I thought I knew quite a bit about literacy prior to taking LTED601. This class has enlightened me to the fact that I did not know everything about literacy, and I am still working towards gaining a deeper understanding of the topic. On the first night of class I wrote, “Literacy consists of being able to read and write. Literacy assumes the individual has some understanding of their reading and writing as well.” It seems as though I was trying to define literacy in terms of fluency and comprehension. While these are two important aspects of literacy, I have learned throughout this semester that literacy goes beyond this definition.
Cassidy LTED601 Literacy Blog
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Entry #11 The Final Post
Monday, April 11, 2022
Entry #10: Bless + Press Kaya Lani
Monday, April 4, 2022
Entry #9: Riddles are Fun!
The children that I nanny are in first and third grade and are obsessed with riddles. I have never thought about the implications that riddles have on education as whole and vocabulary development more specifically. I simply thought the kids were being silly! Little did I know that they are actually developing their language skills while they interact with riddles. I had never thought about this through an educational lens. Honestly, before completing this weeks readings along with the reading guide, I was skeptical of riddles being more than just fun games. I can now see clearly that they are playing with words to gain a deeper understanding of word consciousness as Tompkins states in chapter 7, whether they know it or not (or whether I know it or not!).
Zipke says, "to evaluate and regulate comprehension of text, it is necessary to know that the words in a text can add up to more than one possible meaning and that context and alternative explanations need to be considered" (Zipke, 2008, p. 129). Children may not automatically think in a way that allows them to be aware of the different meanings that one word may have alone and in a sentence. However, it is clear that riddles allow them to view words in this way while having fun. Children want to understand the riddles because they are engaging and funny at times. Zipke says, "Humor enhances the learning environment, gives children an incentive to read, and promotes critical thinking skills as well as vocabulary and language development" (Zipke, 2008, p. 131). This shows me how important that the way in which students are learning content and curriculum becomes. It seems that children have intrinsic motivation to learn when it is something that they are genuinely interested in.
Reading Zipke, Tompkins, and Muhammad this week has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of vocabulary development in children. I am reminded of the significance of these readings as I see them in effect in the children I nanny! I will surely be stocking the shelves of my classroom with books about riddles because this was a really fun reading to complete!
Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and
historically responsive literacy. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Tompkins, G.E. (2017). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (7th ed.). Boston,
MA: Pearson
Zipke, M. (2008). Teaching metalinguistic awareness and reading comprehension with
riddles. The Reading Teacher, 62(2), 128–137. https://doi.org/
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Entry #8: Bless my Classmates!
Sunday, March 20, 2022
Entry #7: Teaching Phonics
I have previously learned about phonology while I was enrolled in a speech pathology class that I took during my undergraduate studies at the University at Buffalo. Sadly, I did not enjoy this class and thought that I did not enjoy phonics. This week’s readings have clarified the significance of phonology for me, especially in the early primary grades. After reading Tompkins and Everything You Wanted to Know About Phonics (but were too afraid to ask) by Steven A. Stahl, Ann M. Duffy-Hester, and Katherine Anne Dougherty Stahl, I am shocked to learn the difference between phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling along with their importance.
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Entry #6
After reading Building Preschool Children’s Language and Literacy One Storybook at a Time by Beauchat et al. and Gholdy Muhammad’s Cultivating Genius, I am intrigued about developing lessons that follow both approaches to teaching literacy. Additionally, Tompkins chapter on The Youngest Readers and Writers aligns closely with these texts as well. Constructing social justice literacy lesson plans is something that I am extremely interested in developing as I advance through my education as I know that this well benefit my students.
