Technology and Critical Literacy in Early Childhood Vasquez & Felderman Chapter 6 – The Tomato Trials
This chapter examines a planting activity one of the authors does with her child, using technology to aid in the project. They looked at books, talked to people, and did online research to learn different ways to plant tomatoes and different kinds of tomatoes they could plant.
In particular, a television commercial about a specific kind of tomato planter caught the little boy’s eye. He and his mother researched the ad on YouTube, pausing it to reflect on various aspects of the ad. The little boy immediately picked up on the fact that the ad was positioning men as hard workers not needing the tomato planter, and women as weaker people who needed the tomato planter. This prompted a conversation about gender equity and a critical reading of the Web.
In addition, the author used the websites Wordle and Tagexdo to create word clouds in the shape of a tomato. The words were derived from two different websites: the ad for the tomato planter and another site telling how to grow tomatoes. Then, the child compared the word clouds to see which words were larger, accentuated, and which website would probably give more helpful information about actually growing tomatoes.
Then the child plants tomatoes three ways and watches and records how they grow. One of the ways he planted was to use the planter being sold by the television commercial so he could compare and contrast the tomato plant in it to the other two ways he was growing tomatoes. The outcomes were interesting.
In all, what started out as an inquiry about how to plant tomatoes turned into a bigger cross-curricular event that included:
• deconstructing and critically analyzing an everyday text; • imaging how things could be otherwise; • taking up issues of gender equity; • exploring how ads word to position consumers; • redesigning a public text; • engaging in cross-curricular work (math, science, language arts, social studies); and • taking on the roles of researcher and analyst.
This chapters brought up several interesting ideas: 1. Teachable Moments: The teachers of this co-op group were wise to allow their students' interests to guide instruction. Not only did they allow them to research planting tomatoes, they also allowed them to explore the commercials they found. The teachers didn't make the students stop researching something interesting just because it didn't fit the teachers' plan. Rather, they responded positively to teachable moments and allowed learning to flow freely. This idea of interest being the sole driving force for instruction is a great one, but I don't know how practical it is in public school classrooms.
How have you allowed your students' interests to drive your instruction? Is there a time when you abandoned your plans because of a teachable moment?
2. Wordle/Tagxedo Word Clouds: I have seen people use wordle and tagxedo, but I didn't know that you could enter a URL or web address and find out the most frequent words on that sight. The bigger the words, the more often they appear on the website. What a great way to use this website to discuss critical literacy!
Question: Have you used Wordle or Tagxedo in your classroom? How did you use it? I would like to use it for vocabulary words, but I am having trouble figuring it out.
She did a great job integrating science and literacy. With pressure to teach so many things, I thought the way she used interest, science, and critical thinking together was interesting and exciting for kids.
I have used wordle, but only for decorative purposes. I absolutely loved the way this teacher incorporated this type of technology. I didn't know you could type in a URL. There are so many possibilities to use with vocabulary.
The only time I have used Wordle is during college classes. I think it would be interesting to do at the end of a unit as a classroom activity. You can talk about all the different things that you taught and the class learned throughout the unit and the vocabulary words that were learned. You could even post the Wordle on the wall after the unit to keep it for the students' future reference!
I think that using advertising in teaching is a great idea with any age group. Advertising is a type of text that affects most people. Advertising has power, and as seen through the boy's experience with the tomato trials, it should be questioned. What types of messages do advertisers promote? How do they persuade people? What do you really need to know about a product versus what does the ad tell you? This is where those critical thinking skills need to be used and applied in the "real world".
I agree, I like how this experiment took on many different subject areas. Having a plant is one of the classic elementary school projects, and there are so many different things that you can focus on! Teachers should also pay attention to those teachable moments, like Jenny said. Students are more engaged when they connect with a topic, so let them explore and use that spark to teach the skills.
I have used wordle, but was very interested to learn about how she used it. I liked the idea of the tagxedo because you can choose a shape for it. I did not know that you could enter a URL either! I will definitely be using that.
I think you're right, Megan! Children are never too young to start thinking critically about the world around them. I think that the sooner they start to have this reasoning, the better off they will be. We want students to spend their money wisely (when they have some) and not be led astray by advertisements. I think you could even make a class project out of this. Say you have $20 to spend on something for the classroom. You can look at a couple advertisements for different classroom products and also analyze them. Also think, is this something we really need and will use? Once you have the product, you can also analyze. Was the advertisement truthful? Is this product worth the money?
I never thought of advertisements or environmental print being used for critical literacy. I have used environmental print in the past with young children but I used it in a center or made a class book for reading. Critical literacy in this aspect is a new concept for me.
