Journal Task six goes a little something like this: Observe the reading context of the classroom, eg:

• copy the timetable and note literacy routines and literacy/language block sessions describe organisation of reading materials and groups

• reflect on the purpose/implications of this organisation

A typical week in Jenny’s classroom is like this.

Because this is a Prep there isn’t any set literacy time blocks. Rotations every Tuesday and Thursday usually include a letterland activity, and a writing or drawing activity. The children also spend time writing in their play- this is meaningful writing, writing for a purpose.

I think that the early years curriculum caters for the needs of the young learners really well. They would not respond well to standard literacy time or big lessons every week on how to write. They write when they need to, and the play episodes provide a reason for them to learn to write. The prep children are only 4 and 5 years old, at the beginning of the year many could not even write their own name. Specific lessons have been taught on writing their name and on some letterland character (letters of the alphabet individually).

Reading Interview:

N.A    15/5/07        Female

1. Do you like to read?
*nods head* yes.
2. Where do you read?
On the couch at home.
3. What do you read?
Fairytale Books
4. Do you  read to…
a) learn    Yes
b) for fun
c) because I have to
d) no answer

5. Which of these would you prefer to read?
a) The Rainbow Fish
b) The Forest Yes
Why?
Because I like forests.
6. Which of these would you prefer to read?
a) picture book (just pictures)
b) website on on same topic Yes
Why?
Because I want to show my mum and dad.

J.T    15/5/07        Male

1. Do you like to read?
*nods head* yes.
2. Where do you read?
At school
3. What do you read?
Magic School Bus
4. Do you  read to…
a) learn    Yes
b) for fun
c) because I have to
d) no answer

5. Which of these would you prefer to read?
a) The Rainbow Fish Yes
b) The Forest
Why?
Because it’s my favourite book
6. Which of these would you prefer to read?
a) picture book (just pictures)
b) website on on same topic
Why?
“I don’t know”
How I would use this to inform my teaching:

• Expose them to a range of different text options, not just books.
• When introducing new options, start with the texts they already know, and then show the similarities to the new text.
• Use texts whos subject the students are interetsed in. For example, N.A liked Rainforests, and that’s why she chose that book.
• Start a home reading type of thing. I was talking to Chris (another teacher) and in her classroom they have only 20 books for the term that they go round to every student. At this age you can get away with just one level of reading because it’s not important that they read every time. The way we will work it is that the parents read them the book and the students follow along. Let them try to read it, and if they want to read the whole thing let them. The main purpose of it is to encourage a love of reading, and get them to start recognising more words and sounds.
• Talk about reading for enjoyment. Give students a chance to read just because they enjoy it.
• Demonstrate reading all the time for a variety of reasons.
• Use teacher talk when reading.
• Show that reading words isn’t the only way of reading- putting a focus on reading from the pictures, and being Meaning Makers (Four Resources Model).

Here’s entry four’s task: Select a text suitable for using with primary-aged children. Use the Four Resources model to identify some teaching activities (dot point form)

My table demonstrating this is linked here. And the book I used was The Rainbow Fish.

Teachers are inveterate collectors. They collect cotton reels, cardboard cylinders, and egg cartons. They queue up at conferences to collect posters, pamphlets, charts, and other publishers’ freebies.

It’s important to keep in mind that teachers also collect more substantial things. While they might have a strong interest in physical paraphernalia with which to decorate their rooms, the main things they collect are ideas. They’re continually on the lookout for a new idea or “way of doing things” that will make learning in their classrooms even more efficient and effective. Many of these ideas depend on the promotion and maintenance of independent learning. The number of professional books that have been written specifically to meet teachers’ thirst for good, practical ideas and activities that work has reached astronomical proportions.

Reference:

Cambourne, B., Labbo, L., Carpenter, M. (2001). What do I do with the rest of the class?: The nature of teaching-learning activities, Retrieved on the 22nd of March, 2007 from “http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=88929640&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId=20863&RQT=309&VName=PQD”

Angus,L., Snyder, I., Sutherland-Smith, W. (2002) Building Equitable Literate Futures: home and school computer mediated literacy practices and disadvantage, Carfax Publishing, Monash University: Australia

Bolter, J.D. (1991). Writing space: The computer, hypertext and the history of writing. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Burbules, N. (1997). Rhetorics of the Web: Hyper reading and critical literacy. In I. Snyder (Ed.), Page to screen: Taking literacy into the electronic era (pp. 102-122). Allen & Unwin: Sydney.

