Creating a Literate Community: Put It Into Practice

Add Literacy Routines

In this activity, you will add literacy routines to use with your current materials, print displays, and literacy centers.

	Principles for Creating a Literate Community • Accessible reading material • Accessible writing material • Purposeful room and wall displays • Classroom routines

1. Review the sketch you drew of your classroom and the Classroom Community Chart. Identify a part of your classroom environment you wish to use with another routine.
2. Plan the additional routine for children to use during group or independent literacy time. Recall the four principles for creating an effective literate community to plan your changes.
3. Repeat the steps with another part of your classroom environment. Add these new routines to the Classroom Community Chart.

When planning a new routine, consider:

• How is the environment accessible to all children?
• How do the new routines promote reading and writing?
• How do the literacy routines address the needs of all of your students?
• How will you teach your students to use the new routines?

Use these directions to help develop your new routines:

• Develop reading and writing activities for group or independent work. How are these activities multi-level? How will children work together? What is your role in these activities? What is the child's role?
• Plan lessons to introduce the students to the new routine.
• Incorporate the new routines into your daily schedule.

	Submit your ideas for additional routines that use your classroom environment.

Next > Create a Literacy Center