There are many different ways to approach literacy learning. Although some may believe that literacy is defined simply as the ability to read and write, many studies support the claim that literacy is indeed much more complex than just words.
Stephen B. Kucer’s study of the four dimensions of literacy explores how literacy is not compartmentalized, but rather is multidimensional (Kucer, 2010). A balanced approach to literacy instruction should include all of these dimensions. Kucer argues that the complex nature of literacy must be viewed from multiple lenses, and that "such a view can serve as a foundation for literacy education and help ensure that curricula and instructional strategies begin to account for all that must be learned if proficiency in reading and writing is to be developed in our students."
Table 1.1 comes from Stephen B. Kucer's Dimensions of Literacy: A Conceptual Base for Teaching Reading and Writing in School Settings, Third Edition (2009). It outlines the foci of each dimension of literacy, as well as their definitions
and the roles we play through each dimension.

Linguistic dimension
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The linguistic dimension focuses on how we communicate and make meaning. Making meaning when reading is a multidimensional process and requires that the reading process be grouped into three cueing systems -
semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic. These three cueing systems
work together to help readers make meaning out of text. By using context clues and activating prior knowledge, children read for meaning and try to figure out unfamiliar words based on the context. This is known as the semantic cueing system. The syntactic cueing system helps readers to make sense of text by using grammar and sentence structure rules to support comprehension. The graphophonic cueing system works to help the reader decode text as they associate

Cognitive dimension
The cognitive dimension focuses on the mind and the mental strategies and processes it uses to build meaning. Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis have done a lot of work on how to help students become strategic readers. You can find practical and effective lessons in their book, Strategies That Work. This book is accessible to IPES teachers as you received a copy a few years ago. Additional copies are also available in my room (P12). In Strategies That Work, Harvey and Goudvis outline how to explicitly teach reading comprehension for understanding and engagement. They believe that proficient readers use the following strategies to be metacognitive about their reading in order to construct meaning. Do your students use these strategies to monitor their comprehension as they read?

- Activating and Connecting to Background Knowledge
- Questioning
- Inferring
- Visualizing
- Determining Importance in Text
- Summarizing and Synthesizing Information

Sociocultural dimension
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Due to the pressures of testing and standards, much attention has been placed on professional development for content and assessment. However, we must not ignore the importance of the sociocultural dimension and its influence on how children learn.
Think-pair-share (discussions among pairs of students), jig-sawing (used to gather a lot of information in a short amount of time by dividing tasks among group members), role playing (acting out the social skills), and graphic organizers (t-charts, concept maps, KWL, and the fishbone) are useful cooperative learning strategies in order to assist with the instruction of the appropriate social skills (Dollman, L., Morgan, C., Pergler, J., Russell, W., & Watts, J., 2007). Furthermore, incorporating the IB Attitudes of appreciation, respect, tolerance, cooperation, and empathy into your classroom environment will contribute to a safe and inviting place to learn for all students.

Developmental Dimension
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Although students may be in the grade level, they may not be at the same developmental level. Some students may require more assistance from their peers, teachers, and parents to be successful. The zone of proximal development theory supports learning through guidance and encouragement in order to scaffold learning. Vygotsky defined the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (van Compernolle, R. A., & Williams, L., 2012). Through guided support and practice, students will eventually master the skills and strategies. Although the ZPD theory supports learning at varying developmental levels, the use of a "one-size-fits-all" curriculum no longer meets the needs of the majority of learners. In order to reach all learners, teachers must be aware of the different learning styles, interests, and abilities of students. In her book, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, Carol Ann Tomlinson says this about differentiation: "At its most basic level, differentiating instruction means “shaking up” what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues of acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products."