Literature Review

Madison Nalewanski
Elementary Literacy Block Organization: What is Best Practice versus what is

happening.

Part 1

The good thing about literacy education is that we know there are numerous times

throughout the school day across content areas that it can be taught. We also know that

many teachers work to integrate and pencil this instruction into their schedules and to

create literature rich environments for their students, and create cross curriculum

experiences relating back to their jam-packed literacy block. Unfortunately we also know

that the literacy block for many teachers can be a chaotic time of the day, where more

needs to get done than time allows. There can often be a significant mismatch between

self reported times allotted to literacy instruction versus the amount of time actually spent

given on instruction with students. (Cunningham, Zibulsky, K. Stanovich, P. Stanovich,

2009) In the broad scheme of things, when a step is taken back to look at a teachers plan

book and the amount of time they plan to spend in each of the many areas of the literacy

block, that amount of time is typically not fulfilled during the daily instruction time.

Researchers found that the time that is typically correctly matched and fulfilled is read

aloud. Sadly this may be because it requires little to no preparation, on the positive side it

is needed and something the students should never be deprived of!

As research has demonstrated over time, the more time students spend on task, the

more they learn ( Brophy & Good, 1986; Rosenshine & Stevens, 1984). It is the job of

the teacher to not only fill the time of the literacy block, but to also be sure that the

students are using the time you have allotted to these educational tasks for these tasks

specifically. Research tells us that for literacy blocks to work correctly and run smoothly
the most important piece is have these chunks of time happening continuously.

Unfortunately for teachers, there is usually little they can do to persuade the principal to

keep their literacy block uninterrupted by specials and scheduled breaks like recess and

lunch. However, once again when the time is given, it is up to the teacher to use it in the

most effective way possible, usually grounded in best practice.

Other research suggest that perhaps the mismatch from teacher planner to practice

has to do with the lack of knowledge educators have about what the literacy block needs

most. Researchers McCutchen, Abbott, et al. (2002) reported that when teachers

increased their knowledge through professional development they began engaging in

more explicit instructional practices. So, is professional development part of the solution

is this mismatched issue? Maybe. Taking the time to consider the many components of

the literacy block and the amount of time that need to set aside for each of these is the

first step. Professional development can help zero in on not only how much time should

be allotted to these many different areas, but also how often these areas need to be

explicit instructed.

After the many considerations about what best practice looks like during the

literacy block in an elementary classroom, and what researchers tell us many literacy

blocks end up looking like, some questions still remain. There is still great debate about

how educators can effectively deliver research-based instruction during the literacy block

and manage to get everything on the to do list done. How do you know where to start?

What is the right amount of time to set aside for read aloud, shared reading, word study,

guided reading and everything else? How do educators keep track of the time during the

jam-packed literacy block when the main focus is the students and best practice?
 Works Cited:

Anne E. Cunningham, Jamie Zibulsky, Keith E. Stanovich, & Paula J. Stanovich. (2009).

How Teachers Would Spend Their Time Teaching Language Arts : The Mismatch

Between Self-Reported and Best Practices. Journal Of Learning Disabilities,

42(5), 418-430. doi:10.1177/0022219409339063

Brophy, J., & Good, T. (1986). Teacher behavior and student achievement. In M.

Wittrock(Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 328-375). New

York: Macmillan

Kelcey, B., & Carlisle, J. F. (2013). Learning About Teachers' Literacy Instruction From

Classroom Observations. Reading Research Quarterly, 48(3), 301-317.

doi:10.1002/rrq.51

McCutchen, D., Abbott, R. D., Green, L. B., Beretvas, S. N., Cox, S., Potter, N. S., et al.

(2002). Beginning literacy: Links among teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and

student learning. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35, 6986.

Reutzel, D., & Clark, S. (2011). ORGANIZING LITERACY CLASSROOMS FOR

EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION: A Survival Guide. The Reading Teacher, 65(2),

96-109. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41331581

Rosenshine, B.V., & Stevens, H. (1984). Classroom instruction in reading. In P.D.

 Pearson (Ed.), Handbook of reading research (pp. 745-798). New York: Long

Works Consulted:

Moats, L. C., & Foorman, B. R. (2003). Measuring teachers content knowledge of

language and reading. Annals of Dyslexia, 53, 2345.

Ruddell, R. (1995). Those Influential Literacy Teachers: Meaning Negotiators and

Motivation Builders. The Reading Teacher, 48(6), 454-463. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20201467
Part 2

A. Purpose:

The purpose of this study is to find out how often best practices are being

implemented during the teaching of literacy blocks. This study seeks to explore the

mismatch between the amount of time teachers write down in their lesson plans that they

plan to spend on each aspect of literacy during the block and the way it varies from the

actual amount of time they end up spending on it. The goal will be to then have teachers

make adjustments to their lesson plans in ways that are most beneficial to their individual

classes, and implement them as they have planned. This study will enable me to

formulate and compile an organization system for the time set up of a literacy block for

lower elementary teachers that is most effective for implementing best practices.

B. Guiding Principles:
There can often be a significant mismatch between self reported times

allotted to literacy instruction versus the amount of time actually spent

given on instruction with students. (Cunningham, Zibulsky, K. Stanovich,

P. Stanovich, 2009)
As research has demonstrated over time, the more time students spend on

task, the more they learn ( Brophy & Good, 1986; Rosenshine & Stevens,

1984).
Researchers McCutchen, Abbott, et al. (2002) reported that when teachers

increased their knowledge through professional development they began

engaging in more explicit instructional practices.

C. Research Question:
What is the best way to organize a literacy block in terms of time?
How much do teachers actually get done in a literacy block compared

to what they plan/need to get done each day?

D. Method:
a. Participants: I will use teachers who are in grades one and two who have a

literacy block that is a continuous 90 minute block. Ideally, I would like

for all of these teachers to have integrated classrooms with no more than

one other teacher then themselves.

b. Materials: I will use schools that are all exposed to the same type of

materials, these will need to be surveyed before selecting schools( no title

1 schools). I will use the same rubric type sheet for data collection for all

teachers.
c. Method: I plan to observe four classrooms in each grade level, totaling in

eight classrooms. Two classrooms in each grade level will be the control

groups for that grade level. The other two remaining classrooms in each

grade level will receive professional development from myself- a Reading

Specialist/ Literacy Coach. I will teach them best practice strategies for

teaching literacy, and also organization techniques to implement in their

literacy blocks. There will be a three week period I will help them get

these new systems up and running in their classrooms. Then they will

continue these new systems for 9 weeks. At the end of nine weeks I will

do progress monitoring.
d. Data Collection: The teachers will continue to generate their lesson plans

as normal and a copy will go to me. When I collect data I will use a rubric

like form to track the number of minutes they spend on each area of the

literacy block, and mark if it is a best practice strategy/instruction method.

The students will be assessed in areas of reading, writing, spelling,

phonological awareness and so on as normal across grade level, and I will

collect this data from their teachers.

 e. Data Analysis: I will analyze this data to see how these groups compare. I

will be looking to see how the teaching techniques taught through

professional development helped the teachers manage their literacy block

time. I will also be looking to see if the scores of the students in the

control groups differed at all from the students in the classes that had

teachers that received professional development on best practice and

literacy block organization strategies.

E. Educational Importance:
This student will benefit the field of Education by helping to determine what

is the best way to organize and implement best practices in an elementary

literacy block. Given that there is little research on this specific topic, this

study would be of great use, especially to new teachers starting out, or even

those would need some help getting a handle on this big chunk of time that

requires so much to be achieved.