Teaching strategies for the development of literacy skills and teaching resources reflection paper

It’s never too early to nurture children’s development of language and literacy skills. Even at a very young age, experiencing different genres of books, hearing stories from the adults who care about them, and exploring books alone or with peers helps them learn how to listen to and understand language and how to share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings.

Below we highlight eight ways to support language and literacy skills development in your own early childhood classroom.

1. Capture children’s interest before you read.
   Have children sitting on the edge of their seats before the story even begins! Before your next read-aloud, take a moment to get children interested by providing an exciting overview of the story they’re about to hear. Not sure what this looks like? Below, Vice Chair of the Board Kai-leé Berke provides a few examples so you can see this technique in action.
   
2. Introduce vocabulary during a read-aloud.
   Select a few words to highlight and define for children before you begin the read-aloud. Choose words that are important to understanding the meaning of the story and then define the words as you read. You can define words during a read-aloud by pointing out part of an illustration that shows the meaning of a word, showing facial expressions or moving your body in a way that provides explanation, or giving a brief definition.
3. Share the see-show-say strategy with families.
   See-show-say is an easy, 3-part strategy that you can share with families for conducting read-alouds at home. In the below video, Breeyn Mack demonstrates how adults can invite children to see, show, and say what they’re experiencing in the story.
   
4. Highlight children’s favorite books.
   Highlighting children’s favorite books during read-aloud time is a great way to get them engaged and keep their attention. Encourage children to talk about their favorite books and share their recommendations with others. Keep sticky notes and pencils in the Library area so children can identify their favorite books. Ask them to write their name on the sticky note and then place it inside the book’s cover; then, at read-aloud time, you can point out that this book is Charlie or Lia’s favorite.
5. Establish read-aloud routines.
   Young children thrive with consistent, predictable routines, so it’s important to establish regular times for reading. We recommend scheduling time for read-alouds at least twice a day.
6. Read in small groups.
   To get the most literacy learning out of a read-aloud experience, make sure you take the time to read to children in small groups. Research shows that children who hear stories in small-group settings develop stronger comprehension skills, ask and answer more questions, and comment more on the text. So while you’re probably already reading aloud to large groups of children, try to find time for these small-group interactions, too!
7. Support children who are learning two languages.
   To support dual-language learners, include books and recorded readings in children’s first languages and wordless books in your classroom book collection. Whenever you can, read the story in the child’s first language before reading in English.
   
8. Start early! Read with infants and toddlers.
   Make reading physically interactive by inviting children to hold the book and turn the pages, if they are physically able, or offering them a toy to hold while you’re reading. Focus their attention by pointing to and naming the things in the pictures. And be prepared to read the same books over and over again—very young children thrive on routine and repetition.

Below, Natalie demonstrates what a read-aloud could look like in a real classroom.

To learn more about using read-alouds in your classroom, view our video series and additional resources for proper read-aloud techniques here.

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.

Experts have been debating the best way to teach reading for over fifty years. In reality, there is no single method that will teach all students to read and write successfully. Over the years, various approaches have come in and out of favor in an effort to raise achievement. These include: tighter curricula specifications, prescribing structures for literacy blocks, providing scripts for teaching and increasing accountability, all resulting in minimal impact on the learning outcomes for students (Boykin & Noguera, 2011).

Classrooms today are complex and dynamic learning environments. Identifying the range of factors that positively impact student achievement has been a major focus of research. There is clear, documented evidence of the most effective features of practice including the degree of the teachers’ influence and what they do to raise student learning outcomes (Allington 2002, Hattie 2009).

Literacy teaching can only be described as truly effective when it positively impacts student learning.

Successful teachers are able to skillfully integrate a range of instructional approaches and resources to meet the diverse learning needs of their students.

We can now say, with certitude, that effective teachers of literacy: 

• Know the literacy processes and pedagogy that determines how their students learn
• Know what their students need to understand and be able to do to meet the Standards
• Know their students as learners
• Have high expectations for their students and encourage risk taking
• Flexibly use a range of instructional practices
• Engage students in challenging learning experiences

Dimensions of Effective Literacy Practice

Effective Teachers:

• Understand literacy learning
• Know the standards
• Know their students as learners
• Set high expectations for students and encourage risk taking
• Use a flexible range of teaching strategies
• Engage students in challenging content

Effective teachers understand literacy learning

Effective teachers of literacy have a deep understanding of the complexities and cumulative processes of reading and writing. The also understand the developmental nature of literacy learning.

