Best Practices Reading

Effective teachers build a solid knowledge base in literacy research and practice in order to develop comprehensive literacy programs. These statements recognize the developmental nature of language and reflect best practices in literacy learning.

• Children come to school already knowing a great deal about oral and written knowledge in whatever language(s) they bring to school.
• Students learn best through real-world, personally relevant experiences.
• Students go through developmental stages. Educators need to observe, recognize, understand, and evaluate the phases of language development.
• Students learn more effectively in a program, which integrates reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing within a context which applies these components to authentic situations.
• Problem solving and reflecting on one's own thinking (metacognition) is important to all learning, and the development of thinking skills needs to be integrated into all classroom instruction, including language arts. Thinking skills must not be taught a discrete unit.
• Collaborative work enhances the development of literacy since it requires the use of language in authentic situations.

(Source: Joint Statement by Language Arts Frameworks Committee, Spring 2003)

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