Today is International Literacy Day.

International Literacy Day is designed to focus attention on literacy issues worldwide. ProLiteracy estimates that 860 million adults do not know how to read and write. Almost two-thirds of this group are women and over 100 million children globally lack access to education. This year’s Literacy Day theme is “The Power of Women’s Literacy,” a tribute to how learning to read and write can change a life.

Visit the following sites to learn more about this event:
 
The International Reading Association’s Literacy Day page  
The ProLiteracy Power of Women’s Literacy page    

International Literacy Day is just one way organizations like ProLiteracy and The International Reading Association strive to increase literacy around the world. Parents, teachers, and students can honor this day by participating in reading and writing activities at home or in the classroom.  The Thinkfinity Partners are all committed to literacy learning for every student. Here are some examples of ways each incorporates literacy skills in lessons:

The LiteracyNetwork offers a variety of resources to help both adults and children acquire reading and writing skills.

How can I help my preschool child learn to read? This page is devoted to providing parents suggestions, resources, and tips for supporting a young child’s learning at home.

How can I help adults and adolescents better understand what they read? This collection includes graphic organizers, comprehension strategies, and tools for making texts more meaningful to both adults and young learners.

ReadWriteThink
Have Journal...Will Travel: Promoting Family Involvement in Literacy (Grades K–2) Students take home a book bag that includes a stuffed toy, a book to read with their families, art supplies, a topic to discuss and a journal to complete as a family. The students then return the bag the following day and share their entries with the class.

A Character’s Letter to the Editor (Grades 6-8) provides a way for students to demonstrate comprehension as they apply their persuasive writing skills.

Defining Literacy in a Digital World (Grades 9–12) guides students in creating an inventory of personal texts, including a range of print, visual and audio texts. They examine this inventory to create a working definition of literacy that they refine and explore as they continue their investigation of the texts that they interact with in a variety of settings.

ArtsEdge
Today I Feel . . . (Grades K–4) Students read and discuss books that talk about feelings, telling a story about a time when they had a strong feeling and what happened to change their mood.

EDSITEment
In Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales (Grades 3–5), students learn to recognize the difference between a narrator and an author, and they explore the impact of an author's personal history on his or her creative life, particularly in the context of American society.

EconEdLink
Jack and the Bank Stalk (Grades 3-5) builds on a favorite fairy tale. Students read an online version of the story and learn about the function of money in our society.

Illuminations
Toy Shop Numbers (Pre–K–2) Students participate in activities in which they focus on the role of numbers and language in real-world situations. In the lesson, which has grade-appropriate activities for each of four grade bands, students are asked to discuss, describe, read and write about numbers they find in familiar real-world situations.

Science NetLinks
In Shakey Snake (K–2), students read an online story and learn that stories may attribute fictional features to animals. They also learn about ways that heredity influences animal features and about relationships between animal features and their environments.

Smithsonian History Explorer
Historians are Detectives: Using Primary Sources to Understand the Past (Grades 3-5) students use their reading and analytical skills to find clues to our country’s history through examination of documents and other primary source materials.

Xpeditions
A Web of Resources (9–12) addresses literacy in a variety of ways. Students use webbing strategies to prepare for meaningful research into a variety of resources and conduct preliminary research using nonfiction texts. They also read a National Geographic article and have an opportunity to write a fictional account of history and natural resources.