Effective teachers understand that:

• The pathway to literacy is developmental
• Becoming literate is a social process where students are active learners
• Students take individual and multiple pathways in their learning

Effective teachers are aware of the complexity of a wide range of texts and the potential challenges these pose for students. They also recognize the sequence of events that occur within the classroom and how it could impact student learning. Most importantly, effective teachers know it is not how much students know, but rather, how they apply this knowledge.

Effective teachers see themselves as lifelong learners. They understand the need to continuously update their skills and knowledge in response to the changing world, new research, and emerging information about literacy learning and teaching.

Effective teachers know what their students need to learn

In order to ensure that students are on track for college and career, effective teachers know what literacy skills and understandings their students require.

The new Standards set rigorous expectations for students, and effective teachers understand the instructional shifts in practices that are needed to ensure that students meet these raised expectations. Effective teachers understand that while the standards set common outcomes for students, this does not mean equal input.

Effective teachers know their students as learners

Effective teaching involves knowing the student as an individual. Because reading is a process where students’ prior knowledge interacts with print to construct meaning, it is important that teachers understand as much as possible about the students’ world. The most important single factor that influences learning is what the learner already knows (Ausubel, 1968).

Effective teachers also know students as literacy learners and collect information from a range of sources on students’ strategies, understandings, attitudes and previous learning experiences. Knowing students as learners requires one to understand the pathways of progress for individual students and the patterns of progress for students as a whole. Therefore, effective teachers need to extensively and continuously develop their knowledge of:

• Their students’ individual learning profiles and the implications this has for teaching
• The patterns of progress for students as they become literate
• Their students’ literacy practices outside school, as well as in school

Effective teachers recognize assessment as central to their classroom practice and gather data from a range of sources. They:

• Acknowledge their students’ prior learning, helping them make connections between new learning and what they already know
• Use ongoing assessment to identify learning needs of students, using this to inform their teaching
• See students’ errors and misconceptions as a window into the learning process

Effective teachers strategically gather, analyze, and use information to guide students learning, which is accomplished by their own understanding of literacy learning and what is expected as a measure of success.

Effective teachers have high expectations for students

Effective teachers’ positive expectations for, and acknowledgment of, their students’ efforts are key factors leading to success in literacy learning. The expectations teachers have for their students are a powerful indicator of success. Students patterns of progress and achievement are impacted by their teacher’s expectations. Research shows that students know that they are treated differently and that teachers have higher expectations of some than others (Weinstein, 2002).

This applies to older students who have not yet mastered reading and writing, and to students who are learning to both speak, and become literate, in English. Effective teachers’ expectations are high, appropriate, clearly articulated, and:

• Clearly expressed
• Shared with, and informed by feedback from all partners in the student’s learning
• Reflected on and reviewed

High expectations go hand in hand with creating an optimal learning environment that generates an atmosphere of trust, where it is understood it is OK to make mistakes and self correct because mistakes are the essence of learning.

The social setting that teachers provide is equally as important as the physical environment. Research shows that the quality of the instruction makes a difference and more than that, that it is the interaction between the teacher and student, most especially the feedback the student gets, which is essential (Hattie, 2003).

Learning to read and write involves taking risks. This is more likely to happen if students feel that their attempts will be valued. Teachers need to help students see that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process. By accepting their approximations and providing informed, genuine, and encouraging responses, teachers let students know that they believe they will learn. While teachers can create the conditions that foster learning and demonstrate strategies for learning to occur, the students have to actively engage in the process. The program needs to be interesting enough so that students want to be engaged in the learning.

Effective teachers also create learning environments that are alive with purposeful print and where students have access to reading, and creating, a wide range of texts.

Effective teachers use a range of instructional strategies

Effective teachers flexibly use a range of instructional practices to meet the diverse needs of the students in any class. These strategies are the tools of effective practice and teachers should plan for whole class, small groups and independent work. Within these contexts, effective teachers will provide a varying degree of support that reflects the needs of the students and the challenge in the learning. This gradual release of responsibility will come through reading and writing, to shared and guided reading and writing with the students, leading to independent reading and writing by the students.

Effective teachers:

• Routinely and explicitly demonstrate how proficient readers and writers make meaning of, and construct, texts
• Demonstrate skills and strategies in a variety of ways to cater for different learning styles
• Demonstrate the use of reading skills and strategies across all learning and expect students to use them in all content areas
• Provide opportunities for students to discuss texts, developing appropriate language for meaningful talk
• Support or guide students as they practice the skills and strategies demonstrated
• Provide daily opportunities for students to independently practice skills and strategies in authentic contexts
• Encourage students to self-reflect and goal set

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.

Effective teachers engage students in challenging learning

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.

What is teaching strategies for the development of literacy skills and teaching resources?

What strategies are effective in teaching literacy?

How can you help learners develop their literacy skills in the classroom?

Why are literacy strategies important?