Chapter
1 Literacy Defined
'All teachers are
teachers of literacy.'
Literacy is a
necessary competence, all subjects require skills for reading, writing,
listening to, speaking, retrieving, interpreting, evaluating and reflecting on
in some form (even if it is not to the same extent as, or with the same
outcomes required of the English curriculum). Furthermore, each subject has a
particular vocabulary and style of text that the students must become proficient
in. The reason for teaching specialised literacy for the various disciplines is
to prepare students with the necessary capabilities that are required in the
different fields they may move into in the future.
Our family who are
our first teachers teach us a cultural literacy.
Freebody (2007)
states that “Students are educated by teachers educated by teacher educators”
(p. 11). Currently, as we speak, I am learning about literacy while using my
skills in literacy along a continuum of teaching and learning.
Chapter
2 Literacy
and the Australian Curriculum
Notes about each of
six literacy elements:
1. Comprehending
texts through listening, reading and viewing
Students use “skills
and strategies to access, interpret [and respond to] spoken, written, visual
and multimodal texts” aurally and visually. This applies across the element 3-6
described below (ACARA, 2016).
2.
Composing texts through speaking,
writing and creating
Students compose expressive forms of language including spoken, written, visual
and multimodal texts for different purposes, including interacting with others,
“class discussions, talk that explores and investigates learning area topics,
and formal and informal presentations and debates”. This applies across the
element 3-6 described below (ACARA, 2016).
3.
Text knowledge
Students are able to understand the different types of text structures that are
used in different fields/disciplines and use them to determine the important material and
details, and “present information, explain processes and relationships, argue
and support points of view and investigate issues” (ACARA, 2016).
4.
Grammar knowledge
Students gain understanding of the grammatical features of different texts, and
use knowledge of sentence structures, links and elaborate ideas, and “how
different types of words and word groups convey information and represent ideas
in the learning areas (ACARA, 2016).
5.
Word knowledge
The details of this on the ACARA (2016) site do not seem to have anything to do
with world knowledge in my opinion, but this is what it says: “This involves
students understanding the increasingly specialised vocabulary and spelling
needed to compose and comprehend learning area texts.
Students develop strategies and skills for
acquiring a wide topic vocabulary in the learning areas and the capacity to
spell the relevant words accurately. In developing and acting with literacy,
students:
·
understand
learning area vocabulary
·
use
spelling knowledge.
(ACARA, 2016).
6. Visual knowledge
Through interpreting still and moving images, graphs, tables, maps and other
graphic representations, students understand how visual information contributes
to the meanings created in learning area texts.
These are some ways
in which I can develop literacy for Grades 5 & 6 in:
The Arts
Through the study of
historical and culturally significant Indigenous artworks, I can teach students
about cultural symbolism and Dreaming so that they can develop a visual knowledge to understand the
meanings, symbolism and stories that the artist is telling.
Health and Physical Education
In this area I could
provide different types of text to students such as media articles, scientific
research findings, text book literature, websites etc. Before they begin
reading any type of text I would ask them if they could predict what it would
be about from the title and if there are any pictures. And from their
predictions, what kind of information do they believe will be important. Then I
will give them instructions for a type of note taking method (a different one
for each text initially, then when they are practised in a few, they can choose
the style that best suits how they take in information). Following students
reading for understanding, I would facilitate a class discussion in which I can
assess student text knowledge through
their determining of the important material and details, how they address their
knowledge in discussion and argue and support points of view.
Humanities and Social Sciences
All the areas of
Social Sciences have a particular inherent vocabulary, and by teaching,
demonstrating and using assessment strategies to determine student understanding
and spelling knowledge of those learning area vocabularies, I can address the
literacy element world knowledge.
Chapter
3 Reading and comprehension
The main features of each part of the ‘three cueing’ model are:
- Semantic cues are making guesses from context and/or
illustrations.
- In reality we rarely encounter single words without context.
- Reading is not simply sounding out or identifying single words, it is
more complex than this. It is creating meaning with print.
- Syntactic cues are grammar
and/or word order.
- With Letter-sound knowledge students
can use the information in combination with the other 2 cues to attempt reading
an unknown word.
