Approachesto literacy instruction in early childhood through adolescence
Literacyinstructions are tools used to enhance the ability to read andcomprehend. Notably, individuals’ ability to communicate or engagein fluency conservation depends on how literate they are (Gillen,Julia, and Nigel pg. 2).Consequently, this has prompted holding of discussions and conductingresearches on the best strategies that teachers can use to developthe ability of the children to read, write and comprehend as theytransit to adolescence as well as adulthood.
Whileteaching Grade4 Social Studies (culture and black history),teachers may opt to use different strategies to improve the pupils’ability to understand the meaning of various words as employed innarratives as well as how they are applied in daily life encounters.
Forinstance, ensuring phonology awareness while teaching Tier 1 words("SelectingVocabulary Words to Teach English Language Learners | ColorínColorado").An example can be through teachers differentiating between cognatesfrom different languages, for example, English –Spanish words suchas “family/familia.”The teachers should ensure they write the words on the board to showthe difference in spellings as well as different intonation appliedin their pronunciations. Consequently, this strategy will equippupils with the ability to differentiate words from differentlanguages, but with similar spelling or sound similar.
Additionally,teachers can use other strategies such as the use of images toexplain the different meaning of tier two words, especially whenteaching tier 2 words. For example, words like ‘income’have more than one meaning. To illustrate this, teachers can useimages showing an employee receiving money at the end of the month asincome (salary). Alternatively, they can use a picture indicating thedifference between what was spent and what was earned to explainanother meaning of income (revenue). Notably, this strategy willpromote comprehension.
Moreover,teachers can deploy a strategy of pre-reading by asking pupils toidentify the different meaning of words from dictionaries to equipthem with knowledge of how words can be used under differentscenarios(Greenwood, Charles, et al. pg. 244).Such words like “community”can be used. As a result, this strategy will enhance the ability ofthe pupils to compare and contrast different words as used in variouscircumstances. More often, this strategy is more effective inteaching tier 2 words.
Onthe other hand, most of the Tier 3 words are rarely used in the lowergrades and require a brief explanation in learning ("ReadingRockets").For example, words such as “gender”which rarely emerge in a grade 4 reading context. In thiscircumstance, the teacher can explain its meaning by quoting that allmale pupils belong to the male gender while all female studentsbelong to the female gender. Also, the teacher can expound on thisconcept by indicating that the two genders are the opposite of eachother.
Inconclusion, different approaches to literacy instruction have beendeveloped to ensure a continuous development in communication fromearly childhood to adolescence among the learners.
Workcited
Gillen,Julia, and Nigel Hall. "The emergence of early childhoodliteracy."Handbookof Early Childhood Literacy, ed. Nigel Hall, Joanne Larson, andJackie Marsh (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2003) (2013):1-12.
Greenwood,Charles R., et al. "The Center for Response to Intervention inEarly Childhood Developing Evidence-Based Tools for a Multi-TierApproach to Preschool Language and Early LiteracyInstruction." Journalof Early Intervention 36.4(2014): 246-262.
"ReadingRockets." ReadingRockets.N.p., 2016. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
"SelectingVocabulary Words To Teach English Language Learners | ColorínColorado." Colorincolorado.org.N.p., 2016. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.