Teaching Real World Literacy

Promoting literacy in the classroom should be fun and engaging for children. Children should feel empowered. Teachers should help students recognize their potential in the world by providing them with authentic experiences that showcase their reading and writing schools. The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom by Rebecca Powell and Nancy Davidson talks about the importance of showing students that literacy in children's daily experiences gives them opportunity for enhancing their literacy skills. In the article they talk about how children who feel forced to read and write will not enjoy it and will not benefit from it. Students who are looked at as blank canvases waiting to be filled with information will not participate in literacy activities. Children must be treated as equal participants in learning. Literacy activities must prove to be meaningful in their lives, and be relatable to daily situations that they find themselves in. In providing students with opportunities that they were passionate about they are less likely to resisting learning and are more inclined to embrace literacy as a way to get through their daily lives. This allows for a more rich and meaningful way to enhance their literacy skills and make the children feel more empowered to develop their reading and writing skills because they understand it's importance to their lives.