Dr. S.'s Literacy Read Aloud & Literacy Podcast

Learning Strategies Meets Multiple Intelligences

In an earlier podcast, I addressed the theories advanced by Howard Gardner about multiple intelligences and how each of our students possesses a different combination of these intelligences. If we are going to help each student learn in ways that are best for him, then we have to help him or her find books that address those intelligences. A child that learns through music will be interested in books that tap into those intelligences and can be. used to help advance reading literacy goals. We need to learn how to individualize our programs so that each child has equal opportunity to learn in the ways that suits him or her best with tools that are adapted just for them.

Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 1 - Jesse Oliver Owens, Jr.

In this first chapter of one of my favourite books, we are introduced to the Owens family. Jesse is the only son and he has two older sisters and two younger sisters and we find them arguing about chores and learn that Jesse wants to be the fastest runner at the school. At the end of the chapter, we learn that a new family has moved in to the property next year which we are told is pretty run down. Our curiosity is whetted.

Accuracy in the Writing Process

There has long been an ongoing debate about how to address writing accuracy in the classroom. For sure, we want to encourage fluency when writing which means that we don't stop and insist on perfect spelling and grammar and punctuation every time a student writes. There is this fine balance between fluency and understanding that different standards adhere for different audiences. Sometimes it is important to be accurate in every way and to labour over our writing and other times rules are meant to be broken,. The trick is to ensure students are learning that and working to address the difference in their writing.

The Importance of Hearing Good Language

In an earlier podcast, I addressed the necessity for a balanced reading program. One of the components of such a program has to be opportunities to hear and use good language. We write what we hear and if we don't hear good language at least some of the time, we won't recognize the error of using poor vocabulary or grammatical usage when we speak ourselves. That is one reason why hearing books read aloud is so important. It presents good models of usage for the student to copy.

The Link Between Educational Standards and Vaccination Hesitancy

Sadly, there is a huge discrepancy. among and between the U. S. states and their educational standards, money invested, and student literacy rates. There are too many states where mediocrity is reflected in the assessment results on standardized tests. This lack of accomplishment can be one very big reason for the acceptance of vaccination pleas by the medical profession and federal politicians. If you are poorly educated then you are more likely to be unable to tell the difference between fact and fiction and pick up.on bias in media presentations. Those who read succeed because they can and do.

Encouraging Literacy Development By Having A Balanced Reading Program

In order to develop literacy in our students, our programs have to be a balance between the act of reading in general and the development of the skills required to be able to read successfully. Just like athletes and musicians, readers need to have the skills in place when they pull them all together to read for pleasure. A balanced reading program aspires to find that balance between skills and affect.

Writing as a Literacy Skill

It is important to understand how literacy is enhanced and supported through writing in the classroom. Our writing program has to include opportunities to write for others, for ourselves and for academic purposes. Each audience requires specific approaches and styles of writing and developing those skills assists in the over-all goal of literacy development.

Louise Erdich's The Night Watchman and Developing Our Own Literacy Skills

Teachers need to be readers too. WE have to be role models as we pursue literacy goals with our students. In order to Illustrate this, I am going to use an excellent book on one of the American tribes and their struggle to maintain their identity as told through the voices and eyes of the natives themselves. It's an excellent read and is an eye opener for the non-Native person on their struggle to reclaim their own identities and control over their lives.

Developing a Life-Long Love of Reading

We now know that our goal as teachers must always be to aspire to develop a love of reading for its own sake in our students, Only be enjoying reading for the pleasure it brings and the insights it provides on the world will our students be prepared to success in the world of the 21st century,. We can no more constantly pull reading apart into a variety of skills than coaches can constantly push athletes to burnish their skills without enabling play just for play's sake,

The Importance of Diversity in Reading Materials in Enhancing Literacy

If we are to enhance the goals of literacy with every student in every classroom, all the. time, we need to ensure there is access to a wide variety of reading materials appealing to every reading interest, by students of variable reading abilities and perhaps even in a variety of languages. Only when students find books on shelves that interest them and that they can read, will they be enticed to pick it up. off the shelf and spend time with it,