THE MAN WHO DOES NOT READ

HAS NO ADVANTAGE OVER THE

MAN WHO CANNOT READ.
- MARK TWAIN

Exploration of
Literacy in
English/Language
Arts
Spring 2015
C a i t l i n C ro u c h

LITERACY IN THE UNITED

STATES

DEFINING LITERACY IN THE 21 S T

CENTURY

In Literacy in American Lives (2001), Deborah

Brandt describes literacy as a resource, an
economic, political, intellectual, spiritual
[resource], which, like wealth or education, or
trade skill, or social connections, is pursued
for the opportunities and protections that it
potentially grants its seekers (Burke 5).

SOCIETY NEEDS CREATIVE,

ENGAGED, AND ACTIVE YOUTH
The secret message communicated to most
young people today by the society around them is
that they are not needed, that the society will run
itself quite nicely until they - at some distant point
in the future - will take over the reigns. Yet the fact
is that the society is not running itself nicely...
because the rest of us need all the energy, brains,
imagination and talent that young people can
bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society
to attempt to solve its desperate problems without
the full participation of even very young people is
imbecile.

SKILLS NEEDED BY U.S.

WORKFORCE TO CLOSE GLOBAL
ACHIEVEMENT GAP
According to Darling-Hammond (2010), the
following skills are those needed to close the
global achievement gap and ensure Americas
continued success:
1. Design, evaluate, and manage ones own work so
that it continually improves
2. Frame, investigate, and solve problems using a wide
range of tools and resources
3. Collaborate strategically with others
4. Communicate eff ectively in many forms
5. Find, analyze, and use information for many purposes
6. Develop new products and ideas (2)
- Jim Burke, The English Teachers Companion

TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE ENGLISH

CLASS STRIVES TO TEACH
Jim Burkes list of types of knowledge English aspires to teach:
1. Procedural: How to do something: communicate,
comprehend, compose.
2. Cultural: Who iswhen was what were? What do we
value?
3. Historical: What was it like during? What did people
believe then?
4. Structural: How does x work? How is y constructed?
5. Rhetorical: What is language? How to use it to achieve a
given eff ect?
6. Existential: Who are we? Whose are we? Why are we here?
7. Ethical: Should we? What are obligations to? What if?
8. Psychological: Why do we act that way? What do we need,
want and why?
- Jim Burke, The English Teachers Companion

LITERACY DATA

From the
National
Center for
Education
Statistics
Adult
Literacy in
America
2002

DATA

DATA

DATA

DATA

DATA

DATA

TEACHING READING
AND WRITING IN ELA
CLASSROOMS

VIDEO: WHY WE READ LITERATURE?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MSYw502dJNY&index=1&list=PL8d
PuuaLjXtOeEc9ME62zTfqc0h6Pe8vb

STRATEGIES TO ENCOURAGE
REGULAR READING
Re ad in g Ch alle ng e s
I n de pe n d e n t Re ad in g (C hil dre n s B o o ks , M e m o ir s , B iogr ap hie s,
Po e t ry , S ho r t Sto ri e s , N o v e ls , Ne w sp ap e r s, M agaz in e s , Re v ie ws ,
e tc.)
D ai ly re adin g tim e
Set goals: 5/10/15/20/25 pages per day
Set aside certain amount of time every day (Wake Up, After School,
Bedtime)
Always carry a book
Keep a reading journal (hard copy, list on your phone, blog, or phone app)
Limit television time
Read what you like; if you dont like one book after the fi rst chapter, start
another one
Find book lists on topics youre interested in
Read the same book as a friend
Treat yourself to a cup of tea or coff ee and relax
Visit used book stores or libraries

SOURCES
Burke, Jim. (2013). The English Teachers Companion.
New Hampshire: Heinemann.
Green, John. (2012). How and why we read literature.
Crash
Course. YouTube.
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSYw502dJNY&index=1&l
ist=
PL8dPuuaLjXtOeEc9ME62zTfqc0h6Pe8vb
National Education for Education Statistics. (2002).
Adult Literacy in America. Retrieved from
https
://nces.ed.gov/pubs93/93275.pdf