New Literacy Project

      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.

New Lit Project

After reviewing my original post explaining how my concept of literacy has developed, it is clear that my perceptions have altered in some ways.  I have broadened my concept of literacy from reading and writing skills, to abilities within other elements of life.  I am now aware of literacy forms such as emotional, cultural, and environmental.  These skills are different from the things typically valued in school, however they are just as important to effective functionality in society.  As educators are beginning to become more aware of these literacy forms, more creative ways to implement them in a school setting are coming about.  

These new concepts fit into my original thought on literacy because the ability to make connections to and interpret texts can be dependent upon other literacy forms such as emotional literacy.  An emotionally literate student is more equipped to recognize character emotions and therefore develop a better comprehension of a text.  

Having gained an understanding of ways to incorporate technology will benefit my literacy instruction.  The generation I am serving is much more inclined to interact with technology, and it is important that my lessons capitalize on that.  Using various forms of media and technology provides multiple opportunities for learners to make connections with the content.  Students will likely be more engaged by activities that incorporate technology.  

For K-8 students to participate in a new literacy project, their research skills need to be highly developed or well scaffolded first and foremost.  This project is highly research based; most of the students will use the internet to find their information.  Students need to be able to use keywords to find the information they are looking for.  Once their initial searching has begun, students will need to assess credibility of their sources and filter out irrelevant information.   The technology resources necessary for this project require access to a computer, and the knowledge needed for using a computer.  Computers are easily frustrating and confusing; having technologically competent teacher as a resource is important.  To complete this project, students need to be willing to dispel their possibly narrow views of literacy and open up to familiarizing with non-traditional literacies.  For students studying cultural literacy, sensitivity is important because culture is highly personal.  

I would happily incorporate video and emotional literacy into an actual classroom lesson.  I would need access to renting multiple video recording devices, or ideally my school would be able to provide them.  The lesson could begin with a classroom discussion prompted by a read-aloud, centered on adversities relevant to the students' lives.  Students could make a list of topics, form groups, and select a topic area to explore.  Students could then write and film their own skits showing positive ways to deal with their specific adversities.  Students could then share their videos via Youtube or a classroom website.  The assessment for this lesson could require students to reflect on their own project as well as their classmates' within an essay format.  In their reflections, I would look for a clear understanding and definition of emotional literacy, and for application of emotional literacy concepts in their own lives as well as others'.        

  

New Literacies Project

My new literacies project really changed my perceptions of literacy.  I didn't realize how many types of literacy there were until this project.  My new literacy was emotional literacy and my new technology was a blog.  I learned that emotional literacy is important across all contexts of life, both in and out of school.  I felt that a blog would be an appropriate technology to use with emotional literacy because it allows for feedback and suggestions from the reader.  Response and feedback are two very important parts of emotional literacy.  Emotions are a very important part of life, and emotionally literate people are able to cope better with emotions and changes in their lives.  Using emotional literacy in the classroom is very important.  It helps to build positive, conscientious students that are able to address their emotions and use them in positive interactions with their peers.  For effective emotional literacy instruction, it is important to do the following things in the classroom:

• Address student background knowledge and build off what students already know about emotions.
• Build emotional skills in order to create emotionally intelligent students.
• Use strategies such as "feelings" charts, books about emotions, classroom/group discussions, and writing activities to help students express emotional literacy in the classroom.
• Use blogging in and out of the classroom as an effective way for students to express and respond to each others' emotions and to build positive cohesion between students.  The blog will need to be highly monitored by the instructor to make sure the posts/responses are appropriate.

Mixing emotional literacy and blogging is a great idea for students of all ages.  Every students should have a voice in the classroom, especially in relation to the students emotions and feelings.  Emotions affect each of us and all of the people surrounding us, so it is a pedagogically relevant topic to include in the classroom on a daily basis.  A way to use emotional literacy in the classroom every day is by providing each student with a feelings chart, where they can select how they are feeling each day and can always change the way they feel throughout the day.  They can track their changes over time and work to show more positive emotions compared to negative emotions.

