Literacy

Literacy

People often misunderstand what the literacy really means. When you first think of literacy you might think it simply means the ability to read and write. However, this is not totally accurate. It is true that the word literacy does include such things as reading and writing but when you look more closely into the word you will discover that reading and writing are just the tip of the iceberg. Lying beneath the surface are things such as comprehension and understanding. Simply being able to read the words on page does not mean that someone is literate. In the world of education today literacy is becoming more and more important. Teachers are becoming more aware of the need for literacy programs in the school. As well schools in general are beginning to realize the need for literacy development in schools and are therefore working towards creating such programs to promote literacy in and outside of the schools.

If you are a teacher who is working on creating a literacy program in your school or classroom then you should begin at the most important part – the students. Literacy in any classroom should build on the needs and interests of the students as well as their abilities and cultural backgrounds. To find out more about your students and their literacy needs you need to ask questions about what they like and what they dislike. By doing this you are getting some idea of what kinds of things you need to build into your literacy program. Once you have acquired the necessary information then you start by setting literacy goals. These goals are the things that you wish to accomplish throughout the course of the school year and perhaps even beyond the current school year. There are conflicting views about how teachers should set their literacy goals. There are those people who say that a literacy program should have specific goals and objectives in mind while there are other people who feel that these goals and objectives should be broad and should include such things as creating an enjoyable reading environment. Nevertheless the main objective should be to promote literacy within and outside the classroom.

Literacy research has been conducted over the last several years in regards to how teachers should teach literacy to their students. This research has shown that all teachers at all grade levels should be reading to their students. Research has shown that students who are read to on a regular basis are more inclined to become good readers, as they get older. Also children tend to follow what they see, so if they see their teacher reading they will be more willing to read. Reading to your students should be used as a motivational technique to get them to read as well. When reading to the students to promote literacy you should allow the students to select some of the material that will be read in the classroom. When the students feel that they have some say in what they are reading and what they are learning they are more willing to participate in the literacy program itself.

Every literacy program that is being used in a school or classroom should account for individual needs in some way. It is very important for teachers to realize that all students do not learn in the same fashion and therefore teachers need to change their teaching style so that all students are getting all that they can from the lesson. Educational research and studies have shown that students can fall into seven different categories of learning. Therefore teachers must be able to teach in seven different ways in order to insure that all students are learning to the best of their ability. This also presents a form of diversity in the classroom that in fact makes the lesson more exciting and students seem to enjoy these varied lessons rather than the same teaching style day after day.