On April 8, 2016 when the class was discussing "digital literacy," a shocking news story from London AP intrigued us. The news was about a brief text message delivered by Ahmed, a refugee Afghan boy of 6-year old. His text message flashed on the cellphone of Liz Clegg, a volunteer at a migrant camp in France. Clegg and other volunteers…

Teacher research has a long, rich history. However, teacher research is primarily limited to practicing teachers and those pursuing graduate education. It is only beginning to be used as means of understanding the instructional needs of English learners. In this article, a preservice teacher and her university instructor describe the role of…

This study investigated how the context of a Primary 3 (P3) teacher of Luganda in Uganda influenced the teacher's literacy instructional decision-making, beliefs, pedagogy, and practices before and after she was provided with supplies and literacy instructional procedures that helped produce reading materials for her students. The contextual…

Describes an interactive method of teaching reading that can be adapted to students' needs, skills, experience, and culture. Shows how the method develops phonological awareness and builds on skills adults already have, such as manual dexterity, visual analysis, and observation. (SK)

Describes a study conducted to determine how adults view literacy and themselves in relation to literacy. The authors concluded that programs for adults need to be built on the collective knowledge of scholars from many fields. They discuss the language experience approach and development of control over the visual dimensions of print. (CT)

This curriculum guide was developed for tutors using the "Challenger Adult Reading Series." The guide is intended to help tutors make the lessons more effective, motivational, and meaningful for students. The guide is based on a five-part lesson plan prescribed by the Computer-Assisted Literacy in Libraries (CALL) program: language…

The South Metropolitan Association Communication Development Program in Flossmoor, Illinois, developed a language-oriented program that improved reading and writing proficiency of students with communication disorders. The program involves development and reading of language experience stories, role playing, vocabulary development, and other…

Argues that using the adult learner's needs and interests to choose individual reading material makes better sense than using inappropriate workbooks and other commercial literacy materials, and offers six criteria for evaluating materials. (HOD)

This book gives the reader ideas for providing primary-grade students with literacy learning opportunities that integrate conventional literacies, such as phonics and comprehension, with new literacies, such as multimedia composition and hyperlink navigation. The reader will find a variety of linked activities, including reading children's books,…

Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…

The stories, essays, poems, and anecdotes in this booklet were written by students attending community-based literacy classes and they reflect the students' varied lives and experiences. Many of these pieces are appropriate for adult beginning readers and may encourage students to write their own stories that in turn may be read by others. The…

The purpose of this document is to provide a step-by-step outline of the language experience approach. It first explains this technique for teaching both words and sentences to beginning readers. Steps are outlined first for teaching words, then for teaching sentences. What to do and what to say is suggested for each step. Teaching words includes…

A Presentation of Paulo Freire's approach to literacy, this article offers biographical information, a discussion of his educational concepts and a detailed description of his methodology. A two part appendix offers a list of key words and pictures of situations. (MW)

Discusses illiterate and semiliterate adults who want to become literate to enjoy a more satisfactory quality of life. Describes their life experiences and provides examples of effective instruction methods based on the language experience approach, including dictation, word banks, journal writing, individualized and assisted reading, and…

Too often adult literacy programs seem based on the assumption that, if learners work hard on skills for six months, they will have "acquired" literacy, as though it is a set of skills adults can "get" from a tutor (Kazemek, 1985). One study of 20 adult literacy classes in eight U.S. states found basic (not higher level) skills the predominant…