This paper reviews two articles about teachingliteracy: Duke et al's 'Authentic Literacy Activities for Developing Comprehension and Writing' and Mary F. Heller's 'Telling Stories and Talking Facts'.
Abstract This paper explains that authentic literacy is broadly thought of as reading and writing in a personal narrative format. The author relates that Duke et al in their article 'Authentic Literacy Activities for Developing Comprehension and Writing' reported on their study involving 26 second and third grade teachers to investigate the development of students' ability to comprehend and compose informational and procedural texts in science. The author points out that this research confirmed that language skills acquisition improves in an authentic context rather than through de-contextualized or abstract learning. The paper also tells about a study by Mary F. Heller reported in her article 'Telling Stories and Talking Facts: First Graders' Engagements in a Nonfiction Book Club', which investigated the nature of responses of a small group of girls to see if these responses were grounded in facts learned from the readings or were narrative in nature.
Table of Contents:
Authentic Literacy Activities
Nonfiction Book Club
From the Paper "Authentic literacy activities as described in this article offer many advantages to a classroom teacher. We all wish to make our classes as interesting and relevant to our students as we possibly can. This definition of authentic writing and reading gives us a way to do this. Most all of us can recall how boring it seemed to mindlessly do worksheets or endless lists of practice exercises. By adding a "real" audience and a "real" purpose can make a writing assignment more meaningful or fun. Whether in graduate school or second grade, most of us would rather understand "why" we have to do an activity." Authentic literacy activities, as defined in this article, help students to understand that "why. Children can see how the skills they are learning are used by adults. In an age where students are subject to a great deal of test-preparation activities, doing something "real" might also be a welcomed break for teachers and students.
Abstract This paper analyzes fifteen current sources to determine the most effective means to teach vocabulary and reading comprehension. The paper discusses the importance of vocabulary and reading comprehension to literacy, especially at the second grade level. The paper suggests four solutions or strategies to be given to teachers to help teach these topics in a second grade class.
From the Paper "Review of the Literature Fact-finding It has been noted, in recent literature, that vocabulary development has often been ignored, even when reading comprehension is the aim of the educator. However, research has also continually linked vocabulary familiarity to the greater depths of reading comprehension in students. This is especially crucial in students who are English Language Learners, or primary students who are learning the vocabulary of life. Thus, second grade and other primary educators should analyze methods appropriate for vocabulary instruction. Second grade is a crucial year regarding gains in decisive vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension. Farkas (2000) denotes that students who have low ability levels in these areas in the second grade are now gaining in maturity and realizing these negative impacts upon themselves. "
Abstract The essay introduces Gayatri Spivak's term "subaltern" to describe those who do not have access to a computer and thus do not have access to the literacies of learning online. It makes the analogy of the world wide web to a post-colonial space -- an area conquered and developed by a certain group, and having the culture of that group imposed upon a larger population, and then having been abandoned by the conquerors, leaving the native group with an artificially grafted and imposed culture which they did not formerly know. The essay describes teachingliteracy via the web to those without a computer background as a pedagogy of the oppressed. It cites statistics that show that the web is dominated by the U.S., embraced by Europe, and virtually unused by the vast majority of most of the globe's population. The essay discusses initiatives which might give a voice online to the subaltern. In conclusion, the writer suggests that until the non-western world is embraced by the world wide web, the potential of the web as an influence on global education will remain overlooked.
From the Paper "Here, though the issues involved are not simple, I want to try to explain the problem in straightforward terms. A number of scholars have demonstrated to us the complexity of access to discourse in learning environments; Lesley Rex, for example, recently completed a dissertation under the direction of Judith Green which uses discourse analysis to explore complications of access in a secondary English classroom. In Rex's study, General students had to learn to take up the spoken and written discourse practices of Gifted and Talented students to learn a rigorous academic curriculum. Imagine, now, if, beyond the issues of gaining opportunities to participate to become proficient identified by Rex, this school classroom was difficult to attend for students, either because they could not afford to participate or because they could not find the support they needed to be successful in their studies once they did manage to enroll. Even more to the point, what if the teacher might not be able to recognize their presence, even when they did attend? "
Abstract This paper discusses literacy issues for children living in Australia. The paper begins by examining the many differing conceptions of how to define literacy and exactly which elements constitute the amorphous area of literacy. Then, the paper looks at the varying types of literacyteaching in schools. The paper also discusses the intense scrutiny that the subject of childhood literacy is coming under in Australia. Reports of declining literacy levels led to a perception of a "literacy crisis", which has prompted government officials to take action. This paper also explores those steps.
