Teaching Ideas for Literacy
In 2003, the National Center for Education Statistics revealed that a staggering 7 million U.S. English-speaking adults could not answer simple literacy test questions. Knowing how to read and write has always been a critical life skill that opens doors to a world of possibilities in employment and other life experiences. To foster growth in literacy, teachers must use a variety of techniques.
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Sound Recognition
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Beginner readers must recognize basic letter combinations and the sounds they make. Of course, there are exceptions, but laying the foundation for sounding out words is critical. Present a student or class of students broken into teams with a two-letter combination, such as "g-r." Pronounce the sound the letters make together ("g-rr"), and cite a word example using the combination ("great"). The student or teams then have 20 to 30 seconds to write down other words that use these letters and sound. The team with the most qualifying words wins a point. Continue with other letter-sound combinations. The winning team ends up with the most points.
Vocabulary
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The more words you know, the more eloquent and expressive you can be in your writing. Assign students a book to read, and ask them to write down at least one or two words per chapter that they have not seen before or don't quite know the meaning. Instruct the students to find and write down the meaning of each word, and use each in a sentence.
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Reading
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Encourage reading with your assignments. Give each student an animal, or have students blindly draw animal names from a bowl or box. Students must research animals from nonfiction books and online sources and write down interesting facts. This information is then formed into coherent sentences within a PowerPoint presentation
Descriptive Writing
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Art and writing can go hand in hand. Instruct each student to come up with a character and draw him in a series of pictures doing different things and interacting with various people. Don't give any further information. The challenge is then to write a comprehensive story based upon the pictures. You can also have each student picture a scene in his mind --- either real or imaginative. Without speaking, write a descriptive paragraph about the scene. Describe specific details like colors, shapes, objects and backgrounds. Exchange paragraphs. Students must now read their new paragraph and draw a picture based upon the writing.
Creative Writing
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Literacy fosters creativity. Break into small groups, and instruct each student to write down three words on separate pieces of paper. Fold each piece, and place them into a bowl or box. Switch the boxes or bowls. Each group pulls out a word from its new set and writes a sentence containing that word. Another word is pulled out, and another sentence is written with that word, and so on. Together, these sentences must form a short story. Share the stories with the class.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit reading image by max blain from Fotolia.com
