Literacy

Current research increasingly highlights the role of early literacy in young children's development--and informs practices and policies that promote success among diverse learners. The Handbook of Early Literacy Research presents cutting-edge knowledge on all aspects of literacy learning in the early years. Volume 2 provides additional perspectives on important topics covered in Volume 1 and addresses critical new topics: the transition to school, the teacher-child relationship, sociodramatic play, vocabulary development, neuroimaging work, Vygotskian theory, findings from international studies, and more..

This practical book shows literacy leaders how to win the support of the whole school community and implement school-wide initiatives that improve student reading and writing. Exemplary reading and writing projects are introduced along with strategies for successful collaboration in a variety of situations. This comprehensive resource clarifies the role of coach or principal and recognizes how important the empowerment of teachers is throughout the collaborative process..

Today's workplace demands skills for a productive use of information. This guide explores the basic skills, including thinking and decision-making, creativity enhancement, innovation and risk-taking, computer literacy, subject matter literacy, learning how to learn, and on-the-job help..

This book will help those who plan and develop literacy initiatives; using case studies from literacy programmes in many countries including Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mali, Nigeria, the Philippines and Uganda, it demonstrates the importance of literacy, its power to improve lives, and the role literacy plays in social and economic development..

In Responsive Literacy Coaching, Cheryl Dozier draws on twenty-four years of experience as an elementary classroom teacher and teacher educator to present both a theoretical framework and practical tools to enact responsive literacy coaching. Through thoughtful and purposeful coaching, teachers learn effective ways to improve literacy instruction and student achievement. The range of tools offered in the text invite customization based on the reader's specific instructional context. This framework empowers literacy coaches and teachers through conversation, sustained engagement, and reflective analysis. Dozier argues that at its best, literacy coaching is responsive, collegial, thoughtful, thought-provoking, deliberate, reflective, and transferable. In this book she invites readers to enter into a coaching dialogue, through: vignettes that bring coaching interactions to life;prompts to engage both teachers and students;occasions for collaborative reflection; frequently-asked questions. As literacy tasks are documented and analyzed, coaching interactions logged and categorized, and assessment scores scrutinized, Dozier cautions coaches to avoid being so caught up in the doing of coaching that one forgets the purpose behind it. In this book she provides an occasion for them to step back, and ask, what is the goal of literacy coaching? What kind of literacy environments and experiences are we creating for our schools and our students? What is possible as we engage in transformative literacy practices? While the tools offered in this book do not provide a "quick fix," they foster critical thinking and sustained inquiry that leads to positive change for both teachers and students..

This book enables practitioners to reflect critically upon the choices available to them in assessing and supporting students who experience difficulties in literacy development. Includes analysis of common barriers such as dyslexia and bilingualism..

Includes CD-Rom 'Intriguing and timely...I whole heartedly recommend this text to teacher educators and their trainees, certainly across English and the Arts, but arguably to all engaged in considering critical pedagogy across the curriculum' - ESCalate `This is a very timely book, firmly rooted in authentic, albeit visionary, classroom practice, that has much to offer to teachers of all subjects, but should be particularly welcomed by English and media colleagues' - English Drama Media `Heaving with ideas...outstanding lesson ideas and inspiring work from students' - The Secondary English Magazine `I really enjoyed working my way through this book...The book is accompanied by a DVD organised into chapters which correspond to those in the book, and it was great to see the ideas and schemes referred to in the text come alive. The schemes have been included which makes it even easier to adapt the work to fit the technology and resources available in your own school..All teachers of media would benefit from browsing this book' - Learning & Teaching Update This book is for secondary English, Media, and ICT teachers who want to develop practical media work and media literacy across the curriculum. It is ideal for secondary English and media teachers and curriculum leaders in secondary schools, as well as ICT teachers and co-ordinators, PCGE English/Media students, and researchers working on media, English and ICT projects. A range of case studies are presented which show how digital media work, from video editing to computer game authoring, can be developed in schools, drawing on children's own cultural knowledge. It also shows the benefits of such projects in terms of learning outcomes and increased self-esteem for a range of learners. The book comes with a CD-Rom of children's work from the various case study projects, exhibiting the high standard of moving image work, animations and computer games that can be produced with the help of this text. With an integrated approach drawing together practice, theory and research, the book will help teachers to plan for and develop their own media projects in school. It offers advice on integrating media work across the curriculum (in English and media classes as well as in ICT and citizenship), and presents a model of progression which shows how learning can develop from the first years of secondary school through to GCSE level. In line with current government initiatives to open up curriculum boundaries, the book shows how to plan for longer periods of time for these projects..