From the Paper "The importance of spoken language should not be underestimated in the acquisition of literacy. Obviously, the need for literacy will not be relevant to societies where there is no written form of their language, therefore the following discussion will be limited to societies with written forms of their language thus leading to expectations of literacy. Whilst spoken and written language are interrelated, there are also differences between them. The first difference is that spoken language predates written language in history (Stubbs, 1980, p.25). Naturally, it is not possible to make an assertion as to the time differential, however it is logical to state that people have always needed to be able to orally communicate."
Abstract The paper examines the literature to determine the meaning of visual education and its importance as well as the way that it impacts on higher education in terms of teaching styles, material and its outcomes. The paper also explores the way that visual literacy affects the developments and creation of school curriculum. The paper concludes that visual literacy is something that is becoming increasingly important and cannot be avoided. The paper asserts, therefore, that visual literacy should be included but not to the extent that the curriculum will become overly "tecnnologized" and older forms of teaching and learning will be lost.
Outline:
Introduction
The Meaning and Importance of Visual Education
The Impact on Higher Education and Employment
Curriculum Development
Conclusion
From the Paper "The contemporary learning and experiential environment is highly visual. Students are exposed to Web sites, television and a plethora of other sources of image and visual data. This increase in the pervasiveness of the visual aspect in our daily lives has also changed the meaning of being literate. As Ron Bleed states in an article entitled Visual Literacy in Higher Education, "The Literacy of the 21st century will increasingly rely not only on text and words but also on digital images and sounds" (Bleed R. 2005)."
Abstract This paper compares the effectiveness of different teaching methods for middle school and high school students. It takes a look at the traditional textbook-based, passive method of instruction. It then introduces four new methods: the experimental method, the concept mapping method, the ABC method of questioning, and the question answer relationship (QAR) method. The paper's primary experimental hypothesis is that a traditional, textbook-based, passive method of instruction is less effective then all four literacy methods tested. Its secondary hypothesis is that all four literacy methods are less successful without an element of hands-on direct involvement with practical learning materials integrated into the lesson. The paper concludes that future avenues of research should include studies designed to identify which of the four literacy methods represent the optimal combination of hands-on active participation lesson materials with instructional elements.
Outline:
Introduction
Experimental Hypothesis
Experimental Method
Class Discussions and Discussion Maps
Concept Mapping
ABC Method of Questioning
QAR Method
The Use of Visuals
Identifying Limitations of Literacy Strategies
Analyzing the Application of the Active Instructional Approach
Conclusion
From the Paper "Discussions are useful for teachers in evaluating students' ideas and building excitement for science. Discussions offer windows into students' thinking, provide students who struggle in reading and writing with a chance to participate more actively in class, and create situations where students can express their ideas differently than in traditional school tasks. Discussions allow students to use their own vocabulary to express their understanding and their peers' ideas to drive their intellectual and academic work of understanding scientific phenomena. Many times learning science is focused on learning content-specific terms and not on understanding and explaining phenomena. Discussions engage students in thinking about their personal experiences and schema and reconciling these ideas with new learning. This process is challenging, but peer collaboration is highly effective. Finally, sense-making discussions are fundamentally scientific because they open a forum that allows all students' ideas to be heard, and for these ideas to be evaluated, connected to their personal experiences of phenomena, and compared with scientific explanations of such phenomena. For example, during a discussion about the heart, the students came to the conclusion that the heart is important because it pumps blood. This led to a question about how the heart pumps blood. During this discussion, I took notes so that later experiments and projects could respond to the questions that my students were asking. The students worked together to generate ideas and understanding and collaboratively generated a question that could deepen their understanding."
