The more I read about critical literacy, the more I try to think of ideas that I can take into my classroom. Teaching students whose reading levels range from 3rd grade to 8th, I feel it is important to demonstrate the different ways each student can be literate. After completing this week's reading, and reflecting on everything that has happened in my school, I began to think of another way to have students demonstrate their literacies based on incidents that have recently taken place.
As most know, Anacostia SHS is not the safest place to attend school; security is not as tight as it could be and therefore, several fights break out daily. Last week, however, was one particular day where fights ran rampant. With student concerns centering on boundary struggles and quarrels between various neighborhood affiliations broke out, we were forced to hold our students in the classroom for an extended period of time. I looked at these incidents as an opportunity to have my students reflect on their lives and what they witness daily. This opportunity led to my students completing a task where they pulled the text we are currently reading in with (what I consider to be) the everyday text of school violence.
Gary Soto's Living Up the Street provides students with a number of short stories involving Gary and his friends (during their adolescent years) committing crimes and destructive acts. Because these short stories are able to hold my students' attention, I decided to use a writing prompt to help them pull their thoughts and feelings about the in-school violence as it relates to a text, thus having them tie two different types of observed literacies together.
As a result, I came up with the following prompt: Select a character from the story we read today. Think about how this character would fit in at Anacostia SHS. What kind of student would this character be and how would he react to the chain of events that have been happening recently?
While the violence that happens during school hours may not, per se, be considered a text; I feel it falls under the category (in a supporting position) because it supports many articles written about the school and S.E., DC area in general. In addition, it's something that my students are exposed to daily and are rarely given a chance to openly reflect on such a thing. Because I teach in a very rigid curriculum, they are not oftentimes given the option to discuss such instances; however, I try to incorporate things they are both interested in and exposed to in my daily lessons, whether it be through our closing activity or in their homework packets.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Luke & Freebody's Four Resource Model
Upon reading about Luke & Freebody's Four Resource Model, I realized that their theories on literacy center on the fact that being literate involves the ability to link a group of strategies related to areas including citizenship, technology, reading, cultural diversity and communication practices. One area of the Four Resource Model that I feel helps educators is the fact that it encompasses a variety of literary components, such as teacher-centered instruction and vocabulary development.
The four items represented in the model include: Code breaker, text user, text participant and text analyst. In order to properly administer this method of literacy education, it is vital to understand the complexities of each category.
The code breaker asks the question, "How do I crack this code?" and involves the reader's ability to decode; as well as the reader's utilization of grammar and phonics. The second section of the model includes the text participant; this answers the question, "What does this mean to me?" Included in this section are activities that allow students to relate to any given text they read. Thirdly, is the text user, which centers on answering the question, "What do I do with this text?" -- this question is important, for it allows students to explore the idea of voice and the roles involved in the text at hand. Last, is the fourth section of the model, the text analyst. The text analyst works to answer: "What does this text do to me?" This portion of the Four Resource Model allows students to create their ideas of how they can relate and infer concepts from different types of texts.
In order for my students to improve their literacy skills, I work with them using each of the methods listed above. An example of a text analyst activity that I have used this school year includes a newspaper activity that I had them complete: Each student was given a section of the Washington Post and was asked to select a picture and an [unrelated] article. I, then, took all of the collected pictures and articles and redistributed throughout the class, having each student write a story that related to the picture; and, draw a picture that described the article. This assignment gave each student a fair bit of flexibility and creativity; in addition, it allowed me to evaluate their abilities to analyze. When they were complete, I had each student write a reflection on why they chose to draw their particular picture/write their particular story.
When introducing the ideas of both the text user and the text participant, I allow students to reflect on a text discussed in class. I give them time to write down their personal connections, as well as how they are able to relate to the suggested audience of a text. I feel this helps them when they create their own papers, for they gain a better understanding of their voice and its importance.
In my classroom, I use a variety of methods to introduce an in-class reading assignment; sometimes I conduct a read aloud. Other times, I have students do a 'popcorn reading' where I implement the rules of the SP3 model. (Students have to read either a Sentence, Paragraph, Page or Passage; it's their choice.) I feel that by having them read aloud, and then later write a response, I can grasp which areas need refined; thus enabling me to assist my students in the most effective way.
I feel that by implementing Luke & Freebody's Four Resource Model in the classroom, I can help my students improve their literacy skills by showing them the number of methods they can use to help them understand any given text.
The four items represented in the model include: Code breaker, text user, text participant and text analyst. In order to properly administer this method of literacy education, it is vital to understand the complexities of each category.
The code breaker asks the question, "How do I crack this code?" and involves the reader's ability to decode; as well as the reader's utilization of grammar and phonics. The second section of the model includes the text participant; this answers the question, "What does this mean to me?" Included in this section are activities that allow students to relate to any given text they read. Thirdly, is the text user, which centers on answering the question, "What do I do with this text?" -- this question is important, for it allows students to explore the idea of voice and the roles involved in the text at hand. Last, is the fourth section of the model, the text analyst. The text analyst works to answer: "What does this text do to me?" This portion of the Four Resource Model allows students to create their ideas of how they can relate and infer concepts from different types of texts.
In order for my students to improve their literacy skills, I work with them using each of the methods listed above. An example of a text analyst activity that I have used this school year includes a newspaper activity that I had them complete: Each student was given a section of the Washington Post and was asked to select a picture and an [unrelated] article. I, then, took all of the collected pictures and articles and redistributed throughout the class, having each student write a story that related to the picture; and, draw a picture that described the article. This assignment gave each student a fair bit of flexibility and creativity; in addition, it allowed me to evaluate their abilities to analyze. When they were complete, I had each student write a reflection on why they chose to draw their particular picture/write their particular story.
When introducing the ideas of both the text user and the text participant, I allow students to reflect on a text discussed in class. I give them time to write down their personal connections, as well as how they are able to relate to the suggested audience of a text. I feel this helps them when they create their own papers, for they gain a better understanding of their voice and its importance.
In my classroom, I use a variety of methods to introduce an in-class reading assignment; sometimes I conduct a read aloud. Other times, I have students do a 'popcorn reading' where I implement the rules of the SP3 model. (Students have to read either a Sentence, Paragraph, Page or Passage; it's their choice.) I feel that by having them read aloud, and then later write a response, I can grasp which areas need refined; thus enabling me to assist my students in the most effective way.
I feel that by implementing Luke & Freebody's Four Resource Model in the classroom, I can help my students improve their literacy skills by showing them the number of methods they can use to help them understand any given text.
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