New Literacies Project

My ideas of literacy have changed considerably since the beginning of the semester. I think when literacy is taught it is in the sense of learning to read and write. I began to grow when I started to research emotional literacy for our new literacies project. Emotional and social literacy, for example, are not usually included when teaching literacy to future educators. These forms are literacy have been proven to be important concepts to foster in children in the school years. I learned this mainly when exploring emotional literacy. There are strong links to learning this literacy and future social success and relationships. These forms of literacy are important for all types of students to learn. All students need to learn these literacies as well as new technologies. Students excel at different things. One way to discover a student’s strengths is to have them explore a new technology, master it, and teach how to use it to other students.

I think that it is important to allow students to explore new technologies. We live in an age where technology is wherever you go, exposing students multiple times a day. If I had students teach their classmates about emotional literacy using technology I would have them choose the technology just like we did in class. I think that it was important for me to learn how to use this technology on my own and because I chose it I was more excited to work on the project because I genuinely wanted to learn how to use the technology.

If I had all of my students use Prezi to teach emotional literacy, they would need to have many skills. They would have to know how to read, in general, and follow directions both for the assignment but also when viewing the tutorial for Prezi. Students have to read the icons on the desktop on a computer to know what program to open. Once they open an internet browser, they would have to know how to comprehend what they are seeing on the page in order to find the search bar. They then would need to know how to summarize the information on the page and rephrase it to put on their Prezi. Something that they might need help with is sequencing. This comes mainly when learning how to use Prezi. There is a certain order to entering information and creating the pathway. Students would need to understand the steps to creating this presentation. Many students, especially younger ones, might need help with this process.

In my classroom I would teach emotional literacy. I would choose a book that talked about different friendships or posed a situation where friends did something bad and they are in a fight. As we read the book we will talk about the friendship, more specifically addressing their feelings at certain parts of the story. When the lesson finished we would talk about the different emotions we feel and when we feel them. We would talk about how to go about expressing feelings when in a fight with someone. This is when we would use an “I feel” chart and maybe even have faces showing different emotions where students can share how they are feeling.

My teacher uses book bins in her classroom. If students have finished their library book then they are welcome to browse the book bins. They are separated by genre, with varying reading levels in each bin. This way something in each bin will appeal to each reader. These are chapter books. My teacher also uses the window ledge above the book bins to showcase the picture books they are reading, have read, and will read. Students are also welcome to these books at any time. I think that these could be utilized better and more often. When the students finish their work, I would like the only option be to read a book until time is up. Instead my students are allowed computer time. Growing up I always had either DEAR or SSR during the day. All of my teachers would also read during this time, showing me the importance of reading. I think that something like this would be very beneficial in our classroom. It would get students reading!

*This is an image from Google. I wasn't able to take a picture but this looks exactly like what she has.

TOOBALOO Classroom Resource

Every student has a TOOBALOO in their "read to self" buckets.  This phone-like device allows students to listen very clearly to themselves while reading aloud quietly.  I think that this tool encourages readers to read with more distinct prosody.  The TOOBALOO also reduces the amount of noise distraction in the classroom; allowing students to focus more easily on their own reading.  For students who are struggling with their decoding, this device makes it so they do not have to feel embarrassed by other peers hearing them stumbling over words. If I were to use this in my own classroom, I would make them available to every student just as they are now.  

Classroom resources

One of the many resources that my mentor teacher uses are book tubs, as seen by the picture above*. She uses the book tubs for student "read-to-self" time, when each student takes time to read silently or quietly to themselves.  The tubs contains 6-8 books of varying levels corresponding to the students reading level.  When the students first get their books, the teacher reads each book with them.  After the initial reading, the students are completely on their own for reading time.  Read-to-self helps the students practice their reading and builds independence.  The down side to this activity is that the books are not rotated or changed frequently enough, so instead of reading the students memorize the books and just recite what they remember.  The teacher also does not monitor the students while they read, even though a good portion of each school day is spent doing this activity.  I would use this type of reading activity in my classroom with modifications.  I would not do read-to-self everyday because it can get boring for the students if it becomes a daily activity.  I would also not do this activity for more than 30 minutes each time (versus the hour or more that my MT does it), because it is very hard for the students to stay focused on reading and not talking for that long.  This activity also needs to be closely monitored while it is happening, and afterwards to be able to assign students the appropriate books at the right time.  I would monitor read-to-self closely while still allowing the students to build their independence with reading.

*The picture was found on Google.  I was not able to take a picture of my own classroom but the picture shows exactly the same thing as what is used in my classroom.