Essay about Use of Multiple Stretegies to Teach Literacy

Literacy is the term used when talking about the ability to read and write. It leads to success in K-12 school, post-secondary school, the ability to compete in the job market, and participation in democratic process (Wei, Blackorby, Schiller, 2011). Teaching young children how to read and write however is a very complex process that requires a teacher to employ a myriad of strategies to help students. When a teacher takes into consideration all the different abilities in a classroom having multiple strategies that help all students become proficient in speaking and listening, reading, and writing, is essential. Speaking and Listening One of the most often over looked yet essential part of literacy development is developing a child’s†¦show more content†¦Using hand movements to the rhymes, like Itsy Bitsy Spider, gives children the kinesthetic reminder of what comes next but also allows students who might be nonverbal to participate in the rhyme activity. Reading The ultimate goal for any reader should be to understand the text. While a student might be able to correctly decode a sentence if he or she did not comprehend what was read the student’s literacy skill did not increase. It would be hard for a student to fully enjoy a book if he or she didn’t understand what was being read. A strategy that good readers use, and one that teachers should model for students, is making connections with the text. There are three types of connections, text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world. As the teacher reads a story he or she should stop periodically to make connections between what is written and his or her own personal experience (text-to-self), other books (text-to-text), or things that are happening in the world (text-to-world). As students make these types of connections it helps further his or her understanding of the text. (LaRocque Darling, 2008) While teachers might be able to make even small connections with anything he or she reads, younger readers often have a more difficult time because of lack of experiences and practice making connections. A teacher can help students make connections by asking questions before reading the book, ‘what is something that has made you really sad?’ Getting