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Study Guide in Prof. Ed. 110 - Building And Enhancing New Literacies Across
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Unit 2. Teaching Strategies for the Development of Literacy Skills and

Teaching Resources
A. Strategies for the development of emergent literacy skills and teaching resources:
1. pictures and objects
2. letters and words
3. sounds
4. read aloud experiences

B. Beginning reading skills and teaching resources

1. Phonemic awareness
2. Phonics instruction
3. Fluency instruction
4. Vocabulary instruction
5. Comprehension instruction

C. Developing functional literacy

1. Participatory approach

D. 21st Century literacy skills and teaching resources

1. Student-led learning (Cooperative learning)
2. Inquiry-based classroom environment
3. Collaborative activities
4. HOTS activities
5. Creative learning

MODULE OVERVIEW

The craft of teaching is becoming increasingly complex and nowhere is this more evident than in the
area of literacy. Effective teachers are capable of ensuring that an increasingly diverse group of students have
the literacy skills to cope with the demands of life beyond school in their careers and/or college. Literacy
teaching can only be described as truly effective when it positively impacts student learning. Literacy
development is learning about sounds, words and language. Literacy is the basis for the child‘s ability to read,
write, communicate and socialize. It can develop child‘s early literacy by communicating with the child,
reading, and playing with rhyme. Early literacy development is about everyday, fun activities like singing,
talking and playing games. Literacy development is a vital part of the child‘s overall development. It‘s the
foundation for doing well at school, socializing with others, developing independence, managing money and
working. But before the child learns to read and write, he needs to develop the building blocks for literacy –
the ability to speak, listen, understand, watch and draw.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. demonstrate teaching strategies that promote literacy

2. show skills in the selection, development and use of age-appropriate instructional resources that
will develop literacy, and higher-order and creative thinking skills
3. design activities appropriate for the development of literacy skills

LEARNING CONTENTS: Strategies for the development of emergent literacy skills and teaching
resources:

Pictures and Objects

According to UNESCO, "Beyond its conventional concept as a set of reading, writing and counting
skills, literacy is now understood as a means of identification, understanding, interpretation, creation, and
communication in an increasingly digital, text-mediated, information-rich and fast-changing world."

Reading with tactile media is an important part of a tactile reader's literacy development.

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Unfortunately, many blind readers have not had access to tactile pictures. Pictures help stories come alive
and help to develop readers' literacy practices. In this article presents an overview of strategies to support
tactile readers as they develop tactile literacy skills. The information is based upon the years of experience
teaching art and graphic design to students. Literacy begins to develop at an early age and is continuously
enhanced throughout adulthood. A child who is blind, if given the chance and presented with well-designed
tactile picture books, can learn to interpret pictures right along with children who are sighted. I have come to
believe that it is appropriate to introduce pictures to children when they are infants.

Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness (also called ―phonological sensitivity‖) refers to children‘s ability to detect and
manipulate the sound structures of oral language. It begins at birth as infants attend to their caregivers‘
voices.
Phonological awareness develops gradually as children begin to understand that oral sentences are
comprised of words. The ability to perceive rhyming words and alliteration (words beginning with similar
sounds) are early indicators of phonological awareness (Roth & Baden, 2001). Gradually children become
aware that words are made up of syllables. As children begin to understand that words are comprised of
individual sounds (phonemes), they begin to be able to manipulate these sounds. The manipulation of
individual sounds and the letters associated with the sounds is known as phonemic awareness. Phonemic
awareness may be demonstrated through the ability to isolate, add, or delete phonemes from words and is
related to the ability, among older children, to decode words and to use invented spelling.
Phonological awareness can be assessed by determining children‘s proficiency at identifying rhymes, deleting
or adding syllables or phonemes from words, or counting the phonemes in a word (Whitehurst & Lonigan,
2002). An early assessment of phonological awareness might be to ask a child whether two words rhyme. An
older child might be asked to name a word that rhymes with a given word. If the child can suggest ―hat‖ as a
rhyming word for ―cat,‖ the child has shown an understanding of the sound relationships between the two
words. Phonological awareness is metalinguistic because this understanding is related to the words
themselves (and not with any knowledge of cats or hats).
Metalinguistics refers to the study of language not just as a means of communication but as something that
can be conceived of in its own right. Metalinguistics involves the conscious observation of or reflection upon
language use.

