Opening

Presented by Susan RobertsCarson-Newman CollegeTeacher Education Division

“Using the Four Blocks Model for Exemplary Literacy Instruction”

“Our obligation to America’s teachers is as clear and strong as our obligation to America’s children. Teachers deserve all the knowledge and support we can give them. And children deserve the quality education that comes from excellent teachers. This is their birthright.”

– First Lady Laura Bush

Mandate: No less than a “qualified teacher” in every public school classroom.

– Federal No Child Left Behind Law of 2002

Spotlight on Reading

“A Balanced Literacy Framework…Using Patricia Cunningham’s Four Blocks Literacy Model”

Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children,

National Research CouncilSnow, Burns, and Griffin, 1998

n “Academic success, as defined by high school graduation, can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by knowing someone’s reading skill at the end of grade three. A person who is not at least a modestly skilled reader by the end of third grade is quite unlikely to graduate from high school.”

Teaching Approaches: 1950’s – 1960’s “Look, Say”

“Sight Reading”

Teaching Approaches: 1960’s – 1990’s “Phonics”

Teaching Approaches: 1990’s – 2000 “Whole Language”

Balanced Reading Diet

•To become good readers, students need a balanced reading diet. The different “food groups” of balanced reading instruction are: •Guided Reading •Self-Selected Reading •Writing•Working with Words

Cunningham and Allington, 1999

The “Big Five” Areas of Reading Development

Phonemic Awareness Vocabulary Phonics & Decoding Strategies Comprehension Strategies Fluency

Four Blocks Framework

The Four Blocks framework was developed by teachers who believe that to be successful in teaching all children to read and write, we have to do it all! Doing it all means incorporating daily the different approaches to beginning reading.

Working with Words Purpose: To ensure that children read, spell,

and use high-frequency words correctly, and that they learn the patterns necessary for decoding and spelling.

“In February of 2000, Time reported this trend in the vocabularies of typical 14-year-olds:

1950 - Vocabulary of 25,000 words1999 - Vocabulary of 10,000 words

Working With Words

Segment One (Ten Minutes) Word Wall

Segment Two (20 Minutes) Decoding and Spelling Activities

Making Words Guess the Covered Word Rounding Up the Rhymes Reading and Writing Rhymes Using Words You Know

Working withWords

WORD WALLS:

Tell students that one way to practice words is to say them aloud in a rhythmic chanting fashion. The brain responds to sound and rhythm.

Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy P. Hall, 1998

WORD WALLS:

Chant words, cheerleader style from the word wall. Emphasize the hard to spell words in our English language. (Illogical words but very high frequency)

Examples: braid, laid paid --- said tray, stray, pray --- they mend, tend, send --- friend

DON’T JUST HAVE A WORD WALL, DO A WORD WALL EVERYDAY!

Cunningham, Dottie Hall, 1998)

Chant It! Cheer It!

Guided Reading

Purpose: To build comprehension and fluency with reading, and to introduce students to a variety of literature.

Total Time: 30-40 minutes Segment One: Before Reading Segment Two: Reading:

Flexible Grouping: Paired (Partner), Individual, Small groups reading with the teacher, Three-ring circus, Book Club Groups

Teacher Coaching Segment Three: After Reading

Research: NCTE 2003

Teaching Comprehension in the Information Age

Informational text (nonfiction) presents different kinds of comprehension obstacles for younger readers.

Many young readers have trouble following the organizational structures of nonfiction text.

• (Reutzel and Cooter 2004)

Teaching Comprehension in the Information Age

More time in the primary grades devoted to teaching comprehension using informational (nonfiction) texts.

Research: Low socioeconomic children read informational

text 3.6 minutes / day on average.– (Pearson & Duke, 2002)

Modeled Reading According to Dr. Patricia Cunningham,

teachers need to read aloud daily from four types of text:

Fiction (Everybody Books) Non-Fiction Poetry Classics (Old Favorites)

Self-SelectedReading

Purpose: To build fluency in reading, to allow students to read and enjoy text that is appropriate to their own independent reading levels, and to build confidence in students as readers.

Total Time: 30-40 minutes Segment One: Teacher Read-Aloud Segment Two: Independent Reading

and Conferencing: Segment Three: Sharing

Advantages of the Four Blocks Framework

The model is considered “Best Practices”

The framework helps teachers maximize time on task and better organize the teaching / learning environment.

Active engagement of students alone makes a tremendous difference.

– Sigmon, 2001

Three Rules for Good Teaching

(Lola May)

Know your stuff!

Know whom you stuff!

Stuff them elegantly!