Literacy & Numeracy

TQS:  3.  Demonstrating a Professional Body of Knowledge.  A teacher applies a current and comprehensive repertiore of effective planning, instruction, and assessment practices to meet the learning needs of every student.  Achievement of this competency is demonstrated by indicators such as:

• planning and designing learning activities that:

• ensure that all students continuously develop skills in literacy and numeracy;

• "The teacher plans to successfully advance student literacy skills in the respective disciplines as an essential way of learning for all students in the classroom."  (Government of Alberta, 2011d)

• The teacher knows that for students to use literacy more effectively to learn in content-area subjects, he / she must have a deeper understanding of what literacy means in his / her subject areas.

  • Each academic discipline has its own particular text features, formats and vocabulary

  • Students need to develop literacy skills that transcend subject areas as well as the subject-specific applications of those skills.  This is particularly so in junior and senior high, where students experience the shift to content area / disciplinary learning, they receive the help from teachers to develop the confidence and skills necessary for these specialized academic literacies (Government of Alberta, 2010c).

  • Chinook's Edge recognizes the importance of building literacy skills for all students.  As such, a literacy framework has been developed to support teachers' understanding and skill level to support their students.