Name: Melissa Morgan Riley

IRA Standards / Artifacts / Rationale
Standard 1. Foundational Knowledge.
1.1Candidates understand major theories and empirical research that describe the cognitive, linguistic, motivational, and sociocultural foundations of reading and writing development, processes, and components, including word recognition, language comprehension, strategic knowledge, and reading–writing connections. /

Exam papers from RE 5100, Teaching Beginning Reading and Writing

Synopsis reports from RE 5725, Practicum in the Clinical Teaching of Reading

Case studies from RE 5725, Practicum in the Clinical Teaching of Reading

Classroom Adaptations paper from RE 5531, Seminar in the Clinical Teaching of Reading

/ Each of these courses enabled me to understand past and present research that involved various models and theories for reading, language, and writing acquisition and development among individuals of different ages and genders. The projects and papers completed in these courses allowed me to utilize and implement this learned knowledge within my own classroom. In RE 5100, the exams displayed the historical knowledge that I learned from the reading and writing theories and models formulized over time by reading, language, and writing experts. Some of the items of these assessments required me to apply this knowledge to practical scenarios, where I designed word sorts and sample reading activities for beginning and self-reliant readers. In RE 5725, I was required to design daily lesson plans to help struggling readers one-on-one. After a few weeks of this individual tutoring, it was mandatory to complete a synopsis of each student that provided detail of initial assessments, daily activities to help promote growth, and future instructions based on the progress of the student. These synopses revealed knowledge of the development, processes, and components of reading and writing instruction, and this knowledge, in turn, allowed me to use professional judgment and practical knowledge for improving each student’s reading development and achievement. Within this same course, I completed case studies based on the students that my peers tutored as well. These case studies demonstratedmy knowledge and reasoning for using assessments to direct instruction and the need to look forward at the students’ anticipated levels for the implementation of the method of instruction. My Classroom Adaptations paper from RE 5531 displays my instructional plan and reasoning for initial reading assessments like the Informal Reading Inventory, guided reading, word study, activities that build fluency, and read alouds.
1.2Candidates understand the historically shared knowledge of the profession and changes over time in the perceptions of reading and writing development, processes, and components.
1.3Candidates understand the role of professional judgment and practical knowledge for improving all students’ reading development and achievement.
Standard 2. Curriculum and Instruction.
2.1 Candidates use foundational knowledge to design or implement an integrated, comprehensive, and balanced curriculum. /

Instructional Strategies paper from RE 5730,Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

ReadWriteThink (RWT) Lesson Plan from 5730, Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

Instructional Strategy – SQ3R paper from RE 5730, Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

Basket of Books paper from RE 5730, Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

Literacy Through Photography (LTP) Multi-Genre Writing Unit from RE 5130, Teaching the Language Arts

Writer’s Craft Mini-Lesson from RE 5130, Teaching the Language Arts

Classroom Adaptations paper from RE 5531, Seminar in the Clinical Teaching of Reading

/ The projects produced within these courses demonstrate my knowledge of how to design and implement a well, balanced curriculum, using a wide range of methods and approaches that are developmentally appropriate for my past, present, and future students. In RE 5730, I was assigned to produce several written projects that reveal integration and instructional strategies. My Instructional Strategies paper from this course proves that I understand the need for diverse approaches in order to meet the needs of all of my students. Within this document, I examined several instructional strategies and explained how I have used them within my personal classroom or how they could be executed within my daily instruction. In another assignment, I also focused more specifically on one particular strategy – SQ3R – where I explained the technique, wrote a lesson plan using that technique, and reflected on the implementation of that lesson plan. Also, in RE 5730, I completed my Basket of Books paper, where I had to list instructional texts that I use and/or possibly use within my classroom. This range of texts included various forms of media, whether it was traditional print, websites, or videos, and I was required to create a list for both student texts and instructor texts. In RE 5130, I created a multi-genre writing unit in my Literacy Through Photography Project. This unit applied various forms of media and texts and integrated social studies with language arts’ reading and writing. My Writer’s Craft Mini-Lesson from RE 5130 displays the use of language comprehension and reading-writing connections as I planned three daily mini-lessons that taught the use figurative language, which eventually led to the use of technology as students published their own flip books. During RE 5531, I wrote my Classroom Adaptations paper that shows how I am able to incorporate varied approaches to reading and word study as I develop a plan to use initial assessments, read alouds, guided reading, word study, and activities that target fluency.
2.2 Candidates use appropriate and varied instructional approaches, including those that develop word recognition, language comprehension, strategic knowledge, and reading–writing connections.
2.3 Candidates use a wide range of texts (e.g., narrative, expository, and poetry) from traditional print, digital, and online resources.
Standard 3. Assessment and Evaluation.
3.1Candidates understand types of assessments and their purposes, strengths, and limitations. /

