Authentic materials

From LiteracyTentWiki

From NCSALL's "Creating Authentic Materials and Activities for the Adult Literacy Classroom".

DEFINING AUTHENTIC

"What do we mean by authentic, or learner-contextualized, materials and activities? We mean print materials used in ways that they would be used in the lives of learners outside of their adult education classes. For example, if students are very concerned about a city decision to build a waste treatment facility in their neighborhood, their teacher might decide to bring in various newspaper articles and editorials about this decision so that students can learn the facts and discuss and debate the issues. She may encourage them to write letters, voicing their concerns and opposition, to city officials. Students who are parents may wish to become more adept at reading communication from their children’s schools, so authentic materials for those students could include school flyers and letters from their children’s teachers. Authentic writing activities might include writing notes to teachers. By creating materials and activities that reflect students’ backgrounds, interests, and experiences, teachers are attempting to contextualize their instruction within the students’ lives and provide literacy instruction using the very materials their students will engage with as they live those lives."