Literacy Defined
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As a young child in elementary school, I attended Literacy Class with a passion for reading like no other student in my school. Dick and Jane books quickly fell by the wayside as I phonetically sounded out each word and sharply flipped the page to learn more about their next neighborhood adventure with Spot and Puff. My fellow classmates soon learned my passion for language whenever they dared to mispronounce a word during reading circle time. The school librarian knew me well too because of my voracious appetite for well-illustrated books. Literacy Class meant getting the opportunity to run in my imagination alongside Bambi dodging roaring flames and narrowly avoiding the Big Bad Wolf's tempting smile. Literacy meant reading every word on the page, pronouncing it phonetically and understanding the meanings of those words. Nowadays I wonder how my students be able to pick out a theme in a piece of literature and discuss it with an audience of distance learners? Good planning on my part will ensure their ability to engage in a global dialogue with confidence.
Value of Resources
Awareness of the importance of developing critical thinking and collaboration skills makes it all the more significant for me to find reliable resources during the gathering of my curriculum materials. Web-based resources, the basis of teaching nowadays, should have current, fully-developed information about the topic they represent.
Challenges
Good scaffolding and differentiation can be difficult at times. They require finding a variety of visual and media literacy resources packed with useful information that is written, spoken, and possibly animated. Because “images enable students to perceive objects not only from varying spatial perspectives, but also to explore visual stimuli from different global perspectives,” it is my responsibility to provide the most current resources of information to engage my students in learning (Baker, 2015, p. 4).
Lessons
Instruction should challenge the student’s to think creatively beyond the text and prepare them to defend their position on a topic. Lessons should incorporate a mixture of multimedia and traditional teaching devices supported by thoughtfully prepared alternatives that differentiate feedback possibilities.
Implications to Teaching and Learning
As the instructor, I should be confidently knowledgeable in the discussion topics and capable of linking such discussions to standards-based learning assignments. Lack of preparedness on my part will result in a lack of engagement on the part of my students.
Conclusion
Using instructional technology alongside my students and applying the information gained from viable and useful resource materials strengthens my bond with the learners in my classroom. Web-based learning enables students to participate in simulations of real world collaborations. Having their instructor involved in those collaborations adds an element of trust and permits ownership of student ideas. Ultimately, their successes will reflect my investment in their education. Literacy today still means the same, but the methods we use to teach have changed considerably. This page contains some of the latest resources and applications that you can use to encourage readers of all ages to want to read.
Reference
Baker, L. (2015). How Many Words Is a Picture Worth? Integrating Visual Literatcy in Language with
Photographs. English Teaching Forum, v53 n4 p2-13.
Value of Resources
Awareness of the importance of developing critical thinking and collaboration skills makes it all the more significant for me to find reliable resources during the gathering of my curriculum materials. Web-based resources, the basis of teaching nowadays, should have current, fully-developed information about the topic they represent.
Challenges
Good scaffolding and differentiation can be difficult at times. They require finding a variety of visual and media literacy resources packed with useful information that is written, spoken, and possibly animated. Because “images enable students to perceive objects not only from varying spatial perspectives, but also to explore visual stimuli from different global perspectives,” it is my responsibility to provide the most current resources of information to engage my students in learning (Baker, 2015, p. 4).
Lessons
Instruction should challenge the student’s to think creatively beyond the text and prepare them to defend their position on a topic. Lessons should incorporate a mixture of multimedia and traditional teaching devices supported by thoughtfully prepared alternatives that differentiate feedback possibilities.
Implications to Teaching and Learning
As the instructor, I should be confidently knowledgeable in the discussion topics and capable of linking such discussions to standards-based learning assignments. Lack of preparedness on my part will result in a lack of engagement on the part of my students.
Conclusion
Using instructional technology alongside my students and applying the information gained from viable and useful resource materials strengthens my bond with the learners in my classroom. Web-based learning enables students to participate in simulations of real world collaborations. Having their instructor involved in those collaborations adds an element of trust and permits ownership of student ideas. Ultimately, their successes will reflect my investment in their education. Literacy today still means the same, but the methods we use to teach have changed considerably. This page contains some of the latest resources and applications that you can use to encourage readers of all ages to want to read.
