Authentic Literacy Activities for Developing Comprehension and Writing

Authentic literacy activities in the classroom replicate and reflect literacy activities that occur in people's lives outside of school and instructional contexts. A growing body of research supports use of such activities in teaching and learning. The authors elaborate on the definition of authentic literacy, describe supporting research and theory, and give examples of authentic literacy activities documented in a research study. They identify strategies teachers can use to implement these activities for reading and writing, focusing particularly on science instruction.