The major aspects of written, oral, and visual literacy
- Literacy is comfort and capability with expression and interpretation. Written, oral, and visual literary are the things that we are blessed with as humans that make life worth living. It is because of these three areas human interpretation and communication that humans are unique, and it is what endows us with the ability to be creative. I have found that students don't even realize they think with words and language until it is pointed out to them. It is because we use language that we think in ways that allow us to express things like emotion as opposed to relying solely on animal instinct. - The major aspects of written, oral, and visual literacy are connections: to another culture; to experience one can identify with or which can broaden one's life experiences. They effect my teaching by providing a wide variety of reading material for the students so they can start with a major interest they have and from there branch out from the comfortable to exploration of something new - by recommendation from friend, teacher, classmate, librarian, etc. Because these things are so closely entwined, it is easy to plan a lesson that uses all of the skills at the same time. planning lessons that include more than one of the three types of literacy practice gives students a better chance to succeed. - Our legacy as writers will most likely be in written language that can speak for us long after we are dead. Written literacy is often a slow process filled with revision and extended interpretation. The more we can learn through reading and having a great vocabulary, the more we are likely to experience because we will have the language and the diversity of opinion or thought to help us see things in new and interesting ways, deeper ways, more exciting ways
- Those who are skilled with oral literacy are more socially capable and often better leaders because of their ability to give clear instruction, to inspire with spoken language and to correctly determine what other people are telling them through a variety of cues besides what is being said. Oral literacy is the literacy of the moment and is produced and interpreted in an instant, sometimes erroneously.. I like to emphasize, also, that good communication skills help us to succeed in life beyond school and work, but in any relationship (and I especially like to emphasize to the boys that if they ever want to be truly successful with the ladies, the best thing they can be is charming, funny, and have a way with words). - Some people are visual learners and better interpret images than words Attention to detail and an eye for visual information seems the aspects of this literacy. Oftentimes it is too easy to get caught up in an over emphasis on writing. A way to integrate more of a focus on visual literacy in the classroom is by having students do things on the computer, play games that relate to language or what they are learning, put up posters or examples of student work, or anything that keeps the classroom visually stimulating. In addition, students with various spectrum disorders often have very little understanding about the way visual cues play into communication itself. - English is still the most relevant subject they will learn in school, and that their ability to master its use is all about knowing how to utilize visual, written, and oral writing.
How to use reading circles and other student-centered approaches to studying literature
- When class does not allow for lit circles as far as student-centered lit study--the Think Alouds used in the Read Aloud and the pair-share questions for their own independent reading book would be a sort of student-centered study. - When each person in the group is responsible for an element of literature (theme, setting, character development, etc) of the book they are reading, it leads to some great conversations in the group when they have discussions. I require a lot of note taking and personal reaction journal entries during reading circles. - I give the students very specific tasks to accomplish with their groups. They also need some solid structure so they have a "map" toward the goal I have set for them. - They are considered one of the best methods of organizing literary discussions and assignments such as a large novel research assignment, for example. I like the idea that students get to focus on one particular aspect of the text, so that they really explore it fully and to the best of their ability. This also results in others learning to think about different aspects of the book in new ways because other students are bringing the ideas to the table for discussion.
- Other student centered methods Read Alouds, and group Read Alouds, study different characters or aspects of the story, and then act out parts of the story. Literature students perform much better when they are immersed in the conversation. They hear how others come to conclusions about things happening in the text, and it helps them draw out their own conclusions. Students keep ongoing journals when they are reading a text alone. That way, they can learn to annotate and become active readers.
Different strategies to help students become reflective readers
- I get kids to reflect on their reading with pair-share questions and then some of the pairs share with the class. I also ask questions of the students while they are reading and with a short book talk. This is for the independent reading time with everyone reading something different. The story I read aloud every week they respond in various levels of critical skills through the think-alouds and discussion. This is followed by comprehension activities to further check their understanding and comprehension. Responses are done through use of personal white board, speaking, and sometimes drawing. - I think students need to consider the ways in which visual, written, and oral literacy are constantly interacting as we participate in writing, reading, and communication tasks. - We discuss theme, characters, setting, motifs, symbols, and countless other elements and the way they create meaning in a piece of creative writing. Since thinking, speaking, and writing are so closely entwined, using this type of language to unpack meaning is a part of oral literacy, especially as students work in groups to discuss the meaning behind a particular text. Students will become better critical / reflective readers in a natural way if they are made to feel that it is an essential skill. Furthermore, they want direction about how to do it properly.