Fluency Instruction
The best strategy for developing reading fluency is to provide your students with many opportunities
to read the same passage orally several times. To do this, you should first know what to have your students
read. Second, you should know how to have your students read aloud repeatedly.
Activities for Students to Increase Fluency
There are several ways that your students can practice orally rereading text, including student-adult reading,
choral (or unison) reading, tape-assisted reading, partner reading, and readers' theatre.
1. Student-adult reading. In student-adult reading, the student reads one-on-one with an adult. The adult can
be you, a parent, a classroom aide, or a tutor. The adult reads the text first, providing the students with a
model of fluent reading. Then the student reads the same passage to the adult with the adult providing
assistance and encouragement. The student rereads the passage until the reading is quite fluent. This should
take approximately three to four re-readings.
2. Choral reading. In choral, or unison, reading, students read along as a group with you (or another fluent
adult reader). Of course, to do so, students must be able to see the same text that you are reading. They
might follow along as you read from a big book, or they might read from their own copy of the book you are
reading. For choral reading, choose a book that is not too long and that you think is at the independent
reading level of most students. Patterned or predictable books are particularly useful for choral reading,
because their repetitious style invites students to join in. Begin by reading the book aloud as you model fluent
reading.
3. Tape-assisted reading. In tape-assisted reading, students read along in their books as they hear a fluent
reader read the book on an audiotape. For tape-assisted reading, you need a book at a student's independent
reading level and a tape recording of the book read by a fluent reader at about 80-100 words per minute. The
tape should not have sound effects or music. For the first reading, the student should follow along with the
tape, pointing to each word in her or his book as the reader reads it. Next, the student should try to read aloud
along with the tape. Reading along with the tape should continue until the student is able to read the book
independently, without the support of the tape.
4. Partner reading. In partner reading, paired students take turns reading aloud to each other. For partner
reading, more fluent readers can be paired with less fluent readers. The stronger reader reads a paragraph or
page first, providing a model of fluent reading. Then the less fluent reader reads the same text aloud. The

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stronger student gives help with word recognition and provides feedback and encouragement to the less
fluent partner. The less fluent partner rereads the passage until he or she can read it independently.
5. Readers' theatre. In readers' theatre, students rehearse and perform a play for peers or others. They read
from scripts that have been derived from books that are rich in dialogue. Students play characters who speak
lines or a narrator who shares necessary background information. Readers' theatre provides readers with a
legitimate reason to reread text and to practice fluency. Readers' theatre also promotes cooperative
interaction with peers and makes the reading task appealing.

Vocabulary Instruction
Learning vocabulary is an important part of a student‘s development process, but vocabulary instruction
can be a challenge for educators—especially when it comes to making it effective and engaging. Teaching
vocabulary can feel daunting. The struggles associated with vocab practices in the classroom make it
challenging for students to learn and teachers to, well, teach. Teachers may have a hard time handpicking the
10-20 words every week that their students will learn. Which words are the most important? What about the
students who learn and read at different levels? From a student‘s perspective, it becomes difficult (and, for
many, uninteresting) to simply memorize words and terms that they have no prior connections to.
Comprehension Instruction.
Comprehension, or extracting meaning from what you read, is the ultimate goal of reading.
Experienced readers take this for granted and may not appreciate the reading comprehension skills required.
The process of comprehension is both interactive and strategic. Rather than passively reading text, readers
must analyze it, internalize it and make it their own. In order to read with comprehension, developing readers
must be able to read with some proficiency and then receive explicit instruction in reading comprehension
strategies (Tierney, 1982).
There are 5 separate strategies that together form the High 5 Reading Strategy.
1. Activating background knowledge
2. Questioning
3. Analyzing text structure
4. Visualization
5. Summarizing

