As much as I bring baggage into my classroom from my own literacy history, my children also bring with them "metaphorical backpacks" full of what their family and cultural upbringing has taught them.

Kiki Jones came from a home that valued literacy and employed various avenues for practicing this important skill. Not all homes emphasize literacy, however.

Chapter 3 of Classrooms That Work had quite a bit to say about addressing how to teach children who  come at all sorts of different levels.  These are a few that I liked:

• Create a library of books full of important vocabulary words with pictures that can be read during independent reading time.

• Keep a variety of writing mediums and utensils for the children to use.  Mixing it up encourages creativity and increases desirabililty to write.

• Make plenty of opportunities for children to use reading and writing in the make believe play center (i. e. restaurant, house, office). this will help them see the usefulness of literacy if they haven't learned this concept at home.  

"Children's attention is better if you

 make sentences about them" 

Get to know the children! Attention will come easier if the subject concerns them.  Use their names to study the alphabet and phonetic awareness. 

What are some other ways that teachers can apply to all levels of learning readers?  How do teachers keep the advanced students interested, but not go over the heads of the students starting from scratch?