Adult Emergent Literacy (LESLLA) Teaching Toolkit

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, ...

Board games allow learners to check their learning progress in a relaxing way. Teachers can draw their own Candyland-like board or use a template (e.g., Microsoft Word Games & Game Templates , Board Game Makers and Templates ). Draw pictures, use magazine pictures, or write words or letters on the board squares. Have learners play in groups. Provide each group with a game board, a die or a spinner, and a game piece for each learner. Learners take turn to throw the die. When they land on a square, they should read the word or say what the picture is. They can stay there if they are correct but have to go back to where they come from if they are not. Photo by  Skitterphoto on pixabay Reference: Croydon, A. (2005). Making it real: Teaching pre-literate adult refugee students. Literacy Network of Washington.

In light of the fact that many LESLLA learners are competent speakers, teachers should provide learners with opportunities to speak in class. A brief speaking activity can be a good warm-up. Teachers can create a chart with a few emojis (e.g., happy face, sad face, angry face) and put it on the wall/whiteboard. When learners enter the classroom, they will write their name or put their name card under the emoji that represents their feeling. Teachers can then invite a few learners to explain their choice or have learners talk in pairs/groups. Benefits: It helps teachers understand learners' lives and their language abilities better. This can help teachers design lessons that are more suitable for the class. Talking with and listening to learners also shows that the teacher is interested in their lives. This forges a bond of friendship and motivates learners to engage in classroom activities. Having to express themselves in a spontaneous fashion sometimes allows learners to...

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. ...

Alphabet letter tiles are useful for phonics practice. Put learners into groups and give each group two sets of 26-letter tiles (in case they have to spell - ee -, - pp -). Read a word and have learners spell the word with the tiles given. Consider printing consonants in one color and vowels in another, or printing them on paper of two different colors. You may also use plastic tiles (see "D.I.Y. Letter Tiles and a Freebie!" ). After teaching a thematic unit, you can have learners (in groups) think of vocabulary words related to the theme and then spell and read out the words. The score for each word is the sum of the letter values shown on the tile (just like Scrabble). There are free printable Scrabble tiles online (e.g.,  Paper Trail Design ).

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/ --...

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...

Learners can make their own booklets to prepare themselves for real-life conversations or speaking tests. Teachers can provide learners with a booklet template and a conversation with blanks for learners to fill in according to their situation. The booklet is easy to carry and allows learners to practice speaking at home. Not only is this a great review tool for them, but it also alleviates their anxiety when they speak. With the language support given by the booklet, learners will also feel confident about dealing with that particular situation or even with similar tasks in real life. Even if they are preparing the booklet for a speaking test, this assignment benefits them as they are learning how to review and taking responsibility for their learning, training them to see themselves confidently as legitimate learners.  ("Making a booklet," 2008) Reference: Making a booklet: Calling in sick at school. (2008). Retrieved from https://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/page/1596...

After reading a text (for meaning) with the whole class, the teacher can give learners a handout of the text or some vocabulary words from the text but with some letters missing. Learners then try to write the missing letters (with or without teacher's reading). (Text from: Weinstein-Shr, 1992, p.1) References: Liden, A., Poulos, A., & Vinogradov, P. (2008). Handout from TESOL conference presentation:  Phonics and student-generated texts for emergent readers . New York City, NY. Weinstein-Shr, G. (1992). Stories to tell our children . Boston, MA, & Florence, KY: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.