Nova Scotia Practitioner Training - Literacy Nova Scotia ...

Nova Scotia Practitioner Training

and Certification Program

Practitioner’s Handbook

for the Communication Modules:

The Beginning Reader: Basics (COM BR)

Techniques for Teaching Reading, Writing and Spelling (COM RWS)

Communications: Learners in Transition (COM LT)

Literacy Nova Scotia

Truro, Nova Scotia

Copyright © 2010 Literacy Nova Scotia

Literacy Nova Scotia

PO Box 1516

Truro NS B2N 5V2

Tel.: 902.897.2444

Fax: 902.897.4020

E-mail: [email protected]

All rights reserved. This publication can be reproduced in whole or in part with the

written permission of Literacy Nova Scotia. To gain this permission, please contact:

[email protected]

These materials are to be used solely for non-commercial purposes.

This publication is available electronically on Literacy Nova Scotia’s website at

www.ns.literacy.ca

mailto:[email protected]

Acknowledgements

Literacy Nova Scotia wishes to acknowledge and thank the following for their

contributions:

1) The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (HRSDC) for funding this project.

2) The Department of Labour and Workforce Development, Adult Education

Division; Nova Scotia Community College; Nova Scotia Provincial Library;

National Adult Literacy Database for their support and partnership.

3) The members of the Project Work Group who provided valuable input during the

development of the program and the comments and feedback during revisions:

Allan Banks

Avril Lewis

Donna MacGillivray

Julie Nickerson

Catherine Wile

4) The members of the Project Advisory Group who provided valuable advice for

the project and the comments and feedback to complete this report:

Ann Marie Downie - Literacy Nova Scotia

Marlene Duckworth – Queens County Learning Network

Peter Gillis -Valley Community Learning Association

Meredith Hutchings -Department of Labour and Workforce Development

Earl Letts – National Adult Literacy Database

Nova Scotia Provincial Library

David Pilmer- Department of Labour and Workforce Development

Mel Pothier -Nova Scotia Community College

Grail Sangster-Guysborough County Adult Learning Association

Lynne Wells-Orchard- Department of Labour and Workforce Development

5) Those who took part in the piloting of the program and provided valuable

feedback: Matt Taylor, Andrea Manthorne, Patricia Cloutier, André Davey,

Shannon Davis, Carollynne Nemecek, Hannah Mills, Kirsteen Thompson,

Jennifer Steeves, Brenda Lavandier, Donna Casey, Pam O’Neil, Tracey Grosse,

Jane Bolivar, Valerie Cheel, Pat Robinson, Sue Balkam, Dale Taylor, Bonnie

Boivin, Gayle Morrison; as well as their network and regional Adult Education

coordinators

6) The project team – Jayne Hunter, Program Manager; Kate Nonesuch, Curriculum

Writer; Elaine Frampton, IT Specialist; and Gary Mason, Pilot Facilitator.

Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................1

Section 1: Teaching Literacy Skills ......................................................................3

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3

Using Authentic Materials .............................................................................................. 4

Moving Instruction Out of the Classroom ...................................................................... 6

Metacognition (Learning about Learning) ...................................................................... 8

Assessment ...................................................................................................................... 9

Automaticity ................................................................................................................. 10

Standard English ........................................................................................................... 11

Section 2: Teaching Techniques .........................................................................15

Teaching Techniques: General ................................................................................... 15

Brainstorm and Mind Map .................................................................................................... 15

Using Other Graphic Organizers ........................................................................................... 18

Marking for Confidence ........................................................................................................ 22

The Think-Aloud .................................................................................................................. 28

Teaching Techniques: Reading ................................................................................... 29

Assisted Reading ................................................................................................................... 29

Assignment: Read a Book a Week ........................................................................................ 30

Book Talk.............................................................................................................................. 31

Choosing a Book by Its Cover .............................................................................................. 31

Choral Reading ..................................................................................................................... 32

Cloze ..................................................................................................................................... 33

Sequencing ............................................................................................................................ 35

Quest/Request ....................................................................................................................... 36

Teaching Techniques: Writing .................................................................................... 38

The Writing Process: Think, Write, Edit, Proofread ............................................................. 38

Language Experience Approach (LEA) ................................................................................ 40

Proofreading Strategies ......................................................................................................... 42

Written Conversation ............................................................................................................ 46

Journals ................................................................................................................................. 48

Timed Writings ..................................................................................................................... 50

Teaching Techniques: Spelling ................................................................................... 52

The Blackboard in Your Mind .............................................................................................. 52

Pattern Spelling ..................................................................................................................... 53

Personal Dictionary ............................................................................................................... 58

Teaching Grammar and Punctuation ......................................................................... 59

References .............................................................................................................60

Practitioner’s Handbook for the Communications Modules 1

There is an attitudinal shift that

occurs with learners, and it was

expressed to me this way by a learner

who came in with low Level I skills and

has gone on, I believe, to Level III

over a number of years and has been

an award winner. When I was working

with him, he told me, "I was standing

pumping gas, looking around at all the

signs around me at the Gas Station. It

struck me like a bolt that I was

reading everything. It was like I

had never even noticed the signs

before. At that point, I knew that I

was a reader."

Avril

Introduction This manual will provide background reading as you work on any or all of the

communications modules in the Nova Scotia Practitioner Training Program, and will be a

useful reference as you work with learners on reading, writing, listening, and speaking

skills from Level I to Level III.

Section 1 of this manual discusses some general issues facing instructors and tutors, and

some guidelines for making your work successful. However, the bulk of the manual is

Section 2, a collection of teaching strategies for use with learners. Detailed instructions

for these strategies are given. They can be modified for use with learners at any of the

levels and for use with groups of learners or a single learner; suggestions are included to

help you make those modifications. As a further aid, look in the online Teaching

Toolbox, http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/course/view.php?id=29 a collection of videos in which

literacy practitioners talk about or demonstrate many of the strategies.

The Learners in the Adult Learning Program

Learners in community literacy programs may say they have trouble reading long words,

or that they can‘t figure out the forms they need at work; many say that they can read the

words, but after they are finished reading,

they can‘t say what it was all about. They

often have inaccurate ideas about what

reading is, or about how good readers read.

For example, they may believe that good

readers know every word, that they never

substitute one word for another, that they

never guess about the meaning of a word or

a sentence, or that they never skip

something they don‘t understand and go

back to it later.

Most adult learners in Level I can read some

words, or some familiar material, but they

may believe they can‘t read, especially if

they have some of the inaccurate beliefs

about reading mentioned above. They may

think that if they cannot read perfectly it

isn't worth doing at all. They may have bad

memories about reading that are associated

with feelings of failure and shame, and so

avoid it altogether. Some have developed

ways of coping that let them avoid reading. For example, some have a family member or

friend who does all the reading for them. Others rely on a quick wit and a good memory.

As a practitioner, one of the first things you‘ll want to do is to help your learners realize

that they are readers—readers who want to become better readers.

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/course/view.php?id=29

2 Practitioner’s Handbook for the Communications Modules

Learners who come into the program at Level II do more reading in their lives—they may

know how to deal with forms of print that are familiar, for example, a form at work that

they use everyday, or consent forms and other material that comes from their children‘s

school, or some of the features of their community newspaper. They also often have

inaccurate ideas about reading, and need help recognizing their strengths and

understanding the particular skills that good readers use.

Similarly, learners at Levels I and II will often write little or nothing at first. They may

want you to write for them, even though they may be capable of writing their own stories.

The complexity of the writing task, and the fear of being ridiculed or having their many

mistakes pointed out to them, may lead them to say they ―can‘t write.‖ It is fortunate that

they come to community programs with so many hidden abilities, because it is easier to

bring these hidden abilities into the light than to teach skills that are truly not there.

Many Level I and II learners will want to use their growing literacy skills to meet their

needs and goals outside the school setting—to be good role models to help their kids stay

in school; to help their kids with schoolwork; to find a job or sharpen the skills needed to

maintain their current job; and to take part in community activities that meet their

political, recreational and civic interests. The work they do in a literacy program will

support these aims.

Other learners, however, will use their literacy work in Levels I and II to go on to Level

III and to qualify for further training; they will want to develop literacy skills that will

help them succeed as students in whatever further education they embark upon. We can

call them ―transitional learners‖ because for them, the work they do in a community

program is a means to further education. For these transitional learners, beginning

sometime in Level II and continuing in Level III, there is a sharper focus on the kinds of

communications tasks undertaken by students—using text books, writing essays, taking

notes and making formal presentations.

Whatever the level or the goal of learners in the Adult Learning Program, the skills

needed for reading, writing, listening and talking are similar, but the content need not be

the same; instructors and tutors can vary the material they use to teach the basic skills

depending on the ability, interests and goals of the learners they work with. This

flexibility of content and the ability of literacy practitioners to tailor the program to suit

the needs of the learners is a major strength of the Adult Literacy Program.


Section 1: Teaching Literacy Skills

Introduction

Pat Campbell, a well-known and respected Canadian expert on teaching reading to adults,

has articulated a set of basic principles for working with beginning readers in her book

Teaching Reading to Adults. We can extend these principles to apply also to teaching the

other communication skills.

Principles for Teaching Adult Beginning Readers

1. Instruction is linked to assessment.

2. Instruction includes discussion about the student‘s conceptual understanding of

reading.

3. Instruction builds upon the student‘s expectations and intentions.

4. Reading instruction is integrated and balanced.

5. Students are expected to take responsibility and ownership of their learning, and

educators to provide opportunities for them to do so.

6. The instruction program responds to the needs of each individual student.

7. Instruction emphasizes the student‘s knowledge.

8. When needed, phonics instruction is integrated into lessons.

9. Reading material is relevant and authentic.

10. Opportunities are provided for interactive learning

(Campbell, 2003, pp 25, following).

You will notice the similarity between these principles and the principles of adult

learning which are stated in the introductions to curriculum guides for the NSSAL

courses, and which are examined in detail in other modules of this program. You will see

these principles at the base of everything in this manual.

But before we get to specific teaching strategies in Section 2 of this Handbook, there are

some general points to consider, either because they present particular difficulties in

execution, or because they should be considered in relation to all the strategies in Section

2. These considerations are: the difficulties that go with the joys of using authentic

materials; the importance of making learning relevant outside the classroom; the issue of

standard English; and the importance of learning about learning (metacognition).


Using Authentic Materials

Authentic materials are things that would be read/watched/listened to by adults in the

normal course of their lives outside of a school context. They include menus; signs and

billboards; newspapers and magazines; diagrams, patterns and forms (such as score

sheets) related to hobbies and sports; work-related documents; books, TV and radio; and

computer programs and the internet.

In real life, such materials are interesting (or not) in themselves, and are used for a

purpose that comes from inside the reader, not from a teacher or tutor. For example, a

newspaper article does not come with a set of comprehension questions. You read it

thoroughly because it is interesting or has information you want, or you skim it or skip it

because it does not answer your needs.

Authentic materials are connected to other authentic materials, and build on previous

knowledge and experience. The story in today‘s paper is easier to read if you read the

story about the same topic in yesterday‘s paper and watched the news on TV last night.

The article about soccer in the sports magazine is easier to read if you actually play or

watch the game. The knitting pattern for the complicated sweater is easier to read if you

started by following patterns for scarves and hats and simple sweaters.

When adult learners use authentic materials, they join the club of readers and writers.

They can recognize their own increasing skill; they don‘t have to wait to have their paper

marked to know they are making progress. Both the progress and their own awareness of

the progress increase their self-esteem and confidence.

Literacy programs, however, usually take place in a classroom or at a time and place

designated as ―school.‖ Traditionally, school does not use authentic materials. Everything

goes by levels and stages. Instead of going through your day solving problems, you do

math in one period, reading in another. In science the world gets parceled up into

chapters, with vocabulary lists and comprehension questions. When you write a letter as

an assignment, you get feedback on grammar and form, rather than waiting to see the

effect your letter has on the person you wrote to.

Learners and instructors and tutors and administrators all know what school looks like

from their years in elementary and high schools, and many of us feel comfortable in that

situation. We know where we stand. As instructors and tutors we may have faith in

worksheets and textbooks as a way of teaching skills. We like the feedback we get from

pencil and paper tests, because it is easy to tell if we have done our job well. Funders and

administrators like to count the number of levels successfully completed, because we

want to know we are getting our money‘s worth from the program. Learners know how

the system works; although they may have found it demoralizing, humiliating and boring,

and may blame themselves for failing in that system earlier in their lives, they come back

to school to ―work harder‖ and succeed at it this time.

Resistance to Using Authentic Materials

So when you try to take your literacy program out of the classroom, when you try to use

authentic materials, when you invite the learners to take control over and responsibility


for their learning, you will meet resistance. Resistance from the learner, resistance from

inside yourself, and perhaps resistance from administration and from funders.

There are frequent discussions about dealing with resistance from learners in the modules

of this practitioner training course. Giving learners control over their learning and

inviting them to think about how they learn best are two tactics which, valuable in

themselves, also have the effect of diminishing some automatic resistance from learners

to learning in a way they are not used to and not expecting when they come back to

school. However, as you plan and prepare for teaching communication skills, you will

have to lead the way to using authentic materials and shifting the balance of power from

teacher to learner. To do so, you may have to overcome your own resistance. You may

have to talk back to the voices in your head.

