Week 2 Assignment 3

Literacy has been traditionally defined as the ability to read and write. Based on this definition, I was taught to read using a basal reader; each story focused on specific a phoneme, diagraph, blend, or diphthong. Over the years, however, the definition of literacy has evolved to mean reading development; besides for the traditional components, children are now taught the skills necessary to assess complex texts, make connections, and access knowledge through technology, among others.

The Common Core ELA standards include four features: reading, writing, listening and speaking and language. In grades K-5, the teacher is responsible for giving over these components, but later, in grades 6-12, multiple educators are involved.

The ultimate goal of reading is comprehension and application of texts to the real world. We want our students to develop skills by increasing complexity of texts; this will enable them to increase their use of texts. They'll be able to make a greater number of connections among ideas and between texts and consider a wider range of textual evidence. They'll also become more sensitive to inconsistencies and poor reasoning in literature. Reading instruction can be conducted by gradually releasing responsibility from the teacher to her students. Read-alouds precede shared reading which is followed by guided and then independent reading. Technology can be incorporated into reading lessons by using e-books and digital texts.

During writing instruction, students are taught necessary skills such as planning, revising, editing, and publishing and are also taught the skills needed to create arguments and narratives. Writing can also be taught in a gradual release of responsibility by starting from sharing the pen and then gradually enabling students to write independently. We can use technology to teach writing by instructing students to conduct research on their own or use bloggers to express their ideas.

The third ELA standard is speaking and listening. Teachers are responsible for developing their students' skills necessary for formal presentation. We want our students to have core oral communication and interpersonal skills, and this standard covers those skills. By allowing our students to use media for presentations, we can incorporate technology to help teach many oral communication skills.

The last component of the ELA standards is language. This is where we work on conventions, effective use of language and vocabulary. Increasing our students' vocabulary is important because it will increase their reading comprehension. There are many online vocabulary games that create great learning motivation among students.

As the meaning of literacy continues to evolve, it  is up to us Language Arts teachers to research the current trends and keep our classrooms up to date. The Common Core ELA standards are essential guidelines to help us teach our students to become readers and writers.