The literacy block is a fundamental portion of the school day. Literacy is the building blocks of all education and as such, can be considered as one of the most important parts of elementary education. Skills such as reading, writing, and speaking are developed through literacy instruction. The tasks and activities during the literacy block portion of the day will be differentiated based on skill level, but also learning style.
An integral portion of my teaching philosophy is to work collaboratively with students. Therefore, instead of just using a portion of the literacy block to instruct in areas such as reading, writing, and word study, I prefer to use centers and use writing time as a workshop. During literacy centers, students will have time to work independently as well as in groups. It is also during literacy centers that students will work in small groups for guided reading.
Independent center activities for students will rotate on a daily basis but will always include reading, writing, and listening portion, as well as other activities that relate to current instruction. For example, students will work on independent reading for 15 minutes, followed by a writing prompt. Then, students will complete a word work activity to reinforce word study, and listen to a book on a platform such as Bookflix. The centers will also help students sharpen their skills in a variety of mediums and are adapted for students in a variety of learning styles.
Guided reading is also a part of the literacy block. Students will be grouped based on ability level. During guided reading students will focus on skills such as fluency, reading with expression, as well as word study. Guided reading will also reinforce other concepts taught throughout the literacy block such as text features, or identifying key details.
The writing portion of the literacy block will be formatted as a writer’s workshop. While instruction will follow the Gradual Release of Responsibility model, the workshop itself will be student-centered. Students will write based on the prompt or topic using the skills from both guided reading and other direct instruction and will work on their independent or shared writing pieces. Students will then have the opportunity to conference not only with the teacher but their peers as well.