Learner Development

The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development
vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and
implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.

Jean Piaget, a famous Swiss developmental psychologist tells us in his Cognitive Developmental
Theory that children actively build or construct their understanding of the world. They also go
through four stages of cognitive developments: the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage,
concrete operational stage and formal operational stage. Each stage is a way of thinking that is
related to the age and a different way of understanding the world. This means that the childs
cognition is qualitatively different in one stage compared with another. The sensorimotor is the
first stage that lasts from birth to two years of age. This is the stage when infants construct/
build their understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences (such as seeing and
hearing) with physical motor action.
The second stage is the preoccupational stage, and it lasts approximately from two to seven
years of age. Children gradually grow/move beyond sensory information connected with
physical action to reach representation of the world with words, images and drawings. At this
stage, the child does not perform operations. They still lack the ability to perform internalized
mental actions that allow children to mentally do what they could previously do physically.
According to Piaget, children concentrate their attention on one characteristic and exclude all
others. They are not aware that altering the appearance of an object or a substance does not
change its basic properties. During my course (EN 207) we discussed the learners
developmental levels and how teachers could adapt their instruction to the developmental
level of the learners. We were asked to repeat one of Piagets most famous conservation
experiments; Conservation of Continuous Quantities and record our observations.
I learned that the important implication this experiment has for teachers of young children is
that teachers have to adapt their instruction to the learners developmental level. They have to
recognize that young children at the preoperational stage lack conservation ability skills. I have
to plan my lesson or instruction to match the level of my students thinking ability. The content
of instruction needs to be consistent with the developmental level of the learners.
I believe that teachers need to accommodate the young childrens symbolic and imaginative
world. I understand that young children at this age are not concerned about reality or about
being precise, and they are not very good at thinking things out. I have to accommodate the
childrens primitive reasoning and use symbols, pictures, and hands-on activities to plan my
lesson. In this way, I will teach to the thinking abilities of preoperational children. Teachers
need to avoid lessons that are very different from the childs world. Use of concrete props,
visual aids and other physical symbols to illustrate lessons help children understand what is
being presented. It is important that I make instructions relatively short, and use actions as well
as words to make sure students are not confused.

I will teach children in the preoperational stage how to use cut out letters to build words
because children need to practice with physical materials and build skills necessary for their
development. I will engage them with playing with toys that change shape. For example, when
they play with sand, clay, or water, it helps them to move towards the concept of conservation.

Evidence
My first piece of evidence is the picture I took with a five year old child; Teagan John during an
interview with the permission of her class teacher and her parent. I arranged my materials on
the table before the interview; two transparent drinking glasses of equal size and shape. I filled
them with equal amounts of water. The third glass was empty, taller and narrower in diameter
than the other two glasses. The third glass can hold the water from one of the other glasses.
Teagan believed that the two identical glasses had equal water, but when the water in one of
the identical glasses was poured into a tall thin glass, she felt that the tall thin glass had more
water than her glass. Teagan used preoperational thought, centration and lack of conservation
skill operations to explain her reasoning. At this age, she does not have the mental ability to
reverse actions and understand that when one of the glasses was changed, it did not affect the
amount of water in the glass.
From my experience with Teagan, I agree with Piagets Cognitive Developmental Theory, and
the second stage (preoperational stage). The young children of preoperational stage do not
have the ability to perform internalized mental actions because their thinking is not
operational. They cannot mentally reverse actions, nor do mentally what they previously could
only do physically; their cognitive world is dominated by egocentric and magical beliefs.

Sr. Kate performing Conservation of Continuous Quantity Experiment with Teagan

Evidence #2
My second piece of evidence is a list of strategies collected over my Literacy courses. During my course
(EN 440 Literacy III) we focused on the development of a reader, and a learners continued development
of literacy comprehension. Throughout the semester, we collected literacy strategies from various
sources which I could use to address specific needs when working with struggling students. From this
experience, I learned the importance of using specific reading strategies in promoting students
comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary.

Strategy Resource Collection Template

Fluency
Skill: Reading Rate
Strategy:
1. Repeated Reading with or without a model
and without interruption (one day a week)
2. Extensive practice (wide reading not
repeated reading) with appropriate leveled

Source:
What Really Matters for Struggling Readings,
Allington, p. 107
What Really Matters for Struggling Readings,
Allington, p.107

materials.
3. Frequent familiar reading gets the system
working faster and stronger.
4. When readers spend significant portion of
their day engaged in texts that allow them to
practice reading strategies, their reading rate
improves.

Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and

Keier, p. 83

Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and

Keier, p. 83

Skill: Reading with Expression

Strategy:
Source:
1. Readers use clues in the text. The words in Growing Readers, Collins, p. 132
your book help you know how to read them.
When you read, you need to think about whats
going on in the story because that will help your
reading voices. So, for example, reading a book
about playing in the snow, readers will sound
more excited than serious or sad.
2. Readers use a storytellers voice while Growing Readers, Collins, p. 133
reading. Read a story like a storyteller by Using
your voice to tell a story. When you read a
story, make it sound interesting and would
make others want to hear it.
3. Readers, quotation marks in a text remind Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and
you that someone is talking. Look at this mark Keier, p. 126
(point to punctuation.)What does it tell you to
do with your voice?
4. Question marks in a text tell us to make our Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and
Keier, p. 126
voice sound like we are asking a question.
Skill: Phrasing
Strategy:
1. Readers think about the meaning of the sentence
or story. Readers have the story in their minds. This
makes it easier to read with fluency because theyve
got the expectations for how it will sound.

Source:
Growing Readers, Collins, p. 132

2. Readers chunk text to make it sound smooth. Growing Readers, Collins, p. 132
Some words go together when we read, like the
words peanut butter and jelly. Dont read
those words separately as peanut-butter-and-

jelly. Read them as if they are one word,

peanutbutterandjelly. Putting the words
together helps our reading sound smooth.
3. Readers use punctuation as a clue to how Growing Readers, Collins, p. 132
text sounds. Punctuation is a clue the author
gives us to help us read the words smoothly. A
period tells you to take a quick break and then
keep going. Readers voices change when they
see a question mark. When readers see
exclamation point, their voices sound excited.
Skill: Accuracy
Activity:
1. If you get stuck on a word, go back and
reread the sentence from the beginning,
thinking about what would make sense at the
tricky part/word. Then, once the tricky part is
solved, go back and reread the whole sentence
with fluency and phrasing, having thought
about the meaning first.
2. Readers when you get to a tricky part in your
books, remember that you may need to use
different strategies to figure it out. You dont
have to give up. Be flexible and try to use all of
the strategies you know when you get to a
tricky part in your books. If you voice the
beginning sounds of the word, and it didnt
work, dont give up, try other strategies such as
cross-checking with the picture, running your
finger underneath the word from left to right,
thinking about what makes sense, looks right,
and sounds right.
3. Readers figure out words by saying the sound
of the beginning letters. Readers need to reread
from the beginning of the sentence and think
about what would make sense by asking
themselves questions such as, what would
make sense here. Readers look at the beginning
letters, not only the first letter.
4. Readers figure out words by moving through
the whole word. Look across the tricky word by

Source:
Growing Readers, Collins, p. 132

Growing Readers, Collins, p. 129

Growing Readers, Collins, p. 127

running your finger underneath it, from left to Growing Readers, Collins, p. 127
right to help you focus on the whole word, and
find familiar word parts to help you. For
example, while reading easy realize that ea is
like the start of ear, pronounce the long e
sound as you read, and then look closely at the
end of the word, this will help you figure out
the whole word.
5. Repeated readings of the texts foster
improved reading performance.

What Really Matters for Struggling Readers,

Allington, P. 115

Comprehension
Skill: Predicting/Previewing
Strategy:
Source:
1. Activating Prior Knowledge helps develop
What Really Matters for Struggling Readings,
prediction skills.
Allington, p.136
2. Readers say the title out loud when they are Growing Readers, Collins, p. 119
just about to read a book for the first time, get
their minds ready to read by looking closely at
the cover illustration, and think; what might
this book be about? And what do I expect to
see inside this book.
3. Readers check out the authors name and Growing Readers, Collins, p. 119
think, Do I know this author? Have I read
anything else by this author? If so, what might I
expect in this book? Readers can also apply this
line of thought to characters.
4. Readers flip through the pages, look at the
illustrations, and think, Do the pictures match Growing Readers, Collins, p. 119
or differ from my expectations? Flip through
the book; sample the text, and think, Do these
words look patterned? Do I know some of these
words? Are there quotation marks?
Skill: Retelling in order
Strategy:
Source:
1. Retell your stories with expression by reading Growing Readers, Collins, p. 160
smoothly with fluency, and retelling stories in
an interesting voice. Use characters voices and
intonation to reflect the story, such as a tone of
surprise, a quiet tone for sad parts, a

suspenseful tone for building suspense.