This paper is a research proposal, including an extensive literature review, to evaluate the professional development training for teachers of literacy education in a rural school.
Abstract This paper explains that effective and continuing professional development for teachers is critical to successful student literacy programs in elementary schools. The author points out that the ability to measure the results of professional development programs and activities designed to improve student literacy achievement is a challenging task. The paper states that the proposed study uses an evaluative research methodology to determine the worth of the product, procedure, program or curriculum, which has been put into place for literacyteaching in rural schools.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Nature and Significance of the Problem
Literature Review
What Makes an Effective Teacher?
High Expectations
Knowledge
Instructional Knowledge
Classroom Management
Commitment
Motivations and Intensive Interactions as Part of the Teacher's Responsibility
The Interventions
Challenges Facing the Teachers
School Reforms
Assessing the Impact of Professional Development
Research Proposal Objectives
Research Questions
Methodology
Research Instruments
Summary
From the Paper "In terms of organization, rules and procedures should be developed in conjunction with teaching strategies that help students meet their personal and academic needs. Meanwhile, effective communication is the foundation for good classroom management. Communication skills can be divided into two categories: sending skills (used when speaking to someone) and receiving (techniques for becoming a more effective listener). To successfully communicate, a teacher must learn to do some suggested methods."
Abstract Most educators today seem to prefer a phonics-based, rather than a holistic language, approach to teachingliteracy in the classroom. This paper examines various studies positing the developments of cognitive and behavioralist approaches to literacy and the improvement of writing skills in students and also examines the phonics program as a realistic method of teaching these skills in a contemporary and dynamic in-class structural environment.
From the Paper "When phonics, on the other hand, is taught with worksheets rather than by teachers articulating the sounds, the sounds of the letters are most often identified using key words, pictures, and even latter names, providing a more broadened base for a variety of different learning styles. This can, however, interfere with and slow down the decoding process when the same letters are needed to spell or read words other
than the one used in these memory keys. "The shape and form of the letters are really the only picture students require" (Phonics, 2003)."
Abstract Teachers and parents play complex roles in the educational attainment of language and literacy learners. This paper discusses issues surrounding the effectiveness of teachers of students from diverse backgrounds. It attempts to show how for children whom English is not the first language, a thorough understanding of the literacy practices of the home is vital to ensure they have the best chance to succeed at school.
From the Paper "Viewing language learning as cultural rather than natural shifts language away from the realm of personal development, becoming cultural capital. Traditional literacy practices involve the imposition of texts and readings by the dominant culture, leading to students becoming alienated and disempowered. This leads us to the conclusion that literacy is not a unitary skill. People can be literate in many ways, for example computer literate, 'street' literate, or even classroom literate, but each individual literacy involves being an insider to a particular Discourse. (Green & Campbell 2003)"
Abstract This investigation was conducted with 100 fifth grade students, one library media specialist and four fifth grade teachers in order to determine whether collaboration between the media specialist and two classroom teachers causes an increase in information literacy scores in the two classes of fifth grade students (50 students) when compared with the control group of two fifth grade classes (50 students). The summary, conclusion, implications and recommendations maintain that the collaborative teaching approach provides both learning disabled and their non-disadvantaged peers with improved opportunities for achieving academic, social and vocational success. This complete dissertation contains several original graphs and appendices.
Outline
Abstract
List of Tables
Chapter I Introduction
Chapter II: Comprehensive Review of the Literature
Background
Historical Perspectives
Role Clarification
Partnerships with Principals
Media Specialist Collaboration with Teachers
Student Considerations
Theoretical Basis for the Study Summary
Chapter III: Method of Investigation
References
Appendix A. The Big Six Skills Approach
Appendix B. Checklist based on the Literacy Standards for Students
Chapter IV: Data Analysis
Chapter V: Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
From the Paper "The work of librarians has dramatically changed in recent decades. Today's librarian is primarily a teacher of information literacy (Eisenberg, 2002), and as such, collaborates with classroom teachers to ensure that they are effective users of ideas and information. As a partner, the school librarian, now entitled "media specialist," joins with teachers and students to help them learn how students to use a wide variety of print, nonprint, and electronic information resources. In many ways, the media specialist helps everyone in the school become more adept at participating in electronic information retrieval. The media specialist is an ambassador and a diplomat, showing everyone in the school how to use the Internet, search engines, and electronic databases. It is very important that the combined staff of teachers and media specialist have common goals, a shared vision and work together in a climate of trust and respect (Muronago & Harada, 1999). The research question to be investigated is whether collaboration of a media specialist with fifth grade teachers in fact increases the information literacy of the students in the classrooms."
