Over the period of this class, my definition of literacy has changed greatly. When I first started this class I simply thought that literacy was the ability to read and write. However, I now know that literacy is composed of much more than that. After our first class discussion on literacy I learned that being literate means that someone is not only able to read and write, but they are also able to extract meaning from a text whether it be written, spoken, or seen. It was easier to understand the complexity of literacy when we talked about whether or not a fourth grade student who is struggling to read is necessarily illiterate? Through doing the readings in class and participating in class discussion I found that literacy is heavily based upon what students bring into the classroom. Prior knowledge has a large affect on how children will learn and what they will learn. Finally, the new literacy project opened me up to even more examples of how one can define literacy that I had not previously known. Doing this project helped me learn about Cultural Literacy and made me realize that literacy is MUCH larger than just knowing how to read and write. Cultural Literacy involves teaching students about their own culture and the culture of others. It is important to understand the similarities and differences between people in order to promote an understanding community as well as well-informed children. This showed me that literacy is more than reading and writing. It is also essential to understand the world around you. Using a Prezi also showed me how literacy can involve technology. Being able to navigate and effectively use technology is an excellent way to share ideas with others, learn about cultural and emotional literacy, and engage in social literacy. This new knowledge I have learned shows that there is much more to literacy than a book and a pair of eyes. Not all learners learn by the same means. While some are visual learners others might be kinesthetic or auditory learners. By teaching social, emotional, and cultural literacy as well as using technology students are not forced to learn in one way. They have the opportunity to explore new things and see what works for them. In the end, I have learned that literacy is not nearly as limited as I thought and someone is not necessarily illiterate because they cannot read a text.
In order for students to teach others about emotional, cultural, and social literacy as well as about a new technology, there are many things that the student must know how to do. Students would first have to be able to learn about the new technology at hand. This might involve using a search engine online such as Google or Yahoo, using key words such as Cultural Literacy, and be able to pick out reputable websites that help explain the topic. They might also use their teacher and/or media center as a resource to find texts that will help them with their project. Before starting the project they would need to be aware that literacy is much more than the ability to read and write. Students will need to understand that literacy is a culmination of various things and they will need to investigate what these things might be. In order for students to use a Prezi to present their information, they must know a few things. Students will need to know how to use the internet and how to search for a website. They will quickly find that they might not know how to use Prezi, like me, so they must be able to locate tutorials on how to use the website. Students must also be able to watch, understand, and follow the tutorials in order to produce a presentation. The children would need to know how to neatly organize their information onto the slides so that it makes sense in the order in which the Prezi will play. Random information cannot be scattered around the Prezi, it needs to be categorized. Students will also need to know how to paraphrase information and cite their sources so they do not get into trouble for plagiarism.
If I were to do a Cultural Literacy lesson in my Kindergarten class, it might look like the following: I would read a book to the entire class that involves a specific culture. This book might be One Green Apple, My Name is Yoon, Armando and the Blue Tarp, etc. I would hold a class discussion about the specific culture, how it is different than other cultures, how it is neat, special, interesting, etc. Since my students are very young, I would then have them make a book. Each day they would draw something special about their culture, family, etc. The theme would be ongoing and eventually we would share our books with one another. Students would have the opportunity to find differences and similarities between themselves and their classmates. We would talk about how despite these differences, we are all the same inside. We all have feelings, family, friends, etc. Opening students up to different cultures would make the classroom a much more open, friendly, and understanding community.
Hi Karen,
ReplyDeleteI really like how clear and well organized your explanations are here. Something you mentioned in your comments to my post was the challenge of incorporating new technology without it taking too much time away from content focus. I think this is an excellent point, and something that I see happening often when technology is used in the classroom. I noticed that you explained how you viewed videos tutorials and did other research in order to understand how to use a Prezi. You incorporated your own internet literacy in order to figure out Prezi. Perhaps allowing students to figure out on their own how to use their technology is a good strategy if they have the research skills. If not, perhaps students could provide most of their information, and the teacher could make the Prezi with the students.