Matrix of IRA from RE 5525, Product of Learning

IRI’s administered from RE 5715, Reading Assessment and Correction

Progress Reports written from RE 5725, Practicum in the Clinical Teaching of Reading

Action Research Project designed and implemented from RE 5040, Teacher as Researcher

/ As an educator, assessment and evaluation are vital in the development of instruction and help guide a teacher to improve and develop future lesson plans and instructional units. The Matrix of IRA developed from RE 5525 forced me to realize the purpose of my coursework throughout the Reading Education program at Appalachian State University as I analyzed each project, paper, and assignment and connected them with the current IRA standards. Within my own classroom, I administered Informal Reading Inventories (IRI’s) to a couple of my struggling readers as a part of an assignment from RE 5715. After completing these IRI’s, I analyzed and interpreted the results for each individual student and developed an instructional plan that catered best to their independent and instructional reading abilities. The progress reports composed during RE 5725 allowed me to evaluate the instruction I implemented during one-on-one tutoring at Appalachian State University’s Reading Clinic and measure the growth of my assigned students so I could inform their parents or guardians of the gains they displayed in one-hour sessions over a four-week period. During my semester of completing RE 5040, I participated in action research by designing and implementing a research project within my own classroom. This project involved me to use initial assessments of an IRI, reading survey, and informal written reading response among several students so that I could determine whether or not a structured independent reading time affected student reading comprehension, fluency, motivation, and writing. After implementing the independent reading over approximately three weeks, I conducted final assessments of an IRI, reading survey, and informal written response within the reading survey to determine whether this practice would benefit student reading comprehension, fluency, motivation, and writing. After completing this task, I was required to share my results in a PowerPoint presentation via Vyew, an online visual collaboration and presentation tool, and a written research paper.
3.2Candidates select, develop, administer, and interpret assessments, both traditional print and electronic, for specific purposes.
3.3Candidates use assessment information to plan and evaluate instruction.
3.4Candidates communicate assessment results and implications to a variety of audiences.
Standard 4. Diversity.
4.1Candidates recognize, understand, and value the forms of diversity that exist in society and their importance in learning to read and write. /

Written Literature Responses from RE 5140, Advanced Study of Children’s Literature

Classroom Adaptations paper from RE 5531, Seminar in the Clinical Teaching of Reading

/ The coursework from these courses have exhibited my knowledge regarding diversity and its importance and effects within the classroom, especially as it pertains to reading and writing. In RE 5140, I was required to compose a written literature response about a book that received a literary award or demonstrated issues pertaining to the diversity within society or the classroom. These issues were relevant to student ethnicity within my own classroom, and such examples of distinguished literary awards involved the Coretta Scott King Award, Jane Addams Award, Pura Belpré Award,Schneider Family Award, Mildred Batchelder Award, Carter G. Woodson Award, and Michael Printz Award. My written Literature Responses involved three tasks – a summary of the book, personal reaction to the book, and evaluative comments that involved my personal opinion of whether or not the book was effective in meeting the criteria of each award. After completing RE 5531, which coincided with the Practicum in the Clinical Teaching of Reading, I had to reflect and develop possible adaptations and modifications for reading and writing instruction that are conducive within my own classroom. These suggested applications and methods were based on my experiences from the Practicum in the Clinical Teaching of Reading.
4.2Candidates use a literacy curriculum and engage in instructional practices that positively impact students’ knowledge, beliefs, and engagement with the features of diversity.
4.3Candidates develop and implement strategies to advocate for equity.
Standard 5. Literate Environment.
5.1Candidates design the physical environment to optimize students’ use of traditional print, digital, and online resources in reading and writing instruction. /

Action Research Project designed and implemented from RE 5040, Teacher as Researcher

Literacy Through Photography (LTP) Multi-Genre Writing Unit from RE 5130, Teaching the Language Arts

Writer’s Craft Mini-Lesson from RE 5130, Teaching the Language Arts

ReadWriteThink (RWT) Lesson Plan from 5730, Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