Developing Functional Literacy: Participatory Approach

What is ―Functional Literacy?‖ Functional Literacy is the ability to manage daily living and employment
tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level
How is ―Functional literacy‖ different from ―literacy?‖ ―Literacy‖ refers to the ability to read or write at
ANY level. An illiterate person will not be able to understand or to produce ANY text at all. ―Functional literacy‖
refers to practical skills needed to live a normal life. For example: an illiterate person may not understand the
written words ―cat‖ or ―dog‖, may not recognize the letters of the alphabet and may be unable to write their
own name. A functionally illiterate person will probably be able to understand these things without any
problems, however they cannot understand job advertisements, newspaper articles, forms or posters.
Foreigners who cannot do these things in the language of the country they are living in are considered
functionally illiterate. In Kazakhstan I, myself, am functionally illiterate.
The Participatory Approach. The main goal of this approach is to have EVERY student, as well as the
teacher, actively participating in the activities This approach changes the role of the teacher. Instead of us
giving instructions and then stepping back to allow students to work, the teacher works together with the
students. This approach forces us to practice our micro-teaching skills, as we help learners to accomplish the
goals that we set
We must use realistic materials, because we are training students for realistic situations. For large
classes it is IMPOSSIBLE to give each student individual attention. So, we have students work in pairs or
small groups, and give attention to the groups as a whole. Our activities must also include extratextual
components such as pictures, logos or objects, to reflect the realistic nature of the activities.
21st Century literacy skills and teaching resources

Student-Led Learning (Cooperative learning)

Cooperative learning is defined as students working together to ―attain group goals that cannot be
obtained by working alone or competitively‖ (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1986). Cooperative learning
involves students working together to accomplish shared goals, and it is this sense of interdependence that
motivate group members to help and support each other. When students work cooperatively they learn to
listen to what others have to say, give and receive help, reconcile differences, and resolve problems
democratically.

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However, placing students in small groups and telling them to work together does not guarantee that
they will work cooperatively. Groups need to be structured to ensure that members will work interdependently
if they are to reap the academic and social benefits widely attributed to this approach to learning.

The role the teacher plays in establishing cooperative learning in the classroom is critically important for
its success. This involves being aware of how to structure cooperative learning in groups, including their size
and composition the type of task set; expectations for student behavior; individual and group responsibilities;
and the teacher‘s role in monitoring both the process and the outcomes of the group experience.

Inquiry-Based Classroom Environment

How can you activate the curiosity in students‘ minds and get them excited about learning new topics
or subjects? Meet inquiry-based learning, the teaching strategy that triggers your students‘ curiosity and helps
them develop their enthusiasm for learning.
What is inquiry-based learning? From the Academy of Inquiry Based Learning, inquiry-based learning,
―or IBL for short, is a broad range of empirically validated teaching methods which emphasize (a) deeply
engaging students and (b) providing students with opportunities to authentically learn by collaborating with
their peers.‖ Inquiry-based learning lets students decide what they want to learn about a particular subject and
gets them to ask questions about things they aren‘t familiar with. Rather than just firing facts and statistics at
your class, use these five strategies to help you build an inquiry-based classroom.
1. Don’t always answer student questions. It may be tempting to just answer the questions that your
students have about a lesson, but true learning isn‘t about being spoon-fed the answer. Reply to student
questions with questions directed back at them, and ask other peers to participate in the conversation.
Additionally, you can show your students how to research the questions they have and arrive at their own
conclusions. It‘s not always about just finding the answer to a question—it‘s about how a student reaches that
conclusion.
2. Spend more time on projects and less time on lecturing. While a lecture or direct, teacher-led
instruction can be effective, it‘s not always the best way for students to learn. Be honest with yourself—how
many lectures do you remember from your own schooling? You probably don‘t recall many. But, how many
projects do you remember? Project-based learning can be the best way to help activate the curiosity that lies
dormant in the mind of your students.
3. Accept that no two classes will be the same. Assessment and understanding come in many shapes and
sizes. If you teach multiple classes at the same grade level, understand that no two classes will be alike.
Different groups of students learn in different ways, and that is totally fine. You may feel like one set of
students is getting behind or ahead of another group with this approach, but if you keep track of what each
class discussed, you‘ll find you‘re still able to fill in the learning gaps in upcoming lessons and allow each
group of learners the time they require to develop necessary learning.
4. Include time for reflection at the end of every lesson. Reflection is an important part of growth for both
you and your students. Have your students take time to answer the following questions so that they can begin
to self-reflect on how they learn best: What helped me to learn this concept best? What didn‘t help me learn
effectively? You can tailor future lessons and projects based around these findings.
5. Learn alongside your students. Chances are that inquiry-based learning is uncharted territory for you as
a teacher. In this type of classroom environment, you may need to relinquish a little control to allow students
to shape the learning experience. Encourage collaboration, communication, and participation. Take this time
to step back and observe how your students are learning while you maintain a clear set of learning objectives
that you want your students to meet.

