Eleven Key Components

Researchers have identified the essential components of literacy programs that cause virtually all children to read. Peter Hobart’s teachers use all of these components, but some are used more at different grade levels. For example, literature groups are a pretty unusual thing in kindergarten; they are a significant part of our third grade program. The components are:

Reading Aloud
Teachers read aloud to children every day. Some of the books they read are new, others are old favorites. They are selected to connect to what the teacher is teaching. Reading aloud helps children increase their knowledge of language patterns and story structures, and it provides a model of oral reading.

Shared Reading
In this mode the teacher and children read together in unison- usually from big books. The books are of all types: concept books, nursery rhymes and songs, folk tales, pattern books, and books to support the curriculum. Reading together helps students with fluency and phrasing. It helps them understand that it must sound right and it must make sense. Teachers usually teach specific skills as a part of the shared reading experience.

Guided Reading
In guided reading the teacher leads a small group of students through text that is at their instructional level, which is slightly harder than what they could read independently. Children read either orally or silently, depending on the developmental level of the readers. This is where most strategy instruction takes place.

Independent Reading
Students spend significant time reading familiar, predictable, natural language texts. In reading and rereading, young readers use their knowledge of letter- sound relationships and words, as well as knowledge of the story, to make sure it makes sense. Rereading provides opportunities for reading fluently with phrasing.

Literature Groups
Students meet to talk about the books they have read. Groups should be flexible and may be comprised of readers with similar abilities or interests. The emphasis in literature groups is on understanding, comprehension, and critical thinking skills. At Peter Hobart most students first experience a literature group in second grade. They become more common in third grade.

Responses
A record is kept of children’s reactions to reading. Responses are shared with classmates. Shared responses develop a community of readers and writers, as well as a sense of audience.

Modeled Writing
In modeled writing the teacher writes to the students or writes summaries of previous events for them to read and react to. The students are not present to watch the writing take place. At Peter Hobart the morning message is a daily example of modeled writing. Modeled writing gives the students the teacher’s expertise and
understanding of the writing process.

Shared Writing
is the teacher demonstrating the writing process in front of the students. The teacher is doing the writing in her own voice with the students participating orally. Many lessons can be brought out of this whole class experience.

Interactive Writing
This is basically group writing. The teacher and the children collaborate to write something together, with the students doing as much of the writing as they are able to do. Again, many skills and strategies can be brought out of this process.

Independent Writing
Students do a lot of purposeful writing. They publish books, keep journals, and write recipes, individual stories and letters. Writers’ workshop is structured so the teacher meets with students individually and confers with them on their writing. Invented spelling is accepted in initial writings and corrected as phonetic combinations are taught. Writing is valuable for teaching letter/ sound correspondence, punctuation and story structure.

Monitoring Student Progress
During reading and writing time, teachers are meeting with individual students, listening, keeping running records, recording retellings: making individual notes on children that will guide the instructional planning for that student.