Reference
Baker, L. (2015). How Many Words Is a Picture Worth? Integrating Visual Literatcy in Language with
Photographs. English Teaching Forum, v53 n4 p2-13.
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/6/2/49628417/blackout-poetry.jpg?128)
Blackout Poet is a five minute video on YouTube about Austin Kleon’s unique style of poetry writing.
Content Interviewed by Texas Country Reporter (TCR), Austin Kleon describes his bout of writer’s block that led him to this unique writing style. Multiple examples of blackout poems he has written over the years are displayed and read aloud throughout the video.
Target Audience/Reader English teachers who are searching for new ways to engage struggling writers will appreciate Mr. Kleon’s explanation for his unique writing style. This resource could also be used by students who want to learn more about modern poetry.
Standard ELAGSE8RL10 requires students to be able to read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity independently and proficiently by the end of the year.
Use for Professional Development English teachers who are trying to encourage literacy with their students will find this video helpful because it explains the reason the blackout poetry writing style developed; writer’s block, a common affliction with struggling writers who do not realize their own creative potential. Because of the details in Mr. Kleon’s retelling of his initial plight, visual and multimedia learners will begin to understand the complicity of reading and writing modern poetry while exploring an innovative and creative writing style.
Content Interviewed by Texas Country Reporter (TCR), Austin Kleon describes his bout of writer’s block that led him to this unique writing style. Multiple examples of blackout poems he has written over the years are displayed and read aloud throughout the video.
Target Audience/Reader English teachers who are searching for new ways to engage struggling writers will appreciate Mr. Kleon’s explanation for his unique writing style. This resource could also be used by students who want to learn more about modern poetry.
Standard ELAGSE8RL10 requires students to be able to read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity independently and proficiently by the end of the year.
Use for Professional Development English teachers who are trying to encourage literacy with their students will find this video helpful because it explains the reason the blackout poetry writing style developed; writer’s block, a common affliction with struggling writers who do not realize their own creative potential. Because of the details in Mr. Kleon’s retelling of his initial plight, visual and multimedia learners will begin to understand the complicity of reading and writing modern poetry while exploring an innovative and creative writing style.
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/6/2/49628417/grammar-girl.jpg?203)
Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips
is a Language Arts resource that gives details about different aspects of the rules of grammar, punctuation, and conventions such as verbals aka gerunds, participles, and infinitives.
Content Usually, revealing the historic roots of a term by breaking it into its Latin origin clarifies the main reason it exists in the first place. The article quickly divides the terms into separate explanations and provides examples of each convention. Later the article presents the reason the two verbals are often confused and how to solve that problem.
Target Audience/Reader Frequently, Grammar Girl is accessed by literacy teachers who need clarification on a topic before teaching it, or they are trying to explain it to someone else and just can not find the words to express it. Occasionally, middle school students and older students access Grammar Girl while editing a piece of writing they feel may have an error.
Standards Georgia Standards for English ELAGSE8L1 requires students to demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. a. explaining the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.
Use for Professional Development For Language Arts teachers, Grammar Girl is a fast way to find out the down and dirty information needed to explain necessary corrections during an editing session. For students, it is a quick reference resource during writing time.
is a Language Arts resource that gives details about different aspects of the rules of grammar, punctuation, and conventions such as verbals aka gerunds, participles, and infinitives.
Content Usually, revealing the historic roots of a term by breaking it into its Latin origin clarifies the main reason it exists in the first place. The article quickly divides the terms into separate explanations and provides examples of each convention. Later the article presents the reason the two verbals are often confused and how to solve that problem.
Target Audience/Reader Frequently, Grammar Girl is accessed by literacy teachers who need clarification on a topic before teaching it, or they are trying to explain it to someone else and just can not find the words to express it. Occasionally, middle school students and older students access Grammar Girl while editing a piece of writing they feel may have an error.
Standards Georgia Standards for English ELAGSE8L1 requires students to demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. a. explaining the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.
Use for Professional Development For Language Arts teachers, Grammar Girl is a fast way to find out the down and dirty information needed to explain necessary corrections during an editing session. For students, it is a quick reference resource during writing time.