Dealing with Your Own Resistance

As you move to teaching or tutoring using authentic material, to giving responsibility for

decision making to learners, and to using literacy skills in real life situations, you may

hear your own resistance in your mind. Here are some ways to talk back to that inner

voice that is getting in your way.

The inner voice …. The reply…

This is not ―real school‖… It doesn‘t look like real school, but it is real

learning!

There is so much material to cover, you

don‘t have time for these ―frills.‖

I don‘t think this project is a ―frill‖!

Planning and working together are

important skills for life and work, and

organizing a community event involves real

reading, writing, listening and speaking.

The real life aspect increases learners‘

motivation to get things right, and when we

evaluate the program after it‘s over, they

can see how much they have learned.

It‘s too much work to throw all your old

plans out the window and start again—and

it probably won‘t work anyway.

I‘ll start small, with one tiny authentic

activity, next week.

These new methods will not help learners

pass the exam.

They can‘t hurt.

You‘re the only one making these changes.

Why do you have to be out of step?

I‘m one of a growing number. I‘m going to

find my allies and stick with them.


Moving Instruction Out of the Classroom

Find an audience for learners‘ writing. Find a use for learners‘ reading and speaking. Find

a purpose for listening. Here are some ways to put your learners‘ writing and reading to

use in real life, beginning on a small scale and working up to more elaborate projects:

1. Make a display

Display writing on a bulletin board or a window (facing out) of your program. Writing

should be word processed and in a font large enough for people to read easily. Learners

could add photos or graphics to the page, and decide whether or not to use their real

names in the display.

2. Get published

There is a video on publishing learners’ work in the Teaching Toolbox:

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/PublishingLearners.htm.

Send stories in to organizations looking for learner writing (list follows).

When the publication comes out or comes online, have a celebration in the program. Ask

the learners who have been published to read their stories. You could have a special

occasion to do this, or you could ask the learners to come to a board meeting, tutor

meeting, or other gathering of program people.

When the publication comes out or comes online, spend some time helping the learner to

share the news—for example, sending out copies to friends and families far away, or

sending out an e-mail announcement giving the link to the online story. You could send

out the announcement to your colleagues, and some would write e-mails of

congratulations to the learner.

Here is a list of places looking for stories by adult learners:

Every year Literacy Nova Scotia sponsors a contest, with prizes and publication, for

adult learners. For more information, go to http://www.ns.literacy.ca/index.htm

National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) runs a story of the week by adult

readers, with an archive by date, author and province. You can see stories at this

link: http://www.nald.ca/storyoftheweek/archive.asp?lang=1. Submit stories by

sending them to [email protected]. Along with the story, send a bit of

biographical information: the name of the program, and something about the

learner‘s hobbies, interests, goals, or family—whatever the learner wants the world

to know.

Literacy Nova Scotia: The Learning Beacon. Click on ―Student Writing.‖

http://www.ns.literacy.ca/TheLearningBeacon/LB4/index.html

WELEARN (Women Expanding / Literacy Education Action Resource Network)

accepts writing by women learners; sometimes has contests, with prizes.

http://www.litwomen.org/learn.html

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/PublishingLearners.htm

http://www.ns.literacy.ca/index.htm

http://www.nald.ca/storyoftheweek/archive.asp?lang=1

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ns.literacy.ca/TheLearningBeacon/LB4/index.html

http://www.litwomen.org/learn.html


3. Make a book

Invite learners to make a book to give away as a gift. They should collect several related

stories, add art or photos, and make a cover and a title page giving place and date of

publication. The books can be bound in report covers, or folded and stapled, or coil bound.

There is lots of important practice in choosing which pieces to put in, revising them,

deciding on the order of the pieces, making titles and headings, adding photos or graphics,

proofreading, etc. Give this project plenty of time.

With a single learner: make a book to give to family and friends. A photocopier will

produce 3 – 10 copies, depending on how many the learner needs to give away. There are

many topics—for example, memories of incidents involving children, to be given to kids

and grandparents; stories about individuals in the extended family, to be given to family

members; stories about different places the learner loves; stories to mark a special

occasion such as an anniversary or a holiday, and so on.

With a group: If the group has been working on a topic, collect pieces from all of the

learners. As a group, decide on a title for the whole collection and titles of sections if you

have many stories, and decide how the sections and the pieces will be ordered. If you

have room for, say, two stories from each learner, or a total of two pages for each learner,

there is a lot of useful work in going over all the stories they have written to pick the ones

to go into the book. Learners could add photos or graphics to their own stories, or a group

decision could be made on how to decorate the whole thing. More than a few copies will

likely be required, so there may be many options in terms of printing and binding.

Consider also putting the collection online. Have a book launch and invite the world (and

the press) and ask the learners to read from the book at the event.

4. Celebrate

Once a year, have a reception for everyone who got published during the year. Ask them

to read a story each at the reception. Invite the community and the press. There‘s lots of

room here for public speaking, sharing emcee duties, planning, making flyers and

invitations, etc.

5. Express an opinion

Find an issue the learner is interested in, and help do some background research to learn

more about it. Then find some way to express that opinion, for example, write (and send)

a letter to the editor, or talk at a public meeting (e.g., a parents‘ meeting about a school

issue). Write to a politician about an issue—they often answer.

With a group: Gather information, make posters or models, and hold a workshop for the

public to share what you have learned.

6. Make a connection

Invite the learner(s) to make a connection with someone they haven‘t seen for awhile by

sending an invitation to have coffee, writing an e-mail or a letter, or making a card.


7. Say thanks for the support

Ask the learner(s) to write about one person who supports their efforts to come back to

school. Take a picture of each learner and supporter together; make a frame for the

picture and the writing, one each for the learner and the supporter.

With a group: Invite all the supporters to come in to have coffee; each learner reads the

piece about his or her supporter and invites the supporter up to the front to get the copy of

the piece. Again, this entails lots of speaking, acting as emcee, designing invitations,

planning, and evaluation of the results—all of which develop thinking, speaking, writing

and reading skills, as well as teamwork. This one also increases the support learners have

for staying in school, and gives good publicity to your program.

8. Decorate a hero

Ask learners to write about someone they know or someone in the community who is an

unsung hero, and make a certificate of bravery or courage or whatever heroic

qualification the person has, and present the writing and certificate to the hero. Arrange

for the learner to present the story and certificate to the hero.

With a group: Invite all the heroes to come for coffee; each learner reads the story and

asks the hero to come up and be presented with the certificate. Invite the community and

the press. Again, this entails lots of speaking, acting as emcee, designing invitations,

planning, and evaluation of the results—all of which develop thinking, speaking, writing

and reading skills, as well as teamwork. This one also increases the support learners have

for staying in school, and gives good publicity to your program.

9. Put learners online

If your program has a website, develop a section for learners‘ writing, whether it be

personal stories or reports of activities.

Help learners develop their spaces on Facebook or other social networking sites, with an

eye to internet safety. (There is more on internet safety in the module ―Integrating

Information Technology [IT] Skills Into Your Teaching.‖)

Metacognition (Learning about Learning)

Many adult learners are not used to being active learners in school subjects, and do not

understand that they need to take an active part in the proceedings if they are going to

succeed. Even those who are very actively involved in learning skills and information in

other parts of their lives, when they get to school, may sit back and cross their arms as if

to say, ―So teach me.‖ As well, many are unaware of the separate skills that are involved

with reading, writing, listening and speaking; they may think that it is some kind of

magic rather than a set of skills.

Part of the job of the literacy practitioner is to make learners aware of the separate skills

(such as skimming or proofreading), the names of the skills, and when and how to use

them. Some of the teaching techniques in Section 2 help learners articulate the skills,

particularly the ―think-aloud‖ and marking for confidence.


Another important part of learning about learning is for learners to become aware of their

learning strengths and preferred learning styles. There are questionnaires online (links

below) and on paper to assess learning styles and multiple intelligences. It is helpful to do

more than one, because usually the results will be a little different from different

questionnaires, and learners will be able to reflect on which one they think is more

accurate. Knowing the learning strengths and styles of the learner(s) allows the literacy

practitioner to plan instruction based on that information.

http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz

http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory/ (You will have to give your name

and an e-mail address to get your results, but you don‘t have to pay or to sign up for

any deluxe package.)

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/index

.htm

Evaluate the Strategies

A useful activity is to have the learner(s) evaluate the teaching techniques you are using.

For example, you might show learners two or three different ways to work on

remembering how to spell words they are learning. Work on a couple of words with each

technique. Talk to the learner(s) about which strategy works best. Repeat the process at

your next session, using the same techniques but different words, and talk again about

how the strategies are working. Let them decide which strategy or strategies seem most

helpful, and which they will continue to use.

By inviting learners to evaluate the strategies, you ask them to reflect on their learning,

and to be aware of what and how they are learning. When they evaluate the strategies,

they are in a strong position of self-knowledge and control, rather than in the weaker

position of being evaluated (and perhaps found wanting) by the strategy.

Assessment

Often the word ―assessment‖ brings to mind tests, exams and grades. These are usually

forms of ―summative assessment‖ or evaluation, and are used to compare a learner to

other learners or to a particular standard of achievement. They are often used to decide if

a learner is ready to advance to the next level of the program, or to place learners in a

particular level.

More important in the lives of most practitioners is the kind of assessment usually called

―formative assessment‖ which is an assessment made for the purpose of planning

instruction. Practitioners are constantly making formative assessments of learning and

learners. As a lesson progresses, the practitioner notes whether learners understand a

particular point of the lesson; at the next session the practitioner notes how much and

what kind of information learners remember from the previous lesson. Before beginning

to teach something new, the practitioner assesses how ready learners are to begin the new

material, what they know, and what needs to be taught or reviewed before new material is

introduced. This formative assessment is the kind of assessment practitioners most

http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz

http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory/

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/index.htm

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/index.htm


frequently make, although it often goes unnoticed because it is almost automatic and an

integral part of working with learners.

Formative assessment is often more useful to the practitioner than to the learner. As the

examples in the previous paragraph show, the practitioner uses the assessments from

moment to moment and from day to day to make decisions about how and what to teach a

particular learner or group of learners. The learner is also making an assessment, and the

section on Metacognition (above) discusses the importance of learner involvement in

assessing learning. However, learners cannot make the same assessment as the

practitioner because they don‘t know what there is to know, and don‘t know what is

coming next. They are asking more general questions, such as ―Do I understand this? Do

I know what I‘m supposed to do? Can I do it correctly?‖

Giving feedback

An interesting question for the practitioner, then, is ―When do I share my assessment with

the learner?‖ When is it useful for the learner to know that they understand the lesson

totally, or that they got the first part, but missed an important point in the second part, or

that they have understood nothing at all, even though they were in the room while the

lesson was being taught?

The Communications Level II Curriculum suggests several questions to guide your

thinking about when and what kind of feedback to give to the learner:

Is the feedback providing clear and useful information to the student about their

progress? …

Can the student make use of this feedback in order to progress?

What effect will this feedback have on the motivation of the student to continue

learning? (page 17)

In conclusion then, the formative assessment is essential to the practitioner, but need not

always be passed on to the learner. ―Marking for Confidence‖ (page 22) is a technique

which allows the practitioner to give feedback in a positive way and which encourages

learners to articulate what they know.

Automaticity

Getting to be automatic. Over learning. Learning to mastery level. You start a sentence

with a capital letter without thinking. The correct spelling of a word pops out the end of

your fingers before you can wonder how to spell it. You see a heading in bold type and

you unconsciously understand more than the meaning of the words—you know it is the

topic of the section. These are some examples of automaticity, and it is important to help

learners get to the point of automaticity for any literacy skill we teach. Learners who

consciously and laboriously decode each word spend so much time and memory and

brain power to do so that they cannot remember the beginning of the sentence by the time

they get to the end, and so cannot understand what they are reading even if they can

decode each word correctly. A learner who sees the phrase ―to the store‖ and does not


David wrote a wonderful story about an

early morning walk he took. It started,

“Today I seen two Roosevelt elks.” When

I gently suggested that “I saw,” was more

correct, and that most people said, “I

saw,” he snorted. He said that sounded

ridiculous to him. He had never heard

anyone say that.

I backed down immediately, and made it

clear that I wanted his own voice on the

page, but I got a glimpse into a world I

didn’t know existed. Imagine how many

times people had said “I saw,” in his

presence, but he had never heard it,

because it didn’t match his own language.

Kate

consciously notice the words ―to the‖ but reads them and understands the phrase as a

whole has reached some level of automaticity, and can concentrate on getting the

meaning out of the sentence and the paragraph.

Making time and room to develop automaticity means that large parts of study time are

taken up with things that the learner finds easy to do. It means reading many small books

that are easy to decode, so that reading speed, and the ability to make inferences and use

context cues, can be practiced. Practice makes permanent. For many of our learners,

reading has been a struggle with material that is too long and difficult, because they have

been in classes where the reading level of the texts was beyond them. Many will read a

whole book for the first time in a literacy program. Let them also read their tenth,

twentieth and fortieth, until page turning is automatic and they have the opportunity to

enjoy what they can do easily. The danger here is the temptation to move too soon to

more difficult material.

