Literacy Curriculum Themes

Personal Information/Mail

Level I

  • Teach the student basic introductions:

A: Hi, my name is ______.
B: Nice to meet you. My name is ______.
A: Nice to meet you.

  • Teach the student to read and write his/her name. Start with his/her first name and then last name.
  • For a bit more of a challenge, after the student memorizes the above dialog, teach the student to read it and then how to write it.
  • Teach the student to answer the question What’s your phone number?Use a phone to demonstrate the meaning of the question. Practice reading and writing the numbers in the phone number. Practice finding and naming the numbers in the student’s number on a phone.
  • Teach the student to answer the question, Where do you live? Or, alternatively, What apartment? (note that the student will need to tell a building manager the answer to this question, so this is a good reason to learn to answer it).

Level II

  • Teach the student to answer basic personal information questions. You may wish to role play as an apartment manager asking these questions. Possible questions include What’s your name? What apartment? What’s your phone number?
  • If the student needs more practice with saying his/her phone number use a phone to demonstrate the meaning of the question. Demonstrate when to pause while saying the numbers. Practice reading and writing the numbers in the phone number. Practice finding and naming the numbers in the student’s number on a phone.
  • Teach the student to say his/her address.
  • Teach the student to identify the different parts of an address on an envelope. Bring in some mail to practice with. Cut it apart and put it back together. Label the different parts.
  • Teach the student to write his/her address. Then practice writing the address on envelopes…or in a box drawn on a document.
  • If there is time, have the student write a short note to you and then mail it to you. You could have the student dictate the note to you, giving the student more time to focus on correctly addressing the envelope. Bring it in after you receive it in the mail.

Level III

  • Teach the student to answer basic personal information questions. You may wish to role play as an apartment manager asking these questions. Possible questions include What’s your name? What apartment? What’s your phone number?
  • Teach the student to identify the different parts of an address on an envelope. Bring in some mail to practice with. Cut it apart and put it back together. Label the different parts.
  • Teach the student to write his/her address. Then practice writing the address on envelopes…or in a box drawn on a document.
  • If there is time, have the student write a short note to you and then mail it to you. You could have the student dictate the note to you, giving the student more time to focus on correctly addressing the envelope. Bring it in after you receive it in the mail.
  • Have the student fill in a form that asks for basic personal information. First have the student dictate the answers to you and write them in. Then the student can fill in another on his/her own. Compare the two to find mistakes.

School/Classroom Activities

Level I

  • Use Total Physical Response to teach the student a few common classroom activities such as: pick up the pen, get some paper, write your name, open the book, close the book.
  • Practice the vocabulary that the student learned through Total Physical Response in other ways.
  • Use a demonstration to indicate to the student that you would like him/her to point to and name any objects in the room that he/she can say. Then use sticky notes to label a few objects and teach the student to read and write the words.
  • Take pictures of the student walking to the school, sitting with a tutor, reading, and writing and then use these pictures to tell a “story”. Teach the student the story.
  • Introduce simple commands: circle, show me, point to. Use modeling to demonstrate meaning, then check comprehension with simple activities using known vocabulary.

Level II

  • Use Total Physical Response to teach the student a few common classroom activities such as: pick up the pen, get some paper, write your name, open the book, close the book. Switch roles to have students ask you for items using these phrases.
  • Ask students to identify common supplies in the classroom. Introduce any new vocabulary to include paper, pen, pencil, paper, chair, eraser, table.
  • Introduce simple commands: write, read, listen,say. Use modeling to demonstrate meaning, then check comprehension with simple activities with known vocabulary.
  • After the student learns he words, teach the student to read them.
  • Introduce simple clarification phrases through modeling:
  • Again, please.
  • I don’t understand.
  • I don’t know.

Level III

  • Use Total Physical Response to teach the student a few common classroom activities such as: pick up the pen, get some paper, write your name, open the book, close the book. Switch roles to have students ask you for items using these phrases.
  • Ask students to identify common supplies in the classroom. Introduce any new vocabulary to include paper, pen, pencil, paper, chair, eraser, table. Include sharpener, binder, whiteboard, marker, map, as needed.
  • Teach students to read and write the school/classroom words they already know how to say.
  • Introduce simple clarification phrases through modeling:
  • Again, please.
  • I don’t understand.
  • I don’t know.
  • Please speak slowly.
  • How do you spell that?