Collaborative Activities
Collaborative learning is the educational approach of using groups to enhance learning through
working together. Groups of two or more learners work together to solve problems, complete tasks, or learn
new concepts. This approach actively engages learners to process and synthesize information and concepts,
rather than using rote memorization of facts and figures. Learners work with each other on projects, where
they must collaborate as a group to understand the concepts being presented to them. Through defending
their positions, reframing ideas, listening to other viewpoints and articulating their points, learners will gain a
more complete understanding as a group than they could as individuals.
What are collaborative activities?
Collaborative activities are any activities where learners are working co-operatively in pairs or groups.
For example:
1. Pair or group discussions
2. Completing shared tasks in a pair or group, e.g. matching, sorting, ranking
3. Activities or games with a competitive element, e.g. bingo

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4. Drama and role play

5. Information exchange activities, including barrier games and jigsaw activities
6. Examples of activities
Collaborative activities can be used for any age-range and in any subject. Learners at any stage of
language development can take part, particularly if those who are New to English are grouped with supportive
peers. Here are some examples:
1. Group or pair discussion:
There are a range of types of pair or group discussions, for example:
a. Listening triangles: learners work together in groups of three: a speaker, a questioner and a note-
taker.
b. The speaker explains the topic (or expresses their opinion on an issue) as directed by the teacher
c. The questioner listens carefully and asks for clarification or further detail
d. The note-taker observes this process and provides feedback to both speaker and questioner
Talk partners: Learners are paired for short discussion activities. Pairs can be selected, chosen
randomly or regularly switched. It may be useful to establish ground rules and model some appropriate
question types and responses.
Think-Pair-Share: Learners prepare a response to a text or prepare a piece of work and then explain
their ideas to a partner. After the pairs have discussed the issue, they join with another pair, share views and
emerge with a group conclusion or perspective.
Snowballing: Learners discuss something or investigate an issue in pairs. The pairs then join another
pair to form a group and share their findings. The small groups then join together to make a larger group: 2
→4 →8 →16 → whole-class.
2. Working on shared tasks, e.g. matching, sorting, ranking:
Working collaboratively on a task encourages use of the vocabulary of the curriculum area, and at the
same time encourages use of the language of making suggestions, justifying opinions, agreeing and
disagreeing, etc. It also gives practice in listening. Many of the resources on EAL Nexus have images that can
be made into flashcards which can be used for matching, sorting or ranking. For example in A balanced diet
learners are asked to sort cards with different foods on into groups according to their nutrient content.
3. Games and activities with a competitive element:
Games can be very effective in motivating learners, and in revising or consolidating curriculum
content. They also practise the language of turn-taking and negotiating. Bingo is a popular game included in
several of our resources, e.g. Food bingo. A quick noughts and crosses game can be produced for any topic
on a whiteboard, i.e. a 3x3 grid with answers in each square. Split the class into two teams, and teams
discuss possible questions to match the answers. There are likely to be a range of possible correct questions.
In this example a question to which the correct answer is ‗protein‘ could be ‗What do you find in fish, nuts and
meat?‘ or ‗What do we need to build and repair tissue?‘
4. Drama and role play:
Drama and role play can be fun and used successfully in any area of the curriculum. Drama is a very
valuable tool for exploring issues, making learning memorable, encouraging co-operation and empathy. The
use of drama and role play can create an opportunity for the learner to hear and rehearse language in a
meaningful context, so as to be able to use it confidently in speech or writing.
5. Information exchange activities:
Information exchange (or information gap) activities are communicative activities for two or more
learners. They include barrier games and jigsaw activities, or any activity that involves learners having
different pieces of information that they then have to convey to each other orally. Here are two examples:
Barrier games: In a barrier game Learner A and Learner B sit with a barrier between them and are
required to convey information to each other, for example while looking at different text or images. A book or
file propped on its side can be used as a barrier. E.g. Charles Dickens barrier game.
Rainbowing: This is a form of jigsaw activity where each member of a working group is given a
different colour. When the group task is complete the learners form new groups according to their colours.
Within the colour groups, they compare findings, discuss what they have achieved, or carry out another task
that they all need to contribute to, e.g. completing a grid. An example of this is the activity in Propaganda
posters of World War 1, where learners work in groups to look at a poster and discuss what its underlying
message is.