Standard English

The question of standard English is a thorny one for those of us who work with adult

learners, and you will hear many opinions about what we should do about it. It will send

shivers down the spine of some literacy practitioners when a learner says, ―I seen him

yesterday,‖ or writes ―Her and

me are friends.‖ However, as in

all things, it is important to start

thinking about this issue from the

perspective of the learner.

Standard English is nothing more

or less than the language spoken

by people who have education; it

is not ―correct‖ in itself, and in

fact is constantly changing. For

example, it is now considered

correct to sometimes split an

infinitive, and in Canada most

people manage to get through

days, weeks, and even months,

without using ―whom.‖

Nonetheless, literacy

practitioners‘ speech patterns

usually differ from the learners

they work with, and certainly the

two groups have different forms

of written language. Learners learn to speak in their homes and communities, which may

not use standard English. Moreover, their English may be coloured by another language

also spoken in their community, such as French or an aboriginal language, which may

give rise to certain phrases or pronunciations that mark the language as coming from that

community. Immigrants may have the accent and characteristic ―errors‖ made by

someone who did not learn English as a first language.


When we teach reading and writing, we invite learners to join us in our use of standard

English; we ask them to give up their own ways of speaking, to leave the ways of their

families, friends and communities, to take on a new identity, and to become one of ―us.‖

If we insist that standard English is inherently correct and more precise or more beautiful

than non-standard English, learners have to admit that the way they speak is incorrect,

sloppy and ugly. Even worse, they have to agree that the way their families and friends

speak is also sub-standard. Nothing good will come of asking learners to put themselves

and their communities down.

For example, many learners are troubled by friends and families who say that they will

become ―high and mighty‖ if they carry on with school, that they will be too stuck up to

keep up old connections. As a result, when we insist that learners use standard English

―because it is correct,‖ we put them in an untenable position. Of course they resist the

idea that they and their families are sub-standard. If they have to choose between us and

their community, they will have a hard choice. They may want the education we offer,

but they may not be willing to pay such a high price. We will not likely enjoy having to

fight their resistance to learning standard English, and our task will be more difficult than

it has to be.

There is another, more practical, problem with insisting on standard English with

emergent readers. When we talk about doing language experience with learners, we insist

that we write down the words the learner actually says, not the standard form. If we

change his words to the standard form, he will not recognize them when he reads the

story back. David‘s story (see box) is an example. David had quite limited reading skills,

and had trouble decoding many ordinary words. If the teacher had insisted he write ―I

saw,‖ it might have caused him problems with decoding. When he read it back, he would

likely have read, ―I seen,‖ because he would remember the context in which he had said

the words in the first place. We do not want to put learners in a position where it is easy

to read a word incorrectly, where it is natural to read ―seen‖ instead of ―saw.‖ Possibly he

might have realized the word written there was not ―seen‖ and tried out ―saw,‖ but ―saw‖

doesn‘t make sense to him. The meaning he associates with ―saw‖ is the tool used for

cutting wood. Since ―saw‖ makes no sense to him in this context, he might read ―I was,‖

which will not make sense either, and may earn him the label of dyslexia. Much better,

with beginning readers, to encourage them to use their own language, and to speak in

their own voices.

However, we do not want to forget about standard English, accept everything learners

write, and send them on to further education and training unaware of the conventions and

grammar of standard English. They will almost surely be penalized in further education

or on the job for not using standard English. It would be a disservice to them not to teach

them standard English; as they gradually emerge as more fluent and confident readers, as

they begin to make the transition to further education, they must come to learn to speak

and write standard English when it is appropriate.

What can the literacy practitioner do to facilitate this process? What stance can we take?

We can admit that standard English is simply the form of English that educated

people usually speak and write, and the form they always use when they are in

formal or semi-formal situations.


We can acknowledge that non-standard English is perfectly good at conveying

meaning, and has its own beauty.

We can acknowledge that in a general sense the people with education are the

people with status, so they get to say what is the ―standard‖ way to speak, and other

people copy them. We might mention that if the people of Newfoundland woke up

one morning to find their province covered knee-deep in diamonds, the whole

world would soon want a Newfoundland accent, vocabulary and grammar.

We can reveal that we may speak standard English while we are in class, but that in

other situations we may use less formal language, adapting our language to the

situation we are in.

We can let learners know that they can learn to use standard English in situations

where it is appropriate, and continue to use non-standard English in situations

where that is appropriate.

When we take this attitude, we allow learners to learn standard English, to think of it as a

kind of puzzle rather than a moral dilemma, and to be in control of the way they speak in

any situation. Then they don‘t have to resist our teaching. They probably already monitor

their behaviour in different situations; for example they may control the amount of

swearing they do in church or around children. They can learn to control a few

grammatical idiosyncrasies when they want their education to show.


Section 2: Teaching Techniques This section contains detailed instructions for some useful teaching techniques. The first

part gives some general techniques, the next focuses on teaching reading and the final

part on teaching writing. In some cases a video about the technique is available in the

teaching toolbox, and the link to the video is given.

Teaching Techniques: General

The strategies in this section reinforce the inter-connectedness of speaking, listening,

reading and writing, and encourage the learner to actively engage with the content being

examined.

Brainstorming and Mind Mapping

What skills do these strategies build? generating ideas; categorizing and organizing

thoughts; risk taking

Who are they useful for? learners who are not sequential, logical thinkers; visual

learners; learners who have trouble producing ideas for writing

The important strategies of brainstorming and mind mapping are often used together. A

brainstorm asks participants to generate many ideas, without evaluating them as they

come out. A mind map organizes the ideas visually--usually by rewriting the ideas in

clusters and by drawing lines or circles to show relationships between various ideas--and

often includes finding names for categories of ideas as they are grouped together.

Sometimes a list of ideas is brainstormed, and then a mind map is created on a separate

sheet, using the ideas from the list. At other times, the mind map may be created at the

same time as ideas are generated, by placing related ideas together. This combination

often happens if one person is acting as a recorder for a brainstorm generated by another

person or a group.

A brainstorm is a good way to bring people‘s background knowledge to the foreground.

Whether learners are about to tackle a writing, reading, listening or speaking task, it is

important to prepare by assembling what they already know about the subject, what their

experience has told them, what other reading has told them. If the task ahead is reading or

listening, they will be well served by an advance look at vocabulary they might meet, and

they will uncover their awareness of how various parts of the material fit together. They

may also uncover gaps in their knowledge; an awareness of these gaps will sharpen their

focus in the reading or listening task that follows.

If the task ahead is writing or speaking, they will have a host of decisions to make: what

to say, what not to say, and how much to say; how to organize their thoughts; how to

spell or pronounce words. A brainstorm will help them articulate and clarify their ideas

for themselves before they start to write or make a speech. A mind map will help them

organize their ideas, and see how they are related to each other. Making such connections

in advance will allow them to concentrate later on the mechanics of writing or speaking,

and will make those tasks much easier.


In a true brainstorm, ideas are encouraged to come out without analysis or criticism; the

idea is to generate as many ideas as possible about the topic. Some learners may have

difficulty at the first stage, that of generating ideas. There is no easy or magical way to

develop this skill, but practice helps. Try short but interesting brainstorms about known

topics and do them on a regular basis as needed.

In the next stage, making a mind map, many learners will have difficulty organizing ideas

and recognizing the connections that can be made. They may also have a hard time

coming up with names for categories or clusters. You can model this kind of organizing

and categorizing by doing a ―think aloud,‖ asking questions about how different ideas are

related, and suggesting and testing some names or categories for the clusters and

describing why these names or categories would be appropriate. In subsequent

brainstorms, invite the learners to think along with you.

In the race to get ideas down before they disappear, perfect spelling or penmanship is not

necessary. This may be the place to use abbreviations and shortcuts used in text messages.

Method:

1. State the topic clearly. If the brainstorm is being used before reading, the topic will

come from the reading they are about to do. If the brainstorm is to generate ideas

for writing, help the learner define a topic that is not too broad.

2. If there is more than one person doing the brainstorm, decide who will be the

recorder. The recorder‘s job is to write down all ideas produced, without change

and without judgement.

3. The recorder writes the topic in the centre of the page or the board. Some people

find it useful to circle the topic word so that, as the ideas are written around the

topic, they start to look like the spokes of a wheel.

4. Participants throw out ideas that come to them when they think about the topic, and

when they hear ideas from other participants.

5. The recorder writes down all the ideas. Depending on the pace, the recorder may be

able to group (cluster) ideas together as they are generated. Otherwise this can be

done when the brainstorm is over.

6. When every possible idea has been generated, participants look at the brainstorm on

the board or paper, and examine the ideas. Ideas that fit together (clusters) can be

circled and given a heading.

7. If the brainstorm was used to generate ideas for writing, clusters or details not

wanted for the writing can be crossed out, and the remaining clusters numbered in

the order they will be used in the writing.

8. If the brainstorm was used to generate background knowledge for reading, nothing

should be deleted or numbered. After the piece is read, come back to the brainstorm

to compare the ideas from the reading with the knowledge that was generated

beforehand. What new ideas came up in the reading? What ideas were in the

brainstorm that didn‘t show up in the reading?


Sample Brainstorm and Mind Map

This learner wanted to write a story about her ailing father. She discussed her

recollections and feelings, while the tutor helped her to place these around the circle. The

tutor also helped her to consider what information could be grouped or categorized

together.

Once completed, the learner considered in what order she wanted to write these ideas.

She discussed her choices with her tutor and numbered the categories. Notice how she

decided that two paragraphs were so similar that they should be written together as the

second category.

Brainstorm about Father


Variations:

Have a couple of pairs of learners, or small groups, do separate brainstorms on the

same topic, and compare the results. Learners will see that there are many ways of

looking at the same topic and organizing ideas. This may come as a surprise at first,

but after a while it will encourage freer thinking.

Add to a brainstorm over a number of sessions. You can use different coloured

pencils, pens, or markers to contrast what has been added on different days.

Begin a project with a brainstorm. Brainstorm again at the end of the project and

compare the two. This can provide an effective way to recognize what has been

learned.

Using Other Graphic Organizers

What skills do graphic organizers build? generating ideas; categorizing and organizing

thoughts; seeing relationships between ideas; taking notes

Who are they useful for? visual learners; learners who have trouble producing ideas for

writing; learners who have trouble recognizing how a piece of reading is organized

The brainstorm and clustering technique in the previous section is only one of many ways

to organize ideas graphically. Some examples follow, and more are available online. All

of them provide ways to show a set of ideas visually. Any of them can be used to

organize thoughts before writing, or to analyze a piece of reading to show its content.

Many community programs in Nova Scotia have Inspiration software available, and

learners use it to generate and organize their ideas.

K W L (Know, Want to find out, Learned)

This graphic organizer can be used as a pre-reading activity, or as a starting point for

research on a topic a learner is interested in.

As a pre-reading activity, it helps learners to recall their own knowledge of the subject, to

sharpen their purpose for reading, and to get meaning from the text. In this case, the title

of the text you are reading goes in the first line.

As a starting point for research, before any reading or writing is done, it helps learners to

establish their own knowledge of the topic, to articulate their questions, and to keep track

of the answers as they find them. Here the topic goes in the first line; it is usually best to

narrow the topic somewhat before you begin. (For example, a broad subject such as

―cooking‖ should be reframed as something closer to what the learner is interested in,

such as ―Cooking on a Budget,‖ or ―Training to be a Chef.‖)


Title/topic:

What I know… What I want to find out… What I learned…


Time Order (sequencing)

Single events are written in each box, in the order they happened; boxes can be added as

necessary. (Sometimes after boxes 1 – 4 are filled, it becomes apparent that something

has been left out that should come between the third and fourth box. Rather than erasing,

it may be easier to cut the boxes apart, reassemble them in the correct order, and tape

them down.

Main Idea and Supporting Details

A graphic like the one below could be used to analyze something that has been read, or to

organize ideas for writing an essay. (This graphic is available in WORD. On the menu,

choose ―insert‖ then ―picture‖ then ―organization chart.‖)

Topic

main idea

supporting detail

supporting detail

supporting detail

main idea

supporting detail

supporting detail

supporting detail

main idea

supporting detail

supporting detail

supporting detail


Compare/Contrast

The following two graphic organizers, the Venn diagram and the grid, can be used to

compare and/or contrast two things, people or ideas.

Venn Diagram

A Venn diagram can be used to compare two or more people or things. Draw two or more

overlapping circles, and to each circle assign one of the things you are comparing. Fill

each circle with characteristics of each thing, and where the circles overlap, write the

characteristics that they have in common.

Grid

Make a grid like the one below; in the first column list the qualities you would like to

compare, and use the second and third columns to give the details for each of the two

things you are comparing.

Halifax Big Pond

Size

Night Life

Friendliness

Public Transit

Close to Nature

Shopping

Alligators

have four legs breathe air

swim lay eggs

Birds

have two legs

fly


Marking for Confidence

There is a video on this topic in the Teaching Toolbox:

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/Kate-comm-confidence-video.htm

and a podcast: http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/46/Marking_part_1.mp3

What skills does it build? ability to verbalize skills and strategies; ability to think about

thinking (metacognition)

Who is it useful for? learners who lack confidence and are unwilling to take the risk of

attempting to do something for fear of getting it wrong; learners who are unaware of or

unable to verbalize the skills and strategies they do know.

