Expanding Writing Instruction to Support Student Achievement

Starting with Comprehensio: Reading Strategies for the Youngest Learners. Sternhouse Publishers. This book provides the readers with information on how to adapt comprehension strategies for preschool and kindergarten students. The connect and adjust key compontents fro master teachers like Debbie Miller and builds on her first and second grade reading strategies. These strategies include making inferences, summarizing, questioning, predicting and story r... ... middle of paper ... ...ack, R. l. (2005).

Reading first: Fluency is fundamental. Scholastic Instructor, 113(4), 15-20. Slavin, R., Cheung, A., Groff, C., & Lake, C. (2008). Effective reading programs for middle and high schools: A best-evidence synthesis. Reading Research Quarterly, 43(3), 290-322.

References California Department of Education (2009). Preschool English learners: Principles and Practices to promote language, literacy, and learning (2nd ed.). Resource Guide. CDE National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2004).

NSW, Department Of Eductaion And Training (2003). [online] Retrieved from: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/Resources/Schools/Education/Pedagogy/2006/SummaryofQuality-JanPoona.pdf [Accessed: 12 Mar 2014]. Putman, M. & Walker, C. (2010). Motivating children to read and write: using informal learning environments as contexts for literacy instruction. Journal Of Research In Childhood Education, 24 (2), pp.

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 53(1), 38-48. Watts-Taffe, S., & Truscott, D. (2000). Using what we know about language and literacy development for ESL students in the mainstream classroom. Language Arts, 77, 258- 265. Yoon, Bogum (2007).

Parents have to face the decision about whether or not to send their children to pre-k before kindergarten, or if they will just send them to kindergarten. Some parents do not realize just how important early childhood education is. Early Childhood Education begins at birth. The first stage, birth to age three, focuses on skill development, which includes tasks such as sitting, walking, feeding themselves, toilet training, and enough hand-eye coordination to throw a ball. The next stage is age three to five.

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ937173.pdf Ludhra, Geeta, & Jones Deborah (2008) Conveying the “right” kind of message: Planning for the first language and culture within the primary classroom. English Teaching: Practice and Critique Volume 7 (Number 2) pp. 56-70. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ832208.pdf

The Language-rich Classroom: A Research-based Framework for Teaching English Language Learners. ASCD. Huebner, T. A. (2009). Small-group intervention for ELLs.

The question that I have chosen for my inquiry project is: How can you improve performance in a first grade classroom with Guided Reading? I am interested in this since I teach first grade. As a first grade teacher I am always looking for ways to improve my class’s performance. Guided reading offers support to the students as they are learning. Rogoff suggested that “adults support children’s learning by structuring the task’s difficulty level, jointly participating in problem solving, focusing the learner’s attention to the task, and motivating the learner.” (Frey & Fisher, 2010, 84).

“Literacy Learning, Direction and Play in a Pre-School Environment.” International Journal of the Book, vol. 7, no. 1, 2009. Weisberg, Deena Skolnick, et al. “Talking It up: Play, Language Development, and the Role of Adult Support.” American Journal of Play, vol.