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Adult educators working in workplace literacy & workforce preparation programs need to be aware of the many efforts to define standards for the knowledge, skills, & abilities needed for successful performance in the workplace. This report describes the various efforts related to skill standards & other policy initiatives for those who may not be directly involved in these ongoing efforts. Includes skill descriptions as the framework for workplace literacy skill standards. Contents: background to the occupational skill standards efforts; occupational skill standards; framework for skill standards; discussion & conclusions..

"Proceedings of the National Conference on Future Directions in Literacy: International Conversations; 3rd to 6th September 2007, Sydney, Australia."--P. 2..

Emotional literacy and health and wellbeing have been placed at the heart of good practice by the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in England, and the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland, and this book provides clear guidance and lots of practical strategies for how to implement this ethos in your setting. Offering an explanation of emotional literacy, why it matters and how to make it happen in practice, this book looks at ways to promote and develop emotional literacy with young children through: - Circle Time - drama - storytelling - physical education - outdoor play - active learning It highlights the benefits of this ethos for all, and looks at how the emotionally literate setting supports inclusion and promotes achievement. Full of case studies of children aged 3 to 8, ideas for practice, photographs, points for reflection, photocopiable materials, and accompanied by a wide range of downloadable material available on the SAGE website, this is an indispensable guide for the early years practitioner. It is highly relevant to those looking at the transition from Early Years to Primary education, as well as the social, emotional and behavioural needs of young children..

Ancient Northwest Semitic inscriptions from Israel, Phoenicia, Syria, Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Philistia enlighten and sharpen our vision of the Old Testament world in various ways. Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel focuses on this epigraphic evidence in order to broaden our understanding of the techniques and roles of writing, education, and literacy during this biblical period. To that end, the volume systematically covers scribal education; scribal implements; writing media such as stones, potsherds, and plaster; and the religious, administrative, and personal uses of writing. Its “handbook” format makes it easily accessible, including for use as a textbook in courses addressing the cultural context of ancient Israel..

This book presents a comprehensive and detailed study of literacy practices and language use outside of the classroom by university students of Japanese. It investigates both tasks related to classes (e.g. homework and preparation for classes) and voluntary activities in the target language (e.g. watching TV and writing emails) and discusses how values, motivations and types of activities differ between the two contexts. It employs sociocultural perspectives to observe reading and writing activities within and under the influence of individual and social contexts, such as learner motives, peer networks and the language classroom, and contributes to the related research areas in the field of second language acquisition, such as motivation, autonomous language learning and language learning strategies. Crucially, the book not only documents out-of-class literacy activities, but also examines which teaching practices facilitate and promote such out-of-class language learning and use. It considers which literacy activities in the target language students undertake out-of-class, which factors encourage or discourage such out-of-class activity and how and with which tools they undertake these activities. As such the book provides guidance for classroom teaching and suggests that slight changes to teaching practices in the classroom may enhance autonomous learning outside the classroom..

The history of the Jesus movement and earliest Christianity requires careful attention to the characteristics and peculiarities of oral and literate traditions. Understanding the distinctive elements of Greco-Roman literacy potentially has profound implications for the historical understanding of the documents and events involved. Concepts such as media criticism, orality, manuscript culture, scribal writing, and performative reading are explored in these chapters. The scene of Greco-Roman literacy is analyzed by investigating writing and reading practices. These aspects are then related to early Christian texts such as the Gospel of Mark and sections from Paul's letters..

Over the past few decades there have been intense debates in education surrounding children’s literacy achievement and ways to promote reading, particularly that of boys. The Harry Potter book series has been received enthusiastically by very many children, boys and girls alike, but has also been constructed in popular and media discourses as a children’s, particularly a boys’, literacy saviour. Children’s Literacy Practices and Preferences: Harry Potter and Beyond provides empirical evidence of young people’s reported literacy practices and views on reading, and of how they see how the Harry Potter series as having impacted their own literacy. The volume explores and debunks some of the myths surrounding Harry Potter and literacy, and contextualizes these within children’s wider reading..

The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies in Literacy brings together state-of-the-art research on literacy learning among deaf and hard of hearing learners (DHH). With contributions from experts in the field, this volume covers topics such as the importance of language and cognition, phonological or orthographic awareness, morphosyntactic and vocabulary understanding, reading comprehension and classroom engagement, written language, and learning among challenged populations. Avoiding sweeping generalizations about DHH readers that overlook varied experiences, this volume takes a nuanced approach, providing readers with the research to help DHH students gain competence in reading comprehension..

Links fields such as linguistics, anthropology, sociolinguistics and education to illustrate how the problem of literacy is embedded in a social and cultural context. Most of the essays are based on primary research and highlight important concerns about the political nature of literacy..