Samantha Roy

CIED 3293
November 22, 2016
Comprehensive Literacy Prospectus
Reading is not just the ability to decode and recognize words, but the ability to make
meaning of the words. I believe that every student learns how to read in their own way and at
their own pace, and in return every teacher needs to teach students how to read based on what is
best for each individual student. When teaching reading, it is important to always use different
genres and different pieces of literature. The classroom should be filled with all sorts of fiction
and non fiction books that will interest the reader. With that, students need a lot of time to read.
Although teachers help develop students reading, students also learn a lot about reading on their
own. Reading should be taught through activities such as read-alouds, choral reading, echo
reading, partner reading, and silent reading. In 1st/2nd grade, students are most likely at the
phonological and phonemic awareness stage of readers development. This means that they need
to learn awareness by doing nursery rhymes, doing riddles, clapping syllables, etc. Next, the
students should take part in shared reading, where they read with the teacher. Through this, the
student is able to learn print concepts. Next, the students should do activities such as
predictability charts to help learn both concrete and abstract words (Cunningham 2017).
My classroom will be filled with active literacy. My students will be doing interesting
work, delving into important issues and ideas, asking questions, researching answers, and doing
investigations (Harvey & Goudvis 2007). Literacy will be taught using Sharon Taberskis five
pillars to guide me, while overall focusing on comprehension. Children will always be given
time to talk and share their opinions, thoughts and ideas. They will also be given time to write
and to think. The first pillar that will guide me is accurate and fluent reading. Students will do
phonemic and phonological awareness activities (such as learning onsets and rhymes), learn

sight words, and do practices such as readers theatre to become more of an accurate and fluent
reader. The second pillar that will guide me is background knowledge. I will expose my students
to more informational and high quality texts while activating their background knowledge.
Students will learn how to use companion texts and clustered texts to connect the known to the
new. Oral language and vocabulary is the third pillar that will help me in my classroom. Students
in my classroom will talk a lot in order to help develop oral language fully. I will be explicit in
my interactions with my students by making sure the students understand the reasoning behind
my instructional decisions. I will use wordless picture books and alphabet concept books to help
my students build oral language and vocabulary. The fourth pillar is reading-writing connections.
I will teach both reading and writing in a way that shows their relationship and their similarities
in strategies. For example, I will teach my students how to infer and how to monitor for meaning
both in reading and writing. Lastly, I will use the pillar repertoire of strategies to guide my
classroom. Sharon Taberski (2011) says that the most essential strategies in developing
comprehension include setting a purpose for reading, accessing and using prior knowledge,
considering text structure, visualizing to experience, and summarizing to determine importance.
These will all be taught in my classroom using comprehension-facilitating experiences and focus
strategy units. These ideas will all be a part of my classroom, with the overall theme of literacy
being comprehension.

In my classroom, I will make sure to structure literacy learning so that it supports all
types of learners. Something that I will definitely implement in my classroom will be reading
buddies. For reading buddies, I will pair a higher level reader with a lower level reader to help
increase fluency by allowing students to listen to and be read to by readers of all kinds. This
strategy also helps build oral skills, and it helps students become more comfortable with their
reading. Lastly, I will use the practice of differentiated instruction so that each students
instruction is tailored to their needs. This is when a teacher reaches out to an individual or small
group and varies his or her teaching to create the best learning experience possible (Reading
Rockets 2009). I will assess all students frequently, so that I can see what support each student
needs.
For ELL students, I will always give context and use pictures so show them what they are
learning, so that they can comprehend more easily by making concrete connections. In 1st and 2nd
grade, it is important for ELL students to spend additional time working on English phonemes
that are not in the students native language. This will help the student begin to learn more words
in the English language. ELL students in the 1st and 2nd grade would also benefit tremendously by
using predictable books and predictable charts. In my classroom, ELL students will learn
phonological and phonemic awareness by doing activities such as segmenting words into sounds,
hearing rhyming words, and clapping syllables, because they need to develop these skills in order
to become successful readers.
A word wall is something that I will be sure to incorporate into my literacy block. Words
walls are important for associating meaning with abstract connecting words, and for building a
students concept of word skills. I wont just have a word wall, but I will do a word wall.
Instead of putting up words in my classroom and expecting students to use them, I will be

selective and I will limit the words that I choose for my word wall to those really common words
that children need a lot in reading and writing. I will add five to six words a week. My word wall
will be accessible, making sure that every student is able to see them. The words will be in big,
black letters and I will use a variety of colors so that the constantly confused words are
differentiated. My class will practice the words by chanting and writing them, and we will do a
variety of review activities to provide enough practice so that the words are read and spelled
instantly and automatically. Lastly, I will make sure that my word-wall words are spelled
correctly in any writing that my students do (Cunningham 2017). Word walls help students see
patterns in words, thus building phonics and spelling skills and they provide a reference for
children to use during reading and writing activities (Reading Rockets 2009).

Making words is another tool that I am passionate about incorporating into my classroom.
Making words teaches students to manipulate letters to spell words and then sort those words
into spelling patterns and use those spelling patterns to read and spell new words. While doing
this activity, students are able to see how changing one or two letters in a word will result in a
completely different word. I will make sure to implement all three parts of a making words
lesson in my classroom. First, I will have the children make words out of the letters that I give

them. I will begin with short and easy words, and move to longer words as the activity moves
forward. As the children make the words, I will have a child who has correctly made the word go
write the word on the board or put the letters in the pocket chart. After about 10-15 words, I will
have the students make the secret word that is made by using all the letters that were given to
them. For a 1st or 2nd grade classroom, the word wont be too hard, but it will be slightly
challenging. The next part of the lesson is pattern sorting. For younger grades, the words will be
sorted by by rhyming words, and the students will see how one spelling pattern can be used to
make many different words. The third part of the lesson is transferring. This would be where I
help students transfer their newfound letter-sound knowledge into their writing. To do this, I
would have students stretch out their words and remember their rhyming pattern to spell the
words (Cunningham 2017).
The third example of literacy engagement that will be used in my classroom is readaloud. Read-alouds are so important regardless of the grade being taught. Reading Rockets
(2017) says that reading aloud is the foundation for literacy development. It is the single most
important activity for reading success. This engagement models fluent and expressive reading,
which helps children read in that manner as well. Becoming a fluent reader is a key to
comprehending text. It can also show students how much fun reading can be, helping to instill
the love for reading within them. In my classroom, I will find time every day to read-aloud to
my class. I will choose books that give me the opportunity to read in different voices and books
that my students will enjoy.

I believe that reading is all based around comprehension. In my classroom, I will use
Sharon Taberskis five pillars to guide my literacy instruction. I will give students time to read,
write and think. All of these practices that I will incorporate into my classroom will ensure a
good reading experience for my students, and it will help them grow in their literacy
development.

References
Cunningham, P.M. (2017). Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing. Boston, MA:
Pearson Education.
Harvey, Stephanie, and Anne Goudvis. Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for
Understanding and Engagement. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2007. Print
"Reading Rockets." Reading Rockets. N.p., 2009. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
.
Taberski, Sharon. Comprehension from the Ground Up: Simplified, Sensible Instruction for the
K-3 Reading Workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2011. Print.