- The tasks in the classroom should include a mixture of reading, writing, reflecting alone, reflecting in groups, reading additional sources, speaking, listening, and in the same way, the classroom should give students opportunities to engage in all of these things at different times during the day by using stations for each type of activity. - We should always start by giving students reading that is, as Vygotsky stated, in the zone of proximal development. I would make students keep journals, and they would have to dedicate one part of the journal to reading, notes on reading, reading summaries, group reading activities, and personal reading activities. We would also meet often and goal set, so that I was constantly monitoring their progress but also teaching them how to monitor their own progress.
- In addition to this, I would encourage a lot of group discussion, read alouds, class discussion, and class or group activities. A story that might seem rather boring upon the first read could really become quite interesting once it is interpreted through someone else's point of view. This also encourages discussions about diversity of opinion, Working in groups really opens up student's narrow point of view, and that is, of course, critical to being a reflective thinker and reader.
- The best way to do this, I think, is to have the students start by reading individually and taking very detailed journal notes. Then break the students into groups to compare notes, re-read, discuss and answer questions. Then have a whole class discussion on the same concepts and questions, and through this discussion the instructor should be able to assess which role or task is best suited for which student. I like to have students work on a part of the story they seem to struggle with conceptually, so that they can build their understanding of this area. - - - When it comes time to study poetry, I have to students compare the poetic elements of a song to a poem.
- The basic concept of making sure that students use all possible literacy skills to improve upon any type of individual task has been beneficial for me. It allows students to practice multiple skills even if the focus is on one particular skill, and it also teaches them how to be reflective naturally, without forcing them too much.. - As we begin a novel I try to have a number of "big" questions or topics that we discuss in advance, usually in pairs and then as a class. As we read the novel, I ask students to apply the situations and characters from the book to these ideas and begin to establish themes of the novels. - We continue to ask questions throughout the book - my questions at first and then their questions at the end. Often their homework is to provide questions about what they are reading for discussion groups. - - - When I do reading circles they are required to keep a reading journal about the book that asks them to analyze aspects of the book (sometimes in specific ways, other times in the ways that they choose). I try to have them use these ideas in discussion groups AMAP so that they can share and create a greater overall understanding of the books.
- To promote greater creativity I try to have students use a variety of activities that help them consider the novel from different angles. I have asked students to create a map of the setting of the book, create dialogs between different characters in hypothetical situations, create a movie poster or scrapboook about the book, create a movie pitch for the book with who they would cast in the various roles, where it would be shot, etc. These creative activities appeal to a variey of learners and do not always require standard written analysis.
Strategies for building comprehension and vocabulary skills in reading
- I present vocabulary words for each week's story. I do this through a PowerPoint presentation with visuals. I use vocabulary review games, like jeopardy, bingo, charades, etc. I have kids decide on synonyms, real life examples, how they would use it in their own life, matching. Comprehension is through the Think Alouds done with the stories and pair questions. - Oral language and written language depend on vocabulary, so I try to integrate vocabulary into as many lessons as possible, so that the vocabulary is dealt with in multiple meaningful ways, and so students realize how relevant it is to writing, reading, and communicating effectively. Over time, I have learned that this saturation helps the vocabulary to become a part of students normal usage. Students usually have difficulty learning vocabulary though copying and memorization alone. It makes sense because that cuts the activity off from real world application. When I did start to integrate vocabulary into more aspects of the learning day, making it more central, I noticed an improvement.
- When students are reading, I teach them how to annotate. They are required to do this in their journals, and part of the annotation is identifying unfamiliar vocabulary. In this way, each student has unique vocabulary to work with. The vocabulary is meant to be looked up, and each definition is written down. Students come up with their own usage for the word, but they are required to do it in their actual student writings. When they use their vocabulary words, they circle them in red. Students would compete to use the most vocabulary words in our class discussions correctly.
- I think seeing my students use vocabulary in real ways is more rewarding for them because the words have acquired real value to them. - When working on reading comprehension, there are many things that need to be considered. Vocabulary certainly helps reading comprehension, however, and I believe the way I have students take ownership of their reading comprehension by learning to annotate properly while reading, and learning to ask questions about the strange words, is going to be the biggest foundation for their reading comprehension because they own it. I will use a various amount of smaller activities to help students with vocabulary and comprehension. - - Games are always fun to practice vocabulary, and reading comprehension requires attention to analyzing structure and voice or to predicting and reflecting. It is also important to emphasize relating personal experience to a story to unpack meaning
- I often have students write down 5-10 new or odd words from the texts we are reading and they bring them to class to be discussed in groups and then turned into a vocab list for the class. This helps me create various activities for the class where we use these words again. I don't do any kind of testing, but I think it is great idea to require the use of some of these terms in their writing assignments.. I would like to have more activities where they find these words used in modern publications through an internet search, but I have never actually done this.
