Transcript 4BlockOverview

Opening
“Using the Four Blocks Model for Exemplary Literacy Instruction”
Presented by Susan Roberts
Carson-Newman College
Teacher Education Division
Spotlight on Reading
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“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
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Mandate: No less than a “qualified teacher” in
every public school classroom.
– Federal No Child Left Behind Law of 2002
“A Balanced Literacy Framework…
Using Patricia Cunningham’s
Four Blocks Literacy Model”
Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children,
National Research Council
Snow, 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
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Phonemic Awareness
Vocabulary
Phonics & Decoding Strategies
Comprehension Strategies
Fluency
Four Blocks
Framework
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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
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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 words
1999 - Vocabulary of 10,000 words
Working With Words
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Segment One (Ten Minutes)
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Word Wall
Segment Two (20 Minutes)
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Decoding and Spelling Activities
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Making Words
Guess the Covered Word
Rounding Up the Rhymes
Reading and Writing Rhymes
Using Words You Know
Working with
Words
WORD WALLS:
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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 It! Cheer It!
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Chant words, cheerleader style from the word wall.
Emphasize the hard to spell words in our English
language. (Illogical words but very high
frequency)
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Examples:
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braid, laid paid
tray, stray, pray
mend, tend, send
-------
said
they
friend
DON’T JUST HAVE A WORD WALL, DO A WORD
WALL EVERYDAY!
Cunningham, Dottie Hall, 1998)
Guided Reading
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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:
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Flexible Grouping: Paired (Partner), Individual,
Small groups reading with the teacher, Threering circus, Book Club Groups
Teacher Coaching
Segment Three: After Reading
Research: NCTE 2003
Teaching Comprehension in the Information Age
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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
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More time in the primary grades
devoted to teaching comprehension
using informational (nonfiction) texts.
Research:
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Low socioeconomic children read informational
text 3.6 minutes / day on average.
– (Pearson & Duke, 2002)
Modeled Reading
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According to Dr. Patricia Cunningham,
teachers need to read aloud daily from four
types of text:
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Fiction (Everybody Books)
Non-Fiction
Poetry
Classics (Old Favorites)
Self-Selected
Reading
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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
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The model is considered “Best Practices”
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The framework helps teachers maximize
time on task and better organize the
teaching / learning environment.
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Active engagement of students alone
makes a tremendous difference.
– Sigmon, 2001
Three Rules for Good
Teaching
(Lola May)
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Know your stuff!
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Know whom you stuff!
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Stuff them elegantly!