teaches the student how to write it and sound-it. Then once the story begins it
introduces a story that rhymes using different words with similar sound but with the pictures in
the story to identify, associate, and enhance learning.

Webpage

Reading Selection Page

Gus the Duck, introduces the u sound. It uses rhyme, spelling, and story to do it,
focusing on the middle sound. It continues over approximately a ten page short story and even
ranks the story know whether students actually enjoy reading it or not. Even as an adult it is easy
to see how fun can helps to promote independent learning. Starfall (2014) can also be used to
teach begging and ending sounds with tools such as make a word, which uses a word match
game alongside an audio pronunciation to fill in the blank by matching the proper spelling and
sound, then once completed pronounces all of it then introduces a new letter at the end, to show
how the entire word and pronunciation change. You can also use sight wordiness to show
beginning, and end words sounds by matching and dragging the letters into the corresponding
spaces. We chose items five, six, and seven, from the webpage above, and excerpts from those
choices can be seen below, which are in invaluable resources when it comes to technologically

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and progressively innovative ways to teach phonics to

students while making it fun.

Selection # 5 - Gus the Duck Screenshots

Selection #6 - Jakes Take

Selection #7 - Petes Sheep

Vocabulary
A great way to make vocabulary building fun is to create a bigger picture that
facilitates learning concept versus learning labels. A great way to do this is by using The Very
Hungry Caterpillar, which is also part of the common core reading. It is a great way to learn new
vocabulary and read aloud by using la lesson with photos. It is also a creative way of
explaining the process of a caterpillar developing into a butterfly, from birth to rebirth by
creating the caterpillar cycle (i.e., egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly) with fun things like
dried pasta, lima beans, leaves, and twigs from outdoors with some glue and fun coloring
markers. This idea was not my own originally but taught to me by a good friend, Jennifer Blue,

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who is an education major and currently working as a substitute teacher in Broward County,
Florida (Carle, 1994; Gunning, 2013).
This is done is by reading the book aloud and modeling the pronunciation of vocabulary
the teacher then explain. It begins with the
identification of the book and the insect on the
cover as a caterpillar. The children then take
turns reading the book aloud, as the teacher
corrects any of the necessary pronunciation
failures that are usually the result of new
vocabulary, such as chrysalis. Along, with the definition given, the
teacher explains within the context what it is, and the students
then associate it with the more common word cocoon. What is also very enjoyable about this
book is that it also associates numbers along with the identification of objects. It includes math
and counting, which is also a further association that can help long-term memory. Similarly, to
the way that the Twelve Days of Christmas links words and counting together in a very
innovative way to promote learning (Carle, 1994; Gunning, 2013).
The exercise is simple the teacher first presents the objects that will be used, in this case
the pastas and beans. The students help to identify which ones work best for what and the teacher
creates the plate first as the model to use for their own. The students then use the model projected
by the teacher to create their own. The students choose what colors they prefer and what
materials to use. They can even go outside and gather real leaves and twigs from their
environment. This enhances association with the new vocabulary (Carle, 1994; Gunning, 2013).

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The completed model is then posted on a projector screen within the classroom so that
the students can use it to then create their own
plates with the new vocabulary and process of
developing into a caterpillar that is associated
with the story. Students help each other, and the
teacher goes around the room. Students can share
what they created with each other, this serves as
reinforcement. Below are some of the examples
of the students work created during the exercise
(Carle, 1994; Gunning, 2013).

Question, Answer, Relationship (QAR) Strategy

The QAR strategy is best used after reading and it is a tactic used to assist students in answering
different types of questions to enhance their reading comprehension. Moreover, QAR teaches use
a scaffold to grow metacognitive thinking and is very similar to Blooms Taxonomy as it requires
varied levels of thinking that increase in metacognitive difficulty. The QAR is designed by
answering different types of questions such as Right There, Think and Search, Author and You,
and On my Own, that work along well with context clues. The students are taught Right There:
Go! Where the answer is in the story: Who? What? Where? When? How? Think and Search:
Slow Down! The answer is still in the story, but it has to be looked forsummarizeretell

