Resources and Activities
for Low-Literacy Students
Ideas for Level 1 Teachers
Comunidades Latinas
Unidas en Servicio
2015
1
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………..…………………………………….. 2
Tips for Teaching Low-Literacy Students……………………………………………………... 3
Activities for Reading……………………………………………………..…………………….. 4
Reading, Writing and Word-Recognition Activities…………………………………………...5
Large Letters to Cut Out…………………………………….………………………………….. 7
Traceable Letters/Numbers…………………………………………………………………….. 9
Activities by Topic………………...…………………………………………………………….11
Personal Information……………………………………………………………………….. 12
Time and Dates…………………………………………………………………………….. 16
Weather and Clothing……………………………………………………………………… 20
Health………………………………………………………………………………………. 26
2
Introduction
Low-literacy students are students who cannot read or write at all in their
native language, or cannot read and write very well. This may be because the
student comes from a pre-literate culture—one where there is no written
language—or because they had little or no formal schooling. Students may also
struggle with writing in English if their native language does not use the Roman
alphabet.
Although low-literacy students in the Level 1 class at CLUES can participate
in the same listening and speaking activities as the other students, there is likely a
wide gap between the reading and writing abilities of students who are comfortable
with the Roman alphabet and literate in their own language, and students who are
still working on forming letters and words. Sometimes it is necessary to modify
activities for low-literacy students, or give them different activities altogether if the
class is working on an activity, like paragraph-writing, that is very focused on
reading or writing. The activities provided here are mainly for use in the case that
the class is working on a reading or writing activity that is too advanced for lowliteracy students. In those cases, low-literacy students can be given alternative
activities that will be at a more appropriate level for them.
Pages four through six describe several alternative activities that low-literacy
students can work on when the class is doing something that requires a high level
of literacy. These are a good guide, because all of the activities described on these
pages can be applied to many situations. Some examples activities based on the
vocabulary and themes in the Level 1 curriculum are listed after those general
activities are explained.
3
Tips for Teaching Low-Literacy Students
A compilation of advice from experts
 Use a font that’s easy to read
o Comic Sans, Century Gothic, and Futura are all examples of fonts
that use g’s and a’s that look more like what people typically write
 Use consistent fonts
o try to use the same font for all materials used in a lesson
 Be patient
o realize that it takes a long time to learn to write for the first time;
progress will not be instant
 Be clear about classroom expectations
o many adult learners—particularly low-literacy learners—do not have
a lot of formal schooling, and do not know that they should raise their
hands in class, keep phones quiet, etc.
 Realize that students may have a hard time with abstract concepts
o If your students have little formal schooling, things like putting foods
into categories like dessert, dinner, and lunch may cause more
confusion that you expect. Students may also have problems
understanding what things like stick figures or other 2D drawings
represent, and may require extra explanation
 Teach materials that relate to students’ lives
o Most of CLUES’ lesson plans are already focused around a theme
such as food or work that is relevant to the students’ lives. This helps
them connect to the material, and engages students
 Minimize the amount of writing on the board
o Many students want to write down everything that is written on the
board, and do not know what things are important and what are not.
Low-literacy students in particular write slowly and may not have the
multi-tasking skills to listen while they are concentrating on writing
4
Activities for when the class is given a reading activity
These are activities that low-literacy students can work on when the class is given a reading
activity. These activities all allow students to work with the same materials as the rest of the
class, at their level.
Find the letter in the text: If the students have been focusing on learning certain
letters, have students find those letters in the text. Have them circle the letter each
time they see it, and perhaps count up the number of times that it occurs. This
allows them to work with the same text as the rest of the class, on an activity that is
more appropriate to their level.
Find vocabulary words in a text: Give students a list of the vocabulary words that
you’ve been working on that can be found in the text. Have students circle each
vocabulary word they find, and count up how many times each word occurs in the
text. Giving students the vocabulary words they are searching for along with a
picture of what that vocabulary word means can be especially helpful.
Reconstruct story with sentence strips: This activity may require the teacher to
retype a story if they’re photocopying a story from one of the workbooks.
However, it is simple: cut out each sentence in a separate strip, and have the
students reconstruct the story. Even if students do not understand the whole story,
it helps them recognize where sentences begin and end, and recognize which
letters/words are the same.
Reconstruct sentences from words: This is basically the same as the previous
exercise. The teacher can cut up the first one or two sentences from the story and
have students put the words in the correct order, by looking at the original
sentence.
