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Developing a Theory of Literacy Learning
Teaching Case
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Jessica is in her last year of teacher preparation at a large university. As a student in school she excelled at literacy learning, specifically at reading and writing. In her schooling, she did not have many experiences with students of other cultures, nor did
she interact very often with students who found reading and writing difficult.
As Jessica plans for student teaching in a third grade, she has learned that her placement will be in a multicultural setting, where there is a high level of poverty as well as many students who need enhanced opportunities as literacy learners. In fact, the school where she is heading has been placed "on probation" by the state as a school that is not meeting state standards in terms of reading scores on standardized tests.
After visiting the school and observing the students for a day, Jessica notices that most
of the teaching experiences are being presented from a behaviorist perspective. Students are given stories to read, then they answer questions on worksheets. She is told that
there are "Friday tests" over the material presented during the week. Her cooperating teacher, however, says that Jessica can try different teaching approaches if she wishes.
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