ECL310

Multilierate Learners in Middle Years Environments

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Reflection 8

For this weeks prompt, I did a search of the hashtag #picturebooks in the social media platform Instagram. 

After searching this hashtag I found many different things including pictures of peoples favourite picture books, pictures of people reading their favourite picture books and even pictures of classroom displays of picture books. I feel that this would be a great way to find and discover picture books that you had never heard of before! 

I would be a bit hesitant to use Instagram as a form of social media within the classroom to research hashtags. This is because sometimes people hashtag certain things just so people will stumble across their post, even if it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with that particular hashtag! This could result in students coming across inappropriate content and pictures. 

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This looks like the end of the story; but it isn’t!

Beatrix Potter

The last prompt, PROMPT 8

This week we are still using the hashtag #picturebooks

Your task this week is to do a search using the hashtag, in another social media platform. Can you search Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms using the #picturebooks hashtag.

Make a  comparison with last weeks results, tell us what  you have found.

Reflect on whether or not you could use the hashtag to research something related to what your class is doing. Can you unlock a whole world of information to help your class become researchers using online information? Could your class hashtag #sustainability #palmoilfree #poverty 

Is the hashtag a viable alternative to do doing classroom based research via Wikipedia, on-line encyclopaedia’s, and designated websites found with a google search?

Thank you to all of those that have made an effort with your reflections, there have been some absolutely stunning TUMBLR posts and we are very proud of those that have taken on the challenge,

Regards

The ECL310 team.

(via ecl3102016)

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Reflection 7

This weeks prompt required us to search the hashtag #picturebooks to explore and see what we could find. I enjoyed looking through the many posts that included this hashtag and stumbled across many amazing picture books that I had never seen or heard of before. 

One particular picture book that I saw being talked about in numerous posts was a book called ‘Cloud Country’ and a new book coming out called ‘The Long Journey to Cloud Country’. These picture books were written by Bonny Becker and Noah Klocek and they caught my attention with their beautiful illustrations. These books definitely intrigued me and I would love to find them and have a look at them myself! 

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Reflection 6

I found the teaching materials on the Splash ABC website to be a fantastic resource which I would love to use within my classroom.

The video I watched was ‘Learn some of the Noongar language’. I could use this particular video in a front-loading activity by getting students to research the Aboriginal language that is spoken within their particular area. Students could then create a poster or a power-point presentation with information on that particular language and showcase some of its words. 

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3000+ educational games, videos and teaching resources for schools and students. Free Primary and Secondary resources covering history, science, English, maths and more

Prompt 6

I would like you all to have a look at the fantastic teacher materials on this website.

For this weeks reflection, I would like you look at one of the many grade 5 and 6 videos. You can check the grade 5 and 6 boxes, as well as the video box, down the left hand side.

After watching one of these indigenous related videos, describe how you might use this particular video in the front loading of a literature unit based on an Australian and Torres Strait Islander book. You may choose any of the video’s, and you don’t have to match it to a particular book. For this purpose you don’t need to have a specific book, but if you do know one, then that would  be great,

good luck

The ECL310 team

#ecl3102016 #ecl310prompt6 #abcsplash

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Reflection 5

Sentence 1: The transparent silence left me with no strength as I died in the hollow night sky.

Sentence 2: I have moved on and shut my ears from the world.

Another short front-loading activity that you could do before the book is read would be to get students to create a new front cover for the book and then explain through discussion with peers what the book might be about using inferencing. 

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PROMPT 5

Welcome back to those that have been on placement, and to everyone else. This weeks seminar involves the powerful children’s picture book Dust. First, I would like you to write a sentence using every word in the Wordle attached to this post. Many of you have already done this in seminars, you can just re-use the possible sentence you have already written, or add in a new one. The entire book is available to be read, in the week 6 seminar file on Cloud.

Second,  I would like you to re-write the sentence for the attached image of the food being placed in the rubbish bin. Just one sentence, but it can be a challenge as you already know what the sentence is!

Both of these great front-loading activities were devised by Marsha Dickins and are two of several that were modelled in the seminars. Finally, for a third reflection, can you briefly describe another short ten-to-twenty minute front-loading lesson you may do, before the book is read.

Good luck!

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Reflection 4

As I was not on placement I will reflect on good classroom content and the use of social media within the classroom. 

I believe that good classroom content includes helpful tools that allows students to review their learning, word walls, reading and maths strategies, visual timetables, lots of colour and of course, displays of student work. It is important to display students work within the classroom as it encourages them to be proud of their work and it is important that work is visible and accessible to visitors such as parents/friends etc. 

When it comes to social media within the classroom, I have seen many apps and computer programs that have been used to engage and develop student learning. I have seen ways that teachers are able to manage and supervise what students are doing on iPads such as screen lock onto particular apps so students can’t stray. I have never seen the use of Twitter or Tumblr in the primary classroom and would be cautious to use them unless it was essential for the learning. I think that teachers would be able to gauge whether it was safe to use within their classroom and have strategies so that it was used appropriately for the context. 

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Prompt 4

Classroom Displays

I found this today in a local Primary School. I spoke to the teacher about it.The teacher is hesitant to take the bold step of incorporating real social media platforms in to her classroom for a number of reasons. The students do use EDMODO as a form of Facebook, which is a closed cache able to be accessed by the students and the school only. Some of the students use EDMODO regularly, such as one of my daughters. Several of her classmates never use EDMODO at all. 

