Literacy Center

Literacy Center

Tiger Academy, Jacksonville, FL

            I am a 2^nd grade teacher at Tiger Academy Charter School in Jacksonville, FL.  Tiger Academy has been in existence since the Fall of 2009.  This school is affiliated through Florida’s First Coast YMCA and serves students in Northwest Jacksonville.  Although anyone can apply for admittance into the school, this school specifically caters to economically disadvantaged children living in Northwest Jacksonville.  The mission of Tiger Academy is to “change educational opportunities for children living in Northwest Jacksonville”.  In other words, Tiger Academy focuses on providing educational experiences that cannot be obtained through traditional public schooling. 

            As a second grade teacher, I enjoy giving varied educational experiences to my students.  Historically, students who live in this part of Jacksonville often come with the stigma that they cannot learn.  This is not true.  Some of the most concrete opportunities for learning have come when children are thirsty for knowledge and new experiences.  I recently attended a workshop that focused on student engagement.  In the workshop I learned that there are 13 different states in which people learn and grasp new information.  One of these thirteen states is anticipatory.  In the classroom I make sure that students are always anticipating new information to learn or add to their schemata. 

            The best time to take advantage of student learning to make students anticipate is during reading.  As an avid reader, I fell in love with reading at an early age.  I want kids to do the same in my classroom.  Thus, I’ve revamped the traditional reading block so that it is highly effective and meaningful to students.  In my reading  block, I include all aspects of reading fluency.  These aspects are phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.  To begin the day, we usually start out with reviewing foundational skills related to sounds and spelling patterns.  I also include vocabulary during this time that consists of cloze activities for which students use context-clues and a reverse context-clues process.  Additionally, we enrich our vocabulary skills by reviewing multiple-meaning words and “every day vocabulary”   In introducing the reading skill, I use a variety of high-sensory tools such as the Smartboard, reading program applications, audio and visual aids, and hands-on applications.  Likewise, similar programs and tools are used while students are practicing oral fluency skills.  Examples of these tools are Zap Reader and the sound recorder application on the PC.  By using these, students are able to self-evaluate how they read and improve based on what they “see” and hear.  To help students read the words on a page better, I use assistive technology tools such as colored filters, card stock, and different font sizes to track words more effectively.

            Comprehension is definitely the most important part of reading.  This time of my reading block known as “centers”  is infused with not only technology but differentiated instruction.  Small group/guided reading time consists of leveled text based on data scores through SAT or MAP testing.  Here the foci and instruction is also individualized.  Students also rotate to their “leveled reading folders” center where a variety of literature and informational text is presented for them to read.  Each reading is followed up with an activity for which they must work alone or with a partner.  Additionally, students can travel to the computer as a follow up activity and work on their digital reading journal by typing or sound recording their thoughts. 

            Finally, reading couldn’t be reading without a class book club and read aloud  novel.  This is also an important time because students learn based on group discussions because they are able to participate in others’ trains of thought.  Additionally, students are also targeted for individualized higher order questions to help gauge their level of higher order thinking.  Also, the opportunities for students to do “booktalks” are available.  This is highly motivating for students because I have personally found that they enjoy talking about books as if they are movies.  I’ve also learned that the most important thing as a teacher is that teaching reading should not be rote and isolated; it should be fun, engaging, and meaningful in every way possible.