Abstract This paper describes the steps that lead to reading and how a skilled teacher should help in the process of literacy acquisition. The paper highlights various early steps in literacy and how they can be further developed in the classroom. The author also describes making the classroom itself physically rich in language. Also examined is the importance of pre-literacy skills that are part of pre-school programs. The author concludes by stating that the process that leads to reading should be fun for young learners.
From the Paper "Thus repetition and recognition are two key elements of acquiring literacy. This is one of the reasons why small children take such delight in having the same books read again and again ("How children learn to read," 2007, BBC). The first foundation of literacy, however, comes even earlier--through listening to others speak and speaking themselves. "Young children continue to develop listening and speaking skills as they communicate their needs and desires through sounds and gestures, babble to themselves and others, say their first words, and rapidly add new words to their spoken vocabularies...By age one, most children begin linking words to meaning," although they may sometimes confuse words for certain kinds of objects with all similar objects, like calling all four-legged animals "doggie" (Koralek & Collins, 1997). By age two, children can usually make simple sentences like "all gone" (Koralek & Collins, 1997)."
Abstract This paper begins by defining literacy gardens. It continues to mention already existing gardens and explains, through example, their advantages and functions. It discusses how literacy gardens add the element of verbal learning to nature and science. In conclusion, the author explains how these gardens are effectual in re-enforcing what has been learnt in the classroom in an informal environment.
From the Paper "The Holy Cross School (l"Ecole Sainte Croix) has grown considerably since its founding in 1927. Designed to serve a bilingual community, the Holy Cross School can uniquely benefit from the planting of a literacy garden. Removed from the confines of the classroom's four walls, students can learn new vocabulary words through visual and other sensory stimuli. For example, flower and tree names will be printed in both English and French. Just as a successful literacy garden in Providence, Rhode Island helped Hmong Laotian immigrants learn English, so too will the Holy Cross School's literacy garden help its young students grasp the linguistic concepts they learn through traditional school curriculum. In addition to promoting reading, writing, and communications skills, the literacy garden will have numerous benefits for students and community members."
Abstract This paper describes an environmental lesson plan that a teacher might assign to her students with the intention of teaching the students how to comprehend and produce written factual descriptive texts on the subject of the lesson plan using technical vocabulary and a scientific register as described in the syllabus.
From the Paper "This step of pre-planning highlights how, before even dealing with the class, the teacher sets forth what she wishes to accomplish with her lesson. She knows this might be ahead of where the students are "at" but she is determined to help them acquire the necessary literacy skills for more academically orientated work."
Abstract This paper describes the many difficulties associated with teaching English as a second language and argues that the most successful approach to teaching English to non-English speaking students, given these difficulties, is a one-on-one approach between the instructor and the student and computer supplementation.
Outline
Introduction: The nature of the ESL Problem
Methodology
One-on-One Language Instruction
Motivation
Use of Computers and the Internet to Teach English as a Foreign
Language
Case Study
Conclusion
From the Paper "Globalization is bound to increase the already large numbers of students for whom English is a second language, whether those students are migrating within the European Union to Great Britain or Ireland, or to the United States. In the United States, arguably, much of the growth in number of students learning English as a second language is due to NAFTA and other migration within the two American continents. In the European Union, much immigration is likely to be from the eastern nations, as well as from the historic sources of migration into Great Britain, Asia and India."
Abstract This paper discusses the increasing diversity of the American school population and how teachers can promote multiculturalism in the classroom. The paper further explains that promoting multiculturalism in the classroom necessitates adopting a new approach to teaching and then looks at the implications that multiculturalism and diversity have for issues of literacy.
Tags:Teaching, in, a, Multiculral, and, Diverse, Society
