Hello.  I teach a high-beginning ELL class, and am planning a
practitioner-research project this year that focuses on strengthening the
literacy skills of the low-literate Ss in the class, those with little/no
literacy experience in L1, who continue to demonstrate many obstacles to
navigating print documents, even though they have been able to test into
high-beginning.  I'm focusing particularly on the reading skills needed to
read information in charts (needed in real life, necessary for success on
the CASAS 81/82RX test).  I would appreciate input on two questions:

- Where can I learn more about the cognitive constructs these Ss bring to
this kind of literacy task?  I.e., what do we know about Ss who haven't
oriented to print in their growing up years, or had any academic
experience, and how they relate to information on a printed page?

- What strategies have you used that have helped such Ss strengthen their
chart-reading abilities?

Thank you.

Liz Andress
St. Paul, MN
elizabeth.andress at spps.org
651-296-4826