Learning Through Literacy

Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, is the world leader in liberal education and career development for deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduate students. In addition, the University’s Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center serves deaf and hard-of-hearing children at its two demonstration schools and throughout the nation by developing, implementing, and disseminating innovative educational strategies. Listed below are Gallaudet University’s conclusions as to best practices in teaching reading and writing. You’ll see that their suggestions have application beyond deaf and hard-of-hearing students and provide insights into best literacy practices for all students.

**Best Practices in Teaching Reading**
Increase	Decrease
Reading aloud to students Allowing time for independent reading	Exclusive stress on whole class or reading-group activities
Children choosing their own reading materials	Teacher selecting all reading materials for individuals and groups
Exposing children to a wide and rich range of literature	Relying on selections in basal reader
Teacher modeling and discussing his/her own reading processes	Teacher keeping his/her own reading tastes and habits private
Primary instructional emphasis on comprehension	Primary instructional emphasis on reading subskills such as phonics, word analysis, syllabication
Teaching reading as a process: • Use strategies that activate prior knowledge • Help students make and test predictions • Structure help during reading • Provide after-reading applications	Teaching reading as a single, one-step act
Foster social, collaborative activities with much discussion and interaction	Solitary seatwork
Grouping by interests or book choices	Grouping by reading level
Silent reading followed by discussion	Round-robin oral reading
Teaching skills in the context of whole and meaningful literature	Teaching isolated skills in phonics workbooks or drills
Writing before and after reading	Little or no chance to write
Encouraging invented spelling in children's early writings	Punishing pre-conventional spelling in students' early writings
Use of reading content fields (e.g., historical novels in social studies)	Segregation of reading to reading time
Evaluation that focuses on holistic, higher-order thinking processes	Evaluation focused on individual, low-level subskills
Measuring success of reading program by students' reading habits, attitudes, and comprehension	Measuring the success of the reading program only by test scores

**Best Practices in Teaching Writing**
Increase	Decrease
Student ownership and responsibility by: • Helping students choose their own topics and goals • Using brief teacher-student conferences • Teaching students to review their own progress. • Allowing time for independent reading	Teacher control of decision-making by: • Teacher deciding on all writing topics • Suggestions for improvement dictated by teacher • Learning objectives determined by teacher alone • Instruction given as whole-class activity.
Class time spent on writing whole, original pieces, through: • Establishing real purposes for writing, and students' involvement in the task • Instruction in, and support for, all stages of writing process • Pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing	Time spent on isolated drills (i.e., the subskills of grammar, vocabulary, spelling, paragraphing, penmanship, etc.)
Teacher modeling writing – drafting, revising, sharing – as a fellow author, and as demonstrator of processes	Teacher talks about writing but never writes or shares own work
Learning of grammar and mechanics in context, at the editing stage, and as items are needed	Isolated grammar lessons, given in order determined by textbook, before writing is begun
Writing for real audiences, publishing for the class and for wider communities	Assignments read only by teacher
Making the classroom a supportive setting for shared learning, using: • Active exchange and valuing of students' ideas • Collaborative small group work • Conferences and peer critiquing that give responsibility for improvement to authors	Devaluation of students' ideas through: • Students viewed as lacking knowledge and language abilities • Sense of class as competing individuals • Work with fellow students viewed as cheating, disruptive
Writing across the curriculum as a tool for learning	Writing taught only during language arts period, i.e., infrequently
Constructive and efficient evaluation that involves: • Brief informal oral responses as students work • Thorough grading of just a few student-selected, polished pieces • Focus on a few errors at a time • Cumulative view of growth and self-evaluation • Encouragement of risk-taking and honest expression	Evaluation as negative burden for teacher and student by: • Marking all papers heavily for all errors, making teacher a bottleneck • Teacher editing paper, and only after completed, rather than student making improvements • Grading seen as punitive, focused on errors, not growth