Strategies You can try
 When you hear the word “literacy,” what do you
think of? Set a timer for one minute and try to list as
many words and phrases as you can before the timer
goes off.
 Write your definition of literacy. Think beyond just
“the ability to read and write.” Are there other kinds
of literacy? What does it mean to be literate? What
skills do literate people demonstrate?
 Make a list of at least five experiences in your life
that have to do with reading and writing. Think
outside of school. Have you ever written anything
using social media that got you in trouble? Do you
write diaries or journals? Do you like to read blogs?
 Elaborate on ONE of the items you wrote about in step
one.
 For five minutes, write whatever comes to your mind
about that idea. Don’t stop writing. If you can’t think of
something to write, simply write “I’m stuck,” until you
can think of something.
 When you are done, re-read what you have written.
Highlight or circle anything that you particularly like,
that sounds like it would be good to elaborate more on
for the literacy narrative paper.
 Make a plan for what you want to write. You can make
a formal outline, where you use roman numerals to
denote major and minor ideas, or an informal outline
in which you simply list ideas.
 Start with the narrative. Think about the order of the
story. Do you want to start at the beginning or do a
flashback at the beginning and come back to it at the
end? Think about what details you want to include and
how you want to describe them. Use the storytelling
activity to help you learn to tell a story using
descriptive language.
 Now move on to the analysis. Consider the
implications of the event you just described. What did
you learn from it? What will you want your audience to
learn from it?
 Finally, add the introduction and conclusion into your
plan. Think about what will most grab your audience’s
attention and what background information they will
need to know in order to understand your story.
Finally, consider what final words you want to leave
them with.