Literacy Resources
Literacy: More than Reading and Writing
We have all heard the word "literacy," but what does it really mean? According to the Oxford dictionary, literacy is "the ability to read and write" and "competence or knowledge in a specified area." Fulton County Public Schools states "our mission [is] to educate every student to be a responsible, productive citizen . . . [where] all students will learn to their full potential." Literacy is cross-disciplinary, which means all teachers need to support and develop literacy.
Information provided below is meant to support you and your students; however, it does not cover everything you may need. Please reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or need additional help.
**Over the next three years, middle and high school teachers will mainly focus on comprehension and vocabulary.
Information provided below is meant to support you and your students; however, it does not cover everything you may need. Please reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or need additional help.
**Over the next three years, middle and high school teachers will mainly focus on comprehension and vocabulary.
Fundamentals of Literacy
Reading basics include: print awareness, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, fluency, vocabulary, spelling, comprehension, and writing.
There are a lot of components, and even secondary ELA teachers lack training in phonological and phonemic awareness and phonics and decoding. However, there is still a lot we can do to support our students in our virtual learning environments. *Please always preview resources to make sure they are appropriate for your target audience!
There are a lot of components, and even secondary ELA teachers lack training in phonological and phonemic awareness and phonics and decoding. However, there is still a lot we can do to support our students in our virtual learning environments. *Please always preview resources to make sure they are appropriate for your target audience!
Print AwarenessStudents may already have an awareness of the structure of short stories, novels, and text books, but they may not be aware of parts of scientific or technical texts, their purpose, or how to use them.
If your course includes texts with headings/subheadings, glossaries, indexes, graphs/figures, foot/end notes, etc., you may want some additional resources to help students understand how to find and use them. |
VocabularyVocabulary is KEY to reading comprehension, and each course will introduce new terms. Providing the denotative meaning (definition) is helpful, but there are other ways to increase vocabulary.
Connotative and Technical meanings along with examples may provide more clarity. Additionally, giving students tools or strategies may be more helpful. Example: resources supporting affixes (prefix and suffix), root words, and using context-clues may help students building their vocabulary. |
ComprehensionThis may be one of the more challenging concepts to support in a virtual setting as comprehension requires students to:
Some suggestions for supporting comprehension are:
The best course of action is to use multiple-strategies with students. |
WritingThis is the other more challenging concept to support in a virtual setting. Students who struggle with reading often struggle with writing and vice versa. Writing incorporates:
Teacher feedback is a huge part of building writing skills; however, it is important to avoid overwhelming students by identifying all errors or areas of improvement. Some suggestions:
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Digital Literacy
To learn more about digital literacy, take a look at Common Sense Media's great resources!
Citing Sources
Modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA) are the two main styles used to format citations.
For K-12, students typically use MLA regardless of content area, but teachers are ultimately in charge of formatting requirements.
Outside of K-12, students should expect to see:
*Business, History, and Fine Arts may also use Chicago/Turabian
For K-12, students typically use MLA regardless of content area, but teachers are ultimately in charge of formatting requirements.
Outside of K-12, students should expect to see:
- MLA: Humanities (English, World Language, History*)
- APA: Social Sciences (Education, Psychology, Science, Math, Sociology, Economics)
*Business, History, and Fine Arts may also use Chicago/Turabian
For the "How to Cite Sources" resource, make sure you select the style from the top first!
CAUTION:
Using citation "makers" or "machines" sounds like a great way to get around the complexity of citation formatting; however, most of these tools require users to enter information into specific fields. If students do not know what information is required or what each field means, the citation and/or Works Cited/Reference entry may be incorrect.
Using citation "makers" or "machines" sounds like a great way to get around the complexity of citation formatting; however, most of these tools require users to enter information into specific fields. If students do not know what information is required or what each field means, the citation and/or Works Cited/Reference entry may be incorrect.
Incorporating Evidence/Research into Writing
Many students understand the need to support their statements with evidence, but they often forget (or do not know) to connect it to their ideas. Try using the "Quote Sandwich" resource (below) to help students understand the purpose of quotes and how to imbed them into their writing.