The following material is taken from the podcast by Kate Nonesuch:

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/46/MarkingForConfidence.pdf

Marking for confidence is a way of giving feedback to students that increases their

confidence in their ability to tackle similar problems or situations in the future. When I

mark for confidence, I focus on the parts of the assignment or process that the learner is

doing well. I comment on those parts, and help the learner articulate exactly what they

are doing at that point, and why their procedure is correct.

Marking for confidence is not the same as just being encouraging. If I say to a learner,

―I‘m sure you‘ll be able to do these questions,‖ the student only knows that I have

confidence in her. She may or may not agree with me. She may not have confidence in

herself. If I say to a learner, ―great work,‖ he may not believe me, or if he believes me, he

doesn‘t necessarily know what he did that made it great work or how to do it again.

Marking for confidence gives him a chance to see, articulate, and remember the details of

the work that make it ―great work.‖

I call it marking for confidence because it looks like marking, and because marking is

something the learner is familiar with. But in reality, I turn the marking process into an

opportunity for teaching.

People say, ―But don‘t you think that it‘s good for people to see what they did wrong?

They learn from their mistakes. We‘re not doing them any good by being positive all the

time!‖

I say that learners are sometimes in a frame of mind to learn from their mistakes, and

sometimes not. So if a learner asks me how to do something, or asks if something is right

or wrong, I tell him. For example, if he says, ―I‘m not sure if I‘ve got this right here.

Should it be a period or a comma? I‘m thrilled. Isn‘t that what a teacher lives for?

Someone wants to know something I know how to do! I can tell by the question that the

learner wants to know if he‘s right or wrong, and I say, ―No, you‘ve got that part wrong.

Let me show you…‖ and I do.

But if a learner is just handing something in, or says, ―I‘m finished. Can you mark this?‖

I‘m not sure what her frame of mind is. Maybe she thinks it‘s all right! If so, I don‘t want

to destroy her confidence. Maybe she‘s not sure about her work, but she‘s handing it in

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/Kate-comm-confidence-video.htm

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/46/Marking_part_1.mp3

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/46/MarkingForConfidence.pdf


without asking for help, so I want to tread lightly about offering help. Maybe she knows

it‘s all wrong and she just wants to get it over with. Again, no indication that she‘s in a

frame of mind to learn from her mistakes. And if it‘s something I initiate by sitting down

beside her and asking to see her work, for sure I have no idea if she‘s interested in

learning from her mistakes.

As teachers, we often have the mindset to see where students have gone wrong, to find

the errors. This is a useful mindset to us—it helps us figure out what to review, to notice

how one way of explaining is more useful than another, to notice patterns of errors, and

so on—but it is not useful to the learner. The mindset of seeing errors improves teaching

and learning when I keep the information to myself. When I say it out loud, it decreases

confidence in learners who hear it.

Of course, when you help students see and articulate what they do know, they may notice

areas where they have trouble. For example, someone may say, ―I make most of my

mistakes when the denominators are different.‖ When a student notices where she needs

help, that is a big step, but quite different from you telling her where she needs help.

It is confidence that allows learners to make decisions, to decide how to tackle a problem,

to believe they can tackle a problem. If they have no confidence, they won‘t take risks. If

they believe they have failed at similar tasks in the past, they are unlikely to believe they

can be successful with a new assignment. If they believe they are going to fail, they won‘t

fully engage in the new task.

One way to increase confidence is to point out what learners have done well. We are not

talking about empty praise here; it is not enough to say, ―good work,‖ or ―you‘re getting

better at this.‖ It is essential to be specific about exactly what the learner has done

successfully and why that is important, so as to encourage the learner to do it again. It is

also important to help the learner articulate the strategy or skill being used. The

practitioner needs to cultivate the habit of cutting the work into small pieces, so that the

parts learners do correctly can shine out and the practitioner can acknowledge them.

Commenting on assignments in the Practitioner Training Course

Marking for confidence can be done ―in public‖ as we do in the practitioner training

course when we ask participants to comment on the assignments posted by other

participants. When we comment in public, either online or in front of a group of learners

or participants, it is essential that the comments be only positive. In this course, we ask

participants to post their assignments. This is a classic case of us not knowing whether

the author of the assignment is ready to ―learn from mistakes‖ or not. Indeed, the act of

posting the assignment takes courage and commitment to the process, and participants

may well feel nervous about showing their work, anxious about judgements their peers

may make, or resentful at having to produce the quality of work that will stand up to

public scrutiny. (We all know that if you just have to hand something in to the instructor

for a grade, sometimes it is not your best work.)

Allowing only positive comments helps make the space safe enough for people to post, in

spite of anxiety about public scrutiny. If we allowed comments about errors, however

small, some participants would refuse to post their work at all, and might drop out of the

course. Others would post, but in self-defence would make their work smaller, take fewer


chances, and thus produce work that is more pedestrian. In this course we see people go

out on a limb to learn new software, speak passionately and personally on things they feel

strongly about, and reflect on their work openly in spite of the vulnerability that goes

with that openness. None of this would happen if we allowed people to comment on

errors or on how to improve the assignments.

(As an aside, if you personally feel ready to learn from your mistakes, you may ask for

more feedback from other participants or from the facilitator. Ask them to send you a

private e-mail, or set a time to meet in person or on the phone. Ask a question that will

get you the feedback you want, for example, ―How can I make this better?‖ or ―I want

this to be perfect. Can you point out all the errors so I can correct them?‖)

When we ask you to comment on three assignments from other participants, we are

inviting you to practice the art of being specific about what is good. We ask you to think

about the qualities that make an excellent assignment, and assess the posted assignments

with those qualities in mind. We want you to teach by finding an example of good

practice in the work of your peers, and by explaining how that example works to further

the aim of the assignment. None of these things is easy. We are used to teachers and

tutors pointing out errors, and that is what comes automatically. And to top it all off, we

are asking you to practice those things in public, by making public comments!

So thank you for being brave enough to put yourself on the spot. We hope you will notice

the same reaction in yourself that usually happens when you mark for confidence with

learners—a sense of pride in your work, a sense that others respect your work, a more

specific sense of how your work affects the reader.

Method

Marking for confidence can be done with any subject at any level. Two examples are

given here.

Example 1: Marking a worksheet or a set of questions

First, take a quick look at the work the learner has done, to see if there are a few

mistakes, or many.

A. If there are no errors, or only a few, start with the first correct answer.

1. Say it is correct. Mark it with a check.

2. Ask the learner to explain how they got that right answer.

3. Ask questions or remind them of the rule or the method; the point is to give the

learner a chance to go over and say out loud their method of getting the right

answer.

4. Go on to the next one that is correct.

5. Say it is correct. Mark it with a check.

6. Again, ask the learner how they got the right answer.


When a learner does not do well on a

piece of work, I take my share of

the responsibility for asking them to

do something they were not

prepared for, so they know that

their mistakes were part of a

complex process that involve my

explanations, their ability to attend

to them, time pressures, their

previous knowledge, my knowledge of

their skill level, and emotional

factors. I might say, “I made a

mistake with this—I’m sorry I asked

you to do this sheet right away. I

didn’t know you weren’t clear on how

to do it.”

Then they get a chance to be

generous with me. Maybe they’ll say,

“That’s all right, Kate. Everybody

makes mistakes sometimes.” Talk

about role reversal! That is a great

position for them to be in.

Maybe they’ll say, “I guess I should

have asked some questions when you

were explaining it before.” Again,

that is a step forward as they

recognize their responsibility to get

clear explanations, and articulate

one strategy for doing so.

Kate

7. Repeat with other correct answers until the learner can easily articulate the process

for arriving at the answer.

8. Then look at the first one that was wrong. Do not mark it wrong, but ask the learner

how they got the answer.

9. Likely the learner will find the error and correct it.

10. Comment that finding your own

mistakes is a mark of a good student.

11. Put check marks beside the rest of the

right answers, and ask the learner to

look at the others and check his

answers. Do not mark them wrong.

When the learner has finished, the

remaining questions can be marked as

the previous ones were.

B. If there are many errors, go to the first

one that is correct.

1. Mark it right.

2. Ask the learner if you can guess what

they were thinking as they worked.

3. Go over the question, teaching and

dialoguing with the learner about the

method.

4. Present a new question to the learner

and ask them to do it while you watch

and coach.

5. Present another, and ask them to do it

while you watch and coach.

6. Ask questions so the learner gets a

chance to articulate the process.

7. When you are sure the learner has the

process firmly in mind, offer a clean

copy of the worksheet to do, or a new

worksheet with similar problems.

8. If all the learner‘s answers are

incorrect, set their paper aside and start

at step 4.


Example 2: Proofreading for periods

Remind the learner that it is important to proofread for periods as a separate step, so you

will be looking only for the periods this time you go through the piece of writing. Ask the

learner to read the piece aloud. Let them read until they come to the first correct period.

Ignore places where the period is missing or incorrectly placed.

When the learner reaches the first period that is correct, stop them and comment that that

period is correct. Give a brief explanation of why a period is needed there, for example, a

change of subject. The learner continues reading until the next correct period. Again you

ignore any missing or incorrect periods along the way. Comment again that the period is

correct, and say how you can tell a period is needed there; perhaps you have noticed their

shoulders lifting as they inhale to start the next sentence, or have heard them stop at the

end of the sentence. Ask them to continue reading. Since you have clearly focused

attention on the periods, learners will likely notice a missing period when they come

across one while reading out loud. Here you can comment on their good proofreading,

and ask them how they know a period should go there. Continue to the end of the piece of

writing. Learners will not find all the periods the first time you do this, but they are

gaining confidence in their ability to use periods, and learning to think of themselves as

proofreaders. Pay attention to when they have perfect periods through a whole paragraph,

and notice that out loud.

If a learner gets 80% of the periods right in a piece of writing, then you don‘t have to

teach them about where to put the periods—they already know. They just forget to do it,

and don‘t think about checking for them when they proofread. Marking for confidence

helps learners think of themselves as proofreaders who check for periods.

Drummond, T. (2002). A brief summary of the best practices in teaching intended to challenge the professional development of all teachers. From http://webshare.northseattle.edu/eceprogram/bestprac.htm.

Poster by Kate Nonesuch.

All teaching

moves learners into areas of

risk and

iiinnncccooommmpppeeettteeennnccceee. So often

the job of a teacher

is to find

nascent deftness when it is easier to

notice the m a l adroi t .


The Think-Aloud


http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/kate_thinkcomm_video.htm

This technique is just what it says it is—thinking out loud to demonstrate a reading,

writing or math skill, so the learner gets an insight into how you think. Many learners

have misconceptions about reading and writing; they may think that people who read and

write well can do any literacy task at a glance; they may be unaware of the separate steps

and skills used. Thinking out loud helps dispel these misconceptions.

To prepare to do a think-aloud, go over all the separate steps and skills in your mind, so

that when you are with the learner, you will be able to demonstrate how you think as you

go. Then offer to show the learner how you tackle a task such as reading a passage. At

first, the learner will likely concentrate on the passage itself, but after you have done a

couple of think-alouds, ask the learner to listen to you think aloud again, and concentrate

on the steps and skills you use, rather than on the content of the particular problem. When

you have finished the think-aloud, make a list of the steps and skills you used and discuss

them.

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/kate_thinkcomm_video.htm


Teaching Techniques: Reading

Assisted Reading

What skills does it build? active reading; using clues other than words (e.g., pictures,

titles, chapter headings, size and type of font, italics, lines and boxes) to find meaning

Who is it useful for? all readers, especially those who concentrate on decoding words,

and not on making meaning from the page

Assisted reading allows you to give learners a glimpse into the kind of reading that fluent

readers do. Many beginning readers are not aware of the many techniques a fluent reader

uses; many are passive, not active, in their reading; many think that the reading process

starts at the first word on the text and continues word by word to the end without pause.

Assisted reading gives you the opportunity to model active, fluent reading; there are

many opportunities for informal ―think-alouds‖ and for generating questions that help the

beginning reader bring his own background knowledge and experience to bear on the

new material.

Method:

1. Select a text that the learner wants to read.

2. Examine the text together. Look at the title, illustrations, photos, headings, chapter

titles, captions, first sentences in paragraphs, and highlighted words, and then

discuss what the text might be about.

3. Record the discussions on a sheet of paper, flipchart, or chalkboard. Encourage

learners to ask questions about illustrations, headings, etc.

4. Take turns reading parts of the text. For learners who find reading aloud difficult,

have them read the passage silently before they read it aloud.

5. Stop occasionally for discussion. Confirm any predictions made earlier when the

learner examined the illustrations, photos, and headings. Also, predict what might

happen next in the text.

6. Continue to take turns reading. You do not have to finish reading the entire text.

7. Provide support as learners read. If they run into problems, here are some strategies:

Ask ―Does it make sense?‖ (draw on readers‘ semantic knowledge) or ―Does it

sound right?‖ (draw on readers‘ syntactic knowledge).

Encourage them to make an educated guess about the word based on its

position in the sentence, its sound, and its appearance.

Encourage them to notice word endings and prefixes, which they may leave off

if they read too quickly.

