Introduction+to+Literacy

** __Introduction to Literacy__   **

** So what is Literacy? **     Literacy involves reading, writing, speaking and listening (Hill, 2006. p.3).

Literacy gives students the knowledge and profiencies for a successful present and future, to function appropriately in the community (Hill, 2006. p.72).

All children learn and develop differently and teachers must be able to support all students in the best way possible. Hill (2006, p.3) states that as a classroom teacher 3 notions are important in early literacy and include:  **Phases in Literacy Development**
 * children's learning is scaffolded by adults
 * "children are active learners and problem solvers"
 * learning and children's worlds are connected

 Children learn to read, write and gain word knowledge through a developmental process (Hill 2006 p.5). Hill (2006) describes these phases as:   Beginning (0 to 3 years) Children begin to scribble, listen and join in story telling and start to understand that signs and symbols give messages.

Early Emergent (3 to 5 years) Children use scribble more often, join in when reading aloud takes place and begin to write letters and numbers.

Emergent (Prep to Kindergarten) Children can use inital and final sounds in words, start to understand concept of words and write letters and words and uses spaces. Early (Kindergarten to Grade 1) Children are able to write many high-frequency and one-syallable words, use multiple sources of information and write about subjects that mean something to them. Transitional (Grade 1 to Grade 2) Children use different strategies to write words, begin to read with more fluency and write sentances while checking spelling and punctuation. Extending (Grade 2 to Grade 4) Children use more complex strategies to spell difficult words, use different and more complex strategies for reading and writes a range of different text types. (Hill 2006, pp.7-10)  **Developing Language**

**For Children to read and write effectively they must have the abilities to hear and perceive language and it meanings as well articulation (Hill 2006, p.20). Children use all components of language to convey meanings (Hill 2006, p.24)** Language is made up of many components which include:
 * Phonology ** which are the sounds of language


 * Syntax** which are the words and the word order of language


 * Semantics** which are the meaning of language


 * Pragmatics** which are the social or community use of language


 * Vocabulary or lexicon** which is understanding about words itself and meaning of words

(Hill 2006, pp.21.24)