- Definition
Literacy means being able to understand and share ideas using language, like reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Using a map's legend to understand what the symbols mean is a key part of literacy in social studies.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: Literacy is like knowing the rules for different games — you use one set for reading a book, but another set for reading a map or understanding a graph.
Ask your child: Besides the words, what else on this page gives you information?
Common mix-up: Kids may think literacy is just about being able to read and write. True literacy is about understanding and sharing ideas using words, but also maps, graphs, and images.
Examples
- Looking at a bar graph to see how a city's population grew over time.
- Examining an old photograph to find clues about life in the past.
literacy is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
- Grade 5 Science and Technology
- Grade 9 Science and Technology
- Grade 8 Social Studies / History / Geography
+2 more mentions across the curriculum
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
