The Four Blocks 13 The Big Blocks 46 Literacy Models

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The Four Blocks (1-3)The Big Blocks (4-6)
Literacy Models
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The Four Blocks Literacy Model
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The Goals of the Four Blocks

• To meet the needs of all children with a wide
  range of entering literacy levels without putting
  them in ability groups by designing a framework
  that is multilevel
• To avoid the pendulum swing and find a way to
  combine the major approaches to reading
  instruction that will provide children with a
  variety of avenues to become literate

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Four Blocks Guidelines

• Is a FRAMEWORK, not a program.
• Each block is 30-35 minutes long and needs to be
  done every day.
• Each of the blocks needs equal time.
• There needs to be a balance between all of the
  blocks.
• None of the blocks stand alone.

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Sample Day in a Four BlocksLanguage Arts Block
of 120 Minutes

• Teacher Read Aloud 10 Minutes
• Focus is on engaging children into the world of
  literature
• Fiction, non-fiction, magazines, poetry
• Guided Reading 30 Minutes
• Focus is on comprehension
• Basal stories and skills, guided reading
  materials and methods, non-fiction articles,
  reading for content, reciprocal reading,
  conferencing choral readings, poetry, and partner
  reading

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• Working With Words 20 Minutes
• Focus is on Decoding, Word Attack , and
  Vocabulary
• Phonics, VOWAC, phonemic awareness, spelling,
  sight words, vocabulary
• Writing 30 Minutes
• Focus is on Writing Skills
• DOL, Write Traits, grammar skills, conferencing,
  journaling,sharing writing for a purposeful
  audience.
• Self Selected Reading 30 Minutes
• Focus is on enjoying literature, comprehension,
  and practicing reading skills
• One on one conferencing, Read Naturally, sharing
  of books, Reading Counts

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The Four Blocks Literacy Model
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Guided Reading Goals

• Teach Comprehension skills and strategies
• Teach Children to read all types of literature
• Develop background knowledge, oral language, and
  meaning vocabulary
• Provide as much instructional level reading as
  possible
• Maintain the self confidence and motivation of
  struggling readers

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Guided Reading Structure

• Before Reading ( 5-10 minutes)
• Introduce and support for multiple reading of the
  text for an established purpose
• Three days on grade level
• Two days below grade level
• Focus on a comprehension skill or strategy
• Thinking skills
• Text strategies

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Guided Reading Structure, continued

• During Reading (15-20 minutes)
• Flexible groupings
• Students read text and focus on comprehension
  skills or strategies
• After Reading (5-10 Minutes)
• Whole-group activity that brings closure to
  purpose for reading

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Guided Reading Components

• Thinking Skills
• Connecting
• Predicting
• Questioning
• Making Inferences
• Synthesizing
• Evaluating and Applying

• Text Skills
• Fluency
• Non-Fiction Text
• Fiction
• Sentence/Paragraph Detectives

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The Four Blocks Literacy Model
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Self Selected Reading

• Teacher Read-Aloud

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Reading Aloud

• Reading aloud is the single most important
  activity for creating the motivation and
  background knowledge essential for success in
  reading - Becoming a Nation of Readers
• Balance of Genre
• Including Textbooks
• Increase amount of time reading aloud
• Practice before reading

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Self Selected Reading

• Teacher Read-Aloud

• Teacher Student Conferences
• While Children are reading individual
  conferencing takes place.
• Anecdotal records are kept on a few students each
  day.

• Small Group Instruction
• Some teachers work with small groups giving them
  instruction at their level

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Self Selected Reading

• SSR is Multilevel

• The topic of a book is critical and students will
  often read books that are too hard or too easy
  for them if they are really interested in that
  topic or author.

• Children are encouraged to read at their level,
  BUT we must remember that this is called the SELF
  SELECTED reading block. Children selecting books
  that will turn them into readers is the MAJOR
  GOAL!

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The Four Blocks Literacy Model
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Writing Goals

• See writing as a way to tell things
• Teacher modeling is critical
• Write fluently
• Learn to read through writing
• Apply grammar and mechanics in their own writing
• Learn particular writing forms
• Maintain the self-confidence and motivation of
  struggling writers.

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The Writing Block

• Segment One
• Mini-lesson
• Teacher models writing
• Segment Two
• Children writing and conferencing
• Segment Three
• Sharing

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One on One Conferencing

• One on one conferencing is the single most
  important factor for the greatest increases in
  student achievement. Conferencing allows the
  child to know someone cares about them and will
  hold them accountable.

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The Writing Process

• Prewriting
• Brainstorming
• Rough Draft
• Get it down!
• Revision
• To see again
• Add on to the text
• Editing
• Checklist
• Rereading
• Publishing

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Making Writing Multilevel

• Children choose their own topics, except during
  focused writing lessons
• Children take as many days as needed to write
  each piece
• Teacher needs to make sure this is modeled
• Teach mini-lesson on a variety of levels
• Accept whatever level of first draft writing
  children can achieve
• During conferences, tailor your instruction for
  each child
• DO NOT use this time exclusively for publishing

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The Four Blocks Literacy Model
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Working With Words

• 60 - 100 minutes per week
• Goals
• Learn to read and spell high frequency often
  irregularly spelled words
• Learn Key words containing prefixes,
  suffixes,and build meaning for polysyllabic words
• Learn a visual checking system and use of a
  dictionary for unusual spelling patterns
• Learn to use cross-checking while reading and
  writing

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Working With Words

• WORD WALL WORDS
• High Frequency, Commonly Misspelled
• Common Contractions and Compounds
• Common Homophones
• Spelling Change (doubling letters, drop -e,
  change y to i, etc.)
• Prefix/Suffix, other homophones
• Less common homophones

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Working With WordsMaking it Multilevel

• All of the suggested activities are multileveled
  in an attempt to assist struggling students, as
  well as challenging the proficient ones.

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The Four Blocks Literacy Model
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Resources and References

• The Teachers Guide to Big Blocks Arens, Loman,
  Cuningham, and Hall Carson-Dellosa Publishing
  Co.
• The Teachers Guide to the Four Blocks Arens,
  Loman, Cuningham, and Hall Carson-Dellosa
  Publishing Co.
• http//www.wfu.edu/education/fourblocks/about_four
  blocks.html
• The Four-Blocks Literacy Model How and Why It
  Really Works with Patricia Cunningham Video