Teaching and Developing Literacy & Numeracy: What, How and Why ??

In conclusion to my previous post I posted a short clip from National Numeracy and Literacy Week 2013, including students and teachers sharing what they love about literacy and numeracy. Many different perspectives were told throughout the clip, including students loving the contributions they can give to everyday life activities, problem solving, and also reading books and stories that transport them to a whole other world. Teachers expressed their passion for numeracy and literacy through the love of great ideas, engagement, discovery, imagination, problem solving, and enjoyment they see within children as they are learning and developing in the areas of literacy and numeracy. I shared this clip as I thought it demonstrated well not only the different views around numeracy and literacy, but also just how much children love to feel connected, and the ability to participate in and contribute to their world. This is why it is essential for us as educators to be able to influence their literacy and numeracy in a way of progression and further expansion, through knowing what, how and why to teach them beneficial skills, ensuring each child has the opportunity to explore and contribute meaningfully to their world.

So, as I mentioned, this post will elaborate further on from the message sent through the clip, investigating into ‘what’ we as educators teach in the areas of literacy and numeracy, ‘how’ is literacy and numeracy taught and developed, and ‘why’ is it so important we teach and develop literacy and numeracy?

I will be referring to a few different sources throughout this post, however, the two key texts I will be focussing on include:

1.     1. Goldstein, H. (2011). Knowing What to Teach Provides a Roadmap for Early Literacy Intervention, Journal of Early Intervention, (33)4, 268-280

2.     2. Melhuish, E. C., Phan, M. B., Sylva, K., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2008). Effects of the Home Learning Environment and Preschool Centre Experience upon Literacy and Numeracy Development in Early Primary School, Journal of Social Issues, (64)1, 95--114

These two texts really highlighted for me the importance and effects around teaching and developing literacy and numeracy in the early years. Although the second reading is based around early primary school children, the study actually investigates the influence of aspects of home and preschool (3-4yo) environments upon this later numeracy and literacy development.

What to teach in the areas of literacy and numeracy in Early Childhood?

Goldstein (2011) highlights the fundamental literacy skills for educators to teach children as phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and oral communication; all skills we use on a day-to-day basis to communicate and participate in our world.  Goldstein (2011) referred to these skills in two groups; code-based skills and meaning-focused skills. Code-based skills are important for later development of just simply reading, while meaning-focused skills included vocabulary and grammar, and knowledge of the world, helping them to become fluent readers and actually comprehending what it is they read.

Like literacy, we use numeracy in everyday activities. Some numeracy concepts include (Fleer & Raban, 2007):

·         Measurement: comparisons - high and low, big and little, full and empty. Later children will learn to use cm, kg, degrees etc, to make comparisons.

Picture: Google Images- http://www.f1online.pro/en/image-details/2343140.html/

·         Mass: how dense something is, heavy and light, big and small – later children will learn that not always the biggest thing is the heaviest or the smallest thing is not always the lightest.

·         Division: sharing – “one for you and one for me”

·         Fractions: splitting into equal amounts “half here, half over there” – children hear words like ‘half’ and ‘quarter’ everyday.

·         Numbers: how much, how long, how many.

 

Picture: Google Images- http://www.flickr.com/photos/nancyney/2340980260/ 

·         Patterns: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – pattern in the way we say numbers helps children to remember their order and can remember what comes next.

·         Position and Direction: upside down – where something is and where they go.

·         Area: top, edge, bottom – helps later for when children will measure these surfaces and make comparisons.

·         Shape: straight, curved, bent – everyday words to describe shape such as ‘raindrop’, ‘egg shape’ help children understand shapes in their environment. Important for learning geometry later.

·         Classifying: sorting things – into the same colour and size, helping put the shopping away.

Picture: Google Images- http://reggiokids.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/leaves-leaves-and-more-leaves.html 

·         Differences: grouping things together – noticing if something is the same or different – help children later on with describing how something may be different, rather than just how it looks.

How do we teach and develop literacy and numeracy in Early Childhood?

According to Geist (2009, p. 3) “process is more important than product.” Similar to emergent literacy which in standard is the concept of teaching children effectively to read and write, emergent mathematics refers to how children construct mathematics from birth, continuing throughout their life, through a combination of cognitive development and interaction with their environment. Geist (2009) suggests young children, for both emergent mathematics and emergent literacy to ensue, need to be immersed in mathematics and literacy from the day they are born, through the interaction of those around them, especially in their home environment. Melhuish, Phan, Sylva, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford, & Taggart, (2008) also believe and through their study have proven the impact the home learning environment has on children from a young age, impacting children’s literacy and numeracy development as they reach primary school.

For educators, to build and encourage interactions between themselves and children, and thus further impact the development of literacy and numeracy, they need to plan and critically think about how to teach. Below I have adapted a diagram I came across in a book about teaching ‘literacy for children in an information age’ (Cohen & Cowen, 2007, p.575).

1. It is vital for educators to keep in mind - especially in the current age with diversity rapidly increasing in Australia - the needs and interests of all individuals involved in the learning. It is so important to ensure we provide an inclusive education to all our students, even if this means having to make modifications or adaptations for those, for example, who may be at a lower learning level, those with various cultural beliefs, or those who speak English only as a second-language, to be able to participate in the learning also.

