A Sampling of Perennial Questions about Literacy Learning We Will Explore in this Newsletter
Being a parent of a young learner while I finished coursework and wrote a dissertation in the area of language and literacy turned out to be a powerful combination.
These essays will elaborate on topics arising from my personal experience like the following: maximizing the alphabet song in early infancy, using recessed puzzles to develop letter-name knowledge, teaching preschoolers to write words before reading them, leveraging fantasy private speech events as early experience in composition, rhyming and singing as prerequisites for formal phonics instruction.
In addition to sharing easy things that worked for me and my child, I will address in essays a plethora of pragmatic questions about literacy and schooling like the following:
When should literacy instruction begin?
What kinds of texts should children read?
What comes first—reading or writing?
Can preschoolers profit from direct instruction?
How much do children benefit from listening vs. speaking?
How is listening comprehension related to reading comprehension?
What does it mean to read at “grade level”?
What is “whole language” and why has it been controversial?
How do children and adolescents learn new words?
What are powerful ways to develop spelling skills?
What are important performance assessments of reading and writing competence?
What is the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension?
What is the relationship between reading and writing instruction?
Why is content area reading instruction important?
What misconceptions about reading can throw monkey wrenches into enjoyment?
What is intertextual reading, and why is it crucial for growth and development in middle and high school learners.
These questions are a place to start. I would really like to address your burning questions. Subscribe to this newsletter and comment freely. Together we can make this space vibrate with developmental energy to pass along to our young people.
Let me know what topics or questions you wonder about. I plan to search the literature and consult with other experts. Over time I hope to find some centers of interest among the readership and then work to flesh out reliable and current essays.
A large area to cover. It will be intetrsting to my inner child to see how it develops.