Betsy provides a really good example of how a teacher can try to address
literacy level learners' skills needs within the context of a broader,
lifeskills-based beginning level classroom.  I have to admit, tackling the
teaching of the basic skills of reading was something that terrified me when
I first began working with real literacy level learners and realized that
they needed help with foundational reading skills.  My education and
experiences were in teaching English language.  As part of that, of course I
had classes in teaching reading.  But I came through at a time when whole
language was prominent, so I only had a cursory knowledge of what was
involved in actually teaching people the "mechanics", if you will.  So when
words like "phonics" and "phonemic awareness" started popping up, related to
helping students build basic skills, I was afraid that I wasn't in on the
"secret code" of how to do it.  Of course, as I started to read research and
how-to books, talk to colleagues (especially those who had primary school or
reading backgrounds), and attend trainings and conferences, I realized that
it was simply another instructional skill set with which I had to
familiarize myself.  And I had to do it, practice it, use it---just like I
encouraged my students to do with their English skills-to begin to own it
and integrate it effectively in my instruction.  

 

I also had to think about how I would balance my teaching philosophy-which
was largely defined by whole language and integrative, learner-centered,
communicative perspectives-with explicit skills instruction.  I could feel
my pendulum trembling!!  It never "went over" completely to the explicit
skills instruction, but I did learn to make room for that once I truly
understood its value, saw how it helped my students, and realized that, yes,
the lion can lie down with the lamb.  Betsy's example here reminded me of
that process. 

 

Here are a few resources that have helped me over the years.  The list is in
no way exhaustive, and it varies from big picture to more focused topics:

 

Beatrice Mikulecky's A Short Course in Reading Skills (published by Pearson
Longman)

 

Applying Research in Reading Instruction for Adults: First Steps for
Teachers (produced by National Institute for Literacy and National Center
for Family Literacy)

 

Reading and Adult English Language Learners: A Review of the Research
(published by CAELA, online at
<http://www.cal.org/caela/research/raell.pdf>
www.cal.org/caela/research/raell.pdf)

 

How Should Adult ESL Reading Instruction Differ From ABE Reading
Instruction? (published by CAELA, available online at
http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs/readingdif.html)

 

Focus on Reading (published by National Centre for English Language Teaching
and Research, Australia, see catalog at
http://www.nceltr.mq.edu.au/publications/Catalogue.pdf)

 

MaryAnn

 

MaryAnn Florez

Project Director

Adult Education Professional Development Center

D.C. LEARNs

1612 K Street, N.W. Suite 300

Washington, DC 20006

202/331-0141, x25 (tel)

202/331-0143 (fax)

www.dclearns.org/aepdc 

mflorez at dclearns.org  

 

 

****************************************************************************
**************************

The Adult Education Professional Development Center at DC LEARNs -
Connecting D.C. adult educators with professional development opportunities
and resources.

www.dclearns.org/aepdc

****************************************************************************
********************

The D.C. LEARNs Mission

To work with Washington, D.C. literacy programs, learners, and supporters to
strengthen adult, family and children's literacy services, and present a
strong, unified voice on the importane of literacy as an investment in the
community.

 

D.C. LEARNs' literacy calendar lists significant literacy events or
deadlines, as well as a selected number of regional and national events that
may be of interest to the D.C. literacy community.  If you know of any
upcoming events in the D.C. region, please submit them to be added to our
calendar at info at dclearns.org 

 

You can visit our calendar at http://dclearns.org/calendar2/plans.cgi 

 

If you want to volunteer as a teacher or tutor for GED, ESL, ABE (Adult
Basic Education), Computers, or Children's Literacy, please enter your
information into our volunteer database at www.readoutloud.org 

  _____  

From: Betsy Wong [mailto:betsywong at comcast.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 10:23 AM
To: 'The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List'
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 1984] Integrating literacy-skill practice intoyour
lessons

 

We've heard some great ideas in this discussion about ways to meet the needs
of literacy learners while keeping other learners engaged, particularly in a
large class. 

 

I wanted to recap a few of the ideas that have been suggested so far:

 

-- Creating classroom routines so that learners are comfortable and know
what to expect. 

-- Assessing students' language learning needs/goals and tailoring
instruction to them.

-- Organizing lessons by thematic, lifeskills-based units.

-- Scaffolding instruction so that literacy learners feel a sense of
accomplishment from completing a task along with the rest of the class,
albeit a slightly different one (e.g., tracing the sentences that other
learners are writing).

-- Using grouping strategies such as mixed-ability groups in which more
proficient students help those learning to read and write.

-- Working in explicit phonics instruction that helps students with both
pronunciation and sound-symbol correspondence.

 

How would these techniques play out in the classroom? I've attached a
snapshot of an integrated-skill, thematic lesson that addresses individual
literacy needs within a full-class setting. It is structured in a way that
allows for practice of individual sounds and words within a meaningful
context.

 

What are some other ways to work in explicit literacy-skill instruction
within lessons? 

 

What are some activities or techniques that you have used that have helped
the literacy learners in your classes?

 

I look forward to hearing more!

 

-----------------------------------

Betsy Lindeman Wong

Lead Teacher

Alexandria Adult and Community Education

 

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