Nikki's Peer Review Portfolio

PSELA1: Makes easily accessible to children a wide variety of engaging, age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction textual materials, including picture books, "big books", and chapter books

Evidence 1:  Photographs of our guest readers

Description:  We have a member of the community who visits our classroom monthly to share various works of literature, covering many genres, with the preschoolers.  We also have third grade big buddies who visit our classroom weekly to share various books with the preschoolers.

Analysis:  Guest readers add a new dimension to literacy within our classroom.  The community member that visits our classroom calls a few days before her scheduled visit to discover what topics are popular at the preschool.  She uses this information to choose books that are relevant and of interest to the children.  The third graders carefully choose and pre-read all of the books that they bring to share with their preschool friends.  I spend time with them at the beginning of each school year talking about how to choose age-appropriate book to share with their buddies.

Evidence 2:  Photo of Children at Listening Center

Description:  Our classroom listening center contains various books of various genres, and the children are able to access it at any point in the day.

Analysis:  Children build a sense of community as they gather at the listening center.  They must work together to choose the story that will be listened to, or use problem solving skills when disagreements arise.  The listening center includes non-fiction books about each of the seasons, some animals and various holidays.  There are also stories of fiction that cover these topics and many others.

Evidence 3:  Book List from Literature for Children

Description:  One portion of my final grade while taking Literature for Children at the Community College of Vermont was to compile a list of books for children of all ages.  Many of these books can be found in my classroom.

Analysis:  In this class we learned about criteria for choosing books based upon the age range of children within our classrooms.  We discussed three main criteria which included overall impression of the book(length, text per page, size of book in comparison to group of children being read to), text elements(is the plot coherent and interesting? are the characters distinctive and memorable?  does this book promote inclusion?  is the theme of the book relevant?), and illustrations (do the pictures enliven the words? are the pictures placed next to the text so the story and illustrations work in harmony?).  I use these criteria as I select appropriate books for the children within my classroom.  I also encourage the children to do the same when they are choosing just right books at the library or within the classroom.