Literacy

As we have explored in this semester, the definition of literacy has expanded in my view. From the start literacy was only thought of as reading and writing, but as we have learned it can be so much more. And even including the "new" literacies which before I would never have included in this heading. I thought it was very interesting to see the different definitions that people found and posted on the wiki. This just goes to prove that it is a difficult word to put only one meaning to.
The internship for next year should be interesting. I'm mostly okay about it, but a little concerned that I don't know enough about the special education portion of it or how it will work. I need to find out a few more answers before I will be comfortable about it. I thought that it was a great idea to have this years interns come in to speak to the class. I really learned alot from them. Over all I'm excited to get into the classroom and continue my education.

Literacy: Then and Now

Over the course of this semester, the term literacy has become a much more broad concept than I used to think of it. Even after four years of college, my definition of literacy did not even begin to cover the definition I now know. But with that thought, I should say that my "new" definition of literacy is not really a straightforward dictionary type of definition, but rather a collection of ideas or multiple definitions.

I feel as though I have learned a lot during this course. I really appreciate the fact that I have been able to "broaden my horizons" of literacy, so to speak. I really was dreading the technology/new literacies project, but I have to say that I really did learn a lot by doing it. I was not only able to increase my knowledge significantly on one certain literacy (cultural), but I was also forced to deal with the scary monster of technology. I look forward to checking out the other projects as well so that I can learn more about the other new literacies.

Thinking ahead to internship year is a scary thought. But, I will say that I feel better prepared for it now than I ever have. I look forward to implementing what I have learned about literacy in my placement and I feel much more confident in being able to do so. Technology has always scared me, but I know that it is important to incorporate into my teaching, especially since so many students are using so many forms of technology on a daily basis.

New Literacies Project: Cultural Literacy

I chose Cultural literacy as my focus for this project. When I first started looking up information, I wasn't coming up with a lot that seemed relevant or usable for this project. However, the more time I spent on it, the more I found.

I don't think I can actually post "my notes" in this blog, as they consist of many many pages of paper and post-it notes, but I will write about what information I've found and where I've found it.

First, I read a book with the title "Cultural Literacy" written by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. Hirsch has many good things to say about cultural literacy, but his views have been challenged by a lot of people. This book was the only real source I had for a while, so I decided to dig a little deeper.

I used the MSU Libraries website to look up "scholarly articles" about cultural literacy, and while not all the search results proved relevant, I did go away with a couple of pretty good sources. I would recommend this site if you're having a hard time finding information for your project.

Another good source I ended up using was NPR, which was really cool because I didn't think I'd find anything relevant there, but was mistaken, as I found a couple of really useful broadcasts.

Vocabulary Minilesson

1. Introduction of Topic
Scott O’Dell’s Sing Down the Moon has already been introduced to the class. Students should have read the first few chapters at least already. Explain to students that there are plenty of words in this book (as well as others) that may be new to them; and that there are words which may be familiar to them, but seem to be used in a different way than they are used to. Offer the seven words printed on the handout as examples: (sled, flounder, swell, stunt, bear, league, draw).

2. Share Examples
Distribute the handouts and ask students for initial thoughts on definitions or meanings of the words. Have them write down these thoughts for some or all of the given examples. As an example, take the first word, sled, and ask for definitions, or offer one such as “Santa’s vehicle”. Then look up the page that the word is located on and have the students read the sentence. “Out of the two willow poles and a blanket we fashioned a sled and put him on it, hitching the sled to the strongest horse”.
Ask students how the word used in this context relates to the definition offered before reading the passage. What is similar/different? A possible question could be: Usually when we think of the word sled, we think of snow—but these characters are in the deserts and canyons of Arizona—what does that make you think about the word?
Look up the definition of the word in a dictionary and/or thesaurus. Discuss findings about the definition(s) of the word.

3. Provide Information
Explain to students that it will be to their benefit if they make use of dictionaries/thesauruses, and the skills to find out more about words they don’t know or that are used in a context they’re not used to. Offer examples of ways they can look up words such as those discussed—with technology (websites, online dictionaries, etc.) books (paper thesaurus, dictionary), and others.

