Literacy, not labels

About this book

In Literacy, Not Labels, Kathleen Strickland shares her experience teaching and researching in a special education whole language classroom. She describes students with a record of failure - each one with a label ranging from "learning disabled" to "educably retarded," each one capable of language learning but previously deprived of the opportunity. Her book explains how she and the teacher discovered ways to support the students' growth as readers and writers, celebrating with them as they found a place for literacy in their lives. Literacy, Not Labels not only explains the theory supporting whole language learning for all students, but describes, in detail, the practical strategies used to help these students become readers and writers. Literacy is the right of every student. This book, through its explanation of theory as well as presentation of individual students' "language stories," will help you see that all students are capable of becoming readers and writers in an atmosphere where literacy is real, meaningful, and individual.