What is Literacy?

As I look ahead to the fall, constantly planning in the back of my mind all summer, I am thinking about what it means for my students to truly become literate.  Literacy refers to the ability to read and write, but it really goes much deeper than that.

In these times of immediate results, social media and mass overload of information, we need to teach our students to be literate in many ways.  Students need to gain a deeper level of literacy where they can look at various texts and interpret them for both their validity and content.  Students must be able to adequately relay their comprehension and interpretation of texts through oral and written language.

My job as a teacher is less about making sure all the students are caught up and on the right page, and more about meeting students where they are on the continuum of learning and pushing them to reach their next level through differentiation, the use of students’ interests and talents, and, for me, arts integration.  Big Universe seems to be a wonderful resource for these goals, especially with differentiation.

As a new blogger for Big Universe, it is my hope that I will become a better teacher of literacy through my own reflection and interaction with Big Universe readers and the use of this amazing resource in my classroom.   I am also excited to see the integration possibilities of literature and literacy with the arts.

I can imagine myself using Big Universe to empower students to become motivated learners, gain more autonomy over their reading and writing experiences, and to become more literate in the 21st century.  Let the journey begin!