Emily's Entry on Learning to Read

We have all heard of the term emergent literacy used in our TE courses multiple times. We also are well aware that learning to read and write is a continuing process and is not something that will be learned at once or even in a short period of time. There are so many strategies to teach children to read and write. In the Tompkins text on page 97 there is a chart for instructional ideas to teach readers and writers in the three developmental stages. After looking at them, there are many great recommendations that I think would be successful. One issue I have with this concept is that in a classroom all students may not be at the same level and to try to instruct students together is difficult. Either the teacher has to have range of difficulty for one lesson or almost has to create multiple lessons to meet the needs of all the students. I wouldn't want to create status in the room by having students work on different things but at the same time some students will be bored with certain material while other children find it challenging. I know there is a balance and with everything, we just have to find it!