Purpose: To Develop A Rubric

Purpose The Purpose Of This Assignment Is To Develop A Rubric For Eme

The purpose of this assignment is to develop a rubric for emergent reading skills in four-year-old children. You are instructed to design a rubric following specific guidelines, focusing on objectives for beginning readers that highlight the characteristics observed at different developmental stages. Additionally, you should review the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-Year-Olds and identify five benchmarks related to emergent reading (Section F, pages). The rubric must be organized into three levels: Beginning, Developing, and Mastered, clearly describing what a child will be doing to demonstrate mastery at each stage. The completed rubric should be uploaded to the Dropbox for assessment.

Paper For Above instruction

Developing a comprehensive rubric to assess emergent reading skills in four-year-old children is essential for early childhood educators aiming to monitor and support literacy development effectively. Such a rubric functions as a structured tool that clearly delineates developmental benchmarks, guiding educators in recognizing a child's progress through distinct stages—beginning, developing, and mastered. This structured approach ensures targeted instructional strategies and personalized support that align with the child's current capabilities, fostering a more developmental and responsive learning environment.

The creation of this rubric begins with a thorough review of the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-Year-Olds, specifically focusing on the benchmarks outlined in Section F related to emergent reading. These benchmarks provide practical indicators of a child's literacy development, including recognition of print concepts, phonological awareness, vocabulary growth, and early comprehension skills. Selecting five pertinent benchmarks from this section allows for a focused and manageable rubric structure that accurately reflects typical developmental progressions.

Identifying Key Benchmarks

Five key benchmarks from the emergent reader standards include:

  1. Print Awareness: Recognizes that print carries meaning and understands how to hold and handle books correctly.
  2. Phonological Awareness: Demonstrates awareness of sounds in spoken words, such as rhyming and syllable segmentation.
  3. Letter Recognition: Recognizes uppercase and lowercase letters and understands their use in reading and writing.
  4. Vocabulary Development: Shows understanding of basic sight words and can use context to comprehend new words.
  5. Emergent Comprehension: Answers simple questions about a story and retells familiar stories with prompting.

Structuring the Rubric

The rubric is organized into three developmental levels:

  • Beginning: Child shows early signs of emergent reading skills such as minimal print awareness or letter recognition, often relying on pictures or contextual cues.
  • Developing: Child demonstrates growing understanding by recognizing familiar words, engaging in more consistent phonological awareness, and beginning to read simple texts.
  • Mastered: Child effectively applies print concepts, phonological skills, and vocabulary knowledge to read and comprehend texts independently, showing fluency and comprehension skills appropriate for age.

Example Rubric Components

For each benchmark, descriptors are articulated for each level:

Benchmark Beginning Developing Mastered
Print Awareness Recognizes some environmental print and pictures but not consistently aware of print’s meaning. Recognizes some print in books; can point to words and understand that print is read from left to right. Consistently understands print’s function, points out words, and recognizes familiar words independently.
Phonological Awareness Demonstrates awareness of sounds minimally; struggles with rhyming and syllables. Identifies rhyming words and segments syllables in familiar words. Blends and segments phonemes successfully, recognizing sounds in unfamiliar words.
Letter Recognition Can recognize some uppercase or lowercase letters, usually those in their name. Recognizes most uppercase and lowercase letters and can identify them out of sequence. Automatically recognizes all letters and begins associating them with sounds for decoding words.
Vocabulary Development Understands a limited set of basic sight words and relies heavily on pictures for meaning. Recognizes additional sight words and begins to use context clues for understanding new words. Fluently identifies sight words, uses context to infer meaning, and demonstrates expanded vocabulary in reading.
Emergent Comprehension Can answer simple questions about stories with prompting; retelling is limited. Retells familiar stories with some detail; answers basic questions with minimal prompting. Retells stories with comprehension, makes predictions, and answers complex questions independently.

Implementation and Significance

Implementing this rubric allows educators to pinpoint specific areas of strength and need, enabling tailored instructional strategies that promote literacy development. It aligns with developmental milestones outlined in the Florida standards, ensuring that assessments are standardized and meaningful. Regular use of this rubric facilitates formative assessment practices, allowing for timely interventions that support each child's trajectory toward proficient reading skills.

In conclusion, a well-designed rubric for emergent reading skills fosters a structured and evidence-based approach to early literacy instruction. By clearly defining expectations at each developmental level and focusing on key literacy benchmarks, educators can better support young learners' journey toward reading mastery. This alignment of assessment with developmental standards ensures that instruction is both targeted and effective, ultimately laying a strong foundation for future academic success.

References

  • Florida Department of Education. (2017). Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-Year-Olds. https://www.floridapublicschools.org
  • Copple, C., & Bredekamp, S. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. National Association for the Education of Young Children.
  • National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. National Institute for Literacy.
  • Gallas, K. (2014). Multiple Intelligences and Literacy in the Early Years. Teachers College Press.
  • Neuman, S., & Wright, T. (2010). The Changing Role of Play in Early Childhood Education. The Reading Teacher, 64(7), 508–517.
  • Hargrave, M., & Sénéchal, M. (2000). A book reading intervention with preschool children who have limited vocabulary knowledge. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(2), 236–252.
  • McGee, L., & Richgels, D. J. (2012). Literacy's Beginnings: Fall Versus Spring and Kindergarten Versus First Grade. Handbook of Early Literacy Research.
  • Piasta, S. B., & Wagner, M. (2010). Developing Literacy in Preschool: Reading, Writing, and Vocabulary. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(3), 365–374.
  • Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (1998). Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development, 69(3), 848–872.
  • Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. National Academy Press.