- The 3-cueing system is a description of how the brain identifies words
during the act of creating meaning with print. It is not a method
(Johnson, 2015).
In Humanities classes, and for Geography in my experience, there are many
different types of texts that students are asked to read. In this class I will
use ‘High Reliability Literacy Strategies’ in my teaching by:
·
before asking my students to read something I will
see if they can predict what the text is going to be about by the title and/or
any pictures or illustrations.
·
Where possible the articles will be relevant to
current events so I will be able to assess the students existing knowledge in
these areas.
·
Depending on where they’re at, we could have a class
discussion about the topic.
·
I will ask them if they have any questions about the
topic.
·
I will model the vocabulary used in the
subject/topic, and ask students to do so too during discussions as other types
of communication.
·
I will model reading aloud, and sometimes ask that
the students read aloud from the text.
·
When I get them to read aloud in the class, we will
go through vocabulary, topic sentences, meanings, paraphrasing and summarising.
·
We will talk about the techniques we have been using
so they are aware of them for future use without guidance.
·
I will ask them what they have learnt about the text
and how they read the text that is different to reading other types of text.
·
I will ask if any of the earlier questions they had
were answered by the text, and if not, where could they look to find the
answers.
·
When they reflect of the topic itself they should
know the text well. This I would be addressed with some type of assessable
task, usually formative, though a summative assessment may entail a written
assignment or a presentation, which must include how the knowledge they have
gained is useful to their understanding, and how it can be linked to other
things they know.
(Munro, 2011).
Chapter
4 Writing
Two ways I will help
my students develop their writing skills:
1. Scaffolding- I will show them, and we
will analyse, good examples of what the type of writing I am asking of them
should look like. We will go through the texts to determine structure,
coherency, grammar, style, content, engagement value for audience, and
vocabulary so they can create a word bank of the specific vocabulary of the
subject.
2. Assessment and Feedback- From their
work I can assess their understanding of the topic and the writing techniques
and I can give them constructive feedback on their work, and to develop goals
with them for improving their work.
Is it important to
teach handwriting to middle school students? Why or why not?
I personally think
the handwriting skill is important because technology is not always available.
There are many situations where it is still important to take notes and other
forms of writing in and out of school. We want others to be able to understand
our writing, which will be difficult if people were not taught how to write.
Physical writing also helps us with spelling and grammar rules that are
automatically corrected or drawn attention to in computer documents. There are
also things that we can express with pen and paper that are far more difficult
to achieve using a computer, such as linking ideas when taking notes in class
(this is not to suggest that technology is not easier or more convenient for
many tasks).
Stantangelo and
Graham (2016) say that handwriting is still prominent at home and at the workplace,
even with digital writing tools being commonplace. As long as this continues to
be the case it is important to teach students these skills. Teaching students
hand writing, and individualising their instruction, leads to greater legibly
and fluency in writing. They continue that by saying that ”it is assumed that
non-content factors, such as legibility or spelling correctness, influence readers’
judgments about the quality of ideas in a written text”. This is an issue for
students as “, a test response that is less legible will receive a lower score
for content than the same paper written more legibly. (p. 225-226).
Chapter
5 Multiliteracies
The five most
important ideas I have learned about in my exploration of multiliteracies are:
1. The 6 design elements for making
meaning are: linguistic; visual; audio; gestural; special; and, multimodal
patterns (which are combinations of the other meaning makers). President and
Fellows of Harvard College (1996). New Learning (n.d.) videos 1.1 and 1. 2 also
says the term ‘multimodal’ means that words rarely exist by themselves without
context. The reason for this being more prominent now than in the past is that
we have more technologies that allow us to present multimodes of literacy from
the same platform, such as children’s books having pictures and writing on the
same page, or audio and visual on the television and computer simultaneously
illustrating the same message.
2.
Video
1.4 on New Learning (n.d.) showed how to teach young students using multiliteracies
lesson where the students guessed what different cards represented without any
text, from the other visual features. Then they connected knowledge of how
different events in the year where cards are exchanged are for different
celebrations that we have. It’s about acknowledging and valuing ways other than
alphabetical processes of making meaning, and that this learning is
transferrable to different situations.
3.
