Language in education
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go." — Dr. Seuss
Literacy
What is Literacy?
Literacy is one of the key foundations to successful learning and living. Literacy is a life-long learning process indicating that there must be a large amount of importance placed on the development of literacy both at home and in classrooms. Encouraging literacy is essential as literacy enables individual's to: 1) reach their full potential 2) achieve a better quality of life and 3) contribute to their communities.
Arguably, literacy is the keystone for learning.
< The picture to the left was designed by Alberta Education. This image provides a visual to the definition of what it means to be a 21st century learner. Literacy is the base of the model, illustrating that no other skill can be achieved without literacy further implying the great importance of literacy.
Literacy is one of the key foundations to successful learning and living. Literacy is a life-long learning process indicating that there must be a large amount of importance placed on the development of literacy both at home and in classrooms. Encouraging literacy is essential as literacy enables individual's to: 1) reach their full potential 2) achieve a better quality of life and 3) contribute to their communities.
Arguably, literacy is the keystone for learning.
< The picture to the left was designed by Alberta Education. This image provides a visual to the definition of what it means to be a 21st century learner. Literacy is the base of the model, illustrating that no other skill can be achieved without literacy further implying the great importance of literacy.
English Program of studies
Below are two statements from Alberta's English Language Arts Program of Studies that I feel highlight the importance of teaching Language:
Learning language is a shared responsibility
"Responsibility for language learning is shared by students, parents, teachers and the community. Students require ongoing opportunities to use language in its many forms. Opportunities to learn language occur first at home and are extended as children move into the larger community. Schools provide environments where students develop language knowledge, skills and strategies to achieve academic, personal and social goals."
Language is important
"Language is the basis of all communication and the primary instrument of thought. Composed of interrelated and rule-governed symbol systems, language is a social and uniquely human means of exploring and communicating meaning. As well as being a defining feature of culture, language is an unmistakable mark of personal identity and is essential for forming interpersonal relationships, extending experiences, reflecting on thought and action, and contributing to society."
teaching strategies
The following are 4 teaching strategies I have learned this semester. These are resources that would enable me to incorporate literacy effectively within my classroom:
annotation
Annotations are notes made while reading. Annotations encourage students to writes their thoughts or questions directly on the source they are reading from. Annotations are more beneficial to students then highlighting because important facts and information is limited to underlining rather than just highlighting the whole page. Annotation is often used to deepen the comprehension of reading and therefore would encourage literacy within my classroom. Below are some common annotation marks as described by Adler and Van Doren:
Key Ideas to Remember:
Students must be shown a model of what effective annotation looks like & students must have an adequate amount of time to annotate.
- underlining for major points
- star, asterisk, or other mark in the margin to emphasize important statements
- numbers in the margin indicate a sequence of points made
- numbers of other pages in the margin to indicate where else in the book the author makes the same points
- circling of key words or phrases
- writing in the margin or at the top or bottom of the page to record questions (and perhaps answers)
Key Ideas to Remember:
Students must be shown a model of what effective annotation looks like & students must have an adequate amount of time to annotate.
read alouds
"Read-alouds allow us to show students all the way people have written about the subjects we teach, including a range of formats, genres, and specific topics." Read-alouds are an important aspect to encouraging literacy within a classroom. Read-alouds enable students to observe how teacher's comprehend texts and from there students may incorporate the comprehension techniques used by their teacher when reading on their own. Below is a step-by-step list of how to effectively incorporate Read-alouds into my classroom:
- make good text selections
- preview and practice the text
- establish a clear purpose for listening
- model fluent reading
- read with animation and expression
- facilitate a discussion of the text
- follow up the read-aloud with student independent reading and writing
Raft writing
RAFT writing is different from other forms of writing as it encourages learning to be a part of the writing process rather than just writing to be a summative assessment of what has been learnt. It allows students to recall, clarify, and question what they know and what they still wonder about. RAFT writing encourages reflective writing while sharing what they know.
RAFT stands for:
R= role (who is the writer, what is the role of the writer?) Examples: author, objects, pet, classmate
A= audience (To whom are you writing?) Examples: Classmates, Parents, Teachers
F= format (What format should the writing be in?) Examples: Instant Messaging, Poem, Letter, E-mail
T= topic (what are you writing about?)
Below is a Step-by-Step process of how to incorporate RAFT into a classroom:
Example: Students may enter a geometry classroom and see the following written on the board:
R= Scalene Triangle
A= One of your angles
F= Instant messages
T= Our unequal relationship
RAFT stands for:
R= role (who is the writer, what is the role of the writer?) Examples: author, objects, pet, classmate
A= audience (To whom are you writing?) Examples: Classmates, Parents, Teachers
F= format (What format should the writing be in?) Examples: Instant Messaging, Poem, Letter, E-mail
T= topic (what are you writing about?)
