Literacy is the ability to use written language (English) actively and passively. It is basically the ability to understand, develop, interpret and converse any language with varying contexts. Teaching literacy focuses on certain skills such comprehension, vocabulary, phonological awareness and decoding. Planning and teaching of literacy majorly depend on techniques and materials. In addition to techniques and materials, the plan of literacy also depends on the level of learners. The structure of teaching literacy is always provided by the learning objectives. In most cases, teaching reading is associated with writing. Writing encourages thinking and it one of literacy part that learners are required to have for academic purpose. Therefore, the teacher should develop activities that incorporate both reading and writing.
Notably, CTE classes are an important avenue to conduct literacy lessons because students are usually presented with authentic texts such computer programs, floor plans, lab reports, blue prints and technical manuals (Thomas and Barksdale-Ladd, 2014). Providing students with texts that relate with their interests inspire the unengaged student to participate in reading and writing activities. It is important to include literacy strategies in career and technical education (CTE) as much as they appear difficult for both student and teachers. There are numerous literacy strategies that should be implemented in the CTE instructional program. This paper seeks to elaborate on literacy strategies that need to be incorporated into CTE instructional program. It will further describe how each strategy will be integrated into CTE program.
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Teaching students to read and summarize an article is one of literacy strategies that can be implemented in the CTE program. This strategy seems to be a simple task to students but most of them end up missing key points or plagiarize nearly the whole article. It is of significance to use a graphic organizer to assist students in solving such problems. The graphic organizer permits students to get the right information, arrange the information in the correct order and process their thoughts before putting down a formal summary. They also help student to generate ideas, identify what is important and why, compare and contrast ideas and examine their comprehension of concepts. Programs such as inspiration and PowerPoint assist students to arrange their writing. Students can also utilize webs to identify major topics and details that relate to those topics. After identifying the topics, students can even web off details to progress with their elaboration. Teachers can assist their student to avoid plagiarism by aiding students to understand intellectual property rights concept and further assist them to practice paraphrasing and summarizing. Teachers should also provide enough resources to help student in understanding various topics.
Students should also be taught to think critically and ask questions. It is one of the most important literacy strategies that can be used. The CTE instructional program requires students to have critical questioning skills. Students need to be taught how to properly ask questions on what they read, hear, think and see. In some students, this skill is natural while others need some help to develop this skill. Critical thinking is having the ability to read a text in manner that enhances a comprehensive understanding of the socially established concepts. It encourages students to comprehend and question the values, beliefs and attitudes of written texts (Moje, 2016). Students ought to be encouraged to develop and master the ability to read, critique, question and analyze the message within any form of text. Critical thinking is a very important skill for language. Critical thinking and language develop together and nurture the development of each other. As student start participating in critical thinking, their language skill increases because they are encouraged to develop and use a more dynamic language.
Additionally, students should be taught how to reflect on and respond on what they see. This strategy is important because it helps student to reflect on what they have learned, link it to the past knowledge and develop a proper written response. The art of reflection poses numerous difficulties to teach but it is a vital tool to learn. It is also important to use sentence starters to respond on what is reflected on. This helps the student to find suitable words to reflect on and respond to the given videos. It also assists the class to have a more genuine conversation about what they have learned. Students who reflect on their literacy practices develop the knowledge that assists them to communicate in different discipline, genres and settings (Shanahan, T. and Shanahan, C., 2018). Evidently, reflection enables students to have a disposition toward discovery and connection-making. Students are able to learn that they can perform any detective work needed to analyze and respond to any situation. The ways in which they perform this task include analyzing various types of text, determining the importance of their past knowledge and enhancing their literacy strategies as required.
Conclusively, it is imperative to teach CTE students the strategies of literacy. These strategies are significant for individuals who need to study in CTE program or university. Students need to be taught how to effectively read and summarize an article, how to critically think and ask questions as well as reflecting on and responding to what they see. These teaching strategies for literacy enables student to identify appropriate information learn how to properly question what they have read and further reflect and respond precisely to what they have learned connecting with past knowledge. As much as literacy is difficult to teach, teachers should support and encourage students through creating excellent activities that motivate students to learn.
References
Moje, E. B. (2016). Foregrounding the disciplines in secondary literacy teaching and learning: A call for change. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 52 (2), 96-107.
Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2018). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: Rethinking content-area literacy. Harvard educational review , 78 (1), 40-59.
Thomas, K. F., & Barksdale-Ladd, M. A. (2014). Metacognitive processes: Teaching strategies in literacy education courses. Reading psychology , 21 (1), 67-84.