This Twitter Feed board seems to work quite well and the students enjoy seeing each others posts.

The #dismoment heading in the image is a reference to a resilience project the school is working on.

For discussion this week, please take a photo of something interesting you see in the classroom on placement, remember to ask for approval. If the teacher seems hesitant don’t push it. Remember, no children’s images whatsoever. 

Displays that are unusual and even unique would be great, or displays that you think are just downright impressive will also qualify. It may be a great writing task someone has done, an interesting method of teaching a writing genre perhaps, or a class project. Please make sure names are blurred or any child's full name is unable to be identified.

Some of you are not on placement, can I get you to reflect on your opinion of what is good content, and what may be unhelpful content in a classroom display.

If you don’t want that as a prompt, go back to the top of this prompt and have a reflective moment on what your current attitude is with social media and the classroom. There are some stunning successes, but also some difficult cyber bullying narratives, what do you think about all of it?

We hope you are enjoying placement, and if you get the chance, see if you can grab a literacy planner. This might be  a whole year planner, a term planner, a monthly planner or even a weekly planner. A Gardiner’s Multiple Intelligences / Bloom’s Taxonomy / VCOP / CAFE or similar planner would be terrific. These are rich sources of literacy teaching thought, and will be something to help you in ECL410 next year,

good luck!

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Reflection 3

There are so many ways that we can make meaning from texts in our day to day lives. The main types of text I have read recently would be newspapers, newspaper articles online, webpages, emails, Facebook, Instagram, text messages, a novel called Amazinger Face by Zoe Foster Blake, uni seminar and lecture materials, journal articles, text books, tumblr posts and cook books, just to name a few I can think of! It is a very busy time of year with uni and study but during the summer I love to read a lot more novels in my spare time! 

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Multi-literacies.

For this weeks reflection I would like you to make a list of all the different ways you have made meaning from text, in the last week.

Personally, to name a few, I have read The Age on-line, written and read emails, I communicated with an old-friend on Facebook, I have had text messages from friends and family, I  have read a graphic novel, called Sisters by Raina Telgemeier. I also read a few chapters of a novel by Thomas Keneally, I looked at a sports catalogue, read a newspaper, read a scoreboard, read a smart board and I have used numerous other different source of text.

It is difficult to remember all the different types of reading i have done.

This week please reflect on the main types of texts you read, what are your most common sources, is it blogs, emails, text messages, or rather novels, magazines and text books. Whatever it is please let us know what you are reading,

regards

the ECL310 team.

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Reflection 2

‘Are You Seeing Me?’ By Darren Groth would be a fantastic book to read to students in class. It would be a great idea to get students to do a prediction activity just from looking at the front cover of the book before you began reading. You would first look at the front cover together as a group and have a class discussion. You would then send students off to write their predictions on a sticky note, and also ask them to write down some clues that they used to help them make this prediction. All sticky notes would then be put on a class poster and could be referred back to after the class had finished reading the story to see how close their predictions were.

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Short Listed for the 2015 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers.

Are You Seeing Me? by Darren Groth, Random House Australia isbn:9780857984739

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Welcome to the week two prompt.

We have read many of your responses to the first prompt and we are thrilled with the lovely reflections many of you have posted - thank you!

This week we are going to use the cover of one of the books selected in the 2015 Children’s Book Council Awards. It is Are You Seeing Me? by Darren Groth.

For your reflection this week we want you to think of a prediction activity you could do, just using the cover. The cover has graphics and text, you can use either or both. We only want an idea, a thought, for a ten to fifteen minute activity. You can record your thought on video, or use audio record on a device. You might download a copy of the cover and add post-its with prediction questions on it. Or you can simply just write your thoughts. of what you might do if you were about to start reading this middle years text.

You may like to read Winch text book p92-94 if you are unsure of what a prediction tasks is, Winch explains further the reading comprehension approaches of Inferring, Predicting and Before Reading strategies.

Remember to add in the hashtag at the end of your reflections.

#ecl3102016 and also #ecl310prompt2

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Reflection 1

One of my fondest memories of being read to as a child would be my Prep teacher reading the picture storybook ‘The Rainbow Fish’ by Marcus Pfister. It is still my favorite picture storybook to this day, and I was lucky enough to read it on my most recent placement to the Preps as well! They loved listening to the story and especially loved the illustrations with the beautiful sparkly scales. I also have many memories of my Mother reading to my Brother and I at home before bedtime. My favorite book that she used to read to us was ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton. This would definitely be a story that I would love to read to my class in the future!

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WEEK ONE REFLECTION

The first prompt for 2016

ECL310

When I was in grade three I remember my teacher reading to the class Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. We sat in silence absorbing every word, it was fantastic!. The teacher read Roald’s next book Charlie and The Glass Elevator as well and it was also a big favourite. Years later I was lucky enough to be teaching my own grade 3 and 4′s when the Harry Potter series came out. Once again a class sat in silence absorbing very word as this time I read the novel to the grade. 

For your reflection this week we would enjoy discovering your memories of being read to. Preferably this would come from your own classroom experiences, otherwise it can be a reflection on what a parent read to you, or if that doesn’t fit, you can share what you would like to read to a class when you have the chance.

All of the ECL310 team look forward to sharing in this,

be creative, make a video, a Wordle, a sound recording, a cloze activity, anything you like!

Good luck!

The ECL310 team!