Suggest that they read ahead and then come back to reread difficult parts of the

text.


Ask, ―What can you do if you are stuck? What worked the last time? What are

you going to try this time?‖

8. At the end of the reading, go back to the predictions learners made before they

started to read. Were they on the right track? What surprised them?

9. Discuss the reading strategies used. Name them. Which were most effective?

Where and when was a particular strategy effective? Which are hard to remember

to do? Which are becoming automatic?

10. After several sessions of assisted reading and the concluding discussion, ask the

learners to make a bookmark that lists the strategies they want to remember to use

when they are reading on their own. If they use the bookmark for their independent

reading, the strategies will be right there.

Assignment: Read a Book a Week

What skills does it build? independent reading; predicting what a book is about;

evaluating its relevance and interest to the learner

Who is it useful for? all learners

Many learners will gasp when they hear you ask them to read a book a week, since many

of them have not read a book in their whole life. So along with this assignment has to

come an assortment of very short books for adults, and some help in picking a book that

the learner will enjoy. These books must absolutely be at a level that the learner can read

with no trouble, where they know all the words, and where they can bring some

background knowledge to the book, so they are in familiar territory. Think of the kind of

―summer reading‖ that good readers do. You don‘t want to spend your days at the beach

reading something that requires reading and re-reading and looking things up in a

dictionary. You want a page-turner. Help your learner find that kind of book.

Learners often have difficulty picking a book for independent reading because they do

not use jacket blurbs as a source of information, nor do they easily pick up a book and

leaf through it to get a sense of what is in it. So they may be reluctant to read anything

independently, or they may choose a book which in fact they are not interested in or

which is too difficult for them, and get stuck.

The drama of having to finish it inside of a week will encourage them to pick a short

book, and this is a useful exercise in estimating how long the task will take, and making

choices that will allow them to complete the assignment on time. It may mean that on the

last day of the week they will need help finding a book, and sit down and read it at one

sitting. Good. Help them find a book they can read in ten minutes to complete their

assignment.

Don‘t ask them to write a book review of these books! A book that takes half an hour to

read should not be linked with a book report that takes an hour or more to complete.

Better to spend that time reading two more books! Give them an opportunity when they

are finished the book to have a short conversation. What was it about? Did they like it?

Why? What surprised them about the book? Would they like to read another one about


the same topic or by the same author? This is the kind of ―book report‖ friends give to

one another all the time, and they are the stuff of book clubs.

Following are two techniques for helping learners pick a book that they will enjoy

reading independently.

Book Talk

A ―book talk‖ may start or end every session you are with your learner. It is modeled on

the way we read and talk about books in the real world, and gives the learner a guideline

to follow when you ask about their book at the end of the week.

Method:

1. Pick a book which you think will be interesting to the learner(s), and which is easy

enough for them to read independently.

2. Hold up the book and announce its title.

3. Tell a little about what the book is about.

4. Say why you liked it or why you think some learners will like it.

5. Read a short passage aloud, expressively and dramatically.

6. Stop in the middle of an interesting passage, making a ―cliff hanger‖ so that learners

will be interested in finding out what comes next.

7. Invite the learner(s) to borrow the book.

8. If no one wants to read the book, don‘t worry—there are lots of books. Bring another

one the next time you see the learner(s).

Choosing a Book by Its Cover

Method:

1. Choose several books at an appropriate reading level (very easy for your learners to

read).

2. Photocopy the front and back covers of each book.

3. Put the actual books away in a drawer or cupboard.

4. Take each of the photocopies in turn and read and discuss them with the learner,

asking ―What is this book about?‖ and ―Who is it for?‖ Use the information on the

front and back cover, both picture and text, to answer the questions.

5. Repeat with the photocopies of the covers of the other books you have selected.

6. Ask the learner to pick the two books they are most interested in.

7. Get those two books out of your drawer, leaving the others behind.


8. One at a time, invite the learner to look inside the books. Does it look like the

predictions made while looking at the cover were correct? Is the book an

appropriate length to read in a week?

9. Ask the learner to turn to the first page and read it. This is a check to see if it is easy

to read. If the learner has any problems with the reading, it is not for independent

reading—make it a book they read with a tutor, an instructor or a more advanced

learner.

10. When this has been done with both books, ask the learner if they would like to

choose either of them to read.

11. It is important that the learner be allowed to say, ―No, I don‘t feel like reading that

book,‖ and that they feel no pressure to choose any particular one. They must also

feel free to refuse all the books being offered at that time. Many learners have an

exaggerated respect for print, and end up ―choosing‖ books for independent reading

that they are not interested in. Imagine going into a bookstore and buying and

having to read the first one you laid your hands on, just because you touched it.

That, in effect, is what many learners do when faced with the necessity of picking a

book for independent reading. Encourage them to reject many, many books until

they find the right one for the assignment to read a book a week.

Choral Reading

What skills does it build? fluent, expressive reading

Who is it useful for? readers who read word by word with little rhythm or expression;

self conscious readers who are unwilling to read aloud by themselves

Choral reading allows the tutor/instructor and learner to read together. It is a good way

for beginning readers to hear the rhythm (speed, tone, volume, and pitch) of fluent

reading.

Caution: this activity may bring back difficult memories of forced oral reading during

school, and, like all learning activities, should be presented as a matter of choice.

Method:

1. Learners should choose what they want to read. They may select material that is

interesting and useful to them, but is too difficult for independent reading.

2. Read texts that require different kinds of expression, such as plays or pieces with

lots of conversation.

3. Ask learners to read out loud with you so that your voices are reading at the same

time. Learners may read one word behind you, but their participation should be

encouraged.

4. Keep the reading pace smooth.

5. When learners seem more confident, let your voice fade away and see if they

continue reading independently. If they hesitate, return to choral reading again.


6. Take frequent breaks to discuss the meaning of the material.

Variations:

For more independent work, consider a computer ―text-to-speech‖ program. The

good programs have high quality speech synthesis and may be set to read at varying

speeds. Several free ones are available to download.

Small groups may occasionally choose to read chorally.

Use choral reading as a warm-up at the beginning of a session or at the end to wind

down.

Cloze

What skills does it build? prediction strategies; making meaning from context;

substitution; reading ahead; re-reading; metacognition

Who is it useful for? learners who tend to read word by word, or who stop reading

completely whenever they do not know a word; learners who consistently leave out

particular words or parts of words

Cloze is most effective with beginning readers if there is someone to assist during the

reading. Talking learners through the possibilities and the process of using prediction,

reading ahead, re-reading, and confirming makes cloze a particularly effective technique

to reinforce good reading strategies. Stress that substitutions must make sense in the

passage.

Cloze can seem like a convenient activity to do as independent written work. However,

the purpose of the activity is to develop reading strategies, and this happens mainly in the

discussion of possible choices. If it becomes independent busy work (fill-in-the-blanks),

it is not being used effectively.

Cloze activities should be open-ended, without one right answer. Pre-packaged cloze

exercises often include answer keys. These should be avoided—they do not encourage

fluent reading strategies such as risk taking and substitutions, and they reinforce incorrect

views about reading such as the belief that reading should be perfect.

Method

1. Type out a short, complete passage at an appropriate reading level. You may use a

piece of learners‘ writing or something from a published text. Double-space the

lines as you type.

2. Then go back and delete some single words, scattered throughout the text. Keep the

first sentence intact. Substitute a long underline for each word you delete. The

learner will write on the line to put in a word that makes sense in the context.

3. The more words you delete, the harder it is to complete the cloze.

For a beginning reader, delete the more predictable nouns.


For more advanced readers, delete a random selection of words. Start with

deleting every twelfth word, then every tenth word, and so on, until you are

deleting every seventh word.

If you make every blank the same length, no matter how long the words they

replace, you don‘t give the learner any clues about the word that is missing.

For learners who don‘t pay attention to word endings, instead of deleting whole

words, simply delete final ―s‖, ―ed,‖ and ―ing.‖

For learners who miss the ―little‖ words in writing, delete every ―a‖ and ―the‖

in the passage, and tell learners that one of those words goes into every blank.

In another passage, delete ―to‖ and ―in‖ and ―on.‖

If you are studying grammar, delete all the nouns in the passage, or all the

verbs, or all the adjectives, etc.

4. Learners read the passage, out loud or silently, trying to insert an appropriate word

into the blanks. Encourage learners to ―read around‖ the blank, thinking about the

ideas that come before and after. Often it will be possible to come up with several

words to fit in the blank.

5. Discuss how each possibility was chosen. What reading strategies were required to

choose a word that makes sense? How can these strategies be used during regular

reading?

Variations:

Pairs of learners can work on the same cloze passage together, then read their

completed passage to the whole group. The most effective part of this activity is

discussing how they arrived at their answers, and comparing the finished passage

with those of other pairs.

Learners can create cloze texts for other learners.

Cloze texts can be published in newsletters. Completed variations of these passages

can be posted, circulated, or published in later editions.


Cloze Sample: Visit to the Nova Scotia Museum

One tutor/learner pair visited the Nova Scotia Museum and wrote about their

recollections of the trip. This story was then used as a cloze exercise and was published

in a program newsletter. The process was effective and the feedback was a big boost for

the learner‘s confidence.

Visit to the Nova Scotia Museum

First we saw pictures of Peggy‘s Cove. I have never been to Peggy‘s Cove.

It would be _______________ to visit and see what it‘s like in person.

Next we saw the old painted stagecoach which _______________ from

Halifax to Truro and took all day. It was interesting to see how they

_______________ the luggage on the back and top of the coach. The driver had

to sit outside.

The scene I liked the ______________ was the moose with the lake

and woods scene behind. We had to feel if there was glass; it was

_________ real.

It‘s the first time I‘ve been to a ________________ and I enjoyed it.

Sequencing

What skills does it build? reading for meaning; paying attention to transitions; making

inferences; organizing ideas

Who is it useful for? auditory, visual and kinaesthetic learners; passive readers

Sequencing can be done with a group of learners or one-on-one. It requires learners to

take an active part in constructing meaning from a text by putting the elements of the

story back into the sequence in which they actually happened. If done by a group of

learners, it requires them to talk about what they are thinking, and discussion is an

essential part of doing this exercise if you‘re working one-on-one.


Method for working one-to-one:

1. Use a story or narrative poem in which the events are told in the order they actually

happened.

2. Photocopy a section of the text four or five paragraphs long.

3. Cut the paragraphs apart and mix them up.

4. Ask the learner to re-assemble the paragraphs in the correct order.

5. Discuss what strategies they are using to decide on the correct order.

6. Read the original text and compare the results.

Method for working with a group of learners:

1. Prepare two or more texts of four or five paragraphs each, as above, enough so that

there is one paragraph for every learner.

2. Divide the learners into groups, one group for each text you have prepared.

3. Give one paragraph from the text to each learner.

4. Ask learners to read their paragraph to their small group, and work together to

figure out what order they should go in. The group should get ready to line up in the

correct order and each group member to read their paragraph to the class.

Variation:

1. Take a story that is not told in the order the incidents actually happened, such as a

newspaper story or a story with a flashback. Work with the learner(s) to make a list

of all the incidents in the story.

2. Photocopy and cut the list apart and ask learners to re-assemble the incidents in the

order they actually happened, not in the order they appeared in the story. They may

need to refer to the original story as they do this.

3. Discuss their reading strategies. What words in the story gave clues about the real

order things happened in? Were there headings or special fonts that showed the

order? Why do newspapers usually tell things out of order? Why would a writer use

a flashback to tell a story?

Quest/Request

What skills does it build? active reading; making inferences

Who is it useful for? auditory learners; learners who are passive readers; learners who

rely more on background knowledge than the text

The quest/request teaching strategy requires learners to engage with the text. Because

both learner and tutor or instructor take turns asking and answering questions, there is a

lot of room for modeling or ―thinking aloud,‖ which will give the learner an insight into

how to engage with text.


Method:

1. Use a text at the learner‘s instructional level; both learner and instructor/tutor need

a copy.

2. Read the first sentence silently. The instructor/tutor asks a question which can be

answered from the first sentence, and the learner answers. The instructor asks as

many questions as s/he likes.

3. Then the two participants switch roles. They both read the next sentence silently,

and the learner asks as many questions as s/he likes that can be answered from

reading the first two sentences, and the tutor/instructor answers.

4. They switch roles again and go on to the next sentence.

5. As you work your way through the text, questions will come up which require some

reading between the lines, or making an inference. The practitioner should model

making an inference by thinking out loud, and comment when the learner makes an

inference to show the kinds of thinking that go on during reading.

6. Stop before the process gets boring, i.e., while you are still having fun.

Variations:

Pairs of learners can do this work together.

A group of learners can work together to generate as many questions as possible

about a paragraph of text. A goal might be to come up with as many questions as

there are words in the paragraph.


Teaching Techniques: Writing

The Writing Process: Think, Write, Edit, Proofread

What skills does it build? metacognition; organization of tasks; writing multiple drafts;

evaluation of one‘s own writing

Who is it useful for? learners who need to have the task of producing a piece of writing

broken down in to smaller tasks

Teaching a four step process for producing a piece of writing enables learners to have

more control over their work because they get a sense of what needs to be done and don‘t

need to wait for the teacher to tell them when they are ―finished‖ or what to do next. It

lets them concentrate on one aspect of the writing at a time. It focuses attention away

from spelling and punctuation and onto bigger, more important tasks of considering the

audience, organizing the ideas, writing a first draft and editing it.

