Learning & Literacy

Early Literacy and Foundational Skills

Literacy is the jump-off point from which all of life's successes take flight.

- Lauri Fortino

In its simplest definition, literacy is best described as fluency in reading and writing. It is fundamental to mastering any subject in school but the demands of the 21st century require literacies beyond written language. Literacy has evolved from just a means of reading words into a tool for creating innovative spaces. Informational literacy, social literacy, multicultural literacy, digital literacy, and financial literacy are all parts of today's modern definition of literacy. As communication globally has become more accessible, these are the skills all students must begin to learn and practice to best prepare for the future. This ability to participate more fully through access, comprehension, and communication will enable students to better understand themselves, their environments, and their role in society.

Early Literacy and foundational skills Learning to read and write starts well before preschool. It starts with the early development of skills through literacy-rich experiences such as learning how to hold a book, tell stories, and sing songs. To develop literacy skills, children need to start with strong language skills- phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. These language skills lay the foundation for literacy skills required to listen, speak, read, and write.

Listening is a core skill that allows children to detect and discriminate between different sounds by drawing on three separate processes-- the sense of hearing, reacting to noise, and attending to sounds. Whereas speaking is the action of conveying information or expressing one's thoughts and feelings in spoken language through vocal variety including projection, enunciation, pronunciation, and pace. Children verbally communicate what they hear and understand through speech. Often referred to as oral language, listening and speaking are considered the most developmentally foundational skills. Through oral language, children learn a variety of skills critical to reading and writing, both of which are needed for further stages of literacy development.

Reading and Writing Development

As children grow older, they demonstrate key stages of literacy development, such as alphabetic fluency, that aid in reading and writing. Reading starts with phonemic awareness, the awareness of sounds that make up words, and recognizing the arrangement of letters to make these words. The decoding then begins by working out the relationship between letters and sounds and breaking them down by these varying sounds (consonants and vowels) to say a written word. Finally, reading comprehension is understanding the meaning of words being read and being able to make inferences from text. This communication skill strengthens an active and passive vocabulary--a building block of literacy and learning.

Children move through the stages of attention development at varying rates, so it is important to plan activities that encourage the next stage.

Five stages of development while learning to read:

1. The emerging pre-reader (6 months to 6 years old) plays with books and gains the ability to name letters.

2. The beginner reader (6 to 7 years old) is learning initial reading, writing, and decoding.

3. The decoding reader (7 - 9 years old) can read with increasing fluency in this learning-to-read phase.

4. The fluent, comprehending reader (9 - 15 years old) has entered the reading-to-learn phase through specific comprehension strategies

5. The expert reader (16 years and older) is synthesizing information and applying multiple perspectives required to access, retain, critique, and apply knowledge and concepts.

If reading is knowledge, writing is power. Writing is a form of communication where letters or characters help articulate ideas, words, and symbols. In the same way that reading literacy involves several skills, writing requires skills like spelling, grammar and punctuation, vocabulary, and comprehension. The ability to clearly communicate ideas through writing happens through transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and writing them down). Writing is a physical task as well as an intellectual one. It begins with accurate letter formation which leads to fluency. When children are fluent in their handwriting, they're able to concentrate on the writing composition rather than the mechanics of the process.

Writing is a tool for agency and influence through self-expression. It is through writing that language becomes visible. Developing these skills is crucial to children's success as research confirms that early literacy positively impacts academic achievement, life-long learning, and overall success. However, there is an emphasis on a developmental approach to literacy because it is sensitive to the variated and long journey of acquiring and developing these rich skills.

Six ways to encourage fluent transcription skills.

1. Encourage sustained and regular practice.Practice makes permanent.

2. Provide specific and clear feedback. Focuson the how.

3. Point out improvements from previouswork to encourage and support furthereffort.

4. Make praise meaningful by using it sparingly,honestly, and specifically to acknowledgeeffort, strategy, and mastery.

5. Provide specific guidance instead of rescuingthem. Help them embrace mistakesas opportunities to learn.

6. Teach spelling strategies such as phonemic awareness, prefixes, suffixes, root words, chunking, rhyming, and rulebased strategies.

A Foundation for Future Skills

Every aspect of life has been affected by the 21st century's technological advancements in information sharing through media. The bar for students today is no longer set at just completing high school as it is no longer just about consuming and regurgitating information. Graduates today must be equipped with learning skills, literacy skills, and life skills to prepare for college and a career. They must be able to process and analyze large amounts of information to express informed views. They must know how to apply facts and ideas to think critically and creatively. They must use interpersonal skills and communication to connect and collaborate with others. They must understand how information is produced and distributed to use technology effectively and purposefully. They must understand and apply financial skills to manage money effectively. They must be life-ready. Therefore, information literacy, digital literacy, financial literacy, and cultural literacy have become increasingly valuable skills to possess. The knowledge and application of these skills will have a profound impact on people as they have the power to connect us. ▪