Food

Level I

  • Students learn basic food vocabulary: meat, rice, vegetables, water, food, eat.
  • Use grocery store ads to label food items, or go to the store in Skyline Tower and student (not the tutor) talks about what they see.
  • Use Total Physical Response to fill a shopping bag with food items. Students respond to the teacher saying “I need ___.”
  • Practice the vocabulary that the student learned through Total Physical Response in other ways.
  • Teach student to read food words they already know how to say.

Level II

  • Students learn basic food vocabulary: meat, rice, vegetables, water, food, eat.
  • Teach student to read food words they already know how to say.
  • Teach students to express food preference “I like ___. I don’t like ____.”
  • Use grocery store ads to label food items, or go to the store in Skyline Tower and student (not the tutor) talks about what they see.
  • Ask students to use the question “Do you like ____?” to survey another person and fill out a basic chart based on their responses.
  • Teach student basic container words “bag of… bottle of… gallon of… carton of…”. Choose three or four at most.
  • Ask student to write a shopping list of foods they need.
  • Label food in a picture of a grocery store.
  • Use a picture grid to generate sentences orally; e.g., “I buy ____ at the store.”

Level III

  • Create a language experience story about shopping at the store. Use store ads to generate ideas and illustrate the sentences.Teach students to read the words they already know how to say.
  • Use grocery store ads to label food items, or go to the store in Skyline Tower and student (not the tutor) talks about what they see.
  • Read example store layouts and ask students questions: “Where is the fruit?” etc.
  • Ask student to design map, labeling aisles according to where food items are sold. Note that you will probably need to teach the student to read the map first.
  • Ask students to write a list of things they need at the store, using store ads as prompts.

Money/Shopping

Level I

  • Very basic counting skills: ask the student to count something and then build on what the student knows by practicing counting objects in the room, coins, play money and so on. If the student doesn’t know any numbers yet work on counting to 5, for example.
  • Teach the student to name $1, $5, $10, and $20. Ask the student to add some of these together and to make very basic change, such as five ones for $5.
  • Read and write the digits for 1-5 or 1-10, depending on the student.
  • Teach a short shopping dialog such as the following. Use a prop and pretend to buy it to make it more meaningful. Try to have the student memorize the dialog .

A: How much is this?
B: Five dollars.
A: Thank you.

  • Ask the student to list items that the student buys on a regular basis. This list may be quite short. Teach the student to read the shopping words that he/she already can say.

Level II

  • Review basic counting skills to find out what numbers the student already knows and then build on these abilities. If the student can count to 20, teach the student the pattern to follow to count to 100, for example.
  • Teach the student to name the coins and their amounts. Review $1, $5, $10, and $20. Practice adding and making change. Start with very easy amounts and increase the difficulty slightly if the student is ready.
  • Read and write the digits for 1-100.
  • Read and write the spelled out numbers for one to twenty.
  • Ask the student to list items that the student buys on a regular basis. Teach the student to read the shopping words that he/she already can say.
  • Teach basic shopping phrases such as: I want to buy the ______, How much is the ______? Where is the ____? and use objects in the room to practice these phrases.

Level III

  • Review counting numbers 1-100.
  • Read and write the digits for 1-100.
  • Read and write the spelled out numbers for one to one-hundred. Note that practicing random numbers will be a lot more interesting than writing out all of the numbers. Teach the student the pattern for writing the numbers rather than how to spell every number.
  • Review the names and amounts of all the coins.
  • Review $1, $5, $10, and $20. Practice adding and making change. Start with a couple easy amounts and increase the difficulty when the student is ready.
  • Ask the student to tell you about a typical shopping trip. Use the language experience approach and write down what the student says to teach the student to read and then write the words the student tells you.
  • Review basic shopping phrases such as: I want to buy the ______, How much is the ______? Where is the ____? and use objects in the room to practice these phrases.
  • Teach a few shopping vocabulary words such as: pay, price, cashier, sale, receipt

Family

Level I

  • Teach basic family vocabulary using pictures of families and labeling family members: mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter.
  • Use Total Physical Response to point to family members in pictures “Show me…brother.”
  • Practice vocabulary learned in Total Physical Response in other ways.
  • After student learns these words, teach them to read the words.

