ECL310 Multiliterate Learners

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Prompt 8

Upon researching the hashtag #picturebooks on Tumblr, I was astonished by the amount of beautiful and unique illustrations. It highlighted to me the value of social media as a platform for unknown and new illustrators and authors to be discovered. I wonder how many creators have been discovered by picture book publishing houses since the rise of social media?

Two posts in particular caught my attention. These posts both consisted of multi-modal texts. This encouraged me to reflect on how digital media and technology has really transformed the concept of the simple “picture book”.

Nilbert the Introvert The first post included a sneak peak of the trailer animation for the published picture book Nilbert the Introvert (reblogged below). It was intriguing to view some of the process behind the creation of a multi-modal text. To my surprise, the owner of this Tumblr is Shiyoon Kim, a talented character designer from Disney who has worked on films such as Tangled, Frozen and Wreck it Ralph! With a little research, I was able to find the published trailer of the story! (embedded below). I believe trailer animations could be used as effective tools in promoting student interest and engagement before reading. Teachers could utilize animation trailers during front loading as a substitute to using front covers when asking students to predict what the story may be about. To see more of this creator’s work, head to http://shiyoonkim.tumblr.com/.

Cloud Country The second Tumblr post belongs to illustrator Noah Klocek, and featured an animated front cover of the picture book Cloud Country. This particularly interested me as I have never seen digital media used to promote a front cover before. This technique makes the story come to life before even reading the first page. Klocek’s Tumblr feed enables his audience to view his process of creating Cloud Country. It includes sketches, animations, posters, the text in different languages, and more. To follow Klocek’s process, head to http://imageblock.tumblr.com/.

It’s amazing to see how far picture books have come with the evolution of digital media just through the search of a simple hashtag. I ponder, will multi-modal picture books ever replace physical picture books? I hope not. I believe there is something much more personal and satisfying about physically reading a story to children. Perhaps it’s the fact that the process of reading to the class enables social interaction between teachers and students. None the less, I can see the great learning potential in using a combination of multi-modal and physical texts within the classroom.

References Nilbert trailer 2016, YouTube, Shiyoon Kim, 26 August, retrieved 23 September 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AERrtVMguzA>.

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A moving version of the cover of Cloud Country.

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I have never seen a multi-modal front cover before. It really makes the story come to life before even opening the book!

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Sneak peak of my book trailer being animated by the amazing Matt Williames!!!

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It’s amazing to see how far picture books have come with the evolution of digital media. It has been insightful to see the process behind the creation of a multi-modal text.

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Prompt 7

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a higher-order thinking framework that can be implemented when planning literacy experiences within the classroom to encourage students to develop a deep understanding of a text.

Catering for diversity is an essential requirement when planning for literacy experiences. Teachers must cater for students who come from diverse backgrounds and have different abilities and prior learning experiences, as these aspects result in varied intellectual and learning potential in the students (Winch et al. 2014 p. 239). The gradual incline of higher-order thinking is also an effective tool when planning for diverse needs and abilities (Nicholas, 2017).

Create - Design a new sign that would attract customers into Thai-Riffic - Research what thai food is and design a menu for Thai-Riffic - Create a new front cover for Thai-Riffic based on what you have read so far

Evaluating - How successful do you think handing out fliers will be for Arnold’s family’s restaurant? Why? - What is your opinion of Arnold? - What do you think is important to Arnold’s father?

Analysing - What are the similarities and differences between Tha-Riffic and Wok N Roll? - How do you infer Arnold’s father feels about Wok N Roll opening up across the street? - What can you infer about the main character in the story?

Applying - Describe a time where you have had to do a job you didn’t want to do. How did you feel? - Have you ever been called a nick-name you didn’t like? How did you feel? - What do you think may happen next in the story?

Understanding & Comprehending - What did the author mean by “I felt like a walking billboard”? - From who’s point of view is the story told from? - Can you summarise what has happened in the story so far?

Knowledge & Remembering - Who is Kitchai? - What was Albert’s nick-name in Primary School? - Where was Albert born? - When did Albert stop laughing at his nick-name? - How many years has Thai-riffic been open for? References Nicholas, M 2017, ECL310: Multiliterate learners in the middle years environments, Lecture 9, 11 September 2017.

