General

Principles in
Teaching
Literacy in the
elementary level
 a. Identify the
underpinning principles
in teaching literacy
among young learners.
Learning
Outcomes b. Discuss the principles
in teaching literacy
 Six Guiding Principles to Help Classroom
Teachers Boost Student Literacy

1 2 3 4 5 6
Establish a culture Explicitly teach Create a Confer with Talk about books. Write about
that supports skills.. compelling students books.
literacy. classroom library individually
for independent during
reading. independent
reading time.
 1
Establish a
culture that
supports
literacy.
Get to know your students, including their
interests, their home and community, and
their social and cultural experiences.

Believe that every student is a reader. Support

and celebrate every child’s effort to develop
reading muscles and increase reading stamina.
Let them know you believe in them.
 1
Establish a
culture that
supports
Show students how valuable books
literacy. are, sharing ideas and working together to
make meaning.

Highlight words, words, words. Make vocabulary learning fun.

Feature new words every week and recognize students who use
them in new and interesting ways. We can’t teach every word, but
we can teach word awareness and the richness of vocabulary. We
can pepper our own speech with mature, descriptive, and
interesting words.
 2
Explicitly teach
skills.. Phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency are
foundations for proficiency. Older students
benefit from learning structural analysis, such as
common prefixes and suffixes and rules for
dividing longer words into syllables. All these are
essential to reading and understanding.

Phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency are

foundations for proficiency. Older students
benefit from learning structural analysis, such as
common prefixes and suffixes and rules for
dividing longer words into syllables. All these are
essential to reading and understanding.
 2
Explicitly teach
skills..

Create small reading groups, organized according

to students’ needs, to support the development of
skills and strategies to increase student
competency. Meet several times a week, using
books and materials that are at the students’
instructional level—meaning the text is a bit too
difficult for reading independently, but just right
with the support of a teacher.
 3
Create a
compelling
classroom library
for independent
reading.
Collect books and materials that will appeal to the
interests and proficiencies of your students. Place the
classroom library in full view and within reach of your
students.

Allow your readers to choose books they want to read

during independent reading time and at home.
 3
Create a
compelling
classroom library
for independent
reading. • Sort books according to genre, interest
categories, or authors as a way to help students
make good selections based upon their interests.
Level books according to difficulty, but don’t restrict
students to a level for independent reading. Interest,
life experience, and motivation can be strong factors
in determining text complexity. Make sure students
know how the books are organized.
 3
Create a
compelling
classroom library
for independent
reading.
• Teach students how to select books based on personal
interests, as well as challenges within the book. Students
can first peruse the front and back book covers. Show them
how to scan the overall organization and look at illustrations.
Does the book seem reasonably appealing? If so, the next step
is to select a page or two to see if the student can read most of
words without assistance. A simple guideline is about 95%
accuracy or better for under grade four and 97% accuracy for
grades four and older.
 4
Confer with
students
individually
during • Listen to the student read a small passage, noticing
independent
reading time. patterns in word identification and fluency and skills
such as breaking words into syllables, phrasing,
knowledge of vocabulary, and comprehension.

• Coach students according to their individual

needs. Encourage talking about the book—the
characters, the plot, the vocabulary--what does the
student find most compelling about the text?
 4
Confer with
students
individually
during
independent
reading time.

• Use individual reading conferences as a rich

source of formative assessment data. Keep track of
each student’s development as a reader over time and
use this information when planning lessons or
selecting materials. It’s also valuable data to share and
discuss at parent-teacher-student conferences.
 5
Talk about books.

• Teacher book talks are an engaging way to

motivate readers. A book talk is brief. It’s a way
for you to feature a book that you love and that
you think your students would love, too. Say just
enough to capture interest and pull your students
into the plot. Show a great illustration or read a
paragraph aloud to demonstrate how the author
uses language. Put the book out on your display
table and watch it disappear!
 5
Talk about books.

• Have students talk about books,

too. Book clubs can be inspiring. A group
of 4-6 students meet several times to
discuss a book they are all reading. They
share reactions, question one another,
and ultimately build deeper
comprehension as a result of their
discussions.
 5
Talk about books.

What are you reading and advocating for? Bring your

books, magazines, editorials, and journals into class.
Share your favorite websites, podcast, and books on
tape. Demonstrate that you are a lifelong reader, writer,
and listener. Tell students what you like most about what
you’re currently reading or listening to. What is your
favorite time to read, write, or listen; how does reading
and writing help you, relax you, provide enjoyment, and
make a positive impact on your life?
 6
Write about
books.
• Have students write about books in
journals. Students can keep a response journal
to record their thoughts about the books they
read. Response journals can take many forms,
but a you could use a simple format with
questions that can apply to many different books
and at any point in the reading process.
Examples of questions or prompts are: what
personal connections do you make with the
characters or events, what questions would you
ask classmates who are reading this book, what
did you learn?
 6
Write about
books.

Readers theater is an engaging way to

develop reading fluency. Students reread
and practice their assigned parts in a script
to get ready for a fluent and expressive
performance. Some students may want to
write the simple scripts for their own
performances as an extension activity after
reading.
 6
Write about
books.

Extend comprehension with themes that are

relevant to your students. Students can select
an important theme or message from a text and
work with their classmates to promote,
persuade, or advocate for a cause like social or
climate justice. Students can use language,
artistic expression, and a wide variety of digital
tools to become advocates for a cause that
began in the virtual or real pages of a text.