Adult Emergent Literacy (LESLLA) Teaching Toolkit

Picture stories can be used to introduce new vocabulary and to practice speaking and/or reading skills (Minnesota Literacy Council). Photo from Bow Valley College Procedure: Introduce the story and show the pictures after activating schema. Look at the pictures one by one. Give or have learners supply one short sentence to describe each picture. Have the whole class repeat the sentence. Provide learners with sentences on paper strips. Have them match the sentences with the pictures. Have learners read the sentences aloud. Variation : Divide the class into groups. Ask learners to put the pictures in order. In this way, each group creates a story of their own. Each group then shares their story with the whole class. (Adapted from Croydon, 2005, p.71; Hartel, Lowry, & Hendon, 2006; Minnesota Literacy Council) References/Resources:  Bow Valley College. (n.d.). ESL Literacy Readers: Forty theme-based readers for adult ESL literacy learners. Retrieved from...

After teaching vocabulary, the teacher may tell the class that they are going on a scavenger hunt  (e.g., in the park, in the campus library, in the neighborhood). Before going out, the teacher asks learners to create scavenger hunt worksheets for their classmates. To create the worksheet, each learner writes or copies vocabulary words, which are items that their peers have to look for. Then, the class goes out and learners look for items on their handout. When they find the item, they can draw or take pictures. The activity helps learners associate print with real-life objects. It also allows learners to practice reading print in a relaxing setting. Some learners spend most (if not all) of their life in their neighborhood only. Arranging field trips to places outside of their neighborhood can broaden their horizon and understand the city/country more. Sometimes, it even gives them insights into what life they want to live and motivates them to learn English to engage in social a...

Photo by Rachel Lynette French on Unsplash There are many benefits of using writings written by learners (Parrish, 2004, pp.142-144; Peyton, 1993, pp.60-62): Learners can relate to the texts easily and are engaged in reading and writing in a meaningful way. This motivates to express their thoughts and feelings. Using learner-produced texts allows learners to see that their thoughts and experiences are worthy sharing with others. This empowers them to take on an active role in their community. Writing drafts and reading texts written by their peers allow learners to actively think about what good writing is. When revising their drafts, learner writers think about language use, grammar, punctuation, and discourse in a meaningful way. The peers' writings are good models to show emergent readers that they can also become successful writers. Emergent readers need to read extensively in order to acquire the language. Using learner-produced writings provides a substantial q...

The Language Experience Approach (LEA) centers around learners' experiences and allows learners to talk about and write their own stories and also listen to, read, and be inspired by their peers' stories. Photo by  1866946 on Pixabay Features: Materials are learner-generated. (see " Using Learner-Produced Texts ") All communication skills--reading, writing, listening, and speaking--are integrated.  Difficulty of vocabulary and grammar are determined by the learners own language use.  Learning and teaching are personalized, communicative, and creative. Sometimes, teachers ask learners to tell a story or an experience instead of writing it, and then they transcribe or write about it. (Taylor, 1993, p.48) Possible activities for the class: Making French toast  Making a salad Making cards (thank you notes, get well cards, holiday cards) Interpreting signs in and around school Mapping the neighborhood Taking a trip to the bank, city hall, ...

Providing opportunities to talk or read about news in the classroom is an act of empowerment; learners need to know more about the world around them. Moreover, many adult learners are interested in the news. Using news in adult literacy classrooms builds up their confidence and develops their identity as English users. Picture by  OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay Techniques: * Bring in pictures from newspapers or magazines showing current events. Have learners talk about the events and teach important vocabulary (e.g., earthquake , election , war ). * Write about a news story with language that is suitable for the learners (see "Resources on writing for LESLLA learners" below). Resources on writing for LESLLA learners:  Simply Stories. (n.d.).  Simply Stories Guide . Retrieved from  http://simplystories.org/simply-stories-guide/ ----- This is a brief description of the language used in different levels of the Simply Stories. WorldSight Media. ...

Self-access boxes contain activities or materials of different skills and levels and allow learners to supplement their learning with activities/materials of their own choice. The teacher organizes the materials (e.g., color coding for level and skill) and teaches learners how to use the boxes. Self-access boxes offer flexibility; learners can go to the boxes for more learning anytime. They can get more exercises when they finish classwork early, or redo an exercise if they feel they need more practice. They can also look for activities that suit their level when they find a class activity too challenging. This is helpful especially for big classes, where the teacher may not be able to address every learner's needs in each lesson. Self-access boxes also promote learner autonomy, helping learners become independent learners, who are confident that they are capable of taking care of their own learning. Photo by  moreharmony on pixabay What can be put in a self-access...

Everyone likes music. Teaching English through songs allows learners to relax (lowering their affective filter) and absorb the language. If the teacher or some students play musical instruments, singing with live music will create fond memories for the class, thus building up a pleasant environment for learning. According to Abbott (2002), using music in the literacy classrooms has also the following advantages: Music and culture are intertwined . Listening to music also means to listen to someone's stories. This also encourages learners to share theirs. Music increases retention as lyrics are often repetitive. Increased exposure to the same language helps automaticity. Music and related classroom activities appeal to different learner styles and preferences . Obviously, musical learners enjoy listening to music. Emotive, intrapersonal, or interpersonal learners can be attracted to the emotions and thoughts expressed in the lyrics. If it is dance music or an action song, kin...

Bingo is probably one of the most popular games used in language classrooms. It can be customized easily to serve different purposes. The original number bingo game can be used to practice listening to numbers. Bingo cards can also be made with a target sound (e.g., onset, final, vowels), and the game will become a phonics activity. Bingo provides learners with opportunities to practice reading print; it also helps learners associate sounds of the language with print. Phonics bingo cards (from https://myfreebingocards.com/school/reading/-ay-words)