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compare and contrast. Author and You: Stop! Using schema and
influencepredicthappens next? Main idea? Another title? Why
do you think the author wrote it? On My Own-Connect! Use your
schema and tell your opinion, how would feel? Have you ever?
By applying Context Clues by explaining schema: text, pictures,
and rereading, by using the attached handout (Beil, 1998;
Gunning, 2013).
I read the stories to Ava and Issabella and then I asked the
questions (as seen below):

Right There: Go! What I being baked? Cake. By who? Mr. Pig. Where is he baking it?
Kitchen. When? Now. How? Oven. What is the first

step before you bake a cake? Warm

up oven. What I the second step? Grease up the pan.
Think and Search: Slow Down! What does he
grease pan with? They both looked at me, then each
other, and I told them to write down their answer,
they both helped each other write: butter and flour.
What does he want to do? Bake a big cake and eat it

all himself.
Author and You: Stop! What is another title?
Even Pigs can Share. Why? The cake was for him but in the end he shared it. What do
you think is the main idea? Sharing. Why do you think the author wrote it? To teach kids

to share with their friends.

On My Own Connect! What is the schema, in other words what can you gather from
the text, pictures, or reading the story again? It is important to share with your friends, if

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not they will feel sad. If you dont share youre a pig too. Have you everbaked a cake?
Ava said: No, mommy buys her cakes at Publix.
Issabella said: Yes, but mommy buys her cakes in a box, the frosting too; she added,
that Mr, Pig didnt make frosting? Did he put apples in the cake? Why did you ask
that? She said because he grated apples? I asked, what do you think? She said its
apple cake even though it was brown in the picture, like chocolate (this answer
displayed her knowledge of using context clues (Beil, 1998: Gunning, 2013).

Repeated
Reading
Repeated Reading is when a student re-reads the same text repeatedly until his or her
reading is error free. This strategy can be done one-on-one, in pairs, or in groups. Interestingly,
this method was originally intended for students with disabilities, until educators noticed that all
students can benefit from repeated reading; because this strategy lends itself to developing
reading fluency and comprehension. Repeated reading is important because it allows students at
all levels of fluency to improve their speed and confidence. I have found that the best way to
teach repeated reading is to use the reading buddy system. Have the readers choose a story that
is not particularly long, approximately one hundred words that is easily decodable, and using

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predictable verse, like rhyming or related to the pictures. However, although the student chooses
the book, it is important for the teacher to predict what words will be hard, and explain them in
advance. Modeling is crucial, the teacher should read the story aloud first to the students, and
then have them read it aloud, and have them re-read it as many times as they need to until it
flows effortlessly (Gunning, 2013).
The book chosen by the students for their paired repeated reading exercise was Up,
Down, And Around by Katherine Ayres (2007). Some of
the words that were identified as particularly challenging
were: bursting, rollicking, stalks, vine, twine, edible, root,
planted, etc. They were explained once their respective
passages were read by the partners. For this exercise
partners were asked to write down their names, and
whomever chose the same to write their names in the same
color were chosen to read together; as Ava and Issabella
were because they wrote their names in purple. Issabella read to Ava first, over and over again,
until she read it fluidly and seamlessly. This took
approximately three tries; however, it can be attributed to
nerves since they were reading in front of their class members.
Ultimately, the repeated reading exercise served well, since
they were both at the same reading level, and were previously
reading buddies for other assignments, such as the QAR
(Question, Answer, Relationships). Below is a sample of the

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notes taken by each student when they read the passage to each
other (first, Issabella to Ava; second, Ava to Issabella).
Overall, the students enjoyed
the exercise and it seems
more intimate to learn in pairs
than in groups, as well as
more

effective

than

formalized, one-on-one, individualized instruction (Ayres, 2007;

Gunning, 2013).
References
Ayres, K. (2007). Up, down, and around. Cambridge, MA:
Candlewick Press.
Beil, K. M. (1998). A cake all for me. New York, NY:
Holiday House
Carle, C. (1994). The very hungry caterpillar. New York, NY: Philomel Books.
Gunning, T. G. (2013). Creating
literacy instruction for all
students (8th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
MLJ Staff. (2015). Shavout
2015. Retrieved from

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http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shavuot-2015/
Scholastic Phonics Inventory (SPI). (2015). Retrieved from
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/readingassessment_spi/
Starfall. (2014). Learn to read. Retrieved from http://www.starfall.com

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