Article Reviews: Teaching Literacy

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that authentic literacy is broadly thought of as reading and writing in a personal narrative format. The author relates that Duke et al in their article 'Authentic Literacy Activities for Developing Comprehension and Writing' reported on their study involving 26 second and third grade teachers to investigate the development of students' ability to comprehend and compose informational and procedural texts in science. The author points out that this research confirmed that language skills acquisition improves in an authentic context rather than through de-contextualized or abstract learning. The paper also tells about a study by Mary F. Heller reported in her article 'Telling Stories and Talking Facts: First Graders' Engagements in a Nonfiction Book Club', which investigated the nature of responses of a small group of girls to see if these responses were grounded in facts learned from the readings or were narrative in nature.


Table of Contents:
Authentic Literacy Activities
Nonfiction Book Club

From the Paper:

"Authentic literacy activities as described in this article offer many advantages to a classroom teacher. We all wish to make our classes as interesting and relevant to our students as we possibly can. This definition of authentic writing and reading gives us a way to do this. Most all of us can recall how boring it seemed to mindlessly do worksheets or endless lists of practice exercises. By adding a "real" audience and a "real" purpose can make a writing assignment more meaningful or fun. Whether in graduate school or second grade, most of us would rather understand "why" we have to do an activity." Authentic literacy activities, as defined in this article, help students to understand that "why. Children can see how the skills they are learning are used by adults. In an age where students are subject to a great deal of test-preparation activities, doing something "real" might also be a welcomed break for teachers and students.

Sample of Sources Used:

• Duke, N.K., Purcell-Gates, V., Hall, L.A. and Tower, C. (2006 December/2007 January). Authentic literacy activities for developing comprehension and writing. The Reading Teacher. 60(4). 344-355.
• Heller, Mary F. (December 2006/January 2007). Telling stories and talking facts: First graders' engagements in a nonfiction book club. The Reading Teacher. 60(4). 358-369.

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