Appropriate meaning-making strategies and forms of critical analysis for understanding text and novels
- I use Read Alouds/Think Alouds. I read a story out loud and stop at times to think out loud with thoughts, questions, modeling inference, etc. I use good reading skills of inference, prediction, prior knowledge, self-question, determine importance, fix-up strategies, synthesizing,. I use an introduction to each story that connects to the kids and their prior experience. Sometimes I use visuals to help them connect. I think the group discussions, one on one goal meetings, and reading journals that I use are amongst my favorite ways to help my students analyze texts. - I also spend a lot of time teaching them how to annotate / take notes. When they are reading alone, they always have to annotate in their reading journals. I make them summarize each page in a sentence, define strange vocab, ask questions, make statements, make predictions, and make personal connections. I tell them about 50% of their annotations should be comments about personal connections, feelings the story evokes, or beliefs they hold that the story makes them question. I also try to ask that they write out observations and questions about historical aspects of the story because I find that a lot of student misunderstanding with texts comes from confusing social differences or historical differences. Because I specifically guide my students to question these type of things, I find that they usually do in their journals. - However, I think they analyze things even more deeply in group or class discussions. I believe these discussions are an excellent way to help students think about the story in a way they might never have because they hear the perspective or questioning of a peer. I also find that students become way more interested in stories as soon as we discuss them as a group. They like the opportunity to speak out, and they like to hear what others have to say. I believe it opens their point of view a great deal, and it just makes the story seem more complex and interesting. - Often, I will guide discussions using specific questions if I notice the students are glossing over some aspect of the story, and I find that this helps redirect their think as well. I like to usually have the students respond to the reading by themselves in their journals before the group discussion just because it allows the students to think critically and reflectively without input, so I can get a picture of what their true gut reactions and understandings are of the story, but then I like to have them expand upon their ideas after group discussion. - I let them know there is nothing wrong with this, and that literature isn't about yes and no answers. It is about the individual perspective you bring to the novel, and then what the novel evokes in you as an individual reader. There can be multiple meanings and interpretations, and there always are. This makes the students more comfortable to write from their perspective. I emphasize that they must also back up their perspective with evidence from the text, so that they sound informed, and so that others can understand their point of view. I find that helping students see the diversity of opinion and thought, versus just telling them about it, really has the effect of making them more comfortable sharing their own unique thoughts. - I think reading journals can be very helpful in creating a thorough analysis of the books they read. If they are observing, reacting, and predicting as they read, the experience becomes deeper. I think that students can be very good analysts but they need structure and direction - I have specific requirements for their reading journals and this helps them fill in the building blocks they need to do analysis. I recently had my students create character continuums and I thought it was fun and effective as they had to consider how the character changed through the book and identify the moments when this happened. It made writing a subsequent essay much more natural.
oral, and visual literacy
- The major aspects of written, oral, and visual literacy are connections: to another culture; to experience one can identify with or which can broaden one's life experiences. They effect my teaching by providing a wide variety of reading material for the students so they can start with a major interest they have and from there branch out from the comfortable to exploration of something new - by recommendation from friend, teacher, classmate, librarian, etc. Because these things are so closely entwined, it is easy to plan a lesson that uses all of the skills at the same time. planning lessons that include more than one of the three types of literacy practice gives students a better chance to succeed.
- Our legacy as writers will most likely be in written language that can speak for us long after we are dead. Written literacy is often a slow process filled with revision and extended interpretation. The more we can learn through reading and having a great vocabulary, the more we are likely to experience because we will have the language and the diversity of opinion or thought to help us see things in new and interesting ways, deeper ways, more exciting ways
- Those who are skilled with oral literacy are more socially capable and often better leaders because of their ability to give clear instruction, to inspire with spoken language and to correctly determine what other people are telling them through a variety of cues besides what is being said. Oral literacy is the literacy of the moment and is produced and interpreted in an instant, sometimes erroneously.. I like to emphasize, also, that good communication skills help us to succeed in life beyond school and work, but in any relationship (and I especially like to emphasize to the boys that if they ever want to be truly successful with the ladies, the best thing they can be is charming, funny, and have a way with words).