How collaborative activities work. Many tasks can be made into collaborative activities by asking learners
to complete them in pairs or groups rather than individually. For collaborative activities to work effectively it is
important to:

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1. consider the grouping of learners carefully, for example placing early stage bilingual learners with peers
who can provide good models of English, and / or share the same first language
2. establish the type of behaviour that will be expected from learners for them to benefit most from these types
of activities and ensure that everyone is clear what their role is, e.g. asking questions, answering questions,
observing, collaborating on the set task.
3. bear in mind that group discussions can take place in English or in the learners‘ first language. Think about
what you want them to get from the discussion and decide which language or languages you want them to
use.
4. encourage other members of the group to include EAL learners who may need support to take part in a
discussion or activity. Make sure the EAL learner has a role in the discussion. Speaking frames can be useful
to scaffold the language used, e.g. in the Charles Dickens barrier game cards with sentence starters on are
provided to support learners who are at the New to English, Early acquisition or Developing competence
levels.

HOTS Activities
Examples of Activities that Promote Higher Order Thinking
Examples of Activities: Science

Apply a Rule: The student could be asked to explain why a shotgun "kicks" when fired. His response would
include a statement to the effect that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (Newton's Law of
Motion), and that the "kick" of the shotgun is equal to the force propelling the shot toward its target. The faster
the shot travels and the greater the weight of the shot, the greater the "kick" of the gun.

Classify: Given several examples of each, the student could be asked to classify materials according to their
physical properties as gas, liquid, or solid.

Construct: The student could be asked to construct a model of a carbon atom.

Define: Given several types of plant leaves, the student could be asked to define at least three categories for
classifying them.
NOTE: Defining is not memorizing and writing definitions created by someone else -- it is creating definitions.

Demonstrate: Given a model of the earth, sun, and moon so devised that it may be manipulated to show the
orbits of the earth and moon, the student could be asked to demonstrate the cause of various phases of the
moon as viewed from earth.

Describe: The student could be asked to describe the conditions essential for a
balanced aquarium that includes four goldfish.

Diagram: The student could be asked to diagram the life cycle of a grasshopper.

Distinguish: Given a list of paired element names, the student could be asked to distinguish between the
metallic and non-metallic element in each pair.

Estimate: The student could be asked to estimate the amount of heat given off by one litter of air compressed
to one-half its original volume.

Evaluate: Given several types of materials, the student could be asked to evaluate them to determine which
is the best conductor of electricity.

