Understanding Literacy
Throughout
the course of this semester, I have come to understand the definition of
literacy in a much more broad sense.
In previous classes when we have talked about literacy, it has been
emphasized as being able to read, write, and comprehend. But the readings that we have done and
the class discussions we’ve had over the past several weeks have made me
realize that literacy includes much more than that.
This
project itself was a great way to prove that point- I never would have
associated ideas like culture or emotions with the word “literacy”. After creating my own website and
looking over the projects created by my classmates, it’s obvious that there are
not only multiple types of literacy, but multiple ways to interpret them. For
example, there were several projects that focused on cultural literacy (the
subject that I chose as well).
However, each of the other websites or scrapblogs that I saw were
extremely different than my own- we all chose to emphasize or focus on
different aspects of the same literacy.
This goes to show that literacies can be interpreted in many different
ways.
Effective Literacy Instruction
If
there is one main lesson I learned from this project, it’s that effective
literacy instruction goes far beyond simply teaching children how to read. As teachers, we need to be fully aware
of the many different types of literacies that exist and of the strategies we
can use to teach them to our students.
Using a variety of teaching strategies and taking advantage of as many
resources as possible has never been more important.
Living
in a world where it seems like new technology is emerging on a daily basis, we
have to make constant adjustments both to our learning and our teaching. Whether we like it or not, technology
use has become a vital part of day-to-day classroom operations. With countless numbers of free or cheap
websites available to work on and customize, teachers need to make sure to
expose students to as many different options as possible. Molding children’s technological literacy
is just as important (if not more important) that the formation of the various other
types of literacy. Websites, scrapblogs,
online concept maps, etc. can be paired with more “conventional” types of
literacy instruction to create the most beneficial experience for students.
Lesson Plan
On the Weebly page I made for cultural literacy, I included an
idea for a class-wide project focusing on cultural and using the technology of
creating a website. I adjusted the standards and objectives based on a 5th
grade classroom.
Lesson Summary & Rationale:
To take
advantage of the many free web-design opportunities that are available today, the
teacher will assign an individual or small-group project lasting several weeks
that requires students to do in-depth research on a specific culture using
multiple sources of information (including texts). As a finished product,
students will use the information they have found to create a website or other
online resource about the culture.
Common
Core Standards:
RI.5.3. Explain the relationships or interactions between two or
more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or
technical text based on specific information in the text.
RI.5.9. Integrate information from several texts on the same topic
in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
SL.5.4. Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing
ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details
to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
SL.5.5. Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and
visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of
main ideas or themes.
Objectives:
- · Students will spend several weeks researching a previously assigned culture and compiling their findings to create an online resource
- · Students will demonstrate in-depth understanding of their “culture” and will be able to answer basic questions posed by their peers and the teacher
- · At the conclusion of the assignment, students will provide a brief presentation of their work and will demonstrate understanding of how the technology works
Lesson
Closing & Post-Assessment
Over the
course of several days at the end of the project, each student will present their
work to the rest of the class. Students will be assessed on the evidence of
work time and quality put into creating the project as well as demonstration of
deep understanding of their assigned culture. Links to each final project will
also be sent out to parents and the rest of the school, allowing the students'
work to be shared on a wider basis.
It definitely looks like to learned a lot from this project and it definitely had an effect on you and how you may teach literacy to your own students.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I loved the idea behind your lesson. While it is very similar to the one I developed, I like that yours is over the course of several weeks, giving the students a lot of time to obtain sufficient information about the culture. I also like that yours is about creating a website which means the students will need a lot of good information and well to fill up their website. Great job!
I completely agree with you, I have also learned a lot about literacy and have expanded my notion of literacy far outside the realm of "reading." I think it is also important, as you mentioned, how technological literacy ties into all of the various literacies we looked at through these projects. Technology is an integral thread to many aspects of education, encompassing itself as a form of literacy.
ReplyDeleteYour lesson provides a great opportunity for students to not only engage with a new literacy that is important to student educational development, but also works to encompass the integral thread of technology in a coherent form. Websites are very important for students to learn how to navigate and create as much of their educational career will heavily rely on navigating websites for information!