What is Literacy?

Defining literacy is not easy.

Dictionary.com states that literacy

• is the quality or state of being literate, especially the ability to read and write

• a person's knowledge of a particular subject or field: to acquire computer literacy.

• possession of education:

To me literacy is the ablility to read and write at a profcient matter. In addition being able proficient at math, knowing how to use technology, and knowing how to solve problems and make decisions.



Five Reading Pillars

• Phonemic awareness—Being able to hear, identify, and play with individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

• Phonics—Being able to connect the letters of written language with the sounds of spoken language.

• Vocabulary—The words kids need to know to communicate effectively.

• Reading comprehension—Being able to understand and get meaning from what has been read.

• Fluency (oral reading)—Being able to read text accurately and quickly.

Facts

1. According to the National Adult Literacy Survey, approximately 44 million people in the United States cannot read well enough to fill out an application, read a food label, or read a simple story to a child.

2. According to the estimates by the United States Department of Labor, literacy problems cost the United States businesses about $225 billion a year in lost productivity.

3.Functional illiteracy is defined as a person who can read between a fourth-grade and sixth grade level.

4.Children’s early vocabulary skills are linked to their economic backgrounds.

• By 3 years of age, there is a 30 million word gap between children from the wealthiest and poorest families.

• 34 percent of children entering kindergarten lack the basic language skills needed to learn how to read.

5. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) twenty-six percent of children who were read to three or four times in the last week by a family member recognized all letters of the alphabet. This is compared to 14 percent of children who were read to less frequently.

6.According to NCES2, only 53 percent of children ages three to five were read to daily by a family member (1999). Children in families with incomes below the poverty line are less likely to be read to aloud everyday than are children in families with incomes at or above poverty.

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