Winch, G, Johnston, R, March, P, Ljungdahl, L & Holliday, M 2014, Literacy: reading, writing and children’s literature, 5th edn, Oxford University Press, USA

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Prompt 6

The cross-curriculum priority ‘Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Histories and Culture’ can be easily embedded within the planning of literacy units, as one of the aims within the literature strand is to engage students in the study of literacy texts of cultural value (Nicholas, 2017).

The video “Impact of European Settlement on Aboriginal Tasmanians” aimed toward year 5 students could be used during the front loading of a literature unit based on an Australian and Torres Strait Islander book. Utilizing e-literature in conjunction with a printed text within a literacy unit enables students to deepen their understanding of the text (Nicholas, 2017).

Before watching the video, students could fill out the first two sections of a KWL chart, describing what they already know, as well as what they would like to know, about the impact of the European settlement on Aboriginal Australians. After watching the video, students could then fill out the last section of the KWL chart, describing what they had learned about the effects of the European Settlement on the Indigenous community. Students could then share what they had learned in small groups.

This front loading session would provide students with some background knowledge on the European settlement. This could therefore be linked to the text ‘The Rabbits’, by John Marsden, who uses rabbits as an allegory to represent the story of the European settlement in Australia, and the hardship the traditional custodians of the land experienced during the European invasion.

References Marsden, J & Tan, S 1998, The rabbits, Lothian Books, Port Melbourne, Victoria.

Nicholas, M 2017, ECL310: Multiliterate learners in middle years environments, Lecture 6, 21 August 2017.

Spalsh ABC 2016, Impact of european settlement on aboriginal tasmanians, Splash ABC, retrieved 5 September 2017, <http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/2443619/impact-of-european-settlement-on-aboriginal-tasmanians>.

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Prompt Five

First Sentence: A hollow silence filled the cold, night sky as she wrapped her son whom had just died in a transparent cloth and wondered how she, herself, would make it through the night with no strength nor food.

Second Sentence: We would do anything to receive even half the amount of food that their rubbish bins consume.

Front Loading Lesson: Front loading is used to activate students’ background knowledge and build any necessary new knowledge before reading a text. This process enables students to be successful in their reading and involvement in studying the text (AGDEST, 2002). This strategy enables students to create ‘strong links between what they know and what they are about to read’ (Nicholas, 2017). A front loading activity for ‘Dust’ could include presenting the class with an image/or images from the text and asking the students to use these images to predict what the text may be about. A ‘See, Think, Wonder’ chart could be used to guide students’ predictions. This form of graphic organization encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations about what the images may be trying to tell us or represent by noting down what they can see in the image, what they think may be happening in the image, and what else they may wonder about the image. Students would then use their recordings and interpretations to predict what the text may be about. The ‘See, Think, Wonder’ activity helps motivate students interest of the text by stimulating curiosity. This could be done as a whole-class or individual activity.

References Australian Government Department of Education, Science & Training 2002, ‘MyRead: strategies for teaching literacy in the middle years’, retrieved 14 August 2017, < http://www.myread.org/explicit.htm >.

Nicholas, M 2017, ECL310: Multiliterate learners in middle years environments, Lecture 2, 17 July 2017.

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Prompt Four

An approach to literacy that I was not fond of during my placement experience was the implementation of student independent reading from 8:50am-9:00am every morning. I observed that it was a struggle to get students to read so early in the morning as they were either still tired, too busy getting their belongings such as their diary ready for the day, or all they wanted to do was talk to their peers. Some students did not even have the chance participate in this reading time as they did not come to school until 9:00am. Perhaps reading time could have been implemented after recess or lunch as a calming activity, as my class often required ‘calm-down’ activities throughout the day.

An approach I liked for encouraging reading in my grade 1/2 class was the use of a reading record sticker chart. Students would receive a sticker to put next to their name on the chart if they had read the night before. Once the students had achieved 25, 50, 100 150, etc nights of reading, they received a magnificent certificate. It was interesting to see how much this approach encouraged students to become involved in their reading. I would often have students chasing me up to give them their sticker, or exclaiming how excited they were to almost be at a certain number of nights reading.

I also really liked how my mentor teacher had accommodated for a reading corner within her classroom. This reading corner was full to the brim with an assortment of picture books and short chapter books. It had beanbags, cushions, and even a teepee to make reading an enjoyable experience for the students. It was interesting to see students gravitated toward some of my favourite classic authors, such as Pamela Allen, Roald Dahl and Mem Fox.

