Eye on Literacy books have been developed to honor and respect the vast assets your adult second language literacy learners bring to your classroom. For those who have rarely, if ever experienced holding a book, wordless picture books can be engaged in with ease. Learners are drawn to what they see rather than focusing on words at the bottom of a page that they cannot read. The colorful, authentic pictures offer a starting point for learners to communicate orally. Learners will share their knowledge and personal experiences by verbalizing what they see as they flip through real life pictures of people, places and things. Each Eye on Literacy book uses the same pattern of colored symbols in place of page numbers to support the visual learner’s connection to symbols used in everyday life.
As learners visit and revisit an Eye on Literacy picture book, the teacher will use the learners’ knowledge, experiences, and input as building blocks for print literacy learning. The teacher will be able to create and personalize lessons by accepting and molding what the adult second language literacy learners contribute. Becoming the author of the book, learners are more engaged in the reading process and find purpose in the written text.
Eye on Literacy is committed to paving a successful path for adult second language literacy learners of all languages. By refraining from adding text to the bottom of our books’ pages, our hope is that we have created an opportunity for literacy teachers around the world to help their adult learners feel more comfortable and accepted in the classroom; allowing them to develop their receptive and productive skills in their new language, whatever that language may be.