Partner low-literacy students with advanced students: If there is a small reading
component to the activity, such as reading comprehension questions for something
that the class just listened to, partnering low-literacy students with the most
advanced students in the class can be an effective way to allow low-literacy
students to do the same activity that the rest of the class is doing. Have the
advanced student read the written component to the low-literacy student, and have
the low-literacy student help answer the questions and do the activity, even if they
only help orally. If the advanced student writes down the answer that they come up
with together, the low-literacy student can also copy down the answer to practice
writing. Pairing advanced students with someone who needs extra help also keeps
those students engaged.
5
Reading, Writing and Word-Recognition Activities
These activities can be used when the class is working on writing sentences or paragraphs, or
when the class is doing a reading that is beyond the level of low-literacy students. The activities
are arranged from easiest to hardest. Obviously, which activities would be appropriate
alternatives is up to the discretion of the teacher, and depends on the level of the students.
Match upper- and lower-case letters: Give students cut-outs of both the upper- and
lower-case letters on pages 7 and 8 below. Have students match upper-case and
lower-case letters. Alternatively, you can check out the worksheets here:
http://www.kidslearningstation.com/preschool/uppercase-lowercaseworksheets.asp for more ideas for practice matching upper- and lower-case letters
Trace letters: This activity is for students who need practice forming letters in the
alphabet. One letter-tracing worksheet is on page 9 and a number-tracing one on
page 10. Others can be found at
http://www.kidslearningstation.com/preschool/alphabet-worksheets.asp.
Copy vocabulary words: (examples below) This can come in two forms:
1. Simply have the word and space for the students to copy the same
vocabulary word a couple times in a row, next to a picture of what the
word means
2. Have one page with the words associated with pictures, and another that
has the same pictures and blank spaces to be filled in. This is a little more
difficult than number 1.
Match letters to words: (examples below) Give students cut-out letters (see
below—you can give students either the whole alphabet or only the letters they
need) and have them reproduce the vocabulary words learned that day with the
letters. Depending on the level of the students, you can accompany the vocabulary
words with pictures.
Find letters or words in a magazine: CLUES has a ton of magazines that can be
used for this purpose. This is the same as “find the letter in the text” above, but
using a magazine.
Match words to words: (examples below) This can be done in two ways:
1. Matching a vocabulary word to the exact same word on the other side of a
worksheet
2. Matching an upper-case vocabulary word to the same lower-case vocabulary
word on the other side of a worksheet, to help connect upper- and lower-case
words together.
6
Match flashcards: (examples below) The flashcards can either have pictures or not,
depending on the level of students. Giving students one flashcard with a picture
and one without can help students focus on the words, while still giving them the
help of seeing a picture. A good resource for flashcards is
http://esl-kids.com/flashcards/flashcards.html.
Play Go Fish: This can use the same flashcards from above. This requires more
explanation than the other activities, and is only appropriate when there is enough
time and it is not necessary to keep quiet.
Word search: (examples below) This can help students with recognizing words and
letters. You can easily make your own word search with the vocabulary words you
are focusing on at http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com. You can also find a
word search for each week’s topic in the materials below.
Scrambled Vocabulary: (examples below) Take vocabulary words and scramble
them—for example, turn sneeze into zenees. Give students a word bank and have
them unscramble the letters into the correct words.
Give students a picture-story: For more advanced low-literacy students, you can
give them a simple story that’s accompanied by pictures, to aid with
comprehension. CLUES has a book full of simple picture stories.
Fill-in-the-blank sentences: If you have more advanced low-literacy students, who
aren’t at the level of writing a whole paragraph or whole original sentences but can
do some reading/writing, fill-in-the-blank sentences are a good stepping stone.
(This could also be a good full-class activity, depending on the level of the class.)
Give the student a simple sentence with one or two blanks. For example, if you are
talking about food, you can give the students the following: “I like to eat
_______________.” Have the student fill in the blank with different foods. You
can either have the student copy the whole sentence or just fill in the blank,
depending on level.