2. Use time words and the language that is Growing Readers, Collins, p. 160
characteristic of retelling such as at first, next,
then, after that, suddenly, finally, in the end.
3. Identify the setting when retelling your Growing Readers, Collins, p. 160
stories. When you read books that have several
different settings and scenes, identify where
the action is taking place when you retell.
Follow the events of the story, and sequence
the retelling from the beginning. Balance the
details in the stories by asking yourself, is this
an important part of the story?
Skill: Retelling with Details
Strategy:
Source:
1.
Readers use characters names when Growing Readers, Collins, P. 160
retelling their stories. Identify and distinguish
characters in the retelling by using their names
or some other characteristics.
2. Use text evidence to clarify, confirm, or Growing Readers, Collins, P. 160
revise the retelling. When you retell a story and
get stuck, check the book to help you
remember the part that you couldnt remember
clearly.
3. Readers partner who listens pays close Growing Readers, Collins, p. 160
attention to the retelling so that she can ask
questions if she is confused by the retelling or
thinks it was inaccurate such as; Can you show
me that part? or Why did that happen?
Partners take turns retelling and questioning
each other.
4. Readers when you want to tell someone else
what a book is all about, you should tell them
What Really Matters for Struggling Readers,
where the story took place, who was in the
story, what the problem was, and how the Allington, P. 144
problem was solved.
Skill: Interpreting
Strategy:

Source:

1. Readers picture the story in their minds as Growing Readers, Collins, p. 170
they read, hear the sound of the story, smell it,
taste it, and feel it. Envision/imagine the
characters, settings, actions, and the behind the
scenes things that are going on in the story.
2. Readers have strategies to tell if a book is just Growing Readers, Collins, p. 136
right, such as checking to make sure there
arent too many tricky words, comparing a book
to their other just right books to see if its
similar, and stopping to think after youve read
a bit to check that you understand it.
3. On this page there are photographs, put a
sticky note on that page because it will help you
understand what the words are saying. Notice
the captions under the pictures and put a sticky
note on the page because it tells you what the
pictures are about
4. Readers pick up on subtle humor, sarcasm, or
underlying themes and talk about it.
5. Readers have to think about the story, not
just recall the story.
Skill: Making Connections
Strategy:
1. Readers make connections as they read.
Notice when books remind you of something
interesting, think beyond the connections and
explain them, make connections to understand
the characters and the stories better, and stay
focused on the story, not the connection.
2.Readers make links from one text to another
in order to improve comprehension
3. Readers have questions at the back of their
mind about a text they are reading. They
constantly search for answers to these
questions as the read to help them keep their
mind on the story and understand it.

Growing Readers, Collins, p. 210

What Really Matters for Struggling Readers,

Allington, P. 13
What Really Matters for Struggling Readers,
Allington, P. 136

Source:
Growing Readers, Collins, p 179

Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and

Keier, p. 135
Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and
Keier, p. 142.

4. Connect between what you are reading and

personal experiences.

Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and

Keier, p. 190

Skill: Reflection
Strategy:
Source:
1. Readers react and talk back to the text. Read Growing Readers, Collins, p. 169
actively and have reactions to the story and to
the characters in the book. Make sure the mind
is always thinking about what is going on in the
story. Have an internal dialogue by wondering
about and questioning the text as you read. Pay
attention to when you are getting a feeling as
you read. Hold on to your thoughts by jotting
them on sticky notes so you can easily share
them.
2. The voice in our minds that asks the
questions as we read helps us stay engaged
with the information in the text.
3. Readers it is important to always think about
the text you read.
Skill: Self-Monitoring
Strategy:
1. Teachers Modeling Thinking Aloud gives
students insight into the reading process that
you use as a teacher and learn to imitate that.

Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and

Keier, p. 142
What Really Matters for Struggling Readers,
Allington, P. 122
Source:
What Really Matters for Struggling Readings,
Allington, p.136

1. Readers remind themselves what the book is Growing Readers, Collins, p. 123
about as they read; they make meaning and
hold themselves accountable for the whole
story as they read.
2. Readers look at the print, use what they
know to figure out the text as they read, and
keep thinking and asking themselves questions
such as; does this make sense?
3. After predicting, check and confirm that the
word looks right, sounds right, and makes
sense.
4. When stuck, reread to problem solve and
self-correct.

Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and

Keier, p. 185

Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and

Keier, p. 186
Catching Readers before they fall, Johnson and
Keier, p. 190