Bull
and Anstey (2007), state that as well as needing to consume the elements for
making meaning described in number 1, “conversely, they will be required to
produce texts that use all five systems such as play scripts, email, video and
PowerPoint presentations”.
4.
Students
and teachers should understand that the choice of text type can be approached
in many ways and will depend on context (Bull & Anstey, 2007).
5. All text is consciously constructed and
choices are made as to what is included and excluded, never telling the whole
story. Often text portrays the particular values of the writer. Thus, being
multiliterate can allow the reader to critically “analyse texts, identify their
origins and authenticity, and understand how they have been constructed in
order to perceive their gaps, silences and biases” (Bull & Anstey, 2007).
Chapter
6 The Four Resources Model
Is this a helpful model for you to use? Why/why not?
I think it is helpful for me to design lessons that address the content
of this model, so long as they are active class tasks, rather than a worksheet
for students to fill out. There are a lot of questions which I think would be
boring, but though a discussion or some other type of guided activity or group
work could be more engaging for the students. As we work through the activities
addressing the content of the mode, I could tell them the technicalities of
what they have been doing so that they are aware of the techniques. Also,
following the activities, I could give them a copy of the model so they could
use it as a cheat sheet in future self-guided text deciphering activities.
Chapter
7 Literacy in Years 7 – 9
The most important factors to consider about teaching literacy to Years 7
– 9 are:
1.
Literacy teaching does not end after grade 3-4, and
in the middle and secondary years it is not just the responsibility of the
English department (State of New South Wales, Department of Education and
Training, 2016). Teachers “coordinate common strategies and approaches to
improving literacy skills for individual students” (Sparks, 2016).
2. “‘Literacy’
refers to a set of self-sustaining resources: how well-developed and flexible
our literacy resources are will determine how well-developed and flexible our literacy
resources will become in the future” (State of New South Wales, Department of
Education and Training, 2016). I think this means that the level of literacy of
society and the resources available and used, and the pedagogical ability of
the teachers to pass that literacy onto students, determines the quality of the
same thing (the level of literacy of society and the resources available and
used, and the pedagogical ability of the teachers to pass that literacy onto
students) in the future.
3. “Engaging the
ways in which the knowledge is represented in words and images of different
kinds in these specific knowledge areas is literacy development in the middle
years” (State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training, 2016).
By teaching in this way we are ensuring equity for learning for all students.
4. Four of Heckman’s
‘7 lessons’ from the human capital research on skills formation:
·
Ability and environment both matter
·
Abilities are multiple
·
Cognitive and non-cognitive differences between
socio-economic groups appear at an early age
·
Families and schools can compensate for these
differences
(Freebody, 2011).
5.
“Students should experience a mix of the academic
and the applied, the knowledge and the inquiry” in their classrooms, “with each
supporting, informing and motivating the other” (Freebody, 2011).
6. “Some ways
forward: Sharing…
·
Understandings of the key literacy demands of each subject
·
Ways of maximising
continuity from year to year and across the subjects
·
A vocabulary
for the language and other modalities
that receive heavy duty in the different curriculum areas
·
School-based policies
that emphasise curriculum-based literacy
capabilities
·
In-school, in class assessments that are valid and curriculum-relevant
7.
There must be a line of communication between the
current teacher and the previous teacher so that the levels of the students are
known and it is known what needs to be taught to extend them- whole school (or
coherent school) literacy program (National Literacy and Numeracy Week, 2011).
I will teach literacy to middle years students in Geography and Outdoor
Education by:
·
Providing texts for the students and using ‘High
Reliability Literacy Strategies’ which are explained earlier in this blog post
·
I will model what I want to see from them such as
reading texts out loud, working out and explaining what different text means,
and using subject specific vocabulary
·
I will have them interpret different types of text
including written, symbolic, cultural, visual and aural, and conversely have
them create those types of texts too
·
I will have them work collaboratively for many
activities in which they must develop and use proficient communication skills
to participate successfully
·
I will incorporate peer teaching into lessons when
appropriate
·
I will use formative assessment strategies daily and
give the students constructive feedback on their achievements, abilities, and
areas in need of improvement
Chapter
8 Literacy in Years 5 & 6
What I have learnt about teaching literacy to Grade 5 & 6 students:
*Note- none of the links in this chapter worked (as well as some links in
other chapters of this module), nor were they available using the library
search tool, so my thoughts are based only on the information from chapter 8 of
this module.