7
Large Upper-Case letters to cut out (with some repetition for common letters)
Font used: Comic Sans MS, size 72. Can make more letters by putting them in a table in Microsoft
Word, or by printing this multiple times
A
E
I
N
R
V
A
E
J
O
S
W
B
F
K
O
T
X
C
G
L
P
T
Y
D
H
M
Q
U
Z
8
Large Lower-Case letters to cut out (with some repetition for common letters)
Font used: Comic Sans MS, size 72. Can make more letters by putting them in a table in Microsoft
Word, or by printing this multiple times
a
e
i
n
r
v
a
e
j
o
s
w
b
f
k
o
t
x
c
g
l
p
t
y
d
h
m
q
u
z
9
Traceable worksheet for alphabet practice:
10
Traceable worksheet for number practice:
11
Activities by Topic
Although the activities listed on pages 4-6 can be done with any set of vocabulary
and any lesson, I’ve included a few examples of activities, organized by topic. The
topics correspond with the themes currently taught each week for CLUES’ level 1
class. The activities may not be relevant to the vocab taught each day, but it’s easy
to create new, similar activities.
12
Theme 1: Personal Information
Activity 1: Word Search
Find the words listed below
In The Classroom
X
I
P
D
M
L
H
N
T
Y
M
A
G
H
T
CHAIR
NOTEBOOK
PAPER
L
M
M
C
C
U
I
U
W
A
Q
A
V
W
N
W
K
R
H
Q
T
E
C
Y
U
H
Q
Q
J
E
U
H
A
D
Z
M
X
F
N
S
U
A
R
T
D
Q
I
I
Z
A
M
P
V
U
E
B
G
T
Y
U
R
N
M
T
P
H
R
I
Y
U
P
X
Q
H
T
T
O
F
T
E
E
X
C
K
O
L
V
L
A
S
PEN
PENCIL
STUDENT
W
V
B
R
H
B
K
J
G
J
E
E
Q
G
K
V
L
B
C
W
E
O
J
G
Q
E
T
T
D
L
V
C
A
O
D
P
G
A
L
E
Z
T
V
A
F
K
E
F
V
P
A
N
Y
R
H
V
K
I
H
V
T
X
O
D
Y
P
R
P
I
D
P
L
A
G
Z
K
V
N
O
T
E
B
O
O
K
B
E
V
G
O
X
S
V
Z
P
R
Q
E
L
B
A
T
N
T
Y
U
U
Q
N
V
L
D
Y
I
R
X
H
L
B
V
TABLE
TEACHER
WHITEBOARD
13
Activity 2: Match Letters to Words:
C H A I R
T A B L E
P A P E R
P E N C I L
N O T E B OO K
WH I T E BOARD
14
Activity 2 (for teachers):
Letters to cut out and give to students:
WH I TEBOARD
C HA IRTA B LE
P A P ER P E NC I
L NOTEBOOK
15
Activity 3: Match Words to Words:
Part 1: Match the word on the left with the same word on the right
CHAIR
TABLE
TABLE
NOTEBOOK
PEN
PENCIL
NOTEBOOK
WHITEBOARD
WHITEBOARD
PAPER
PEN
STUDENT
STUDENT
PENCIL
TEACHER
TEACHER
PAPER
CHAIR
Part 2: Match the upper-case word on the left with the same lower-case word on the right
CHAIR
notebook
TABLE
whiteboard
PEN
paper
PENCIL
pencil
NOTEBOOK
WHITEBOARD
teacher
chair
STUDENT
pen
TEACHER
student
PAPER
table
16
Theme 2: Time and Dates
Activity 1: Word Search
Find the words listed below
Days of the Week
W
N
B
I
H
N
X
S
T
W
T
V
P
A
J
D
V
D
W
K
I
A
R
D
G
U
W
Z
F
S
Y
U
V
D
H
T
T
Y
B
L
E
U
N
E
C
C
A
T
Y
U
G
A
P
Q
U
S
P
G
X
P
FRIDAY
MONDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
S
S
D
R
J
D
T
L
Q
A
D
D
V
D
N
S
U
D
S
I
F
X
X
F
S
A
X
V
A
X
U
A
N
R
E
B
D
P
U
B
Y
D
V
P
X
Y
H
F
D
M
N
V
K
S
U
O
O
H
I
K
K
M
A
Z
A
O
D
Z
S
P
D
T
A
J
M
Q
F
O
F
B
Y
L
E
J
P
Z
V
J
E
A
L
K
T
K
R
I
M
U
W
Z
G
C
B
Y
T
M
O
N
D
A
Y
U
O
Q
U
B
G
E
G
G
S
M
S
K
H
X
V
B
P
R
Z
V
U
Z
Z
Y
A
D
S
R
U
H
T
B
H
N
I
D
J
Q
THURSDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
J
C
N
F
X
M
O
N
M
I
R
R
V
J
U
17
Activity 2: Match Words to Words:
Part 1: Match the word on the left with the same word on the right
