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Using Authentic Texts

Introduction
Children need access to texts that they can easily read. Reading is a new skill that is being
introduced to them, and it is necessary to ensure that the texts given are easy to read. Some
teachers hold that texts with controlled vocabulary are flat and boring compared to those with
natural language patterns. Children are unfamiliar with simple language patterns because they
are absent in the daily natural oral language used at home. They hold that children who read texts
that contain natural language patterns are more fluent compared to those that are only exposed to
decodable texts. Therefore, when teaching children to read, it is advisable to use pattern books as
they are authentic and predictable. According to Rasinski & Padak (2013), “authentic texts
contain distinct language patterns-naturally repetitive language, cumulating events, and/or use of
rhythm or rhyme- all of which support children’s reading success.” Besides, language patterns
that are predictable and repetitive are enjoyable for students. This paper provides a summary of a
student profile and a literacy lesson that is tailored to meet the needs of this individual student,
based on her strengths and interests.
A summary of the student profile
Angela is a student in third grade. She is a girl and loves to read and is a good reader.
Angela finds reading easy and exciting. When the teacher reads a story aloud in class, she grasps
the pronunciations well and can read the words correctly when asked. When in groups, she likes
reading aloud for her peers as they listen. She also loves reading independently. She reads alone
at home over the weekend and during her free time and shares with her teacher at school. She
decodes the meanings of texts that she reads. She is excellent at deriving main points from both
written and spoken language and can retell stories with much ease. She asks for meanings of

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words that she finds challenging. Angela has extensive vocabulary for a grade 3 learner. She is
good at oral presentations and recitations. Angela always volunteers to make presentations on
behalf of her group whenever they are working on a group project. She is confident, strong, and
has a high sense of self-esteem. These qualities make her an outstanding presenter.
Angela is highly adaptable, organized, and attentive to details. Her writing expression skills are
also outstanding. Her fluency is excellent, and it is interesting listening to her as she reads. She is
sometimes overconfident and can be domineering, especially when working in groups. She does
not delegate and is sometimes not an excellent leader as she likes doing everything by herself.
Even though Angela’s strengths and qualities tend to overwrite her shortcomings, she is a good
girl, and her reading abilities are excellent for a third-grade student. Since Angela is an excellent
reader and does well when reading to the class or groups, she could probably help a fellow peer
that may be struggling reading and be their reading buddy.
Description of the Literacy Lesson
Topic: Reading and Speaking
Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.4 : Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to
support comprehension (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2020).
Objectives
 Read a short picture and answer questions about the main ideas and details
 Retell the story in the simple present tense
Resources
A copy of How do dinosaurs say goodnight? 

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Cut-out pictures
Activities
I will introduce the new words that the students will encounter in the story. I will start by
writing the new words on the working board for Angela to see. Read them aloud and then get
the student to read the words aloud while ensuring that she pronounces them correctly. As she
reads, I will erase some of the letters in words and leave only a few phonemes. Then I will point
the words and ask the student to fill in the missing phonemes. For instance, words such as ‘tail,’ I
will erase the last three letters and will be left with t_ _ , or ‘dinosaurs,’ I will erase some letters and be left with d n _ s _ u – s.
I will be filling them in again once she names the phonemes correctly. I will ask Angela
questions to check if she can remember the meanings of the new words.
Then, I will show her pictures from the story. They will be in a random order, and I will
ask the student to tell what is going on in each picture. Some of the pictures will show the
dinosaurs wagging its tail, and the objective here will be to see if Angela can create a story from
the pictures. I will then her cut-out pictures related to the story, and she will then put the pictures
in the ‘right order’ to make a story. The aim will be to see if Angela will be in a position to
predict the flow of the story from their ordered pictures. I will let her tell the stories without
correcting any ‘wrongly ordered’ pictures, as many times as will be possible. I will then hand her
a handout and let her read the story aloud. After reading, she will read again as she puts the
pictures in the correct order according to the story. I will let her give reasons for putting the
pictures in whichever order that she will have chosen. In case she has gotten it wrong, I will
correct her and explain to her where she got it wrong.

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Assessment
I will check understanding by asking Angela the following questions:
 Are the dinosaurs interesting animals? How do you know?
 Why do dinosaurs wag their tail?
 Do you think that dinosaurs are friendly to people?
Lastly, I will read the text aloud as the student follows through. I will stop at keywords, which I
had earlier on introduced and ask Angela to read them aloud. Some of these words will include
wagging as used in the story (Yolen, 2000). I will ask Angela to explain the meaning of these
words or phrases as I read along. I will conclude the lesson by asking Angela to write three
sentences in her notebook that explain the events in the story briefly.
An explanation of how my literacy lesson supports the learning of reading for Angela
The literacy lesson is effective in teaching Angela how to read because it gives her an
opportunity to read aloud as I listen. Thus, I am able to monitor how she uses language to make
sense of the text. It enables her to improve her information processing skills. Also, as the student
reads aloud, and realizes that she can read fluently, she is encouraged to read more even
independently. The text used has new words that the student learns their usage and meaning; this
enriches her vocabulary and comprehension. Further, the use of pictures is essential for helping
students get the background of the story. Angela is a fluent student, and the use of pictures
helped build her critical thinking skills as well as her ability to use language to correctly express
their thoughts. Besides, pictures inspire visual thinking. In this case, Angela was able to analyze
the story before she could read it, and it became even easier to read because she had an idea of

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what the story was about. Overall, the activities in the literacy plan enhanced engagement and
made the delivery of the content enjoyable.
Conclusion
Overall, authentic texts provide good and interesting stories for teachers to use to teach
reading. They provide children with great opportunities to practice word recognition skills.
Authentic texts make reading satisfying and exciting. They are recommended to teach reading to
students like Angela, who are fluent readers, as well as for any other students in other stages of
literacy development. The language used is easy, and most children can relate to it as it is used in
other contexts. Authentic texts are accommodating and turn children on to reading. They provide
children with authentic practice opportunities that are effective in instructing reading. As seen in
the literacy lesson plan above, authentic texts are a critical tool for teaching reading.

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References

Common Core Standards Initiative. (2020). English Language Arts Standards » Reading:
Foundational Skills » Grade 3 | Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved 28
March 2020, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RF/3/
Rasinski, T. & Padak, N.D. (2013). From phonics to fluency: Effective teaching of decoding and
reading fluency in the elementary school. NJ: Pearson.
Yolen, J. (2000). How do dinosaurs say goodnight? New York: Blue Sky Press.