4. Guide Practice
Have the students look up the rest of the words on the handout in the novel and continue with the steps as followed for the example. Spaces on the handout are provided so that students may add new or interesting words that aren’t included on the list that they may choose to look up and learn about. Students should be encouraged and required to fill in at least two more words on the sheet.

5. Assess Learning
After the handouts are completed, probably during the next lesson, ask for volunteers to share findings on any of the words on the list. Compare these results with those of other students in the class. Also, ask for volunteers to share new words they added to the list and the findings for those words as well. A list or poster can be created in the classroom to show findings and offer examples of “multiple definition words”.

Language Vocabulary Lesson

Angela Lowry
03-31-09
TE 402 mini lesson/ language vocabulary
Sing Down th Moon

• While reading the story I would have the students write in their writing journal two action or descriptive words from each chapter and write down next the word the page number so they can find the sentence the word came from.
  
• When we are finished reading the book we will look at their lists, with 23 chapters they should have about 45-46 words.
  
• I will have the students pick 20 of those words and write them on a separate paper and each student will get a Thesaurus.
  
• Then they will look up the words and write down two more words that are synonyms.
  They will then rewrite the sentence that the original word came from with one of their new words. The new word should be underlined.
  
• I hope to have the students recognize that there are more words out there that can be used is similar situations. This will increase their vocabulary and make them better readers and be more aware of the words that they are reading. They will also learn that you can uses other sources to find similar words and meanings (dictionaries, thesaurus).
  

Some examples are
Chapter 1

Original word-steep
page number-1
two new words- towering, ascending
sentence- "Warm winds melted the snow and blue water gathered under the trees and ran through the meadows and down the towering barrancas."

Original word-scatter
page number-3
two new words-disperse, spread out
sentence-"When we left the trail it was fun to see them disperse out over the meadow to crop the first young grass, as though they had never eaten in their lives."

here is the vocabulary lesson plan that I came up with




Vocab. lesson rational: to increase word knowledge the students will make a list of words that are not familiar to them from the book.
Objective of the lesson: to help students expand their vocabulary
Materials: large piece of butcher paper, construction paper, and art supplies

Introduction to the lesson: Inform the students that the class will be reading the novel,” Breadwinner” and that the book may contain words that are unfamiliar to them. Explain that in order to enhance the students understanding the class will be making a word wall of unfamiliar words that they can explore further.
Outline
- assign small groups of students to skim specific chapters for words that they do not recognize
- have each group make a list of words to share with the class
- The class will compile the lists on to a piece of butcher paper
- Assign each student a word to look up or research
- Students will make a poster to visual represent each word
- Posters will be presented and displayed in the classroom for students to refer back to as they read the novel.
- Reorganize the words on a word wall into groups based on parts of speech or topics.

Example word:
Nooria
Parvanna
Kabul
Taliban
Shalwar Kameez
Malali
Burqu
Ongoing assessment: Set aside some time for the students to take turns reading the novel aloud as a group. when a word wall word is used stop and ask a child what the word means. If the child is unable to remember have him or her refer to the posters.

Mrs. Potter write up

In reading the article about accommodations that can be made for children in the classroom who have specific learning needs, it seems that each child that Mrs. Potter described could benefit from some form of visual support in the classroom. In Lupita’s case it seems that her only difficulty is the language barrier. The use of signs to label objects around the classroom that featured visual images along with words would help her expand her vocabulary. Putting pictures with the directions would also help her to become more self sufficient with English based assignments.

Regarding Eddie’s situation it appears as if he has a case of ADD. In dealing with such students the article suggested that visual aids such as schedules and work diagrams. These will give Eddie direction on where to go and the steps that he should be doing in an activity.

Thought it is hard to specifically identify Jonathon’s barriers to learning it seems that it giving pictorial directions or steps that he can follow to accomplish a taste would also benefit him as well.