All teachers teach literacy in some form. You may teach young children how to read or introduce older students to subject matter vocabulary and reading in the content area.  With the pandemic, almost all teachers are either teaching virtually or planning their future virtual teaching.  Today we are sharing ideas for effective virtual literacy instruction.

According to literacy expert Richard Allington, there are six elements of Effective literacy instruction that every student needs every day. With help from literacy educator Dr. Katie McNight, we’ve taken these six teaching practices and added ideas for virtual teaching.

Six Elements of Effective Reading Instruction Every Child Needs Every Day

Every child listens to a fluent adult read aloud.

All students in grades Pre-k-12 can benefit from modeling from a fluent reader.  Fortunately, this is one of the easiest strategies to accomplish in a virtual classroom.

Many teachers and principals have adopted a practice of reading orally to students on Facebook . Others are creating their own You Tube videos.  Michelle Obama has a weekly read aloud session on PBS.  Many children’s book authors and other celebrities also have daily or weekly read aloud sessions which you can find on their Facebook pages, web sites or You Tube.

In addition, many educational companies are offering their resources for free during the pandemic.

Tumble Book Library, for elementary school is offering free subscriptions through August.

Teen Book Cloud, for middle and high school is also free through August.

Storyline Online is searchable by grade level.

Free audio books are available at Audiobook Cloud.

Every child reads something he or she chooses. 

This doesn’t mean that every child can read whatever they want, although sometimes that is important.  It does that mean that students get choices, which increases their motivation and allows differentiation by reading level, interest or subject matter knowledge.

Maybe the pandemic is the time to allow students free choice in what they read. Some schools are currently delivery books to students.  If so, rather than delivering whole class sets, give students choices.

Give students suggestions curated around a curriculum topic. Share a list of your favorite novels. Remind students and parents that many public libraries are now open for pick up.

Online resources also offer students choice.

The Library of Congress has curated topical collections for teachers.  Students can choose from primary sources material which includes articles, audio, files and videos.

The Smithsonian Institute and National Geographic give students and teachers access to a large amount of material which can help teachers to provide students with choices.

Read Works, which offers passages at different reading levels, is currently free during the pandemic.

Every child reads something he or she understands.

There is a time to stretch students and develop skill by guiding through material that is at their instructional level.

There is also a time to allow students to read things that are at their independent level. Fluency is built by repeated reading of easy, comfortable materials. This is also how we build interest and love of reading. Most readers did not become readers by reading things that challenged them but by reading things that interested them.

Many of the ideas offered above in the section on choice fit here as well.

Sometimes we all like to read a novel or thriller that doesn’t make us work too hard. We like to reread a favorite book. We don’t always choose a book that challenges us or is of the best literary quality. We love a good series, regardless of its literary merit.

This is especially true during this crisis. Maybe it is time to relax our literary standards and allow students to read whatever they want. Like us, they may choose books that are easy and light.  Encourage puzzle books or joke books. Let them read magazines or blogs.

Keep in mind on of the truisms of teaching reading:

The more you read, the better you will read.

Every child reads accurately.

Accurate reading involves understanding of phonemic awareness, phonics, word identification, vocabulary and fluency in addition to comprehension.

Encourage students to read orally- to a parent, sibling, pet or even a stuffed animal. Sometimes the best homework is for students to just read with a parent for a few minutes every day. This is not overwhelming to parents who may be frustrated trying to figure out the appropriate phonetic sounds on a worksheet or lack the skills to teach their children various decoding strategies.

Vocabulary is often strengthened through games. Perhaps this is the time for a good old -fashioned game of Scrabble, Boggle, Upwords, Pictionary, Apples to Apples or other word games. Balderdash is a great way to develop understanding of vocabulary and lacking the board game version can easily be done with just a dictionary and paper. This kind of vocabulary work would be a welcome break for parents and students alike as students are learning while having fun, reducing some of the stress of homeschooling.

There are also many web sites that help students with word work.

Flocabulary is one of our favorite sites. It is a fun site where students can learn about different subject matter topics through Hip Hop. There are options for many subjects and grade levels. Kids might even be inspired to write their own Hip Hop stories about some of the subject matter they have learned.

If students have access to tablets or phones, there are many free apps that help students with letters, sounds, and words. Explore apps for your grade level and offer parents and students suggestions for the ones that will build skills connected to your content standards.

Every child writes about something personally meaningful.

Many children struggle with writing.  Rather than stressing over how to deliver writing instruction via Zoom or worksheets, this is the time to encourage real writing for real purposes. Writing, like reading, is best learned by actually doing it. Give students choices, within your curriculum standards, that offer different pathways.

Here are some examples:

Teach students the basic format for writing a letter. Then have them write letters to grandparents or elderly neighbors, or those in nursing homes.

After a brief lesson on memoir writing, ask students to write their memoir based on their experiences during this pandemic.

Have students interview their parents or grandparents and write what they learned.

For writing informational text, offer students options.  For example, read or watch an article from the news.  Give your opinion about it. Write three statements that offer support and rationale for your response.

Websites and apps offer a host of writing opportunities for students.

Kid In Story is a book maker app for grades pre-k-3.

Write About is a classroom writing community built by teachers.

Write the World is a global community of young writers. If offers writing prompts and competitions for writers.

Think CERCA is for grades 3-12 develops critical and analytical thinking., including close reading skills. It is free during the pandemic.

Every child talks with peers about reading and writing.

Many people are craving more social interaction during isolation. This is especially true of extroverts. We should also remember what we learned from Vygotsky, many people learn best through social interaction with others.

Admittedly, this is a challenge while teaching virtually. Zoom and other group meeting platforms offer some discussion opportunities, though synchronous work is challenging for many families.

Most situations for peer to peer interaction come via technology. While we know some families lack access, we can offer some options that require minimal access to the internet.

Consider giving students options to work with a sibling or friend. Let them do projects that allow them to read or write with others. This is highly motivational for some students. Lacking internet access, perhaps they can talk with a partner through the telephone.

Here are some ideas:

Sixth graders worked with their friends to write an ABC book of ancient Egypt.

A fourth grader and his sixth- grade sibling wrote a manual for how to care for a new puppy based on their experience with their new pet.

Two second grade students read several books in the Magic Treehouse series and then wrote their own treehouse mystery.

High school students watch videos on Flocabulary and Hamilton videos on You Tube  and created their own Hip Hop versions of their history content.

What would your students dream up if they were given the opportunity? 

 

Effective virtual literacy instruction is challenging, but we think it helps to go to the core of what we know is effective.  If we can’t do everything, we need to choose the things that are manageable and the things that will not stress students, teachers and parents.  We need to provide options.  We need to become facilitators by designing work that is instructional, motivational, and doable.

We believe in teachers and their ability to come though in difficult times.  We have watched teachers pour their heart and soul into their students during this crisis.

We send you our best,

Paula and Michele