·
The ACARA (2015) document (English: Sequence of
content F-6 Strand: Language) is a helpful resource that shows what students
understanding of every facet in literacy should be from years F-6, informing
what teachers need to teach to achieve this
·
It’s beneficial to often allow students time for
silent reading, “this is an excellent time to make observations of student’s
progress, fluency, and choice of books, skill level, running records or testing
and to do some one-on-one skill development” (Sparks, 2016).
·
Use records to chart students’ progress.
·
Keeping a reading diary helps to teach students
responsibility over their own learning and is good preparation for secondary
school.
·
“The reading and writing hours need to follow a
predictable format to ensure that the students are familiar with the routine,
that the lessons are focused on the learning intention and outcomes are being
achieved” (Sparks, 2015).
·
Making students aware of the learning intention so
that they know what and why they are going to be taught improves their learning
outcomes.
·
One strategy for differentiating teaching is to have
the students work in groups (such as level of ability), participating in
activities aimed to address each group’s needs. The teacher can then work
separately with each group throughout the lesson.
·
Spelling can be taught in conjunction with writing
skills.
·
“Making lists of ‘words of the week’, or topic
words, conjunctions, or sizzling story starters, all get the students
interested in words and word meanings” (Sparks, 2016). These sound like fun and
easy ways to extend students’ knowledge.
·
Keyboarding skills isn’t addresses in the “Teaching
handwriting and keyboarding skills” section of Module 4, Chapter 8, and I
hadn’t even thought that teaching keyboarding skills would be part of teaching
writing…
Chapter
9 Strategies for developing literacy skills
Five strategies I will use for teaching literacy to middle years
students:
1.
Visual images and concept maps to teach new words
(Victorian State Government, Education and Training 2008)- the latter
especially. I have used visual images to teach difficult new specific
vocabulary to later years students, and even though we revisited the vocabulary
in most classes, they still had trouble with remembering the meanings. If I
just showed them the images and words, and they had to work out the meaning,
there would probably be better retention rates. Similarly, if they made their
own concept maps around, vocabulary, ideas and topics, their active engagement
would probably ensure a better outcome.
2. “Explicitly
teach academic language. There are many words that have a different meaning
from their day-to-day usage when they are used in a classroom context (e.g.
argue can mean fight but it can also mean outline a particular view in writing).
There are also a number of words that do not commonly occur outside of the
classroom, such as text, reference, and calculate” (Victorian State Government,
Education and Training 2008).
- I will let the students know that we are learning and need to use academic
language so they are aware of what we are doing
- I will model academic language
- I will ask that students also use academic language in the class and in their
assessments.
3. Scaffolding- Giving
the students information that extends them, that they can relate to and expand
on things which they already know, and which is not beyond their ability to
comprehend. Once I have assessed that the individuals/groups have learnt this,
continue to teach more difficult things in a way that they are able to
construct their knowledge. Vygotsky called this the ‘zone of proximal
development’ which is continually changing as the child becomes cognitively
ready to learn new material (McDevitt, Ormrod, Cupit, Chandler, & Aloa,
2013). It is also described as “learning always proceeds from the known to the
new. Good teaching will recognise and build on this connection” (My Read, 2002).
4. Guided
reading- This is achieved by grouping the students (usually by ability), in
which they can work socially and collaboratively on skills that everyone in the
group needs to work on. The teacher can observe the individuals and provide assistance
and support when necessary (My Read, 2002).
5.
Engage the students in purposeful social practises
(such as guided reading above) to address The
Four Resources Model which is designed to teach students through the: code
breaker; text user; text participant; and, text analysist (My Read, 2002). This
was talked about in Chapter 6 of this module as well.
References
McDevitt, T., Ormrod, J., Cupit, G., Chandler, M., & Aloa, V. (2013).
Child development and education. Frenchs
Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia.
Stantangelo, T., & Graham, S.
(2016). A Comprehensive Meta-analysis of Handwriting Instruction. Educ Psychol Rev 28,
pp. 225–265. doi
10.1007/s10648-015-9335-1