SUNDAY
SATURDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
FRIDAY
MONDAY
WEDNESDAY
TUESDAY
THURSDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
WEDNESDAY
TUESDAY
THURSDAY
Part 2: Match the upper-case word on the left with the same lower-case word on the right
SUNDAY
saturday
SATURDAY
sunday
FRIDAY
monday
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
friday
tuesday
MONDAY
thursday
TUESDAY
wednesday
18
Activity 3: Flashcards:
Use for Go Fish or for matching. Source:
http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/months.php
19
20
Theme 3: Weather & Clothing
Activity 1: Word Search
Find the words listed below
Clothing
H
A
C
V
B
C
X
S
J
T
C
P
V
C
S
E
E
O
P
A
P
F
A
A
R
O
F
F
BOOTS
HAT
JACKET
T
G
O
S
Q
W
J
N
C
F
W
X
S
W
S
T
K
R
H
S
T
M
K
B
B
K
S
G
S
K
U
B
N
I
X
U
E
E
R
D
S
V
N
D
C
A
X
T
R
J
T
U
H
G
T
A
U
D
E
O
Z
R
C
T
P
A
N
T
S
X
V
J
K
U
S
I
O
D
H
C
K
A
O
G
JEANS
PANTS
SHIRT
R
R
M
O
J
K
I
Q
A
C
R
W
B
X
D
C
D
E
W
S
Z
L
T
X
U
Q
P
X
A
S
F
U
C
T
B
Y
Z
A
Q
L
R
C
A
R
R
A
G
P
P
X
U
G
P
R
M
M
N
T
O
U
J
P
S
C
S
J
P
O
G
B
P
D
Q
G
O
A
V
D
S
E
O
H
S
C
SHOES
SKIRT
SOCKS
21
Activity 2: Matching flashcards
Match the cards with pictures to the cards without pictures
boots
dress
22
hat
pajamas
23
coat
gloves
jacket pants
24
Activity 3: Match Letters to Words
B O O T S
C O A T
G L O V E S
P A N T S
H A T
25
P A J AMA S
26
Activity 3 (for teachers):
Letters to cut out and give to students:
P
A
L
T
A
T
O
B
J
P
V
O
AM
AN
E S
OT
A S H
T S G
C OA
S
27
Theme 4: Health
Activity 1: Copy Vocabulary Words:
Part 1: Pictures with words
ARM
ELBOW
LEG
KNEE
EAR
NOSE
SHOULDER
NECK
28
Part 2: Write the words
___
_____
___
____
___
____
________
____
29
Activity 2: Scrambled Words:
Write the correct word next to each scrambled word. All the scrambled words are words
that appear at the bottom of this page.
1. MAR
2. SNEO
3. GLE
4. CKNE
5. EKEN
6. REA
7. LHUSORED
8. LWOEB
9. NHDA
___
____
___
____
____
___
________
_____
____
10. TOOF
____
Choose from the following words:
LEG
HAND
EAR
SHOULDER
ELBOW
KNEE
NOSE
ARM
NECK
FOOT
30
Activity 3: Match Words to Words:
Part 1: Match the word on the left with the same word on the right
HEADACHE
FEVER
STOMACHACHE
SORE THROAT
RUNNY NOSE
COUGH
SNEEZE
COUGH
SORE THROAT
RUNNY NOSE
HEADACHE
SNEEZE
STOMACHACHE
FEVER
Part 2: Match the upper-case word on the left with the same lower-case word on the right
HEADACHE
FEVER
runny nose
sore throat
STOMACHACHE
sneeze
SORE THROAT
cough
RUNNY NOSE
fever
COUGH
SNEEZE
headache
stomachache
31
The City
Directions
Food & Restaurants
Shopping
Housing
Employment
32
Sources
http://www.catesol.org/11gonzalves.pdf
http://www.springinstitute.org/Files/springinstituteprel7663bf.pdf
http://www.springinstitute.org/Files/whatnonreaders2.pdf
http://esl-kids.com/flashcards/flashcards.html
http://www.kidslearningstation.com/preschool/uppercase-lowercase-worksheets.asp
http://www.worksheetfun.com/
http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/months.php
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Andrews-Beginners.html
http://www.newamericanhorizons.org/
http://www.education.com/activity