Basket of Books paper from RE 5730, Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

/ As an educator, it is important to maximize all aspects of my classroom environment and resources in order to optimize student performance and growth in reading and writing instruction. The coursework completed throughout the ASU Reading program has enabled me to focus on these areas so that my students are provided various opportunities that promote learning success. In RE 5040, I targeted a reading problem within my personal classroom, designed an intervention plan for an allocated period of time, implemented a daily independent reading that forwarded my students a reading choice based on interests and reading levels, and evaluated the results of this plan by analyzing its effects on students’ reading fluency, comprehension, and motivation using quantitative and qualitative data from observations, individual and class discussions, timed readings, Informal Reading Surveys, writing samples, and student response surveys. In RE 5130, I designed a multi-genre writing unit that integrated social studies with technology through the use of digital photography and word processing. This unit also encouraged various classroom configurations in instruction by incorporating whole class, small group, and individual work. During RE 5730, I developed lesson plan modeled and inspired by ReadWriteThink,which also integrated various content areas of technology, social studies, and language arts. This lesson plan required me to consider time, transitions, and possible discussion topics. Also in RE 5730, I completed a list of books in my Basket of Books paper that required me to select, summarize, and analyze a variety of resources to use within reading and writing instruction. These included student and teacher texts that involved multiple forms of traditional print, digital media, and online resources.
5.2Candidates design a social environment that is low risk and includes choice, motivation, and scaffolded support to optimize students’ opportunities for learning to read and write.
5.3Candidates use routines to support reading and writing instruction (e.g., time allocation, transitions from one activity to another, discussions, and peer feedback).
5.4Candidates use a variety of classroom configurations (i.e., whole class, small group, and individual) to differentiate instruction.
Standard 6. Professional Learning and Leadership.
6.1Candidates demonstrate foundational knowledge of adult learning theories and related research about organizational change, professional development, and school culture. /

Product of Learning and reflections from RE 5525, Product of Learning

Action Research Project designed and implemented from RE 5040, Teacher as Researcher

Wiki posts during the design of Action Research Project from RE 5040, Teacher as Researcher

Staff Development plan from RE 5730, Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advanced Learners

Wiki posts and reflections from RE 6575, Technology and Literature

Classroom Adaptations paper from RE 5531, Seminar in the Clinical Teaching of Reading

/ Because I chose to pursue my Master’s degree in Reading Education demonstrates my desire to further my knowledge as an educator and aspire to help my students and colleagues with this newly acquired professional learning and development. Since starting my graduate courses, I have willingly applied many of the theories and research learned within ASU’s Reading Program and catered it to my own classroom of students. In RE 5525, my Product of Learning is a true example of the reflection of how my chosen program has benefited me professionally as I have correlated each project with state and national standards in order to ensure that they have been met by an esteemed and valid program of higher education. In RE 5040, I researched theories about reading education and independent reading and applied them to my classroom culture in hopes of benefitting my students. After implementing this action research at my school, I then led an online presentation among my graduate peers in order to offer insight on what I learned so that it might benefit them as well as an educator. As a component to this action research in RE 5040, I had to use the course’s wiki to post my initial thoughts as I designed my research and offer feedback and suggestions to my peers’ initials thoughts of their developing research. At times, the comments received from peers involved further feedback and explanations, which facilitated more online interaction among my colleagues. In RE 5730, I partnered with another classmate to develop a potential Staff Development plan that informed classmates on teaching summarization among students. This project required us to focus on a reading concept prevalent among classroom instruction and then use several instructional strategies to aid to the teaching of this concept to educators. In RE 6575, I interacted among classmates with wiki posts and reflections, offering feedback to other posts so that my classmates and I could learn from each other and gain more clarity about how technology can be used with thereading and writing theories and modelsdiscussed in class. Finally, my Classroom Adaptations paper from RE 5531 demonstrates that I have met this standard because it required me to reflect on my own reading and writing instruction and use the theories and practices applied and modeled throughout ASU’s Reading Program.
6.2Candidates display positive dispositions related to their own reading and writing and the teaching of reading and writing, and pursue the development of individual professional knowledge and behaviors.
6.3Candidates participate in, design, facilitate, lead, and evaluate effective and differentiated professional development programs.
6.4Candidates understand and influence local, state, or national policy decisions.