Creating stories through media

This past week I worked on an interesting project involving media and play. I decided to work with one of the first grade students and have him create his own movie using happy meal toys that I had brought in for him to use. This was a wonderful experience for me as a future literacy teacher because I witnessed the excitement and creativity from the student while he was practicing literacy skills.
As I gave the student a handful of toys, representing cartoon characters or movie characters, he jumped right in to planning process. While he mostly explained his big idea, I would normally have students plan their movie through writing.  What I thought would take some time to figure out was the story line of this movie, however I was pleasantly surprised at how this student knew more about these toy figures than I did. The student created names and used different voices for each toy as he created his story. While it was a simple story about four super heroes playing hide and go seek tag, there was so much richness for literacy in that. This student had created the beginning, middle, and end of a story, which told me he knew the basic structure. Not only did this student sequence his story, but he created characters and gave each toy a different personality, I was pretty impressed.

After I was done filming the raw footage on my iPad, I told the student that I was going to add sound effects, and music through my iMovie program. While this is the exciting part for most students, I soon understood why. I had a lot of fun editing and adding fun elements to enhance this students movie. I think that having students create their own iMovie is an excellent tool to use in the classroom for students to practice using literacy. Teachers can use this to teach students about different genres, and also have them practice their writing skills. Using the iMovie is a great incentive at the end of a writing process. I think that for older elementary students this could be a great individual or group project for students. I would have students work on this individually as an activity for the students who finish their work early. Instead of giving students more worksheets as a done early choice, I would have them work on their story writing. One thing to be careful with as a teacher is to monitor the quality of writing. I think it can be easy for students to rush through the writing part just to start filming and editing, however iMovie would be the reward for when the writing piece is perfect.

Visual Literacy in the Classroom (research Article)

While I am becoming familiar with technology and visual aids that teachers can use in the classroom, I am seeing how much of a useful tool it is.  In the article, Visual Literacy and the Classroom, by Erin Riesland, the idea of being literate in a technological age is introduced. As I have seen all the different iPad applications that can be used in literacy I think these activities and learning tools will be used more frequently in future classrooms, this is only the beginning.

According to Riesland, “by educating students to understand and communicate through visual modes, teachers can empower their students with necessary tools to thrive in increasingly media-varied environments”. The idea of literacy is changing in today’s world because of all the technology. While many K-2^nd graders are already technologically savvy, why not use those skills in the classroom as an engaging way of using, and learning literacy.  Not only will the use of technology help students learn creatively in literacy activities but also it will prepare students for the virtual and real world.  Integrating literacy and technology also opens the doors to teaching to a diverse group of learners as well. Using visual images and interactive media can help the students who are more hands-on learners.

I really liked the ideas in this article because not only am I learning about using literacy with media for young students but I am using it in the classroom with a first grader and the student is really enjoying it. I think using media and technology in literacy is also helpful for students because while they are learning there is also the element of play that is being incorporated  which creates that engagement. 



Source: 

Riesland, Erin. Visual Literacy and the Classroom. Johns Hopkins University School of Education.

http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/literacy/articles/visual-literacy-and-the-classroom/

Language Gap Study Bolsters a Push for Pre-K (Research article 5)

 I remember in my field experience last semester, as I sat in the teachers lounge listening to one particular conversation regarding Pre-K grading. The first thing that came to my mind was, "what! Preschoolers receiving grades?"  As we all know the world of teaching is changing drastically and with the Common Core there is a huge emphasis on math and reading standards starting at a very young age . Starting remediation as soon as possible is key, and the publishing companies are making sure to develop the right materials for teachers to use. However the article, Language Gap Study Bolsters a Push for Pre-K, by Motoko Rich, published in the New York Times discusses the evidence that text books and worksheets may not be the answer in young children's literacy development.

According to new research by Anne Fernald, psychologist at Stanford University, a study showed that "at 18 months children from wealthier homes could identify pictures of simple words they new- dog or ball- much faster than children from low-income families".  The reason for this is because the professional parents are speaking more often to their children which means that "those children are hearing 30 million more words by age 3 than the children from low-income households". If a simple conversation among parent and child can make such an impact starting at the preschool level, this is something that I think all parents should be aware of. Since "oral language and vocabulary are so connected to reading comprehension, the most disadvantaged children face challenges once they enter school and start learning to read".  For this reason it is so important for parents and teachers to engage young children in conversations. I truly believe that learning is social and the more class discussions and conversations teachers and parents maintain with children the more beneficial it will be for their literacy skills in the future. I believe as teachers we can use this knowledge and apply this in our classrooms with read alouds. During read alouds we can stop and discuss ideas that come along or unfamiliar vocabulary for the students. I think that read alouds are a great way to have that conversation time with students especially since "literacy experts emphasize the importance of natural conversations with children". Now that I am aware of this, when I am given the opportunity to have class discussions and converse with young children I will have a new appreciation for its meaning.


Source: 

Rich, Motoko. Language-Gap Study Bolsters a push for Pre-K. The New York Times. (2013)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/us/language-gap-study-bolsters-a-push-for-pre-k.html