Literacy CenterAlex D. JonesLyvia GarzaRoxanne O’Neal

CUIN 4318June 23, 2005Summer I

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Description Of Center

Since this center is a literacy center, we decided that it should be in a quiet area of the classroom. This picture shows an example of a great area for this type of center. There is a window that lets in natural light, there is also a rug on the floor where the students are able to read silently or where the teacher could do read alouds.

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What does the center contain?BOOKS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS and COMICS! Many times students struggle with their reading homework and skills, which makes them not enjoy reading. This can be unfortunate because students can learn a vast amount of information from fiction and non-fictional texts. Unfortunately, in many classrooms today, reading is still taught as an exercise at school.  Children are forced to sit at a desk and read books they don't like.  They start to think that books are just for school and never really learn that books are things to be enjoyed, just like movies or sports or anything else. Find out what your students are into and get books on these subjects. 

Safety ConcernsIf book shelves are used they should be secure as not to tip over and cause injury.

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What’s the purpose of reading?The ultimate goal of reading is comprehension. Reading comprehension remains an important skill for elementary children to continuously develop. When working on comprehension, children can be asked to use charts and graphs to organize the information they are processing. This aids many elementary students in increasing their reading comprehension and for selecting information to use in reports and studying for tests.

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Meeting the needs of a child with a learning disability.

The center has books with different sized text. Some texts are large for students who have trouble seeing. Students with a severe inability to read can enjoy reading along with a book they are listening to on audio tape or CD. The audio tape or CD will make a certain noise to inform the student to turn the page in case they lost their place when they were following along. Students that have difficulty writing a summary about what they have read can write a short sentence describing a picture they have drawn that proves they understood the text.

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Tips for reluctant readers

1. Take time to read aloud to the child each day. 2. Discuss the selection/book prior to reading by asking, what the child thinks the

selection/book will be about. 3. Ensure that the child has access to a variety of reading materials such as picture

books, student generated material, novels, magazines, comic strips, reference articles, news items, and poems.

4. Make sure that there are opportunities for: silent reading, listening to tapes, shared reading, and guided reading.

5. Use good questioning techniques that will foster higher level thinking skills such as: Asking the child to make predictions.

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Purposeful ActivitiesBook Summary- Children can write a short summary of the book to show the teachers that they understood what was read.

American Sign Language and Braille System- The children will become familiar with sign language and Braille by looking and observing a chart with the symbols. They can write letters or stories in Braille or communicate with friends using sign language.

Listening to Books on Audio- One of the best ways for a child to learn to read is to be read too. The children can listen to a person on tape to learn how to read accurately.

Bilingual Section- The Bilingual section will help students know various words from other countries. The bilingual section will include books written in English and another language in order for the student to be able to compare two languages.