Keystone

Aviva Zussman
Keystone Assignment

Reflection: I remember the thrill that I had as a child when I learned how to read. When I passed a sign that I was able to read I squealed in joy as I proudly read what it said. As time passes on I feel that today’s children get excited when they are able to read different things than what I read as a child. Today children are not only reading grocery store signs and newspapers. They are also exposed to text messaging, emails and other forms of new literacy that are important for them to be able to read. As time passes the integration of new literacies into our everyday lives is increasing rapidly. Although we are not holding at the point that printed literacy is totally obsolete but the reality is that printed text is becoming more and more uncommon.

When teaching children how to read educators need to be aware of the phenomena of new literacies becoming such an integral part of our lives.  Students need to be equipped with the tools to utilize new literacies in order to be successful in our technologically advanced world. In addition to new literacies being a focal point in daily activities, new literacies can be used as a motivational incentive to increase students’ participation and performance.

Although teachers need to integrate innovative technology into their classrooms, educators cannot ignore the basic principles that print text provides. It is important for students to understand the basic principles of foundational print literacy in order to ensure accurate reading and writing skills. Students need to know the structure and different uses of books and other written material and how to utilize these resources to conduct research and to enhance their daily living. Even though print literacy is becoming more uncommon, its value is timeless. Students should be well versed with reading and writing from printed text and should build on this strong knowledge to incorporate new literacies.

Interview with ELA teachers: After speaking with Mrs. Leah Muller it seems that her understanding of new literacies is that technology should be used to enhance the teaching of printed text. Mrs. Muller works with a unique student body who come from religious backgrounds who do not encourage the use of technology in their homes. Many of these families do not have a computer at home let alone internet, texting on their cell phones, ipods, etc. Teaching these children to read and write English with new literacies is challenging due to the limitations that are put on the use of technology. However after much thought Mrs. Muller came up with ideas of how to integrate new literacies into the classroom in a constructive and non-offensive way.

Since many of the students own digital cameras, teachers can administer activities where students are asked to take pictures of the words on their vocabulary lists. Also, students can make digital comic strips through uploading pictures of scenes onto the computer then typing in conversations. Students can also use their cameras to record videos of plays that they perform after having to write up a script. Students can also make powerpoint presentations after conducting a research project.  Students can also use a voice recorder to record interviews and songs. Students can also make digital newsletters to share with their family and friends. New literacies opens up many doors for enhanced learning in the classroom.

Lesson Plan:
Taskstream link: https://w.taskstream.com/Lesson/View/F25647B8FE4868DD8408CEAE1EB57AF4

Implementation Report:

To begin my implementation report, I feel that it is important to mention that minutes before I was supposed to deliver my lesson I was informed that I will not be teaching the long e rule but rather the soft c rule. Upon hearing this information I quickly surfed the internet to gain ideas of how I can transform my long e lesson into a soft c lesson. Having been a bit flustered by the sudden change there were additional glitches that could have been avoided.  

            Implementation Report:

1.      Outcomes of the implementation: student learning outcomes and technical procedure outcomes

The original learning outcomes were supposed to be that students should learn to spell long e rules and to differentiate between ee and ea spelllings. The technical procedure outcomes were supposed to teach students the sound that a long e makes through listening to poems on the BBC website and to practice differentiating between ee and ea spellings through playing the games on the website. Furthermore, students were going to practice their writing skills while composing a story for everyone to hear on a voice recorder. The actual learning and technical outcomes were that students learned the soft c sound. Students learned how to differentiate between a soft c and and a s through playing a game on word that I designed to model the game on the BBC website. Students also practiced writing through composing their stories and unfortunately were unable to record. Instead the students were told to tell over their stories to their families and friends and to be mindful of their audiences’ reactions.  

 

2.      Adjustments you had made to accommodate students with special needs

For struggling students and ESL learners, they were only expected to choose three words from their word list of soft c words and write a shorter story than the other students. Additionally, when playing the game they were allowed to look at the list in front of them to assist with their spelling.