Many Level I and Level II learners, and some Level III learners, think of writing as

handwriting, or think that spelling and punctuation are the only elements they need to

concern themselves with; they are usually unaware of the elements of the craft of writing,

because in a published text these are hidden from view. In writing as well as reading, part

of the work of teaching is to make the hidden skills apparent to the learner, to model them

and to recognize the learner‘s attempts to use them.

You will find the steps of the writing process named and defined in various ways; there

may be four, or five, or even six steps elaborated in various systems or by various

authors. It really doesn‘t matter which one you use; the important thing is to pass on to

the learner a system for producing writing that is readable and reasonably correct.

In the following version, there are four steps: Think, Write, Edit, and Proofread. The

most important principle in every step is: consider your reader. The tasks get easier and

less abstract the further you go in the process, so learners should not expect perfection at

any step (until the last), but should press on with getting something done, so they can go

on to the next (easier) step.

The steps below are elaborate, and beginning learners will not do such an elaborate job of

each stage, but all four stages are necessary, even in the first piece of writing a learner

does. The editing stage may be very short for beginning writers, but the questions should

be asked: Is there anything else the reader needs to know? Anything you‘d like to add, or

take out, or change? The answers may be ―no‖ but the questions should be asked. In the

proofreading stage, even the very beginning writer needs to check periods and capital

letters, because getting them correct will help the reader understand what has been

written.

Step 1: Think

What do you want to say, and who will you say it to? Which part of a longer story will

you tell today?


Learners may generate ideas for their story in many ways: brainstorm and cluster, or use

some other graphic organizer; free write to see what ideas come out; talk about the

subject; go for a walk while they think. If there are no ideas, there will be no writing. If

there is an assignment, or a rubric that will be used for grading the assignment, think

about the requirements.

Step 2: Write

Write the first draft. Don‘t worry about mechanics of any kind. If you don‘t know how to

spell a word, ask someone who can quickly tell you, or make an attempt and go on.

Sometimes you can‘t think of exactly how the story will start, so start in the middle and

come back to the beginning later. Just get something on the paper.

Step 3: Edit

Editing consists of re-reading the first draft and making changes as needed. It is much

easier than writing the first draft, so learners should look forward to this stage.

Some questions to ask at this stage: Thinking about your readers, have you given enough

information? What do they need to know to understand the story—have you put it in? Is

there something you‘d like to take out, that a reader doesn‘t need to know? Think about

your organization— will your readers be able to follow the thread? How can you make it

easier for them? Think about paragraphing—have you used paragraphs to keep ideas

together that belong together and separate ideas that don‘t belong together? That will help

a reader follow your ideas. Do you need to help your reader move from part to part by

using such words as ―next,‖ or ―after a while,‖ or ―on the other side of the street,‖? This is

the time to find out how to spell all those words you weren‘t sure of. If you have a rubric

for this assignment, check to make sure you have included everything the rubric asks for,

and that you have answered the questions asked, if there are any.

This is a place for a true cut and paste. Get out the scissors if you want to re-order

something, don’t start writing again. Give marks for messiness during the editing stage.

Teach the learner(s) to use carets () or stars (*) to mark where an insertion should go,

and to write the words to be inserted somewhere else on the page.

When you‘ve finished, or when the page is so messy you can‘t find yourself anymore,

make a clean copy. This might be the time to put it into the computer, rather than writing it

out by hand again. You may make more changes as you write this clean copy. Then read it

again, and ask the same questions. When the writer is satisfied, the editing stage is done.

Stage 4: Proofread

This is the final stage, checking for tiny mistakes. Proofread out loud. Stand in the middle

of the room and read it as if you were giving a performance. Read it once, looking for

words left out and missing word endings. Read it again, checking the periods. Read it

again, checking for the spelling of homonyms and other problem words. Go over your

rubric one last time, and predict what kind of marks or comments you‘ll get from your

instructor. (See also the proofreading posters on page 43.)


Language Experience Approach (LEA)

What skills does it build? articulating thoughts; organizing ideas; moving from talking

to writing

Who is it useful for? learners who are unwilling to write anything; learners whose

thoughts run much faster than their ability to write them down

Method:

In the language experience approach, the literacy practitioner acts as a scribe, writing

down the story as the learner composes it. There are several stages to getting the story

down.

1. Find a subject to write about. Come to some agreement with the learner about what

the topic of the story will be. The more the topic comes from the learner, the more

they will have to say about it, and the more naturally it will flow.

If the learner comes into the session telling you about something that is going

on in their life, you might ask if they would like to write a story about it.

If you are just getting to know the learner, you might ask for a bit of biography,

or the learner‘s likes and dislikes, etc.

If you are working on a theme or a project, the topic may come from there.

2. Find out if the learner would like you to print the story, write in script, or type it

into the computer.

3. Make sure the learner can see as you write. If you are right-handed, the learner

should sit on your left; if you are typing, increase the font size so they can see it on

the screen from where they are sitting; if you are writing on the board, make sure

there is no glare on it.

4. Generate some ideas. If ideas are spilling out of the learner‘s mouth, you could skip

this step and just start writing, but if they are having trouble thinking of what to say,

do a brainstorm on the topic, with you writing down the ideas as the learner says

them, asking a question when necessary to prompt more ideas.

5. When all the ideas have been generated, look at them again, and let the learner

decide where to begin. It may be that one brainstorm will generate ideas for more

than one story, so the learner will have to choose what to write for this time. (For

more details on doing a brainstorm, see page 15.)

6. Write as the learner dictates to you. Your job is to write the words down as they

come, not to edit them or make suggestions.

Do not correct grammar or word usage. It is the learner‘s voice that we want to

shine through the story.

Do write correct spelling, not dialect; e.g., write ―running‖ when the learners

says ―runnin‘‖; write ―to the store‖ when the learner says ―t‘th‘store.‖ This is in

line with other correct spellings you write, for example, you would write

―often‖ even though the learner does not pronounce the ―t‖ in that word.


If the learner gets stuck, you could read over what they‘ve said so far, as a

prompt for further words, or you could ask an open-ended question, such as

―What happened then?‖ or ―What did you say?‖ If you have used a

brainstorm/mind map, draw their attention to it as you go along.

7. Put in the periods or question marks as you go along, and call attention to them, for

example, ―I heard you stop there, so I put in a period so the reader would stop in the

same place.‖

8. Find some way to get a satisfactory ending to the story. Language experience

stories are usually short (from one to ten sentences), but still we‘d like a beginning

and an end. So if it just stops without any natural conclusion, ask a question such

as, ―What would you like the reader to remember about this story?‖ or ―How did

you feel about the whole thing?‖ These questions will often produce a sentence that

wraps up the story and gives a satisfactory ending.

9. Ask the learner for a title for the story. A question such as ―What is this whole thing

about?‖ or ―What‘s the main idea in this story?‖ will often generate a useful title.

Again, your job is to write down the title that the learner comes up with, not to

make suggestions or edit. Learners may call the first one they write ―My Story,‖

and maybe the second one will have the same title. When they give their next story

the title of ―My Kids‖ you can comment that the title helps you get an idea of what

the story will be about, even before you start to read it.

10. Read the story back to the learner, and ask if you got it down right. Tap when you

come to a period so the learner will notice that you are reading the punctuation as

well as the words. Make any changes the learner would like to make. Read it again.

Ask if there are any more changes. Read it again. Repeat until the learner is happy

with the story. (This editing step is usually very short. Most learners will make very

few changes to their story after they have dictated it.)

11. Ask the learner to read the story out loud to you. Notice where they read something

different from what is written down. Ask if they‘d like you to change the writing so

it matches the reading. This is more useful than asking them to change the way they

read it, and more true to the proof reading process.

12. Get the story into a permanent form so the learner can save it in a portfolio or book

of writing.

If you have been writing on the board, ask the learner to copy the story.

If you have been writing on paper, ask the learner to make a neat copy (yours is

full of erasures, small additions, etc.), or type it into the computer.

If you have been working on the computer, ask the learner to change the font

size back to normal and save and print it.

Activities to use with Language Experience Stories

The most important thing is to find your learner an audience for the stories, whether it be

in print somewhere, or displayed where the public can see them, or at a reading of works

by learners. (Ideas for getting learners an audience are given on page 6.)


You can also do the kinds of activities you might do with any piece of text, such as the

examples below. These are easiest to do if the story is saved on a computer, but can also

be done if the story is handwritten and you can make photocopies.

1. Sequencing: Separate the sentences so each begins on a new line with double space

between the sentences, then print and cut them apart. Mix them up and ask the

learner to put them back in order. If that is easy for the learner, cut the sentences

into phrases and ask them to reconstruct the story; another possibility is to take one

sentence at a time and cut it into separate words.

2. Cloze passages: See the directions for this on page 33. Asking learners to make the

cloze themselves is also valuable.

3. Take one of the words and expand it into a study of other words in the same

rhyming family.

4. The learner may wish to learn to spell some of the words.

Proofreading Strategies

What skills does it build? careful reading; ability to step back from one‘s own work

Who is it useful for? calls on both visual and auditory strengths.

Proofreading is the final step in the writing process, after editing/revising. As with most

things in writing, proofreading is done in order to help the readers understand and

sympathize with what is written. Proofreading makes the writing easy for the readers to

handle, and encourages them to keep on reading.

You don‘t want to be the proofreader for learners; your

job is to help them learn to proofread. That means you

will have to expect less than perfect proofreading while

the learner‘s skill grows.

Before the learner hands the writing in for you to read and

comment on, take a few minutes to proofread it with

them. If you are working with a very beginning writer,

this is the time to instill the habit of proofreading; if you are working with learners

transitioning into higher level training, they need to learn to proofread with you, so that

the work they hand in in their future classes is not penalized because of writing errors.

Method:

1. Ask the learner to read the piece out loud. By reading it out loud, the writer hears

the story the way they want the reader to hear it. The writer reads aloud, listening

carefully, while looking at the writing. The job is to notice when the message you

hear is different from what you see, that is, you have not written exactly what you

want to say.

2. Proofreading should be done in several stages, reading the piece out loud each time.

At each reading you will look for a different type of error. Beginning writers may

go through the story only twice, once for missing words and once to deal with end

Learner: “Oh, I never

bother with periods and

that. I just hand it in

and let the teacher put

them in.”


punctuation. More advanced writers will go through it several more times, to check

for other kinds of errors.

3. The first time, read it to make sure there are no missing words and that the endings

on words are there and correct. Ask the learner to read the first sentence. If there is

a mismatch that the learner doesn‘t catch, you may say, ―I heard you say ‗started.‘

Do your eyes see ‗started‘? What do you need to add to make the writing match

what you hear?‖ Then go on to the next sentence and repeat the process.

4. Some learners who are strongly visual, or who work mainly by print-based cues,

will try to read what they have mistakenly written. For example, someone who has

left out a word will try to read the sentence without the word, assuming that what

they see is correct, rather than listening for the true message. It may be necessary to

ask them to cover up the writing and say the sentence out loud as they want it to be,

then go back to look at what they actually wrote and change that.

5. Ask the learner to do the next round of proofreading looking at end punctuation.

They should start at the beginning and notice periods and question marks and

exclamation marks. You may help by pointing out non-textual messages you notice.

For example, if there is a period missing and you hear the learner take a breath, you

could say, ―I heard you take a breath. That usually means there should be a period.

Where should it go?‖ Or you may notice that the learner‘s shoulders rise as they

inhale, and say, ―I saw your shoulders lift a little there. Can you read it again, and

put the period in where you take a breath?‖ Or you may say, ―Somewhere in here

you need a period. Listen while I read it, and see if you can find the spot.‖ Start to

read from the last correct period and read the next couple of sentences.

6. The next round of proofreading should look at spelling, and particularly at

homonyms. Check each instance of there/their/they‘re, to/two/too, etc. to make sure

they are correct, and check any other spelling they are not sure of. Capital letters

can be checked here too.

7. Another round will look for commas, and another will check the use of quotation

marks. Quotation marks are very complicated. Start by making sure that both the

beginning and ending quotation mark are inserted, and that they are around the

exact words said by the speaker. Even very beginning writers can do this. More

advanced writers can worry about the use of commas and capital letters with

quotations.

Posters on Proofreading

Learners may find the following posters useful to have in their binders or on the wall. As

they become more automatic with the elements of proofreading, they may want to make

their own posters to show the strategies in their own words and images.


Where do the periods go? Your body can help you figure it out!

Read slowly, out loud, and…

Use your shoulders:

when they lift, put in a period.

Use your ears:

when you hear yourself breathe in,

put in a period.

Use your brain:

when you say a name again, or

when you say ―he‖ or ―she‖ or ―it‖

or ―they,‖ you may need a period

just before that word.

Use a period to keep sentences apart. Use

a joiner* to join them together. Don’t use

a period and a joiner at the same place.

*Joiners: “and,” “but,” “or,” “because,” “so,” etc.


Proofread Out Loud!

