Content Area/Literacy Symbiosis

After reading chapter three, I got a mental image of a symbiotic relationship in my head. I started thinking about how two organisms can benefit one other in an ecosystem, and I came up with this analogy for content area assessments and one on one literacy assessments. I see both as necessary components of one another: In order to create content area assessments, teachers need to be informed and do research on reading levels, readability of text, literacy related demands, and lexile levels. This information directly informs content area assessments. The importance of self assessing regularly really struck me as I read as well, because I often hear teachers discussing a need for student growth but not reflecting on their own instructional practices. I think we have all been guilty of this at some point in our teaching career!

 

I also believe content area assessments can act as a guide so that we can thoughtfully consider which one on one literacy assessments we should spend time administering to students. As we all know, time in the classroom is limited, so I think it is important to consider all of these factors in order to use our time and our students' time wisely throughout the school day.

 

Done