An approach to writing I enjoyed was the implementation of ‘Rainbow Editing’. Rainbow editing required students to edit their writing pieces by colouring in different areas of their writing with different colours (eg. Full stops were coloured in red, capital letters coloured in orange). I found this approach really helpful to some students who struggled with using the correct conventions within their writing. It also provided an extra activity for early finishes.

Something that did not seem to work within the classroom was the implementation of ‘Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check”. Each student had a different set of spelling words and were required to practice them on their whiteboards every morning after reading time. Although this method is a great idea for practicing spelling words in theory, I found that many of my students were disengaged in this activity and ended up just drawing pictures and scribbles on their whiteboards. Perhaps this could have been avoided by requiring students to write their words on paper instead of the whiteboard and asking them to hand it in once complete. I also observed that majority of my students did not follow the correct process of looking, saying, covering up the word, writing it and checking it. I remember from my own schooling that I also did not follow this correct process. This provokes me to think about what other approaches could be used within the classroom to encourage spelling practice.

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Prompt Three

This child’s writing should read: “Mrs Stuart, I think you should go to Serendip Sanctuary. It is free. Open 7 days a week. On the holidays there’s a special program for kids. The special program is the kids get to feed the animals. You should go!

I have annotated the convention errors within the child’s work sample using emoji’s: Pencil = Spelling error Pin = Misuse of capital letter within a word Star = incorrect use of apostrophe Black jewel = Requires a full stop Blue jewel = Word requires a capital letter

I have selected a persuasive writing sample created by a child in grade 1. With reference to the 6+1 Traits of Writing, the work-sample suggests that an area of improvement for this child’s writing is conventions. The conventions trait of writing states the correct use of punctuation. Although this child has successfully used capital letters at the beginning of his sentences, he misuses capital letters within lowercase words, as marked buy the ‘pin’ emoji. He is also missing a few full stops where necessary, as marked by the ‘black jewel’ emoji.

This child has also made a great attempt at using apostrophes. However, it seems he holds some confusion regarding when plural words require an apostrophe or not, as some of his attempts are incorrect, as marked by the ‘star’ emoji.

The conventions trait also mentions correct spelling. The child has also made a few spelling errors, such as ‘should’ and ‘animals’, as marked by the ‘pencil’ emoji. However, this can be expected as these words are not high frequency words and were not written on the word wall or the board for him to copy.

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I have chosen to create a poster to assist students’ understanding of how to make inferences when reading a text. I believe that making inferences is a complex task that is difficult to grasp, and therefore a display such as this can be extremely helpful for students.

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My display I created in my grade 1/2 classroom to prompt students’ writing.

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Prompt Two

During my last placement round I was provided with the opportunity to create a display that my grade 1/2′s could refer to in order to prompt their writing. I chose to collaboratively create my display with the assistance of my students. I did this by asking my class to brainstorm different topics they could write about during writing time. Ideas included writing about places, friends, families and toys. I noted these down in thought bubbles on poster paper. Throughout the week, I asked students who had finished their work early to draw pictures associated with each topic we had brainstormed. These pictures were then added to the display to provide visuals for each topic. I chose to hang the display within near proximity of my students’ desks so they could utilize it during writing time. I found this display helpful during writing time as I observed students looking at it for ideas during writing time. I cannot wait to produce creative, inspiring and helpful displays to encourage my students’ thinking and learning in my own classroom.

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The ‘Just’ series of books, authored by Andy Griffiths

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Prompt One

I hold fond memories of my grade six teacher reading the “Just” series o books to the class authored by Andy Griffiths, such as “Just Annoying” and “Just Crazy”. This was an experience I eagerly awaited every day due to the silly, creative and light-hearted nature of the short stories within these books that made reading enjoyable. I also loved the quirky cartoons and annotations that appeared on each page. Perhaps it was also my teacher’s approach to reading that encouraged me to enjoy this experience so much. I remember being asked to close my eyes and visualize what was happening in the story whilst my teacher brought the characters to life by putting on hilarious voices. I enjoyed this experience so much that I made it my personal mission to read every Andy Griffiths book I could get my hands on. I hope to be able to bring the same excitement and joy for reading into my future classroom.