 

3.      Adjustments you had made for the effectiveness of classroom management

As mentioned in the introduction, I was a bit flustered on the quick change of plans which definitely had an effect on the overall atmosphere in the classroom. I was expecting that the students were able to sense my bewilderment and react in a more boisterous fashion than usual. Thankfully, the students were more subdued than I expected. They got a bit uneasy when the voice recorders did not work and openly expressed their disappointment. To pacify their displeasure I took one of the student’s stories and dramatically read it to the class. Once I modeled a fun way to share their stories they were more satisfied and were able to continue their former cooperation.

 

4.      Questions asked by the students

Some of the questions asked were why the English language needs so many ways to spell the same sound. The ESL learner especially felt that whoever made up the English language wanted to trick students! Most of the questions asked were technically based. For instance when I explained in the game that the c or the s needs to be dragged, they seemed to be a bit confused about the terminology. After modeling what I had meant however, they understood. Other questions were on the voice recorder and how the voice recorder worked. I wasn’t able to explain the mechanics behind the device but I explained how to use it for the assignment (which did not work unfortunately). Other questions were to clarify how many fingers to raise for the s sound and the c sound when they read over their stories (refer to the revised lesson plan). Students also asked if their stories needed to be real or make sense.

 

5.      Problems students had encountered during the implementation process

The main problem that students encountered was that the voice recorder did not work as planned. Students were looking forward to hearing their original stories on tape and were disappointed that they could not share their work with their friends and family in a technologically sophisticated way. Students also struggled with developing ideas for a story based on the word list. Since this was the first lesson teaching the soft c rule students needed occasional reminders of when to use a soft c and when to use a s. With more time and practice however I think that this will no longer be an issue.

 

6.      The decision(s) you had to make on the spot to make the implementation easier and smooth

A decision that I needed to make on the spot to make the implantation smoother was to distract my students from the fact that the voice recorder did not work. The voice recording was a big part of the lesson that I and the students were looking forward to. As mentioned above, after I dramatically read one of the student’s stories and took suggestions from the class of how to read our stories in an interesting way, the lesson was able to continue smoothly. Some of the suggestions from the students on how to read their stories were with an accent, or in a baby voice etc. Also, a decision that I needed to make not so much in front of the students but shortly before the lesson was how to adapt the games and poems from a long e rule to a soft c. I modeled the game that I wanted to use from the BBC website called “Snap-it” on a Word document. Although it was not as sophisticated as the original plan, the students were able to practice differentiating between c and s effectively.

 

7.      Feedback from the students

The students seemed excited to be able to share their stories in interesting ways to their family and friends. They were disappointed with the voice recorder glitch but were overall satisfied.

 

8.      Timeframe (was there enough time as you planned for)

In my original lesson I had planned for students to make a class powerpoint to record everyone’s reactions to their stories. This however was impossible to accomplish based on the timeframe that I was allowed. For the other parts of my lesson, there seemed to be sufficient time for students to complete their work.

 

9.      Things you have learned from the implementation including proposed changes for future lessons?

One of the main things that I learned from this lesson was that teachers need to be flexible. Whether it is finding out shortly after the lesson that plans have changed, or adapting your ideas for students with special needs, or reacting to the class’ disappointment, teachers always need to be ready to adjust their plans. Additionally, I learned that students love to write for real audiences. The fact that the students were going to share their stories with people that they knew motivated them to put in their best effort to create a quality story. With this in mind I feel that in future lessons I will also have my students write for a real audience in order to produce the best results.

 

Taskstream Link to Rubrics: https://w.taskstream.com/RubricWizard/RubricPrintView/PrintView?encLegacyRubricId=ajzqzpzhzfzkzbzk&platform=LAT

 

Taskstream Link to Original Long E Lesson:

https://w.taskstream.com/Lesson/View/F25647B8FE4868DD8408CEAE1EB57AF4

Taskstream Link to Soft C Lesson: https://w.taskstream.com/Lesson/View/7C2F3FA23EF071DCB33C3784C00A77D8