Below is a Step-by-Step process of how to incorporate RAFT into a classroom:
- Consider the various roles and audiences that would allow the writers to consider different perspectives.
- Everyone responds to the same prompt
- As students becomes familiar with RAFT, vary the prompts so that different students are responding different.
Example: Students may enter a geometry classroom and see the following written on the board:
R= Scalene Triangle
A= One of your angles
F= Instant messages
T= Our unequal relationship
daily 5
A structure for organizing the literacy block. The Daily 5 is a workshop approach that I hope to incorporate in my own classroom in order to increasing literacy. The Daily 5 encourages independence and student based learning which I believe are essential to a positive classroom environment.
Structure of the Daily 5
The whole group meets for a short burst of instruction, and then each student chooses to move into one of the Daily 5 tasks. The length of each task is dictated by the stamina and independence of students.
The Daily 5 Tasks:
How to Pick Good-Fit Books:
The following is a strategy that could be employed in a classroom to make sure students are picking appropriate books during the Daily 5.
IPICK Strategy
I look at a book (front and back cover, flip through inside, read a portion)
Purpose (why would I read this?)
Interest (Am I truly interested?)
Comprehend (Do I understand what I am reading?)
Know almost all of the words (Out of 100 words, I should not miss more than one or two)
Structure of the Daily 5
The whole group meets for a short burst of instruction, and then each student chooses to move into one of the Daily 5 tasks. The length of each task is dictated by the stamina and independence of students.
The Daily 5 Tasks:
- Read to Self; make sure to pick appropriate books
- Work on writing: about self-selected topics the writer is interested or passionate about
- Partner Reading: read with someone to practice strategies, improve fluency, check for understanding and hear one's own voice
- Word Work: expanding vocabulary -> greater fluency -> increased comprehension
- Listen to Reading: hear fluent and expressive reading of good literature
How to Pick Good-Fit Books:
The following is a strategy that could be employed in a classroom to make sure students are picking appropriate books during the Daily 5.
IPICK Strategy
I look at a book (front and back cover, flip through inside, read a portion)
Purpose (why would I read this?)
Interest (Am I truly interested?)
Comprehend (Do I understand what I am reading?)
Know almost all of the words (Out of 100 words, I should not miss more than one or two)
summary notes
This section is dedicated to various notes I have taken throughout the semester that I feel will help me incorporate literacy within my first practicum and beyond!
Concept map
The following is a concept map I created to illustrate the importance of the six Language Arts. Click on the image to enlarge it:
early literacy
What is reading?
Learning how to read is the responsibility of teachers and parents. In order to begin introducing literacy into a child's life it is important to be aware of the purposes and methods of learning how to read.
Reading is negotiating meaning from the text. It involves the decoding of language as well as the comprehension. Beginning to read is often challenging and frustrating; however it is essential. There are two types of reading.
1) EFFERENT READING: this type of reading encourages readers to learn about the world.
2) AESTHETIC READING: this type of reading encourages readers to make personal meaning from reading a text. This type of reading incorporates enjoyment.
The following are definitions of different words incorporated into learning how to read. As a teacher it is important to know these definitions:
As a teacher I will encourage and teach:
Decoding: teach phonics and phonemic awareness.
Vocabulary Development: word knowledge.
Fluency: practice reading (increase speed)
Comprehension: strategies to help students read and use these strategies in a self-regulated manner
Ways to teach:
The following is a video shown in class describing different ways to teach reading:
Learning how to read is the responsibility of teachers and parents. In order to begin introducing literacy into a child's life it is important to be aware of the purposes and methods of learning how to read.
Reading is negotiating meaning from the text. It involves the decoding of language as well as the comprehension. Beginning to read is often challenging and frustrating; however it is essential. There are two types of reading.
1) EFFERENT READING: this type of reading encourages readers to learn about the world.
2) AESTHETIC READING: this type of reading encourages readers to make personal meaning from reading a text. This type of reading incorporates enjoyment.
The following are definitions of different words incorporated into learning how to read. As a teacher it is important to know these definitions:
As a teacher I will encourage and teach:
Decoding: teach phonics and phonemic awareness.
Vocabulary Development: word knowledge.
Fluency: practice reading (increase speed)
Comprehension: strategies to help students read and use these strategies in a self-regulated manner
Ways to teach:
The following is a video shown in class describing different ways to teach reading:
Please click the following links to explore further:
This link will lead you to literature that could be used in a classroom:
LITERATURE
This link will lead you to resources that could be used to increase literacy:
RESOURCES
This link will lead you to my Creed for Literacy
CREED
The following link will lead you to a summary of the Writing Process
THE WRITING PROCESS