The teacher uses an understanding of human developmental process to nurture student growth through developmentally appropriate instruction. Collect and Learn . Understanding this competency is especially vital in the development of literacy in young children. According to S. Krashen s book entitled The Power of Reading the single most important factor in literacy growth is access to books and time in which to read them.
Access includes libraries in the classroom, school, and community as well as in the home.
One of the most appropriate allocations of instructional time in the school day is the scheduling of FRV or Free Voluntary Reading. This period which ranges from 15 minutes to 60 per day has been found to improve vocabulary, spelling, grammar usage, writing style, as well as reading comprehension and retention. The student learns best when able to guide his or her own reading by choosing the topic, length and level on which the text is written. Studies sited in his aforementioned book demonstrate the effectiveness, which FRV lends to learners of all languages and developmental levels. When I read The Power of Reading I felt like I was given permission to try what I had always believed to be true.