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Standard #4: Content Knowledge- English Language Arts

The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines he
or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline
accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.
Standard #5: Application of Content- English Language Arts
The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage
learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic
local and global issues.

Teaching English Language Arts (ELA) at the elementary level is what we spend the

majority of our day doing. In the primary grades, children are learning to read, which takes

utmost priority. But in upper elementary classrooms, students are reading to learn about the

world around them, and (hopefully) reading for pleasure. This is exciting to me, because my

favorite part of teaching is sharing my love of literature with students. This year I am teaching

4th grade in the Matanuska Susitna Borough, and we are required to spend 120 minutes per day

teaching our ELA core curriculum Magnetic Reading. It’s a brand-new program, and we’re all

getting used to it. Beyond that, the Alaksa Reads Act brings even more time to focus on reading

instruction. Our school has implemented Tiered WIN (What I Need) groups based on students’

MAP Reading scores paired with iReady Reading diagnostic scores. My WIN group includes 31

Tier I students who are at or above grade level. For 30 minutes a day, we spend our time reading

for pleasure or doing novel studies with cross-cutting themes. With such a strong focus on ELA

throughout the school day, other subjects like Science and Social Studies, sadly, seem like an

afterthought at times. Alaskana novel studies are how I try to bring Alaska Studies, specifically,

into our WIN Reading time.

I spent a lot of time and effort last semester researching ways to increase student

motivation in my ELA classroom, specifically around spelling and vocabulary instruction. My

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research aimed to increase student motivation by offering choice in spelling and vocabulary

study methods. I investigated various motivational techniques like providing positive feedback,

goal setting, and offering choice. I narrowed my scope to offering choice through choice boards

to study spelling and vocabulary words. The results were pretty much inconclusive; the study

had its own unique challenges that you can read about here. The research project as a whole was

meant to really lean into William Glasser’s choice theory (1998). I wanted students to feel a

sense of autonomy and freedom to pave their own path in spelling and vocabulary activities.

However, the scope of the study was small, and focused only on one aspect of offering choice

through choice boards. In the end, I believe my students preferred using technology to study

their spelling and vocabulary. They felt more comfortable with it, and perhaps it was the more

engaging option.

Along the same lines of Glasser’s choice theory (1998) is Donalyn Miller’s (2009)

approach to reading, which aimed to fulfill students’ need for belonging, freedom, and fun. If I

had it my way, my 120-minute ELA core instruction would look more like Miller’s, who

transformed her approach to teaching reading in The Book Whisperer (2009). This book

intrigued me more than any other I have read during the MAT program. I think about it often.

Miller holds the idea that every student has the potential to become an avid reader and she

nurtured a classroom culture of reading based heavily on student choice of literature. Her

methods utilized Glasser’s choice theory as she nurtured students’ need for the power to choose

books that brought them satisfaction. She taught her upper elementary students to embrace the

lifestyle of reading in community. Miller has strong feelings against traditional practices of

multiple-choice tests like Accelerated Reader, reading logs that require parent signatures, and

traditional book reports. Instead, she introduces alternatives with the intent to develop consistent
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reading behaviors. “Book commercials” was a big takeaway from this book. Instead of

assigning a lengthy book report that the students may or may not have read, a book commercial

is an opportunity for students to share short, impromptu testimonials about books they have read.

My students love sharing their book commercials with the class. She says that she doesn’t need

to measure the student’s comprehension of the book, because their strong opinions (positive or

negative) of the book show they have read and responded authentically to the book.

As much as Miller’s methods intrigue me, I am still following the practices of my 4th

grade team, with our district’s Professional Learning Community (PLC) implementation in full

swing. A major focus in this stage of our PLC is planning and sharing materials within our grade

level teams. We are striving to teach grade level standards at the same time and at the same

pace. I find that staying on the same page with my colleagues ensures a similar level of ELA

instruction across the whole 4th grade. Our team still uses the traditional reading logs for

homework, and we still have kids take Accelerate Reader quizzes, mostly as effort scores. While

I haven’t found the courage to fully embrace all of Miller’s practices, there are small ways I

strive to create a culture of reading in my classroom, like carving out extra time for reading for

pleasure.

Something I do differently from my team is make time for read alouds. To me, read

alouds are different than novel studies. For a novel study, I’ll choose books that can be used to

teach cross curricularly, although these are sometimes less engaging. With novel studies, we

create word walls, story maps, complete writing prompts, and related art projects. But a read

aloud isn’t about each kid having a copy of the book, making them follow along, read with a

partner, turn and talk, write a response, repeat. It’s just about literature. This is the highlight of

my day. I absolutely love to read out loud with lots of expression to my students. It’s about
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finding a story that grabs the interest of 10-year-old kids and just reading it for their enjoyment.

Recently, we came across an excerpt of COG by Greg van Eekhout (2019) within our Magnetic

Reading curriculum. It was an intriguing story about a robot boy and the scientist who created

him. The halls were buzzing about it; the teachers were talking about it. So, I ordered it on

Amazon and read it to my students whenever we had extra time. They would beg me to read it

to them during their lunch, or while they were packing up at the end of the day. In short

increments, I made the time to read them a book they really enjoyed. I copied robot coloring

pages for them to busy their hands while I read. Those pages now decorate the cabinets of our

room.

The rigor is still there during the 120-minute ELA block. And as a new teacher, I am still

learning the balance of literacy instruction that Tompkins (2018) emphasizes in Literacy for the

21st Century. English Language Arts runs the full gamut of fluency, vocabulary, comprehension,

writing, and phonics. While phonics is less emphasized in the Gen Ed 4th grade classroom,

vocabulary, comprehension, and writing are among top priorities. My 4th grade team utilizes

technology through online games to enrich spelling and vocabulary instruction. Our new

Magnetic Reading curriculum covers comprehension and writing thoroughly. While I do follow

this “canned curriculum,” fortunately the materials include strategies that Debbie Miller (2013)

would approve of. In the pre-reading stage, I show pictures or short videos about the upcoming

topics to build background knowledge. There are ample opportunities for both predicting and

inferring, making connections, and summarizing. And as for fluency, I’ve noticed that teachers

approach it in a variety of ways. Some love timed reads; others hate it. In my classroom I have

students practice 1-minute timed reads, only because it’s assessed on report cards. But I try to

take the focus off how many words you can rattle off. Instead, I remind students the goal is to
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read clearly, pause at punctuation, and use expression while reading. Instead of logging how

many words they read per minute, their partner offers a compliment (ex: “You read very

clearly,” or “You read quickly, but I could understand each word.”) and a suggestion (“I noticed

you skipped this line.”) to improve reading fluency. They keep a list of compliments and

suggestions in their reading fluency folders to reference if they can’t think of anything.

All in all, my dreams of teaching English Language Arts and my reality are still rather far

apart, as you can probably infer from my writing. ELA instruction is this huge, complex thing

and it’s often reduced to reading the chat bubbles from the margins of our teacher manuals.

While this can be frustrating, ELA is still my favorite content area to teach. I will continue to

strive for the goal of reaching kids through literature and sharing my love of reading with all of

the students who pass through my classroom.

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References

Glasser, W. (1998). Choice theory: A new psychology of personal freedom. HarperCollins.

Miller, D. (2009). The book whisperer: Awakening the inner reader in every child. Jossey-Bass.

Miller, D. (2013). Reading with meaning: Teaching comprehension in the primary grades.

Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishing.

Tompkins, G. (2018, 7th ed.) Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach. Pearson.

van Eekhout, G. (2019). COG. HarperCollins.