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/6/2/49628417/books-stacked.jpg?269)
Children’s Literature
Resource #1 Walter Dean Myers’s biographical website is designed to educate readers about the man who wrote the memoir Bad Boy and numerous other award-winning pieces of literature.
Online Site Description Along with numerous photographs of Walter Dean Myers at various ages in his lifetime, the website menu has a link to biographical information, a bibliography containing a PDF of a complete listing of his works plus awards received, a page for parents and teachers to see his novels sorted by grade level, a page for news and events, a page where fans can buy books, and a link to his blog as well as contact information. The bibliography section offers summaries of his novels and has two previously recorded video interviews of the now deceased Mr. Myers embedded in the site.
Assessment of Educational Value Presenting the author’s biographical information is important when developing an understanding of their point of view or purpose in a text as ELAGSE8RI6 requires of 8th graders to do. The creators of Mr. Myers’s website understand the importance of that concept and keep the information to the point and accurate.
Usefulness and Currency as a Resource Material Although Mr. Myers passed away in 2014, the information on the website has been maintained well. Much of the writing is written in first person indicating that Walter Dean Myers wrote much of the information—a very useful primary resource. The website appeals to multimedia learners who may have collaborative projects that require a reliable resource.
Resource #1 Walter Dean Myers’s biographical website is designed to educate readers about the man who wrote the memoir Bad Boy and numerous other award-winning pieces of literature.
Online Site Description Along with numerous photographs of Walter Dean Myers at various ages in his lifetime, the website menu has a link to biographical information, a bibliography containing a PDF of a complete listing of his works plus awards received, a page for parents and teachers to see his novels sorted by grade level, a page for news and events, a page where fans can buy books, and a link to his blog as well as contact information. The bibliography section offers summaries of his novels and has two previously recorded video interviews of the now deceased Mr. Myers embedded in the site.
Assessment of Educational Value Presenting the author’s biographical information is important when developing an understanding of their point of view or purpose in a text as ELAGSE8RI6 requires of 8th graders to do. The creators of Mr. Myers’s website understand the importance of that concept and keep the information to the point and accurate.
Usefulness and Currency as a Resource Material Although Mr. Myers passed away in 2014, the information on the website has been maintained well. Much of the writing is written in first person indicating that Walter Dean Myers wrote much of the information—a very useful primary resource. The website appeals to multimedia learners who may have collaborative projects that require a reliable resource.
Children's Literature
Resource #2 History.com's Harlem Renaissance page resourcefully demonstrates the appeal of multimedia literacy through the use of videos, images, narration, and written passages.
Online Site Description The large, colorful image displayed by the video at the top of the screen illustrates the excitement generated by the movement. The top left margin offers visitors the opportunity to print and cite the page. Scrolling down the page reveals detailed information about the time period and important people made famous by the movement. Additional videos related to the time period are embedded along the right margin.
Assessment of Educational Value When preparing an objective summary of a text, knowing the historic setting is important when determining the central idea, and is crucial to analyzing the theme’s development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot--ELAGSE8RL2. The video and the written words on the website combine for a delightful multimedia learning experience that has an interdisciplinary context.
Usefulness and Currency as a Resource Material The historical information and the inference to other great artists of that era support a student’s research requirement for a reliable resource and helps mold their perspective of that time period.
Resource #2 History.com's Harlem Renaissance page resourcefully demonstrates the appeal of multimedia literacy through the use of videos, images, narration, and written passages.
Online Site Description The large, colorful image displayed by the video at the top of the screen illustrates the excitement generated by the movement. The top left margin offers visitors the opportunity to print and cite the page. Scrolling down the page reveals detailed information about the time period and important people made famous by the movement. Additional videos related to the time period are embedded along the right margin.
Assessment of Educational Value When preparing an objective summary of a text, knowing the historic setting is important when determining the central idea, and is crucial to analyzing the theme’s development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot--ELAGSE8RL2. The video and the written words on the website combine for a delightful multimedia learning experience that has an interdisciplinary context.
Usefulness and Currency as a Resource Material The historical information and the inference to other great artists of that era support a student’s research requirement for a reliable resource and helps mold their perspective of that time period.