Breaking Through the Language Arts Block

Lesley Mandel Morrow, PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Literacy and Director of the Center for Literacy Development at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her research, which she conducts with children and families from diverse backgrounds, deals with early literacy development and the organization and management of language arts programs and literacy-rich environments. Dr. Morrow has published more than 300 journal articles, chapters, and books. Her work has been recognized with awards including the Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award and the William S. Gray Citation of Merit, both from the International Literacy Association (ILA), and the Oscar S. Causey Award for outstanding contributions to reading research from the Literacy Research Association. Dr. Morrow is past president of the ILA and is a member and past president of the Reading Hall of Fame. Kenneth Kunz, EdD, is a Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction in the New Jersey Public Schools and also serves as president of the New Jersey Literacy Association. He began his career as a third-grade teacher in the New Jersey Public Schools. Dr. Kunz has received recognition as an outstanding teacher through the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Recognition Program and was awarded the Edward Fry Fellowship in Literacy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Maureen Hall, EdS, is a part-time lecturer at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and is a literacy coach in several districts across New Jersey through the Rutgers Center for Literacy Development. As a teacher, she was recognized through the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Recognition Program. She serves on the advisory board of the Rutgers Center for Literacy Development and is vice president of the New Jersey Literacy Association.

1. Getting Started with the Exemplary Literacy Day
2. Setting Up the Literacy Environment
3. Assessment Guiding Instruction
4. Introducing the Vocabulary Meeting
5. Word-Study Session: Strategies for Figuring Out Words, Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and More
6. Literacy Work Stations
7. Guided Reading: Grouping for Differentiation of Instruction
8. Reading Comprehension Workshop
9. Writing Workshop
10. Interdisciplinary Literacy Instruction
Concluding Thoughts
Appendix A. Exemplary Literacy Day Planning Example (Olga Pryymak and Shira Wasserman)
Appendix B: Fry (1980) Sight Words Grouped by Relative Difficulty
References