Cambourne, B. (2000). Conditions For Literacy Learning, Retrieved on the 22nd of March, 2007 from “http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=50810037&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId=20863&RQT=309&VName=PQD”

Charney, D. (1994). The effect of hypertext on processes of reading and writing. In C.L. Selfe & S. Hilligoss (Eds.), Literacy and computers: The complications of teaching and learning with technology (pp. 238-263). Modern Language Association of America: New York.

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. Routledge: London.

Freire, P., Macedo, P. (1987). Literacy: Reading The World, pg 30, 32 & whole text. Routledge.

M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice, pg. 171-185. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.

New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures, pg 66, 60-92. Harvard Education Review: London.

Kamil, M.L., Mosental, P., Pearson, P.D., Barr, R. (2002), Handbook of Reading Research. Lawrence Erlbaun Assossiates: London

Leu, D.J. (1996). Sarah’s secret: Social aspects of literacy and learning in a digital information age, pg 50, 162-165. The Reading Teacher: America.

Shetzer, H., & Warschauer, M. (2000). An electronic literacy approach to network-based language teaching.

Sutherland-Smith, W., 2002, Weaving the literacy Web: Changes in reading from page to screen, Retrieved on the 19th of March 2007 from ”

http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/pqdweb?index=6&did=114426445&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1174294502&clientId=20863#fulltext

Unsworth, L., Teaching Multiliteracies, 2001, Open University Press: Buckingham.

Why do we need to talk about literacies in new ways? What are the implications for your classroom?

Literacy, and texts more specifically are changing. There are so many more texts being ‘read‘. Media (visual, audio, film, TV, music, internet), written texts and human interactions. In Len Unsworth’s book Teaching Multiliteracies (2001) he says that “rather than trying to squeeze new technologies into familiar literacy education procedures, we need to attend to the reality of new and emerging literacies”.

Unsworth (2001) also says that “In the twenty-first century the notion of literacy needs to be reconceived as a plurality of literacies and being literate must be seen as anachronistic”. Multi-literacies.

Different Parts To Multiliteracies/ What Do Multiliteracies Look Like?:

• Computer Technology
• Pictures
• New literacies or multiliteracies theory considers literacy to encompass diverse and negotiated social practices and representational modes (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; New London Group, 1996).

• Web based literacy make appear to use the same techniques to read it- scanning the page, interpreting words and pictures etc, but in actual fact those skills are increased. Web literacy allows it’s reader to expand on their critical reading skills- taking into consideration, and evaluating the use of visual and nontextual features. (Bolter, 1991; Burbules, 1997; Charney, 1994; Leu, 1996; Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000).

Implications In The Classroom:

• In Australian schools, there appears to have been a tangible shift from pen-and-paper writing to digital text production. Weaving The Literacy Web. (Sutherland-Smith, W., 2002)
• Teachers need to link the knowledge that students are learning at home to the work done in class. This might mean using computers more, not just reading books but magazines, websites, youtube videos and more. (Angus,L., Snyder, I., Sutherland-Smith, W., 2002)

Metalanguage:

• “What students learn about multiliteracies and meta-language is inexricable intertwinded with the how of their learning” (Unsworth, 2001)
• We can accomplish this task well when we take students’ perspectives into account, inviting students to share their thinking processes, to consider appraisals of their own work, and to help shape the structures of the literacy work that they do in classes. In effect we walk side-by-side with them.

What do you already know about reading?

A text is not just a book. A text is anything that can be ‘read’.

Read doesn’t just mean sitting down and looking at the words in a book and interpreting them, ’read’ means making meaning and  interpreting something.

When someone reads a text they bring to it their prior knowledge, specific discourses that they work from and their own interpretations and ideas as to what the text means.

Reading is a fundamental aspect of learning and life. Both ‘traditional’ reading (i.e. reading a book) and more modern ideas of reading (reading films, magazines and people) contribute to the way we learn and have important places in our lives. 

Examples of things that can be read:

Books

Magazines

Newspapers

Comic Books

Movies

CD Covers

Body Langague

What are you hoping to get out of this course?/What do you need to know more about?

Strategies for teaching reading and literacy in general.

How to effectively teach reading.

How to teach children how to read different texts.

How teaching reading fits in with Outcomes and Essential learnings and assessment in general.

How to effectively link teaching reading in with the current Unit of study.

How teaching reading is taught in early childhood, particularly prep.

How will teaching reading have changed in 5 years time.

Are there any steps that can be taken now to ensure that what we’re teaching kids isn’t going to be outdated in only a few years?

How have I learnt what I wanted to know?/ How will I learn what I want to know?