Chapter 7 – Literacy Instruction for English-Language Development

Chapter 7 goes into some important strategies and methods for literacy instruction.  Standards-based literacy instruction is fine in some cases, but it often doesn’t target the specific needs of all readers.  In ELD classrooms today, teaching strategies that “integrate language, reading, and writing skills have gained increasing favor as a means of promoting emergent biliteracy.  I think it is especially important to find out what your students’ interests are, and to encourage reading in that area.  With my own son, getting him to read any chapter book (native speaker -9 years old), is almost impossible – he just isn’t interested or engaged.  However, he will read almanacs and fact books all day long.  When I show interest in the facts he is learning, this increases his desire to want to learn more.  He is just not a fiction reader, and so I have adjusted his reading to allow for this.

I think that “Strategies for Making Meaning” is one of the key concepts in this chapter.  The book states that “seeking meaning is natural to the mind.”  Human curiosity is a natural element to our lives.  This chapter introduces the concept of into, through, and beyond.”  This method is designed to build comprehension of an entire topic – rather than just one piece of literary text.   “Into” activities draw from the students’ prior knowledge of something,   Using a K-W-L chart is effective in engaging the student to ask “What do I know,?” and “What do I want to learn,” and What have I learned?”  When students can see the “big” picture, they are more likely to grasp the entire meaning of what they are learning in comparison to what they already know.  This is an interactive way of teaching literacy

Response #1:  Ian Caldon writes in his blog on chapter 7 that “in oracy, L1 can be very important in terms of building on something to better students’ reading comprehension and writing abilities.”  I like this because it helps me to understand that not only can it be helpful to students literacy that they read something that is interesting to them, but to remember that their L1 and C1 (culture1) are useful tools for building their literacy skills in English.  This kind of cultural sensitivity can be viewed as a bridge towards greater understanding of our students’ needs.

Response #2:  Joseph Magda writes about the “Language Experience Approach” (LEA) that Chapter 7 describes.  He states that “many students enjoy telling about their activities, and the LEA gives them the ability to do just that.”  This is true.  Everyone likes to relate stories about themselves or their family.  It puts them as the focus of any given assignment and is closer to a real-world situation that they might become interested in.