Ch. 4 and Ch. 6

Ch. 4
Literacy Learning in the Early Years
This chapter discuss how important fostering the emergent years when learning literacy.  Research has shown that early literacy skills prove later success in school.  The chapter cites a source that mentions children who are not reading by 3rd grade are in grave danger of not graduating high school.  It's important to get this message out about how important emergent literacy is to policy makers, administration, and parents. Early Childhood programs have increased over the years.  More money from the state is used to fund these programs.  Yet, not all programs are created equally.  A new idea has emerged called Kindergarten Early Assessment.  It was developed to meet and identify the needs of income children.  Another important area is for on going professional development that allows teachers to learn and exchange ideas.  The chapter discusses the importance of standards, specifically CCSS, for early childhood.  The success of programs largely depends on teachers who understand and meet these standards.  To foster a quality early childhood program there are a few strategies that are typically included in curriculum.  Literacy should be a source of enjoyment.  When reading is kept enjoyable, students are motivated to read.  Working on vocabulary and discourse patterns help children build knowledge.  It also activates their prior knowledge.  One way to do this is by sharing and discussing books.  Use print anyway you can.  Children will begin to learn that print means something and that you can make meaning of that something.  Allow children to read a variety of text.  Students will understand that text is a part of everyday life.  Explicit teaching can be taught in the following areas: comprehension, alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, phonics and writing.  Giving children hands on opportunities to practice this ideas will help develop the necessary skills.  Also keep learning fun by offering experiences.  Another important aspect of early childhood is monitoring progress and assessing students.  Assessment should be a part of the lesson.  It should take a lot of time for preperation.  It's also on-going.  Keeping records, checklist, and observing are easy ways to assess students.

I think the role of the literacy coach within early childhood is to educate parents and the public.  Early childhood education is beginning be an important  issue to policy makers and society, but there still is education needed to tell why it's important.  Literacy coaches can become involved in early childhood programs, such as OPAT, that go around and help educated parents about the importance of early literacy skills.  I think a literacy coach becomes an advocate in a since.  Having been an early childhood educator, parents did not seem to understand they were their child's first and foremost teacher.  I can remember explaining to a parent that they could go to the library and borrow books.  She'd never been to a library.  I've done a little research in this area and I'm passionate about emergent literacy within the home and school programs.  I think informing administration and law makers would help with the fight for quality early childhood programs.

Ch. 6
Adolescent Literacy
This chapter begins by discussing the evolution of adolescent literacy.  In the 1960s and 1970s the idea of content area reading emerged.  Literacy was a part of all disciplines.  "Every teacher a teacher of reading" become a phrase well known.  Though instructional practices worked against this idea of literacy was a part of all content areas.  Therefore the segregation of reading class and content area classes began.  This idea of teaching reading was the reading teachers problem.  In the 1990s content literacy  evolved.  This approach showed students how to read with meaning and purpose in any area.  Students learned to think within disciplinary text.  Therefore today, there is a debate between old school and new school ways of teaching.  For students today it's important they read a variety of reading materials.  Explicit teaching needs to happen in middle school.  Assessments need to show students strengths and weaknesses.  Teachers need to be about to model and provide explicit teaching of comprehension and studying strategies.  Reading specialist are needed more than ever in the adolescent reading setting.  It's clear there needs to be a revolution of continue support of literacy throughout a child's schooling.  Literacy coaches are needed to help teachers develop to help a growing population of children who do not know how to read.  Literacy coaches need to understand their role within each discipline.  Each content area the coach takes on a little bit different role when supporting teachers.  Professional developments need to be tailored to supporting teachers in learning reading strategies with their content area.

A literacy coach's job is to understand their role within each content area.  They support and listen to teachers frustrations with their classes.  They help develop plans that will help students understand literacy with each content area.  Literacy coaches that work collaboratively with content area teachers will see successful teachers and students.

Connecting the chapters:
At first when I read these chapters I thought these topics couldn't be more different.  Yet, the more I thought about it the more I realized they are very similar.  Early childhood, like adolescent literacy seem to be left out of the great debate when it comes to supporting literacy within these areas.  Policy makers are not talking about these ages typically when mandating reading instruction and laws.  They usually focus their efforts on 1st through 6th grade, the main age span literacy is taught.  It is important as a literacy coach to advocate for both ages.  I had this visual pop in my head.  In a way I see early childhood, elementary and adolescent as a bell curve.  The majority of instruction and attention in directed towards the middle of the bell curve, which would be elementary.  Then the outliers would be early childhood and adolescent.  Yet, what parents, administration, and policy makers aren't understanding is if we begin supporting emergent literacy, maybe some of these adolescent struggling readers wouldn't have the problems they are having.  Another key point I thought about was what happens to student just fall through the cracks in elementary because they didn't receive emergent literacy.  Then once out of elementary, they will have little to no support in middle and high school.  Therefor as literacy coaches, we need to commit to getting the word out and educate the importance of fostering both areas.

Questions:
Julie: As a director, what have you seen within the emergent literacy development?  Have you noticed within the last 10 years an increase in funding?  An increase within parent awareness of emergent literacy skills?  Do you have parents that seem clueless on what it means to foster literacy?

Erin: As a first grade teacher, do you see kids coming to your class having little to no early literacy skills?  What is their biggest weakness when they arrive to you?  Do you think having more early childhood programs would make teaching them to read easier?