Identify: Given several types of materials, the student could be asked to identify those which would be
attracted to a magnet.

Interpret: The student could be asked to interpret a weather map taken from a
newspaper.

Locate: The student could be asked to locate the position of chlorine on the periodictable.
NOTE: To locate is to describe location. It is not identification of location.

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Measure: Given a container graduated in cubic centimeters, the student could be asked to measure a specific
amount of liquid.

Name: The student could be asked to name the parts of an electromagnet.

"While Bloom‘s Taxonomy is not the only framework for teaching thinking, it is the most widely used,
and subsequent frameworks tend to be closely linked to Bloom‘s work.... Bloom‘s aim was to promote higher
forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing and evaluating, rather than just teaching students to
remember facts (rote learning)." Bloom‘s taxonomy was designed with six levels to promote higher-order
thinking. The six levels were: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
(The taxonomy's levels were later revised as remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, revising, and
creating.) The lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) involve memorization, while higher-order thinking requires
understanding and applying that knowledge.

The top three levels of Bloom's taxonomy—which is often displayed as a pyramid, with ascending
levels of thinking at the top of the structure—are analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. These levels of the
taxonomy all involve critical or higher-order thinking. Students who are able to think are those who can apply
the knowledge and skills they have learned to new contexts. Looking at each level demonstrates how higher-
order thinking is applied in education.

Creative Learning

Creative Learning works in overlooked areas to support locally-led initiatives. We exchange knowledge
through people-to-people partnerships and sustainably improve lives and livelihoods. Our four divisions each
offer unique expertise, collaboratively working towards our goal of building a more peaceful world.

The Creative Learning Method is a method that is based on the use of theatre techniques in order to
stimulate learning in the classroom. It has been developed for children of elementary school and is based on
the principle that children learn better when they actively participate in the learning process in comparison with
being passive listeners. The use of theatre techniques in the elementary school is proven to be very effective
for the improvement of the school performance of the children (see for example the work of Kieran Egan,
Dewey and Jean Piaget). It addresses at the same time linguistic intelligence, logical (reasoning) intelligence,
spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence and
naturalist intelligence. It makes the class more attractive and it promotes the active participation of the
students in the class improving in this way the educational performance of the children.

SUMMARY

Successful literacy learning and teaching involves a shift in responsibility from teacher to student, with
new learning introduced in the most supportive setting. Effective teachers create a balanced program where
there is a range of instructional practices which offer students varying degrees of teacher support. While
teachers can create the conditions that foster learning and demonstrate strategies, for real learning to occur,
students need to be active participants. The program needs to be interesting enough to make students want
to engage in the learning. One of the greatest challenges for teachers of literacy is ensuring that students
have the comprehension strategies needed to cope in the increasingly complex world of print. The Literacy
Common Core State Standards acknowledges this and have placed an increasing emphasis on making
students ready for the complexities of texts they will face both in and out of school. Effective teachers are able
to provide the appropriate challenge for each of their students. They understand that learning takes place in
the ‗zone of proximal development.‘ It is in the struggle that new learning occurs. We need to help students
develop the stamina and resilience that comes from engaging them in challenging tasks where they read and
write for authentic purpose.

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REFERENCES

Hervey, Sheena. 2013. What is Effective Teaching of Literacy? Generation Ready. Partnering for School
Success.
Cunningham, Ann. 2019. Emergent Literacy: Picture Books for Babies. American Action Fund for Blind
Children and Adults. Future Reflections. Special Issue on Tactile Fluency. https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/
publications/fr/fr38/2/fr380205.htm.
Excerpted from: Guidelines for Examining Phonics and Word Recognition Programs, Texas Reading Initiative,
Texas Education Agency (2002).
Tierney, R. J. (1982). Essential considerations for developing basic reading comprehension skills. School
Psychology Review 11(3), pp. 299–305.
Benjamin Bloom in his 1956 book, "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational
Goals."

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