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...

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. ...

Photo by 453169 on pixabay The following resources contain instructional materials or guidelines for teaching literacies that are relevant to LESLLA learners: Health Literacies Schenker, H. (2012). Read for Your Life: Resources for Teaching Health Literacy to Adults. Retrieved from https://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/03/21/resources-teaching-health-literacy-adults ----- The webpage includes a list of essential health literacy skills, book recommendation, and useful online resources. Digital Literacies Arlington Education & Employment Program (REEP). (n.d.). REEPworld: Student Links. Retrieved from  http://www.reepworld.org/studentsite/favlinks.html#Literacy ----- This webpage of REEPworld provides links to online resources that can be useful for LESLLA learners (such as handwriting exercise, typing practice, phonics, picture dictionary).  Digital Learning Center. (n.d.). Use a computer to do almost anything!. Retrieved from https://digitallearn.org/ --...