Learning To Be Literate

Winner of the prestigious UK Literacy Association Academic Book Award for 2015 in its original edition, this fully revised edition of Learning to be Literate uniquely analyses research into literacy from the 1960s through to 2015 with some surprising conclusions. Margaret Clark explores the argument that young children growing up in a literate environment are forming hypotheses about the print around them, including environmental print, television, computer games and mobile phones. In a class where no child can yet read there is a wide range of understanding with regards to concepts of print and the critical features of written language. While to any literate adult, the relationship between spoken and written language may be obvious, young children have to be helped to discover it. This persuasive argument demonstrates the value of research in order to make informed policy decisions about children’s literacy development. Accessible and succinct, Professor Clark’s writing brings into sharp focus the processes involved in becoming literate. The effect on practice of many recent government policies she claims run counter to these insights. The key five thematic sections are backed up with case studies throughout and include: Insights from Literacy Research: 1960s to 1980s Young Literacy Learners: how we can help them Curriculum Developments and Literacy Policies, 1988 to 1997: a comparison between England and Scotland Synthetic Phonics and Literacy Learning: government policy in England 2006 to 2015 Interpretations of Literacy in the Twenty-first Century

The how and why of teaching literacy skills to children with autism

There are many approaches to researching the difficulties in learning that students experience in the key areas of literacy and numeracy. This book seeks to advance understanding of these difficulties and the interventions that have been used to improve outcomes. The book addresses the sometimes complementary and sometimes contradictory results, and generates new approaches to understanding and serving students with difficulties in literacy and numeracy. The book represents a departure from conventional wisdom as most scholars and graduate students draw upon ideas from only one of the three domains focal in the book and usually from one single or dominant theoretical frame. Typically, readers will affiliate with reading education, mathematics education, or learning disabilities and belong to one of the corresponding professional associations such as IRA, NCTM, or CLD. This book’s scope will open a scholarly forum for engaging readers with a familiarity with one of these domains while providing insight into the others on offer in the book.

"Large-scale efforts have been made since the 1990s to ensure that all children of the world go to school. But mere enrollment is not sufficient, students must become fluent in reading and calculation by the end of grade 2. Fluency is needed to process large amounts of text quickly and use the information for decisions that may ultimately reduce poverty. State-of-the-art brain imaging and cognitive psychology research can help formulate effective policies for improving the basic skills of low-income students. This book integrates research into applications that extend from preschool brain development to the memory of adult educators. In layman?'s terms, it provides explanations and answers to questions such as: Why do children have to read fast before they can understand what they read? How do health, nutrition, and stimulation influence brain development? Why should students learn basic skills in their maternal language? Is there such a thing as an untrained teacher? What signs in a classroom show whether students are getting a quality education? How must information be presented in class so that students can retain it and use it? What training techniques are most likely to help staff put their learning into use? This book would be useful to policymakers, donor agency staff, teacher trainers, supervisors, and inspectors, as well as university professors and students."

Committed to embracing the power of oral language, Literacy Out Loud recognizes the important role "talk" plays in developing the reading and writing abilities that students need in school and beyond. The book offers strategies where oral language takes centre stage and is fostered through engaging activities. Literacy activities and events focus on all aspects of listening and speaking, and emphasize enjoyable, purposeful, social learning. The book argues that listening and speaking, or "talk," is at the heart of a vibrant classroom. It shows teachers how to nurture dynamic classroom talk that is essential in its own right, and makes all learning possible.

This book explores the many dialogues that exist between the arts and literacy. It shows how the arts are inherently multimodal and therefore interface regularly with literate practice in learning and teaching contexts. It asks the questions: What does literacy look like in the arts? And what does it mean to be arts literate? It explores what is important to know and do in the arts and also what literacies are engaged in, through the journey to becoming an artist. The arts for the purpose of this volume include five art forms: Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts. The book provides a more productive exploration of the arts-literacy relationship. It acknowledges that both the arts and literacy are open-textured concepts and notes how they accommodate each other, learn about, and from each other and can potentially make education ‘better’. It is when the two stretch each other that we see an educationally productive dialogic relationship emerge.

There is not one right way to teach a child to read. Recent media stories about education have featured the “Science of Reading,” whose proponents typically present the systematic teaching of phonics as a one-size-fits-all method that guarantees reading success for all students. But as literacy scholars Patricia Paugh and Deborah MacPhee demonstrate, the decoding of words is only one of many skills that are central to an effective early literacy education. In Learning to Be Literate, they present a four-part framework for active literacy learning that eschews oppositional arguments about different approaches, and instead situates children as meaning makers: the whole point of being literate. There is no single or simple solution that will fit every child. But by using the ALL framework to inform instruction, educators can help young learners think deeply about ideas and language at the same time as they learn to work out the sounds and symbol systems of language.

Now in its third edition, The Literate Classroom offers essential information and advice from leading experts about the teaching of primary English to students, NQTs and less confident teachers of literacy. Presenting a range of refreshing and challenging viewpoints from experienced classroom practitioners, this book describes how the theory behind key areas of literacy teaching can be transformed into realistic learning experiences within the classroom. Split into five sections, this book outlines effective measures in inspiring children to become confident with all aspects of literacy through speaking and listening, creative approaches to reading and writing and new experiences with poetry and drama. This fully updated edition includes: shared and guided reading and writing guidance on literacy teaching with EAL pupils comprehension through response to children’s literature working with drama, ICT, poetry and language study new chapters on speaking and listening, reading aloud to children and children’s development as independent readers. This accessible and informative collection is a must-have for all trainee and practising teachers, as well as teaching assistants and support workers, looking to enhance literacy learning in the primary classroom.