Elementary Reading Early Literacy Instructional Strategies
In this set of video vignettes, Virginia teachers demonstrate strategies that can be used in elementary classrooms to promote students’ early literacy skills. The strategies and activities presented in the vignettes are especially designed to be used with students in kindergarten through grade three. Early Literacy lesson activities such as those depicted support the skills elicited by the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS)
(The videos on this page link to Flash files which require the Adobe Flash Player plug-in. Download the free player.)
Play Video 1: Alphabetics
The teacher engages students in activities that promote alphabetic knowledge and understanding.
SOL: K.7 K.11
Play Video 2: Concept of Word in Text: Introduce the Written Text
Students memorize a familiar rhyme as the teacher models how to track print.
SOL: K.1K.4K.5K.71.11.5
Play Video 3: Concept of Word in Text: Work with Sentences
Students match individual words to words within connected text and rebuild sentences.
SOL: K.1K.4K.71.52.4
Play Video 4: Concept of Word in Text: Work with Words
Students locate and identify individual words in context using beginning letters and sounds as text clues.
SOL: K.1K.4K.5K.71.5
Play Video 5: Concept of Word in Text: Work with Letters and Sounds
The teacher guides students to further develop their concept of word by identifying words from the previously presented rhyme in isolation.
SOL: K.4K.5K.71.41.5
Play Video 6: Concept of Word in Text: Review the Whole and Assess the Parts
The teacher demonstrates the process involved in ensuring each student’s concept of word is firmly in place.
SOL: K.61.51.62.5
Play Video 7: Word Study: Introduce the Sort
The teacher introduces a word study strategy designed to help students make the connection between spelling words and reading words.
SOL: K.71.41.62.42.5
Play Video 8: Word Study: Repeated Practice and Assessment
Repeated individual word sorts provide students with the necessary practice to build automaticity in word recognition.
SOL: K.101.41.61.102.42.9
Play Video 9: Word Bank: In-Text Activities
The teacher demonstrates one way to encourage students to use their phonetic skills while reading. Students identify a missing word in familiar text when only one phonics feature or spelling pattern in the word is provided. A definition of concrete words (SOL K.6) is also provided.
SOL: K.6K.71.61.72.52.6
Play Video 10: Word Bank: Out-of Text-Activities (Pick-up, Sorting, and Writing)
Students use a Word Bank, a collection of words, to review, manipulate, sort, read and reread known words. A definition of concrete words (SOL K.6) is also provided.
SOL: K.6K.7K.121.51.61.122.5
Play Video 11: Writing for Sounds
The teacher demonstrates how to guide students to incorporate spelling and phonics features into their writing. The lesson utilizes a teacher-made tool called a "sound board," or a small sound-symbol chart that students may consult when making decisions about letters representing spoken sounds.
SOL: K.121.61.122.53.4
Play Video 12: Timed Repeated Oral Reading
There is more than one way to conduct timed-repeated oral reading. The teacher demonstrates Timed Reading, One-minute Reading, and Words Per Minute.
SOL: 1.91.102.82.93.53.64.54.65.55.6
Play Video 13: Making Connections
Three strategies are demonstrated to activate background knowledge, text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world.
SOL: 1.92.83.5
Play Video 14: Directed Reading and Thinking Activity (DRTA)
The teacher conducts the Directed Reading and Thinking Activity (DRTA), an instructional strategy that provides ongoing support and guidance to students before, during, and after reading.
SOL: K.9K.102.83.53.64.54.6
Play Video 15: Generating Interactions Between Schema and Text (GIST)
The teacher demonstrates how to facilitate student summarization through small, modeled steps.
SOL: 2.62.72.82.93.53.64.54.6