2.With the high demand of versatility, providing a broad array of tasks for children is important to keep their interests and curiosity at its peak, and to further encourage them to try new things through engaging in a range of activities.  Fortunately for educators these days, we can seek further ideas and resources from a much more superior choice of sources, a big one being the internet (technology), while others include books, fellow educators, etc.

3. Model of instruction refers to the approach in which the educator decides to take in order to best effectively teach their students. Some examples of models of instructions in literacy include the scaffolded reading approach, the direct instruction model, and constructivist or inquiry approach. Depending on the children, and the teacher, will depend on what model of instruction may be used for a particular task or activity.

4. Creating units of study requires educators to refer to the suited curriculum/framework, and the units and lessons suggested according to. From this, they create a suitable literacy/numeracy unit plan, sampling it prior to introducing it to their students.

5. Designing lessons within a particular unit requires breaking it down into elements; for example, designing a lesson for teaching literacy, consider the objective, learning outcomes, vocabulary, materials needs, procedure, evaluation, follow-up, accommodations for diverse learners, etc. and again, it is necessary to sample literacy lesson plan prior to lesson.

6.Similar to designing lessons, instructional design also involve breaking down elements; What is instructional design? Higher order thinking? What are the principles of good instruction? What are the learning outcomes? What accommodations are required for working with diverse learners? How will students learning be assessed? What are the objectives of this particular task?  

In conclusion to my inquiry about ‘how we teach and learn literacy and numeracy’, it is largely apparent that interactions within particular environments in which we are immersed in from a young age play huge impacts on the growth of our literacy and numeracy skills. These include kindergarten, school, with close friends and family, and in the immediate home environment; however, according to Melhuish et al. (2008), parenting and how parenting may influence educational achievement are not simple matters; poverty, parental education, culture, ethnicity, parental age, health, and other factors can all impact a child’s development. Other social interactions through sport, hobbies, public transport, local shops, etc, impact on our literacy and numeracy development as we grow also. Our development is furthermore highly predicted by our cultural beliefs and larger family background. But, the major influence to the progression and expansion of our development around literacy and numeracy is through the power of deliberate planning of meaningful teaching experiences conducted by educators.  And, as educators, to continue to encourage the progression of literacy and numeracy skills in our students, it is essential we are flexible to look at, think about, reflect on, improve, and expand from what we currently do to keep up with society’s rapid growth, development and increase in diversity.

Why do we teach and develop literacy and numeracy in Early Childhood?

Hmm….So, why is it that we take so much time, and put so much effort into planning adequate strategies, to ensure we teach children and promote the development of literacy and numeracy in Early Childhood? Some may wonder...

Every young person needs to be literate and numerate as we use the basic skills of literacy and numeracy in almost every part of our lives, as I realised after noting some of my own daily activities within a 24hour period which required me to use various numeracy and literacy skills (see, LO 4.3). When we communicate with others, either in traditional written forms or through the internet or technology, when we follow signs and instructions, when we are at our work or enjoying leisure time, when we try to make sense of the mass of information and data available through the media, or even when we are simply just managing our lives.

Without the skills of literacy and numeracy, we would be cut off from full participation in many aspects of our life. We would not be able to perform basic tasks, such as reading or sending an e-mail, advertisements and notices would be meaningless, we wouldn’t be able to just simply jot down a shopping list or understand a utility bill, and we would most likely (sadly) be excluded from contributing towards much of the society in which we live. While literacy and numeracy play a key role in communication, also being able to comprehend and interpret the world is an important ability we develop through becoming literate and numerate. Socialising and interacting with our friends and family, and even to people we may never have met before, is essential for participating and feeling validated within the wider community.

Better literacy and numeracy for individuals contributes to a more just and equitable society. Missing out on the skills of literacy and numeracy or failing to develop these skills to the best of each person’s capability is not just a loss for the individual, but also a huge loss for the society, as mastering the skills of literacy and numeracy brings with it many social, economic and health benefits for the individual and society as a whole. Developing good literacy and numeracy skills among all young people is fundamental to the life chances of each individual and essential to the quality and equity of Australian society.

Reference:

Cohen, V.L., & Cowen, J.W. (2007). Developing effective units of study in literacy. In Literacy for children in an onformation age. teaching reading, writing, and thinking (2nd ed., pp.578-622). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 

Fleer, M., & Raban, B. (2007). Early childhood literacy and numeracy: Building good practice. Australian Government: Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations. 

Geist, E. (2009). Children and Mathematics: A Natural Combination. In Children Are Born Mathematicians: supporting Mathematical Development, Birth to Age 8 (pp. 1-33). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Goldstein, H. (2011). Knowing What to Teach Provides a Roadmap for Early Literacy Intervention, Journal of Early Intervention, (33)4, 268-280

Melhuish, E. C., Phan, M. B., Sylva, K., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2008). Effects of the Home Learning Environment and Preschool Centre Experience upon Literacy and Numeracy Development in Early Primary School, Journal of Social Issues, (64)1, 95--114