Literacy Development

Literacy is the ability of children, and young adults, to learn to speak, listen, read, and think. This happens in a variety of ways, as a child begins picking up literacy skills at an early age through oral language, and the way you speak to them. In the classroom, developing these skills should be our number one goal. As children move through the various stages of literacy development, their overall language develops further. For this reason, it is important to have read-alouds in your classroom to give students opportunity to both listen, and discuss. We should keep them engaged in the material. Children develop literacy through both listening and interaction. Children acquire literacy through these interactions, and the vocabulary that

When we teach literacy, we need to know what it takes for every specific learner to become a reader and writer. We can go by what the book tells us to do, but we really need to focus on each student. What makes him tick? How can I engage her? As Literacy teachers, we are given the responsibility of helping students through stages of literacy development. We are in charge of guiding them from one stage to the next.

We need to know how literacy develops as children acquire the ability to speak, listen, read, and write. In order for this to develop well, students must take-part in a variety of real literacy experiences. These experiences will enhance the “value” of the explicit instruction they receive in the classroom. We also must realize that all children come to school with a basic understanding of language, and literacy. While this base may not always be in English, it is there. This has been developing over the last few years through oral language, in their daily lives.

As students begin developing literacy, they need our guidance with even the most basic skills. Early on phonemic awareness becomes extremely important. Students need to realize the sounds that make up a word. We can help with that understanding by reading to them, and letting them follow along. (Cooper, p.

While they may not come into our classroom knowing much English, or any at all, we must realize that they have a foundational understanding of language. For these students, the literacy program is invaluable. For these students, we need to be culturally aware of what we do. We also must be open to any ideas that the student, or even the family presents us with. When one of our students does something that we may consider rude, or disrespectful, it could be a cultural norm for that student, and it could have a completely different meaning than how we perceive it. (Cooper p.