50 Literacy Strategies

Gail Tompkins I’m a teacher, first and foremost. I began my career as a first-grade teacher in Virginia in the 1970s. I remember one first grader who cried as the first day of school was ending. When I tried to comfort him, he sobbed accusingly, “I came to first grade to learn to read and write and you forgot to teach me.” The next day, I taught that child and his classmates to read and write! We made a small patterned book about one of the stuffed animals in the classroom. I wrote some of the words and the students supplied the others, and I duplicated copies of the book for each child. We practiced reading it until everyone memorized our little book. The children proudly took their books home to read to their parents. I’ve never forgotten that child’s comment and what it taught me: Teachers must understand their students and meet their expectations.My first few years of teaching left me with more questions than answers, and I wanted to become a more effective teacher so I started taking graduate courses. In time I earned a master’s degree and then a doctorate in Reading/Language Arts, both from Virginia Tech. Through my graduate studies, I learned a lot of answers, but more importantly, I learned to keep on asking questions.Then I began teaching at the university level. First I taught at Miami University in Ohio, then at the University of Oklahoma, and finally at California State University, Fresno. I’ve taught preservice teachers and practicing teachers working on master’s degrees, and I’ve directed doctoral dissertations. I’ve received awards for my teaching, including the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at California State University, Fresno, and I was inducted into the California Reading Association’s Reading Hall of Fame. Throughout the years, my students have taught me as much as I taught them. I’m grateful to all of them for what I’ve learned.I’ve been writing college textbooks for more than 20 years, and I think of the books I write as teaching, too. I’ll be teaching you as you read this text. As I write a book, I try to anticipate the questions you might ask and provide that information. I also include students’ samples so you can see concepts that I’m explaining, and I include lists of trade books that you can refer to as you work with students.

My students usually keep this text. This book is captivating to students as they report that it encourages them to think from various perspectives. It is not a "recipe" type book but it contains helpful text lists, assessments and reproducible materials. Angela J. Cox, Georgetown College There are so many strategies available, hte ones listed in the book are some of the major anc successful strategies. The Instructional Focus helps to narrow down strategies to what the students wan tto build their lessons about. Grade Level Designation is very useful, allowing students to make sure they are using appropriate grade-level strategies. Deborah A. H. Williams, Wayne State University The strategies are the essential ones I would expect and do use in my course. English Language Learner features are a criticalcomponent becaue few (if any)f my students have had any interaction with ELLs and need significant help understanding second language literacy. Charlotte L. Pass, SUNY Cortland

• 1. “All About ...” Books2. Alphabet Books3. Anticipation Guides4. Author’s Chair5. Book Boxes6. Book Talks7. Choral Reading8. Clusters9. Collaborative Books10. Cubing11. Data Charts12. Double-Entry Journals13. Exclusion Brainstorming14. Gallery Walks15. Goldilocks Strategy16. Grand Conversations17. Guided Reading18. Hot Seat19. Interactive Read-Alouds20. Interactive Writing21. K-W-L Charts22. Language Experience Approach23. Learning Logs24. Making Words25. Minilessons26. Open-Mind Portraits27. Plot Profiles28. Possible Sentences29. Prereading Plan30. Process Drama31. Question-Answer-Relationships32. Questioning the Author33. Quickwrites34. Quilts35. RAFT36. Readers Theatre37. Reading Logs38. Revising Groups39. Rubrics40. Shared Reading41. Sketch-to-Stretch42. SQ4R43. Story Boards44. Story Retelling45. Sustained Silent Reading46. Tea Party47. Venn Diagrams48. Word Ladders49. Word Sorts50. Word Walls