- Some people are visual learners and better interpret images than words Attention to detail and an eye for visual information seems the aspects of this literacy. Oftentimes it is too easy to get caught up in an over emphasis on writing. A way to integrate more of a focus on visual literacy in the classroom is by having students do things on the computer, play games that relate to language or what they are learning, put up posters or examples of student work, or anything that keeps the classroom visually stimulating. In addition, students with various spectrum disorders often have very little understanding about the way visual cues play into communication itself.
- English is still the most relevant subject they will learn in school, and that their ability to master its use is all about knowing how to utilize visual, written, and oral writing.
other student-centered approaches
to studying literature
- When each person in the group is responsible for an element of literature (theme, setting, character development, etc) of the book they are reading, it leads to some great conversations in the group when they have discussions. I require a lot of note taking and personal reaction journal entries during reading circles.
- I give the students very specific tasks to accomplish with their groups. They also need some solid structure so they have a "map" toward the goal I have set for them.
- They are considered one of the best methods of organizing literary discussions and assignments such as a large novel research assignment, for example. I like the idea that students get to focus on one particular aspect of the text, so that they really explore it fully and to the best of their ability. This also results in others learning to think about different aspects of the book in new ways because other students are bringing the ideas to the table for discussion.
- Other student centered methods Read Alouds, and group Read Alouds, study different characters or aspects of the story, and then act out parts of the story. Literature students perform much better when they are immersed in the conversation. They hear how others come to conclusions about things happening in the text, and it helps them draw out their own conclusions. Students keep ongoing journals when they are reading a text alone. That way, they can learn to annotate and become active readers.
students become reflective readers
- I think students need to consider the ways in which visual, written, and oral literacy are constantly interacting as we participate in writing, reading, and communication tasks.
- We discuss theme, characters, setting, motifs, symbols, and countless other elements and the way they create meaning in a piece of creative writing. Since thinking, speaking, and writing are so closely entwined, using this type of language to unpack meaning is a part of oral literacy, especially as students work in groups to discuss the meaning behind a particular text. Students will become better critical / reflective readers in a natural way if they are made to feel that it is an essential skill. Furthermore, they want direction about how to do it properly.
- The tasks in the classroom should include a mixture of reading, writing, reflecting alone, reflecting in groups, reading additional sources, speaking, listening, and in the same way, the classroom should give students opportunities to engage in all of these things at different times during the day by using stations for each type of activity.
- We should always start by giving students reading that is, as Vygotsky stated, in the zone of proximal development. I would make students keep journals, and they would have to dedicate one part of the journal to reading, notes on reading, reading summaries, group reading activities, and personal reading activities. We would also meet often and goal set, so that I was constantly monitoring their progress but also teaching them how to monitor their own progress.
- In addition to this, I would encourage a lot of group discussion, read alouds, class discussion, and class or group activities. A story that might seem rather boring upon the first read could really become quite interesting once it is interpreted through someone else's point of view. This also encourages discussions about diversity of opinion, Working in groups really opens up student's narrow point of view, and that is, of course, critical to being a reflective thinker and reader.
- The best way to do this, I think, is to have the students start by reading individually and taking very detailed journal notes. Then break the students into groups to compare notes, re-read, discuss and answer questions. Then have a whole class discussion on the same concepts and questions, and through this discussion the instructor should be able to assess which role or task is best suited for which student. I like to have students work on a part of the story they seem to struggle with conceptually, so that they can build their understanding of this area. - - - When it comes time to study poetry, I have to students compare the poetic elements of a song to a poem.
- The basic concept of making sure that students use all possible literacy skills to improve upon any type of individual task has been beneficial for me. It allows students to practice multiple skills even if the focus is on one particular skill, and it also teaches them how to be reflective naturally, without forcing them too much..
- As we begin a novel I try to have a number of "big" questions or topics that we discuss in advance, usually in pairs and then as a class. As we read the novel, I ask students to apply the situations and characters from the book to these ideas and begin to establish themes of the novels. - We continue to ask questions throughout the book - my questions at first and then their questions at the end. Often their homework is to provide questions about what they are reading for discussion groups. - - - When I do reading circles they are required to keep a reading journal about the book that asks them to analyze aspects of the book (sometimes in specific ways, other times in the ways that they choose). I try to have them use these ideas in discussion groups AMAP so that they can share and create a greater overall understanding of the books.