You get one

message from

your ears

and another

message

eyes. from your

Do you get the same message from both eyes and ears?

Yes? Great.

No? Then change the words on the

paper to match the words you hear.

Trust your ears to catch the

message you want to write.


Written Conversation


http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/writtenconversation.htm

What skills does it build? reading; thinking and communicating; fluent reading and

writing skills

Who is it useful for? learners who are just beginning to write for themselves; learners

who are frightened of a blank page

Have a conversation on paper. This strategy allows you to model writing skills which are

rarely demonstrated in front of adult learners. Written conversations allow you to give

immediate feedback and support so that ideas can be nurtured and developed. Many

learners at this level benefit from seeing how you express your ideas and how you back

up your opinions. Take time to explain what decisions you make when you write and how

you come to these decisions.

Method:

1. Make sure that learners sit on your left if you are right-handed and on your right if

you are left-handed so that they can see what and how you are writing.

2. Write a question that you might ask in everyday conversation.

Use printing if script is difficult for them to read.

Try to avoid questions that can be answered with a one-word answer, such as

yes or no.

3. Pass the paper to the learner, who will then write a reply.

It may be easier to talk before writing, so ideas can be generated and articulated

separately from the task of writing.

Perfection is not necessary. Expecting perfect spelling or handwriting at this

time may take the fun and usefulness out of this ice-breaking activity.

4. Carry on the conversation, taking turns asking and answering questions.

5. Begin with some basic questions:

My name is _________. What is your name?

I live in ____________. Where do you live?

Similar questions may be asked about family members, place of work, and so on.

These basic questions build confidence and provide examples about how words

look and how writing can begin.

6. Talk out loud as you write. Explain sounds, letters, use of capitals, spacing, and

anything else that is pertinent to the writing process. Stay with the same topic

(ideally initiated by learners) during the written conversation. Words are more apt

to be repeated and this makes reading and writing easier.

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/writtenconversation.htm


7. Phrase questions and answers in a similar way. This makes it easier to predict and

therefore easier to read. Use complete but easy-to-follow sentences. Start with the

subject: ―The new fishing quotas were announced yesterday. What do you think

about them?‖

8. If there are words that learners do not know how to spell, try the following

suggestions:

Encourage the learners to write the word based upon the sounds (phonics) or

the way they think that the word looks (graphic cue). Have them put down as

many letters as possible.

Encourage them to make a quick guess so that the ideas are not forgotten.

Encourage them to leave a blank space for letters or words and to continue

writing the rest of the ideas down.

Use the correct spelling for the word when it is your turn to ask or answer a

question. This will reinforce correct spelling without making people feel

embarrassed. Wait and see if the learner notices and uses your correct spelling.

Depending upon their level of confidence, you may want to draw their attention

to this spelling.

9. If there is a great deal of hesitancy:

Offer assistance in writing down the learner‘s responses.

Help people focus on what they want to say.

Parts that are difficult for learners to read independently should be read

chorally.

10. If the activity seems dry:

Vary the questions.

Inject some humorous responses.

Encourage the learner to ask the questions.

With a group of learners:

Written conversations may go around the table rather than back and forth between two

people. This encourages learners to read. Everyone is curious about what other people

wrote and what questions were asked.

Variations:

Decide on an opening question for the written conversation before your next

session. This gives learners something to think about between sessions, and can get

the conversation off to an easy start.

If the learner is learning to use e-mail, the two of you could sit side by side at two

computers and e-mail the questions and answers back and forth.


Written Conversation Sample

The tutor and learner used written conversation to catch up with what the other had been

doing. In this sample, the dialogue at the beginning of the session allowed the learner to

set out what he wanted to accomplish that day.

Journals

A journal may be a paper or computer document in which learners write freely about any

topic, without having to worry about the mechanics of ―proper‖ writing. Journals provide

learners with an opportunity to express their thoughts on paper, which many say helps

them work through issues or find solutions to problems. Keeping a journal is a relatively

independent activity which appeals to some learners who are willing and able to find a

regular time to write. Journals come in several types, outlined below.

Private Journals

Some learners like to keep a private journal because they can write their thoughts and

feelings and record the events of their lives; they can reveal things to their journal that no

other person will ever see. This type of journal, by definition, has nothing to do with the

instructor or tutor.


Response Journals

Other learners like to write a journal which they will share with the literacy practitioner.

They write about the events of their lives, their thoughts and feelings about those events,

without worrying about spelling, grammar or structure, and hand the journal in for a

response from their instructor or tutor. The literacy practitioner reads journal entries and

responds to them in a direct and personal manner.

CAUTION: Confidentiality and safety are important issues when you ask a learner to

write a journal for you to read and respond to. Remind the learner that you will keep

confidential anything they write, except that you have a legal obligation to report to the

authorities if you think a child is in danger.

What steps will you take to ensure that the journal is safe when you have it in your

possession? Let the learner know how you are treating the journal. Have a conversation

with the learner about safety at home. What would happen if someone at home (e.g.,

spouse, parent or child) read the journal? What steps are they taking to be sure that no

one else can read the journal? If they keep it at school, rather than at home, what will

happen at the end of the term? For some learners, keeping a journal is not a safe activity.

Safety for the practitioner is also an issue. You are asking the learner to write personally,

about whatever thoughts and feelings they have. What will you do if the journal entries

trigger your own vulnerabilities? What will you say if the learner‘s values turn out to be

radically different from yours? Consider these questions before you start on the journal

writing process, so you can keep yourself safe, too.

Method:

1. Learners write in their journals as time permits. Some people find time to write

daily, others write regularly each week. Sometimes learners write in their journals

during a class or a tutoring session. Length of entries should not be a consideration.

2. Encourage learners to consult their personal dictionaries if they have questions

about spelling or punctuation, but not to spend time worrying about every spelling

error. A journal is a place for free writing, not for error-free writing.

3. Respond to the journals once a week on average. Some practitioners may want to

respond in a quiet moment, apart from the tutoring/instructing atmosphere. Others

may want to read the entries over with learners and respond on the spot.

4. Ask the learners about how they would like you to respond. One way is for the

literacy practitioner to write a few lines at the end of the last entry the learner has

made; another is for the learner to leave a wide margin on the right hand side of the

page for comments and questions from the tutor; a third way is for the instructor to

write on a stickie and put it in the journal, so the learner has the option of removing

it.

5. The literacy practitioner should respond to the content only. The quality and

sincerity of the responses are important to learners. One way to do it is to begin by

saying how the learner‘s writing affected you (―I laughed when you told about

taking your daughter to buy shoes, because the same thing has happened to me!‖ or

―I was sad when I read about ___. I know I would have been scared if that had


happened to me.‖) Then follow up by asking a question that encourages further

writing. (What do you think you will do next? How do you feel about it now? What

came up that you didn‘t expect?)

6. Don‘t correct any spelling or grammar errors, or comment on them. If you do, it is

not a journal any more—it is a writing assignment.

Learning Journals

Learning journals are a special kind of response journal which focuses on the learning

that happens in a particular course. So, for example, a learner could keep a math learning

journal, or a reading learning journal. At the end of each class, learners make an entry in

the journal briefly outlining the content of the lesson, and giving more details about what

they found easy or difficult, what techniques they used to solve problems, what

techniques worked or didn‘t work, what questions they still have about the content, and

how they are feeling overall about the content. They hand in the journals weekly, for a

response from the instructor or tutor. The practitioner may also respond by adjusting

teaching methods to take into account what the learner has written. In the following

example, a learner talks about reading a piece of her own writing to the class.

I felt a bit nervous, but I was trying to think positive and concentrate on what I

was going to read. What helped me was trying to focus on what my writing was

about and how it sounded. Once it was my turn to get up there in front of the

class, I would be OK because I was comfortable with my classmates (IF, May

17). (Beebe, 2006, p. 11)

Timed Writings

What skills does it build? fluent writing; risk taking; paying attention to ideas rather

than form

Who is it useful for? learners who have difficulty getting anything on paper

A timed writing is simplicity itself. This is a good way to start a writing session. It gets

the words flowing, and may generate some ideas that the learner will want to turn into a

piece of writing.

Method

1. Make sure everyone has a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil.

2. Explain how a timed writing works:

You will set a timer and everyone will write without stopping until the timer

goes off. You will write, too.

It does not matter what is written, so long as the pen keeps moving on the

paper. Spelling, grammar, facts—none are important. The only thing that

matters is to get some words on the page.


If you can‘t think of anything to write, write ―I can‘t think of anything to write‖

over and over again until something else comes into your mind.

3. For the first timed writing, set the timer for 4 minutes and, as weeks go by,

gradually increase it to 10 minutes as learners get used to the process.

4. When the bell goes off, give people time to complete the sentence they are writing.

Ask if anyone would like to share what they have written. Occasionally you should

share your writing, too, especially if it looks like this:

I can‘t think of anything to write. I don‘t know what to say. I don‘t know what to

write. I can‘t think of anything to say. My brain is empty. I have an empty brain. I

can‘t think of anything to say. I‘m brainless today. Sometimes I am brainy, but not

today. Sometimes my brain thinks of lots of things to write about, but not today.

I‘m empty. I can‘t think of anything to say…

5. When anyone who wants to has shared their writing, people who caught a good idea

during the free write will want to keep their paper to work on later; others can make

a great show of throwing out their papers, having achieved the goal of warming up

their hands and heads.


Teaching Techniques: Spelling

Often learners say they can‘t write because they think that writing is spelling. If you put

an emphasis on spelling while people are writing, it discourages them from writing well

and fully. Fear of not getting the spelling right may drive them to write ―It was nice out,‖

instead of ―The brilliant sun touched the hearts of adults and children, and filled them

with the joy of being alive.‖ So as learners are writing, just write down any word they ask

for; if they are writing at home or somewhere where no help is available, ask them to

write the first letter and a blank line, and get help later, either by asking or looking it up.

Sometimes practitioners say, ―Don‘t worry about the spelling,‖ and help the learners spell

whatever words they want to use, but then at the end ask the learners to put those words

on a spelling list and learn them. This may also deter learners from writing fully. The

words they want to use in writing, and which they may able to read or learn to read, may

be far beyond their ability to learn to spell. If you punish them by giving difficult spelling

work as a result of their wanting to write well, they will learn to censor themselves during

writing to save themselves the headache of learning to spell the hard words later. The

words they want to write may not be the words they want to learn to spell, or may be

beyond their spelling ability.

The Blackboard in Your Mind


http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/KateBlackboard_video.htm

What skills does it build? spelling; memory

Who is it useful for? visual learners

This strategy teaches a method of remembering how words look; people who do not have

the ability to get a mental picture will find this method frustrating. You could model this

method until learners are used to it, then give them a copy of the questions and they could

work in pairs. Don‘t work on more than two words at a sitting.

Method:

1. Take a word the learner is learning to spell and write it where they can see it, either

on the board or on paper.

2. Ask them to look at the word.

3. Ask them to visualize a blackboard (or whiteboard) in their minds: look at the

board; notice its size; look at the frame around it; notice the size and colour and

shape of the frame. Many learners keep their eyes closed as they do this; others look

up or off into the distance.

4. Ask them to see the word written on the imaginary board, and read it to you, letter

by letter, from the board. If they can‘t do it, or do it wrong, ask them to look at the

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/KateBlackboard_video.htm


correct version, then close their eyes again or look away, see the word on the

imaginary board and read it to you letter by letter. Repeat until firm.

5. Ask them to look at the word on the board they are visualizing, and answer the

following questions. If need be, they can look again at the correct version.

Spell the word (read the letters off their mental board.).

How many letters in the word?

Spell the word (reading from the mental board).

How many vowels? What are they (from left to right)?

What are the consonants, from left to right?

Spell the word (reading from the board).

What letters hang below the line? (g, y, etc.)

What letters stand up above the line? (h, l, t, etc.)

Are there any capital letters?

Are there any little words inside the word? Spell the little words (e.g., ―the‖ and

―eat‖ inside of ―theatre‖).


What are the first 2 (or three) letters?

What are the last 2 (or three) letters?

What are the middle letters?


6. Remind the learner that the word will always be written on their mental board.

Whenever they want to write the word, they can call it up in their mind and copy it

onto their paper.

7. If possible, a couple of times during the next hour or so, ask the learner to spell the

word from the mental board.

Pattern Spelling


http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/kate_patternspelling_video.htm

What skills does it build? spelling; building words from their parts; word pattern

recognition; word processing skills; cooperation and teamwork

Who is it useful for? kinaesthetic, visual and verbal learners; very beginning spellers

through to competent spellers

Level I and II learners: use the method as outlined below

http://alt.ns.literacy.ca/file.php/29/kate_patternspelling_video.htm


Level III learners: use the method as outlined, but instead of the word patterns

suggested, use only the Latin roots, to teach the formation and spelling of words from

roots, such as port, press; ject; spect; dict; tend; pend; fuse; etc.

This is a simple method for helping learners build up their ability to recognize and spell

the many word families, to learn many common affixes such as -ing, -ed, -less, -able, and

un-, re-, mis-, etc. Although the method is simplicity itself, it quickly builds up learners‘

abilities to spell longer words by adding affixes correctly and completely, increases their

confidence in their ability to spell, and lets them have fun. The success of the method is

due to the fun, the repetition that is varied each time, the success, the increased

confidence, the teamwork and co-operation, and the allowance for differences.

