Literacy Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Literacy Program - Essay Example This literacy programme is scheduled for a week's time, wherein a strategy is evolved to include all components of the programme. When the reading level of the student is identified, "the objective then becomes measurable, and the teacher can collect information that will provide evidence as to whether it has been met" (Gunning, 2004). In order to improve the reading comprehension of a student, I would like to introduce a combination of materials, that would help a student understand the different kinds of written materials and also improve his overall reading skills. I would include the following components in the reading comprehension module: Reading of a newspaper, a classic novel that is pertinent to the standard of the student, reading columns or articles by eminent personalities that would interest the student, reading a text book of English language, reading comics and finally, reading a project based on the interest levels of a student of the particular standard. Each day of the week-long strategy would include one item from the list each. The list is a pretty comprehensive one, with diversity in the reading approach. ... After the course of the week's programme, a post-test in the form a summative assessment programme, to determine the effectiveness of the programme. PHONICS Teaching phonics is an especially difficult task, since the English language makes use of a combination of sounds, that are pronounced differently under different rules of stress and syllable-framework. Hence, students find it difficult to understand pronunciation under different circumstances. For examples, homonyms are difficult to teach. Hence, the literacy programme would include a strategy to help students pronounce words correctly, keeping in mind, the context. The programme would include reading lessons, wherein students would be introduced to the concept of phonetics, the symbols for each modern letter in the English alphabet, the concept of syllables, exercises based on not just synonyms and antonyms, but also homonyms. Exercises in the form of listening lessons, by encouraging a student to record his/ her reading test everyday on the tape and then asking him/her to come up with a personally assessment of the pronunciation of words. This would help the student understand and analyse words, besides marking the progress he has made in the course of the programme. DEVELOPING VOCABULARY In a literacy programme, developing the strength of the students' vocabulary is very important. For this aspect of literacy education, one cannot generalize the extent of a student's