New Literacies Project -- Noteblog

My Conceptual Understanding

            Since the beginning of this class, my conceptual understanding of literacy has changed drastically.  I originally thought that literacy was solely the ability to read and write, and didn’t extend the definition much further.  Furthermore, I wasn’t aware that you could utilize technology when teaching literacy.  Within my understanding of literacy, the only resource available to help teach literacy was any type of printed text.

            Through glancing at my peers’ projects, I immediately learned that there are many types of literacies, and many different technologies can be utilized to teach the many types of literacies.  I definitely didn’t understand that there were categories of literacy, specifically emotional, cultural, environmental, visiual, numeracy, political, and social literacy.  Once I researched them, I realized that while I have recognized the different types of literacies in the past, I wasn’t aware that they were categorized and there has been so much research conducted on each.

            Researching a type of literacy in addition to a technology that I’ve never used before to help present the literacy was both challenging but incredibly informative.  I would definitely utilize MixBook again to create a presentation to show to my class, and would also ask students to create a presentation with MixBook on their own as well.  Utilizing MixBook to present visual literacy helpful because the two were related to each other in that MixBook utilizes a lot of images (stickers, pictures, backgrounds, layouts, etc.) throughout its presentation, which is exactly what visual literacy incorporates.

Effective Literacy Instruction

            Providing “effective literacy instruction” to diverse learners means to meet the needs of all types of learners within the classroom.  For example, a first grader who can’t yet read words might benefit from labels throughout the classroom on things such as the bathroom door, chalkboard, overhead projector, computer, etc., which is also known as visual literacy.  Although the student cannot read the words, seeing the picture and knowing that the picture means the same thing as the word they cannot yet read makes them visually literate, even though they aren’t yet what is traditionally considered to be “literate,” or the ability to read and write.

            Prior to completing this project, I would have never thought about teaching literacy by utilizing different types of technologies.  In addition, I would have never extended my definition of literacy beyond the traditional definition of literacy, which is incredibly disappointing to me.  It was so interesting to learn about the different types of literacy while exploring this project in the beginning of the semester, and even more interesting to dig deeper into my chosen literacy.  Additionally, it was interesting to explore different types of technology to utilize to help me present my chosen literacy, and fun to implement my chosen type of literacy into my chosen type of technology.

            Therefore, through this research, I think that incorporating learning about a type of literacy with a technology that students can explore would be extremely beneficial within both my placement classroom and future classrooms that I will teach in.  Knowing how much my students enjoy their computer time throughout the day and how interested in technology they are in general further validates my desire to fully implement technology into my classroom as much as possible.  Most of the students within my placement classroom have no additional access to technology outside of the three computers within their classroom, which would make completing this project even more beneficial, helpful, and important to their learning.

            In addition to my placement students’ interest in technology, not many students in my classroom fulfill the traditional definition of literacy.  Therefore, they are oftentimes discouraged with reading and writing time, specifically because they can’t do it.  Therefore, learning about visual literacy and implementing it into a type of technology that interests them would be incredibly beneficial, specifically because they can express their thoughts and feelings concerning what they learned into different types of images.  This would also help teach them that literacy is not only about being able to read and write, but being able to express their thoughts and feelings through images.  Furthermore, knowing this is not the only type of literacy would possibly further motivate them to learn about all the different types.

Lesson Plan

Target area: Visual literacy

Rationale: Because students are oftentimes unable to comprehend text because of their inability to read the words on the page, reading books to students that can be comprehended by using picture-based evidence is oftentimes a beneficial way to relate to students and encourage them to become more literate.  In my opinion, visual literacy (in this case, depicting meaning from the images throughout the text) helps students further comprehend text whether or not they can read the words on each page, as the pictures sometimes deliver an additional message beyond what can simply be read within the text.

Objective: Students will use a graphic organizer to sequence the main events throughout The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle by using picture-based evidence from the book.

GLCE: R.MT.01.04 Students will self-monitor comprehension by using a graphic organizer to sequence events, sort and order information, or identify author’s perspective.

Materials and supplies needed: large graphic organizer (to be posted on the whiteboard at the front of the room), whiteboard, permanent marker (to write on the graphic organizer), The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Outline of key events:

·      I will read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to the class

·      Students will be informed to not ask questions or talk while the story is being read, and to simply focus on what is happening throughout the story and in what order the events occur

·      After I’ve finished reading the book, I will allow the students to raise their hands and ask questions they might have

·      I will read the book again, allowing students stop me while reading and asking questions they might have at specific parts throughout the story by raising their hand

·      After reading the story, the class will fill out the graphic organizer by raising their hand and saying what they think should be on the graphic organizer

·      I will write students’ responses on the graphic organizer after consulting the class as to if they agree or disagree with their peers’ ideas

·      After the graphic organizer is completed, I will move ideas around based on what students think needs to be changed

·      I will re-read the book a third time in order to help students check their graphic organizer with what actually happened within the text

Closing summary: I will explain to students that a graphic organizer is an example of a type of visual literacy, and we utilized what we saw within the story to re-create it in a different way.

Ongoing assessment: During writing time, students may choose to utilize a graphic organizer to help tell a story they want to tell instead of simply writing it in paragraph or sentence form.  In addition, after reading stories to the students, I can ask the class to create more graphic organizers, and slow reducing the amount of help I give them to complete it.