Another side benefit is increased skill and confidence in using the computer. It is

described here for use when the learners are each sitting in front of a computer. If no

computer is available, learners can write the words on a board or on paper.

Method

1. Start each session by asking learners to help each other open up the computers,

open the word processing program and increase the font size to about size 36 so that

the instructor can see their screens easily while moving around the classroom, and

learners can easily see nearby screens and compare answers. Learners can also

choose any font they like, and experimentation is encouraged. Asking learners to

help each other builds confidence in the helpers, gets things moving quickly and

builds a sense of community and teamwork in the class.

2. Make it clear that learners can look at the screens around them; this

exercise is not a spelling test, but a spelling practice. If someone

cannot spell ―crank‖ the first time it is dictated, they should get it

right by checking with the teacher or with a neighbour, and then

practice it while writing the next words, which will be cranks,

cranked, cranking, and cranky, with maybe crankier and crankiest

added, if the learners know the ―y to i‖ rule

3. Tell the learners that you will dictate a series of words based on a

particular spelling pattern, which they will type. (A suggestion for

order of patterns is given below.)

4. Write the pattern for the day on the board, with a blank line in front.

For example, if the pattern for the day is words ending in ―ank‖ the

instructor writes ―___ank‖ and announces that all the base words

dictated today will end in ―ank.‖

5. Start at the beginning of the alphabet and find the first word that can

be made in that pattern. In this example, start with ―bank.‖ Everyone

writes ―bank‖ and the instructor goes around to check the work.

6. Then begin to add affixes to that first word, writing the affix on the

board so that learners can see it. Using the same example, write ―+ s‖

on the board, and ask learners to write ―banks,‖ checking for the

spelling on the board if they need to. Go on by writing ―+ ing‖ on the

Affixes

-s

-ing

-ed

-er

-est

-en

-y

-ly

-ful

-less

-ness

un-

re-

de-

con-

pre-

in-

inter-

ex-

trans-


board, and dictating ―banking,‖ then on to ―banked,‖ ―banker,‖ and ―bankers,‖

writing the affixes on the board for reference, and going around to check learners‘

work after each word. Give a short sentence to go with each word as it is dictated.

7. Circulate to check every word as it is written. This checking goes really quickly,

since nearly everyone spells nearly every word correctly, and the large fonts on the

learners‘ screens are easy to see from a distance. Learners can have their spell

checkers on, which means they will correct many errors before the instructor gets to

them.

8. As you circulate, you may ask learners to say the word, or ask them to name all the

parts (base words plus affixes).

9. Again using the same example, the instructor goes on to ―dank‖ if she thinks they

know the word, or might like to know it. If this is a word that is not familiar to the

learners, and she does not want to confuse matters, she skips ―dank‖ entirely and

goes on to ―hank.‖ Then on to ―hank,‖ ―hanks,‖ and ―hanky.‖ Next comes ―lank.‖

While at ―lank,‖ she dictates ―blank,‖ ―blanks‖ ―blankly,‖ ―blanket,‖ ―blankets,‖

―blanker, ―blankest,‖ then ―clank,‖ ―clanks,‖ ―clanked,‖ ―clanking,‖ ―flank,‖

―flanks,‖ ―flanking,‖ ―flanked,‖ and so on, depending on what affixes the learners

know.

The blends are introduced at the place in the alphabet where learners are already

dealing with the second sound in the blend. Learners are asked to write ―blank‖

when they have already written ―lank,‖ rather than when they have written ―bank,‖

because it is easier to hear the two sounds of the blend when you start with the

second sound. It is harder to write ―blank‖ after ―bank‖ than after ―lank.‖ (Here is

another example: for the same reason, ask them to write ―train‖ ―training,‖

―trainer,‖ ―trainers,‖ etc. when they have finished writing ―rain,‖ ―rained,‖

―raining,‖ ―rainy,‖ etc. Then go on to ―brain,‖ ―brains,‖ ―brained,‖ and ―brainy.‖)

For the first few lessons keep the affixes relatively simple, i.e., ―-ed‖ ―-s‖ ―-ing‖

and ―-er‖ so you can check that learners can correctly add the consonants and the

blends at the front of the pattern you are presenting. Also in those early lessons you

can get learners used to you going around and asking them to say the words, and to

count the parts. ―Bankers‖ has three parts, although it has only two syllables.

After you are sure everyone can add consonants and blends to the beginning of the

pattern, you can add affixes quite quickly. Write the affix on the board as you use

it, so they can check the spelling if they need to. Soon learners memorize the

spelling of the common affixes.

Build up each word carefully, starting from the simple form that follows the word

pattern you are using. For example, ―thank,‖ ―thanks,‖ ―thanking,‖ ―thanked,‖

―thankful,‖ ―thankfully,‖ or ―fill,‖ ―fills,‖ ―filled,‖ ―filling,‖ ―refill,‖ ―refills,‖

―refilled,‖ ―refilling,‖ ―refillable.‖

By following the pattern, learners can write some long words, and may want to

keep track of the longest word made so far, and what is greatest number of affixes

added to a base word so far.


10. After a few days some learners will start to predict the words that you dictate,

another very useful skill to be encouraged. They may predict other words in the

pattern, so if you start with ―ash,‖ they will give you ―cash‖ and ―rash,‖ or they may

give you other endings for a basic word, for example, cashing and cashed and

cashable. You might prompt them to predict by asking, ―What words have I missed

in this pattern?‖ or ask them to type all the words they can think of using a given

basic word from the pattern. Learners who are more advanced will soon produce

many of the words themselves, while learners who are less able will wait for you to

dictate them.

11. If learners are typing with the spell checker on, they soon begin to use it as a tool to

see if a particular ending will make a real word. They might add ―est‖ to a word just

to see if it is a real word; this use of the spell checker is a ―real-life‖ use of

technology.

12. At the end of the lesson, learners can, if they want, select all the words they have

written, change the font size back to size 14 and print out the list of all the words

they spelled during the session. It‘s a big list of words they successfully wrote

today, and can probably read tonight.

Order of Patterns to Teach

First pattern: Words that don’t change when affixes are added

Begin with base words that don‘t change when you add affixes. That is, start with words

with two vowels in the middle, or two consonants at the end, and which don‘t take ―es‖ to

make the plural. Keep on with those patterns until learners are familiar with the

techniques for adding affixes, can count the number of parts in a word they have strung

together, can write most of the affixes without looking at the board, and feel confident

about their ability to spell long words simply by adding affixes to the base word. The

order you introduce these words in can vary, depending on your learner(s). If you are

following a phonics program, work with examples of the patterns you are teaching in

your program. If you are using a spelling program, use

words from the current lesson as your patterns for the

week. If there are particular words you want to teach from

other content areas, use their patterns, or if there are some

sight words that people are having trouble spelling (e.g.,

―sight,‖) use them. Writing ―unsightly‖ and ―rightfully‖

makes a more interesting lesson than just dictating the

base words, and concentrating on keeping track of the

affixes makes it possible for learners to practice ―ight‖

and make it automatic.

This is where learners begin to see the affixes as the

building blocks of the English language. When they start

with ―-esh‖ and get to ―refreshingly‖ they are very

pleased with themselves.

Patterns to start with

(words ending in two

vowels and a

consonant, or a vowel

and two consonants)

__ail __ain

__oat __eat

__eet __een

__ink __all

__act __ink

__ump etc.


Second Pattern: Words ending in silent “e”

Next, work with words that follow a rule when an affix is added, beginning with words

that end in silent ―e.‖ Teach the rule, ―Drop the ―e‖ when the part you are adding starts

with a vowel.‖ There are various ways to formulate this rule, so use the one learners are

familiar with.

Choose a word family you want to work with, for example, ―__ake‖ and dictate your way

through the alphabet as usual. Again, remind people that it is okay to check with their

neighbour. Teach the rule, and review it every day. When you are going around to check

the spelling, if you find that someone has made a mistake, say the rule and ask the learner

to correct the word. If they have spelled the word correctly, say so, and ask them to state

the rule: ―You‘ve got it spelled right. Why did you drop the ―e‖ when you wrote

―taking‖?‖

When people are automatic with a rule, it is time to go on to the next one, but keep

coming back to that one for review.

Third Pattern: The doubling rule

There are many ways to formulate this rule, so use the one that

learners are familiar with, if any. Work on the doubling rule for

several days, until learners are firm with it, without reviewing the

silent ―e‖ rule. Then you might alternate, on succeeding days,

silent ―e‖ base words with doubling base words until learners are

firm on both rules.

When they know both rules well, teach them how to make a table

using the word processing program, and ask them to make a table

with two columns and six rows. Then dictate two words that differ only by a silent ―e‖

and ask them to write one at the head of each column. For the first few days, dictate the

words down one column and then down the other. Ask learners to read the words across

the rows. Later you can dictate words across the rows, and ask them to read down each

column. You may go on to other patterns or other rules, but ask them to make one such

table for review every day, and later less frequently.

Fourth pattern: Words that take “es” when you add “s”

Words ending in -s, -z, -x, -sh, -ch take an ―e‖ before an ―s.‖ This rule is not so difficult for

learners because they can hear the difference between box and boxes that requires the ―e‖.

Fifth pattern: Changing “y” to “i”

This rule is complicated, so start by making sure everyone knows the difference between

a vowel and a consonant. Then the rule is: ―When the word ends with a consonant + y,

and you want to add something that starts with a vowel, change the y to i.

EXCEPTIONS: 1) No English word has two ―i‘s‖ except skiing, which comes from the

Norwegian. 2) When you are adding ―er‖, it is also correct not to change the y to i, which

explains why you will see fryers for sale on so many grocery flyers.

tap tape

taps tapes

tapped taped

tapper taper

tapping taping


Sixth pattern: Greek and Latin roots

Last come the words that have Greek and Latin roots where the root may not be a word

on its own. By this time, learners are very familiar with

many affixes and spelling rules, and are ready to look at

a base which is not a word in itself. Explain the meaning

of each root, and dictate all the words that come from it.

For example, ―spect,‖ is part of the Latin word that

means ―see‖ and all the words will have something to do

with seeing: inspect, inspection, inspector, respect,

disrespect, respective, respectively, respectable,

respectably, irrespective, introspection, introspective,

introspectively, spectator, spectacle, spectacles.

Personal Dictionary

What skills does it build? personal organization; study skills; spelling skills;

alphabetization skills

Who is it useful for? learners who are organized and have a place to study and keep their

things; learners whose low reading and spelling skills make looking words up in a real

dictionary frustrating

A personal dictionary makes it easy to find words that learners regularly have trouble

spelling; when they can look up the correct spelling quickly and easily, they may write

more confidently and fluently.

Many beginning readers do not know the order of the letters in the alphabet, so they may

need help initially to enter words. Consulting a dictionary during the writing process is

foreign to many learners, so inviting learners to get their personal dictionaries out before

they start writing may be helpful. This also makes it possible for them to immediately

enter in the dictionary any new word that they need help with during the writing session.

If the learner is not organized enough to have books and supplies at hand, a spelling

dictionary will not be used or useful, and lack of organization may be a bigger problem

than poor spelling.

Method

1. Buy a blank spelling dictionary for the learner or make one. For example, the

Quick Word Handbook for Everyday Writers (Canadian Edition):

http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.asp?title=qwhandbook

2. Learners enter any words they come across that they want to remember how to

spell.

Some Greek and Latin roots

dent (tooth) rupt (break)

dict (say) script (write)

duct (lead) spect (see)

fer (carry) struct (build)

ject (throw) tend (stretch)

pend (hang) vent (come)

port (carry)

http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.asp?title=qwhandbook


3. When learners write with you, and can‘t spell a word, they should ask for help;

you may write the word on a piece of paper or the board. The learner should write

the word twice—once in the piece of writing and once in the spelling dictionary.

4. While writing, learners can consult the dictionary to find words they already

entered.

Teaching Grammar and Punctuation

The best way to teach grammar and punctuation is the same way you integrate phonics

instruction into reading—that is, you teach what‘s needed as it comes up; you might give

a mini lesson while the learner is in the editing phase of the writing process, or during

proofreading.

Research shows that teaching grammar in isolation does not improve student‘s written

work. When students learn grammar rules in the context of grammar lessons, and apply

them in artificial situations such as work sheets, they do not transfer what they learn to

their own writing. If you are helping the learner prepare to write the GED, you will have

to go over the rules laid out in the GED study guide, but putting the rules in the context of

personal writing will help them make more sense and be more easily remembered.


References

Beebe, L. (2006). From concrete to abstract: The benefits of using a guided

reflective writing technique with adult literacy students. Vancouver: RiPAL BC.

also available at http://www.ripal.literacy.bc.ca/pdf/RiPP_Leonne.pdf

Campbell, P. (2003). Teaching reading to adults: A balanced approach. Edmonton:

Grass Roots Press.

http://www.ripal.literacy.bc.ca/pdf/RiPP_Leonne.pdf

Nova Scotia Practitioner Training - Literacy Nova Scotia ...

Documents

Transcript of Nova Scotia Practitioner Training - Literacy Nova Scotia ...