Teaching literacy
ESL-Literacy-Book-August-24-2018-Digital_0.pdfA practical guide to teaching ESL literacy
Although most foundational learning programs do not work with adult ESL literacy learners (those who are simultaneously developing literacy for the first time and learning a language) this book has many valuable tips and insights.
First, readers are introduced to a framework of skills and strategies for the development of ESL literacy. This is followed by six key considerations to effective approaches to ESL literacy instruction.
Copyright and terms of use: This material may be used, reproduced, stored, or transmitted for non-commercial, educational purposes. Full attribution to Bow Valley College must be maintained.
Learning progressions and literacy guides from New Zealand
Learning-progressions-starting-points.pdfSupporting New Zealand's evaluation system, this guide also offers some strategies and insights for ESL literacy and emergent literacy learners.
Learning-progressions-read-with-understanding.pdfStarting on page 24, after a description of New Zealand's learning progression system, you'll find numerous helpful instructional strategies to support reading development.
Learning-progressions-write-to-communicate.pdfStarting on page 24, after a description of New Zealand's learning progression system, you'll find numerous helpful instructional strategies to support writing development.
Strategy focused literacy toolkit
Do you need a refresher on a certain topic or are you looking for some new ideas and approaches? Take a look at the Literacy Teaching Toolkit Map produced by the Victoria State Government in Australia. Although developed for students at the elementary level, the strategies and knowledge about literacy development are the same for adults. Each of the topics in the overview document is linked to a brief description and suggested activities. Connections to the government's state curriculum framework can be ignored.
Copyrighted. PDFs provided.
NOTE: Access to each topic is currently unavailable. The website for this resource is being redeveloped. We will re-evaluate the usefulness of the resource once the website is fully developed.
General overview of topics with additional resources
Decoda, a provincial literacy support organization in BC, has developed Back to Basics, a collection of strategies and knowledge for adult literacy and foundational learning programs. In addition to a brief overview, accompanying links and resources are also worth exploring.
Comprehensive courses and textbook focused on literacies
Literacy Teaching and Learning: Aims, Approaches and Pedagogies from prominent literacy scholars Dr William Cope and Dr Mary Dr Mary Kalantzis, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is available on Coursera. They cover the following topics:
The aims of literacy and multiliteracies
Theory and practice of literacies learning and teaching
Didactic and authentic pedagogies
Functional and critical understandings of literacy.
This is a 16-hour course held over three weeks.
Multimodal Literacies: Communication and Learning in the Era of Digital Media a second course from Dr William Cope and Dr Mary Dr Mary Kalantzis covers the following topics:
Expanding our knowledge of literacy and meaning beyond print
Transfering what we know about reading and writing to visual literacy
Spatial, tactile, gestural, audio, and oral meanings
Strategies for differentiated instruction and assessment.
This is a 16-hour course held over three weeks.
The two Coursera courses are based on the textbook Literacies. The textbook has been re-presented online with a series of videos and short readings. Here is the description: "Literacies provides a comprehensive introduction to literacy pedagogy within today's new media environment. It focuses not only on reading and writing, but also on other modes of communication, including oral, visual, audio, gestural and spatial. This focus is designed to supplement, not replace, the enduringly important role of alphabetical literacy. Using real-world examples and illustrations, Literacies features the experiences of both teachers and students. It maps a range of methods that teachers can use to help their students develop their capacities to read, write and communicate. It also explores the wide range of literacies and the diversity of socio-cultural settings in today's workplace, public and community settings. With an emphasis on the 'how-to' practicalities of designing literacy learning experiences and assessing learner outcomes, this book is a contemporary and in-depth resource for literacy students."
Copyrighted. Accessible online.
Strategies for any instructional context
The site Facing History and Ourselves has a great collection of Teaching Strategies that can be integrated into a variety of contexts and topics, whether you facilitate employment workshops, teach reading and writing or lead community development initiatives. "Use our student-centered teaching strategies to strengthen your students’ literacy skills, nurture critical thinking, and build a respectful and collaborative classroom community. These strategies can be paired with any academic content."
Copyrighted. PDFs provided.
Open source and accessible textbook
This toolkit introduces students to the concept of critical digital literacy and how to engage in online communities as a digital citizen. The modules in this toolkit support the following:
Information literacy by helping students think critically about how information is produced, prioritized, and presented
Communication, collaboration, and digital scholarship by helping students build confidence when contributing to digital conversations
Digital scholarship by helping students be comfortable as scholars in online learning environments and learn how to find, organize, interpret, analyze, and communicate information in digital spaces
Digital well-being by understanding how to create and manage their online identities for their mental health
Instructors will find easy-to-use or adapt activities in each chapter of this very user-friendly toolkit.
CC BY 4.0 except where otherwise noted
An open source university textbook
"Steps to Success: C0tr578rossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice introduces instructional strategies linked to the most current research-supported practices in the field of literacy. The book includes chapters related to scientifically-based literacy research, early literacy development, literacy assessment, digital age influences on children’s literature, literacy development in underserved student groups, secondary literacy instructional strategies, literacy and modern language, and critical discourse analysis. The book features detailed explanations of a wide variety of literacy strategies that can be implemented by both beginning and expert practitioners. The book’s success-oriented framework helps guide educators toward improving their own practices and is designed to foster the literacy development of students of all ages."
Supporting adults with reading challenges
Two excellent resources from the Can Learn Society in Calgary are designed to help educators who are working with adults with reading challenges. The Can Learn Society is a non-profit organization that works with children, youth and adults to address literacy, learning difficulties, attention, and related mental health challenges.
Copyrighted. PDFs provided.
Reading_Connections_Identifying_Causes_Reading-Difficulties2016.pdfRecognizing reading challenges
The educator guide contains information and screening tools to help you identify particular reading difficulties, create a reading profile and develop a plan to address the challenges.
Adult-Reading-Difficulties-2017.pdfAddressing those challenges
This guide describes numerous instructional strategies that can be used with adults whether they have more serious learning difficulties or simply need a rigorous program of instruction.