Level II

  • Teach basic family vocabulary using pictures of families and labeling family members: mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter. Add grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle if the student is ready.
  • Use picture grids to help students generate sentences about family members: “I have one brother. I have 2 sisters.” Etc.
  • Show pictures of families and ask student to count the people they see; e.g. “How many …brothers?”
  • Practice recognizing the words in other ways, focusing on literacy skills.

Level III

  • Teach basic family vocabulary using pictures of families and labeling family members: mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter.Add grandmother, grandfather, aunt, unclewhen the student is ready.
  • Teach students simple questions and answers about family members:
  1. Do you have any brothers?
  2. I have one brother.
  1. Do you have any children?
  2. I have one daughter.
  • Make a grid and survey student and others about their family members:
    “Do you have any brothers? *check yes or no*” Ask student clarifying questions about the grid. Add a layer to this activity by including a question of “How many?”, writing the number response.
  • Practice recognizing the words in other ways, focusing on literacy skills; e.g. noticing the pattern in words… for example, -ther in father, mother, brother.

Days of the Week/Months of the Year

Level I

  • Teach students days of the week.
  • Use business signs and calendars to teach students to identify and read days of the week and abbreviations in an authentic context.
  • Ask “how many?” for days of the week in regards to a specific month. For example, “How many Mondays in July?”
  • Review days of the week by practicing “Today is ____.”
  • Use manipulatives on simple charts and calendars to identify days of the week.

Level II

  • Teach students days of the week and their abbreviations. Then, teach them to read the days of the week and their abbreviations.
  • Use grids to create simple schedules of routines the students are familiar with. For example, when is school? Check Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
  • Expand “Today is____” to include “Tomorrow will be___” and “Yesterday was ___,” so that students review days of the week and letters in this simple reading activity.
  • Use manipulatives on simple charts and calendars to identify days of the week, months and year to fill out information based on those manipulatives.

Level III

  • Review days of the week and their abbreviations.
  • Ask students to generate “Today is___. Tomorrow will be ____. Yesterday was ____.” on their own to review days of the week.
  • Use schedules to write simple stories about a student’s weekly routine. For example, “On Tuesday, I go to school. On Wednesday, I go to the store.”
  • Use manipulatives on simple charts and calendars to identify days of the week, months and year to fill out information based on those manipulatives.
  • Teach students to ask clarifying questions about the dates
  1. What is the date today?
  2. July 19th, 2013.
  1. What day is it?
  2. Today is Tuesday.

Weather

Level I

  • Teach the student a few basic weather words such as hot, cold, sunny, raining, snowing, windy. Practice these words in multiple ways.
  • Teach the student to say It is ______ to describe the weather.
  • Use pictures to prompt the student to describe the weather and write down what the student says. Teach the student to read and later to write what he/she said.
  • Review months of the year by teaching the student to describe the weather during these different months. For example: It is January. It is snowing.
  • Count how many days this week it rained (or snowed, if appropriate). Then count how many days it was sunny.

Level II

  • Use pictures to see what weather words the student already knows and then teach a few more such as warm and storm. If it is winter teach blizzard and frost bite. Practice these words in multiple ways.
  • Teach the student to say It is ______ to describe the weather.
  • Review months of the year by teaching the student to describe the weather during these different months. For example: It snows in January.
  • Talk about weather that the student likes and doesn’t like.
  • Count how many days this week it rained (or snowed, if appropriate). Then count how many days it was sunny. Repeat with last week. Make guesses about next week and then next week see if you were correct.
  • Ask the student to tell you about a day that was difficult because of the weather. Write down what the student says and then teach the student to read and write what he/she said.

Level III

  • Use pictures to see what weather words the student already knows and then teach a few more such as temperature, and storm. If it is winter teach blizzard and frost bite. Practice these words in multiple ways.
  • Teach the student to say It is ______ to describe the weather.
  • Review months of the year by teaching the student to describe the weather during these different months. For example: It snows in January.
  • Talk about weather that the student likes and doesn’t like.
  • Count how many days this week it rained (or snowed, if appropriate). Then count how many days it was sunny. Repeat with last week. Make guesses about next week and then next week see if you were correct.
  • For an extra challenge demonstrate how to make and read a bar graph to show how many days it rained and how many it was sunny. Then make another bar graph together about a different week.
  • Ask the student to tell you about a day that was difficult because of the weather. Write down what the student says and then teach the student to read and write what he/she said.

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