- To promote greater creativity I try to have students use a variety of activities that help them consider the novel from different angles. I have asked students to create a map of the setting of the book, create dialogs between different characters in hypothetical situations, create a movie poster or scrapboook about the book, create a movie pitch for the book with who they would cast in the various roles, where it would be shot, etc. These creative activities appeal to a variey of learners and do not always require standard written analysis.
comprehension and vocabulary
skills in reading
- Oral language and written language depend on vocabulary, so I try to integrate vocabulary into as many lessons as possible, so that the vocabulary is dealt with in multiple meaningful ways, and so students realize how relevant it is to writing, reading, and communicating effectively. Over time, I have learned that this saturation helps the vocabulary to become a part of students normal usage. Students usually have difficulty learning vocabulary though copying and memorization alone. It makes sense because that cuts the activity off from real world application. When I did start to integrate vocabulary into more aspects of the learning day, making it more central, I noticed an improvement.
- When students are reading, I teach them how to annotate. They are required to do this in their journals, and part of the annotation is identifying unfamiliar vocabulary. In this way, each student has unique vocabulary to work with. The vocabulary is meant to be looked up, and each definition is written down. Students come up with their own usage for the word, but they are required to do it in their actual student writings. When they use their vocabulary words, they circle them in red. Students would compete to use the most vocabulary words in our class discussions correctly.
- I think seeing my students use vocabulary in real ways is more rewarding for them because the words have acquired real value to them. - When working on reading comprehension, there are many things that need to be considered. Vocabulary certainly helps reading comprehension, however, and I believe the way I have students take ownership of their reading comprehension by learning to annotate properly while reading, and learning to ask questions about the strange words, is going to be the biggest foundation for their reading comprehension because they own it. I will use a various amount of smaller activities to help students with vocabulary and comprehension. - - Games are always fun to practice vocabulary, and reading comprehension requires attention to analyzing structure and voice or to predicting and reflecting. It is also important to emphasize relating personal experience to a story to unpack meaning
- I often have students write down 5-10 new or odd words from the texts we are reading and they bring them to class to be discussed in groups and then turned into a vocab list for the class. This helps me create various activities for the class where we use these words again. I don't do any kind of testing, but I think it is great idea to require the use of some of these terms in their writing assignments.. I would like to have more activities where they find these words used in modern publications through an internet search, but I have never actually done this.
strategies and forms of critical
analysis for understanding text
and novels
I think the group discussions, one on one goal meetings, and reading journals that I use are amongst my favorite ways to help my students analyze texts.
- I also spend a lot of time teaching them how to annotate / take notes. When they are reading alone, they always have to annotate in their reading journals. I make them summarize each page in a sentence, define strange vocab, ask questions, make statements, make predictions, and make personal connections. I tell them about 50% of their annotations should be comments about personal connections, feelings the story evokes, or beliefs they hold that the story makes them question. I also try to ask that they write out observations and questions about historical aspects of the story because I find that a lot of student misunderstanding with texts comes from confusing social differences or historical differences. Because I specifically guide my students to question these type of things, I find that they usually do in their journals.
- However, I think they analyze things even more deeply in group or class discussions. I believe these discussions are an excellent way to help students think about the story in a way they might never have because they hear the perspective or questioning of a peer. I also find that students become way more interested in stories as soon as we discuss them as a group. They like the opportunity to speak out, and they like to hear what others have to say. I believe it opens their point of view a great deal, and it just makes the story seem more complex and interesting.
- Often, I will guide discussions using specific questions if I notice the students are glossing over some aspect of the story, and I find that this helps redirect their think as well. I like to usually have the students respond to the reading by themselves in their journals before the group discussion just because it allows the students to think critically and reflectively without input, so I can get a picture of what their true gut reactions and understandings are of the story, but then I like to have them expand upon their ideas after group discussion.
- I let them know there is nothing wrong with this, and that literature isn't about yes and no answers. It is about the individual perspective you bring to the novel, and then what the novel evokes in you as an individual reader. There can be multiple meanings and interpretations, and there always are. This makes the students more comfortable to write from their perspective. I emphasize that they must also back up their perspective with evidence from the text, so that they sound informed, and so that others can understand their point of view. I find that helping students see the diversity of opinion and thought, versus just telling them about it, really has the effect of making them more comfortable sharing their own unique thoughts.
- I think reading journals can be very helpful in creating a thorough analysis of the books they read. If they are observing, reacting, and predicting as they read, the experience becomes deeper. I think that students can be very good analysts but they need structure and direction - I have specific requirements for their reading journals and this helps them fill in the building blocks they need to do analysis. I recently had my students create character continuums and I thought it was fun and effective as they had to consider how the character changed through the book and identify the moments when this happened. It made writing a subsequent essay much more natural.