Initially, I read about the Innovation Configuration (IC) and loved the practicality that it offered to teachers. The IC acknowledges that teachers will carry out shared storybook reading on a scale from least effective to most effective. The IC is quite comprehensive, and it is never expected that a teacher targets all parts of the IC in one lesson. Beauchat et al. says, “it provides a powerful context for a teacher to engage in reflective practice; this is an essential component of teacher change” (Beauchat et al, 2009, p.38). The IC prompts teachers to think about the best practices to engage children in storybook reading while also allowing teachers to self-monitor their own progress in the classroom. It seems that Beauchat et al. and Tompkins have come to a consensus that Shared storybook reading is one of the most beneficial practices that early childhood teachers can do for their students. However, I noticed that the IC does not have space to integrate culturally relevant teaching practices. I know that there is a lot for students to gain from culturally relevant and historically responsive lessons. For this reason, I know that when I use this tool in my future classroom, I will pair it alongside Gholdy Muhammad’s Historically Responsive Literacy (HRL) framework. When these two tools are used in conjunction, the possibilities of learning are improved.
I have begun thinking about literacy lessons that I could use in my future classroom by using the Innovation Configuration and the Historically Responsive Literacy framework together. For example, when reading a children’s book aloud to a class of third graders about skin color, students will be encouraged to interact with the text during the read aloud. They will be introduced to new vocabulary words. Immediately after the read aloud, Students are given mirrors and are prompted to look within and observe themselves by looking closely at their features such as the texture and color of their skin. They can discuss and write different words that describe their skin color. For example, I might use the words porcelain, linen, and spotted to describe my skin. This lesson would force students to develop their speaking and writing skills, as well as develop their identity and sense of self. It would be a great start to a unit plan that goes more in depth about identity, intellect, and criticality.
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Entry #5: Letter to Dr. Jones
Dear Dr. Jones,
I am shocked at how far my knowledge of literacy has advanced since the first day of class. I am happy that I was prompted to write down what I thought literacy was on the first day of class because it is astounding to compare it to my ideas about literacy now. Literacy has so many aspects and components that are a part of it that reach beyond just reading and writing.
I love the way that I am able interact with my peers in this class. It seems that a classroom community of learners was formed naturally. I value my peers’ opinions and appreciate them challenging the ways that I currently think.
I am looking forward to the rest of this class and the ways in which the class material and my classmates will contribute to refining my thinking about the next topics. I am looking forward to expanding on the knowledge I already have and learning more about being an effective and equitable teacher of language and literacy. I am also looking forward to presenting my deeper dive discussion topic during week 8. I have worked hard on the assignment so far and am stepping slightly outside of my comfort zone by leading the class discussion. I know that this will benefit my learning as a future teacher.
Learning about the SQ4R and close reading strategies have made me more aware of my own tendencies when I read. Before learning about these comprehension strategies, I was not actively engaging with the texts I was reading. I have learned that it helps with my comprehension if I leave post it notes in the texts with my thoughts on that passage. Through making predictions before I read, questioning the text, and reflecting on what I just read I have been able to gain deeper understandings of concepts presented through the texts.
I thoroughly enjoyed attending the Liz Kleinrock presentation. She shared so many raw and authentic realities of being a teacher in today’s world. I think it is worth mentioning that it is extremely difficult to teach through a global pandemic. I was most moved by the fact that Liz was able to share with us (aspiring teachers) that she does encounter feelings of being burnt out, struggling with mental health and depression, and being on medication. I appreciate her for being so honest and vulnerable. This meant a lot to me as these are topics that are not talked about enough which creates greater stigma. These topics are considered Taboo, as Liz would say. I felt that her ideas were something that I can do in my future classroom because she said that I can take one step at a time (and that is better than doing nothing). Additionally, I was enlightened when Liz showed the audience a slide that included books that celebrated underrepresented populations versus books that told stories of struggle and hardship of those populations. She coined the words Representation and Affirmation to describe what was happening with these books. Storybooks about the slave trade may inflict a feel of representation on an African American student, but they do not bestow the feeling or affirmation. I will keep this in mind when choosing books for all my students.
LTED601 has been a great experience for me so far—thank you Dr. Jones!
Entry #11 The Final Post
I thought I knew quite a bit about literacy prior to taking LTED601. This class has enlightened me to the fact that I did not know ever...

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The children that I nanny are in first and third grade and are obsessed with riddles. I have never thought about the implications that ...