Videos
Four Blocks of Literacy
View the following four videos to see how teachers across Alberta have used the 4-Blocks of Literacy to create authentic and meaningful literacy learning experiences for Grade 1 to 6 students with significant cognitive disabilities. These videos were created with participating teachers in Year One of the Literacy for All community of practice.
Download the accompanying learning guides for related discussion questions here.
Guided Reading
Guided Reading (6 min. 23 sec.)
Teachers demonstrate how they include students with significant disabilities in guided reading activities.
To learn more about Shared Reading and Guided Reading, visit Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabilities.
Self-Selected Reading
Self-selected Reading (11 min. 29 sec.)
Teachers demonstrate how they organize their classroom libraries and provide meaningful and accessible self-selected reading experiences for all students in their classrooms.
Working with Words
Working with Words (7 min. 2 sec.)
Teachers demonstrate how they use word walls and related making word activities to build literacy skills of all students in their classroom, including students with significant disabilities.
Writing
Structured Writing (7 min. 35 sec.)
Teachers demonstrate how they create accessible and successful writing experiences for students with significant disabilities.
To learn more about Writing, visit Literacy Instruction for Students with Significant Disabilities.
Literacy for All: In Conversation with Dr. Caroline Musselwhite
These 11 video clips and related learning guides provide an opportunity to enhance and support teacher practice in the area of literacy learning for students with significant disabilities.
Dr. Caroline Musselwhite is an assistive technology specialist with more than 30 years of experience working with children and adolescents with significant disabilities.The video clips and learning guides were developed through a collaboration between Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium and Alberta Education. Scroll down on each link to find the chosen video.
Videos include:
- Good Literacy Instruction is Good for All Students [2:08]
- Creating Opportunities for Students to Explore and Understand Text [1:55]
- Symbols and Learning to Read [2:40]
- Choosing Words for the Classroom Word Wall [1:33]
- Importance of Repetition and Variety in Learning [1:11]
- Importance of Building Background Knowledge [2:39]
- Give both Reinforcement AND Informative Feedback [2:17]
- Knowing the Difference between Teaching and Testing Questions [1:52]
- The Art of Attributing Meaning to Student Attempts [2:13]
- Engaging Older Students [1:12]
- The Cost of Underestimating the Potential of Individual Students [1:41]
Download all Learning Guides here.