I read an article recently on the disturbing facts of reading literacy in the United States. To think that "1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read" is very disturbing as a future educator. (https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-literacy-america) I see myself as an advocate for literacy because I believe my duty as an English educator is to be able to provide the necessary
tools for ALL of my students so that they can successfully analyze, recognize, and
infer the material being represented to them independently. Teaching literacy in English means that
I will demonstrate to my students how to use context clues, how to identify key
words, how to determine the “bigger picture”, encourage higher level thinking/
questions, and how to identify suffix/prefix meanings of words, just to name a
few of the many.
In
other subjects literacy can be seen in the same light. An example of literacy
in math would be the ability for students to understand different concepts,
apply them properly to the problems, and also identify terms that correlate to
the material. In science it may be the understanding of a complex system and
recognizing the patterns that repeat themselves. Social studies literacy could
be looking at a primary document and having the ability to understand the
reasoning behind its importance and linking it to that specific historical
event. The connections of the patterns within the subject areas and the ability
to translate it to students in a form that they understand are what literacy
means to me across the board. Not only do students understand the concepts in
the moment but an effective teacher can plant the seed in a students’ mind and
have it grow by the solid foundation given to them by a good teacher. There are
many different objectives, expectations, and standards that I see are universal
in the different concepts in literature. I observed my previous cooperating teacher implement different reading strategies
such as jigsaw. The students would
discuss a theme within their own groups, then regroup with others and share what
they had learned about the reading material.
I’ve
seen that it is important to recognize themes in literature. Each story has
universal themes and to relate it back to the lives of the students is one of
the most useful strategies because they are more likely to remember and become
interested. To read efficiently is to have knowledge of vocabulary. A struggle
that I’m hoping to overcome is the different reading levels of my students. In
my bell work I would use a “prefix/suffix of the day” in a journal that they
would keep with them each time they came to class, relating back to the reading
that is currently taking place.
The
use of multiple strategies, I’ve learned, provide the optimal experience. Other
concepts I would like to use in my classroom would be anticipatory activities.
In the text of a previous class, I like the justification of background
knowledge that Juan Phillips uses to connect the past to present learning so
that students have a solid foundation of their learning material (Fisher &
Frey 24). Not only is it a good idea to make the lesson intriguing but the
layering of knowledge is just as important for the students’ long-term
retention of the material.
At each of my placements I have seen that there are quite a few students who still do not have effective note-taking strategies. I
walk around and talk with them as I look over what they had written down (that's if they even bother to take notes). In
my observations, I've seen that there were many students who just waited to get the
answers from the teacher versus searching on their own. Their ability to retain the information just a few days later was startling. Regardless if I teach
the middle school or high school level I will give students a mini-lesson on
how to take notes. I would give them a participation grade because it would be
solely for their benefit and not a use of control. A grammar chart is an
excellent example for diagramming a story for its setting, rising action,
conflict, climax, falling action, resolution, and theme (Fisher & Frey
110).
I’m
excited to try out different strategies that I’ve learned throughout my student teaching experience. The classroom benefits from a variety of strategies and the
integration of multiple intelligences as I've stated in my previous post. I'm a huge advocate for variety and creativity that incorporates the usage of these multiple intelligences. It’s my goal to try to create a learning
environment has the best possible results in the retention of literacy for all
of my students so that they will be able to layer the knowledge I have given
them and carry it over to other subject areas. What type of literacy strategies and lessons do you picture yourself including within your own classroom? How do you idealize a typical day within your class time?
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Resources
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-literacy-america
Fisher, Douglas, and Nancy Frey. Improving
Adolescent Literacy: Strategies at Work. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.
I really like your meaning of literacy. It is important that students can understand not just literature, but in other subjects as well. I also agree when you say we need to plant a seed in their mind to make it stay and so students for sure they know. Like the idea of using different strategies to make this happen. It is important to change things up so students don't get used to one thing and get bored. I like the use of the jigsaw because they get to talk to other pears instead of just their friends. Expanding their social skills as well. You're right with the note-taking strategies, very important to teach them the proper way. This is a great post! Thank you for sharing!
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