Technology and Critical Literacy in Early Childhood
ReplyDeleteVasquez & Felderman
Chapter 6 – The Tomato Trials
This chapter examines a planting activity one of the authors does with her child, using technology to aid in the project. They looked at books, talked to people, and did online research to learn different ways to plant tomatoes and different kinds of tomatoes they could plant.
In particular, a television commercial about a specific kind of tomato planter caught the little boy’s eye. He and his mother researched the ad on YouTube, pausing it to reflect on various aspects of the ad. The little boy immediately picked up on the fact that the ad was positioning men as hard workers not needing the tomato planter, and women as weaker people who needed the tomato planter. This prompted a conversation about gender equity and a critical reading of the Web.
In addition, the author used the websites Wordle and Tagexdo to create word clouds in the shape of a tomato. The words were derived from two different websites: the ad for the tomato planter and another site telling how to grow tomatoes. Then, the child compared the word clouds to see which words were larger, accentuated, and which website would probably give more helpful information about actually growing tomatoes.
Then the child plants tomatoes three ways and watches and records how they grow. One of the ways he planted was to use the planter being sold by the television commercial so he could compare and contrast the tomato plant in it to the other two ways he was growing tomatoes. The outcomes were interesting.
In all, what started out as an inquiry about how to plant tomatoes turned into a bigger cross-curricular event that included:
• deconstructing and critically analyzing an everyday text;
• imaging how things could be otherwise;
• taking up issues of gender equity;
• exploring how ads word to position consumers;
• redesigning a public text;
• engaging in cross-curricular work (math, science, language arts, social studies); and
• taking on the roles of researcher and analyst.
Great summary, Marti.
DeleteAwesome summary, Marti, you really got the gist of it!
DeleteThis chapters brought up several interesting ideas:
ReplyDelete1. Teachable Moments: The teachers of this co-op group were wise to allow their students' interests to guide instruction. Not only did they allow them to research planting tomatoes, they also allowed them to explore the commercials they found. The teachers didn't make the students stop researching something interesting just because it didn't fit the teachers' plan. Rather, they responded positively to teachable moments and allowed learning to flow freely. This idea of interest being the sole driving force for instruction is a great one, but I don't know how practical it is in public school classrooms.
How have you allowed your students' interests to drive your instruction? Is there a time when you abandoned your plans because of a teachable moment?
2. Wordle/Tagxedo Word Clouds: I have seen people use wordle and tagxedo, but I didn't know that you could enter a URL or web address and find out the most frequent words on that sight. The bigger the words, the more often they appear on the website. What a great way to use this website to discuss critical literacy!
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Have you used Wordle or Tagxedo in your classroom? How did you use it? I would like to use it for vocabulary words, but I am having trouble figuring it out.
She did a great job integrating science and literacy. With pressure to teach so many things, I thought the way she used interest, science, and critical thinking together was interesting and exciting for kids.
DeleteI have used wordle, but only for decorative purposes. I absolutely loved the way this teacher incorporated this type of technology. I didn't know you could type in a URL. There are so many possibilities to use with vocabulary.
Kaitlin, did you just enter a list of words when you made your Wordle? I would like to use them with my next novel unit.
DeleteThe only time I have used Wordle is during college classes. I think it would be interesting to do at the end of a unit as a classroom activity. You can talk about all the different things that you taught and the class learned throughout the unit and the vocabulary words that were learned. You could even post the Wordle on the wall after the unit to keep it for the students' future reference!
DeleteI think that using advertising in teaching is a great idea with any age group. Advertising is a type of text that affects most people. Advertising has power, and as seen through the boy's experience with the tomato trials, it should be questioned. What types of messages do advertisers promote? How do they persuade people? What do you really need to know about a product versus what does the ad tell you? This is where those critical thinking skills need to be used and applied in the "real world".
ReplyDeleteI agree, I like how this experiment took on many different subject areas. Having a plant is one of the classic elementary school projects, and there are so many different things that you can focus on! Teachers should also pay attention to those teachable moments, like Jenny said. Students are more engaged when they connect with a topic, so let them explore and use that spark to teach the skills.
I have used wordle, but was very interested to learn about how she used it. I liked the idea of the tagxedo because you can choose a shape for it. I did not know that you could enter a URL either! I will definitely be using that.
I think you're right, Megan! Children are never too young to start thinking critically about the world around them. I think that the sooner they start to have this reasoning, the better off they will be. We want students to spend their money wisely (when they have some) and not be led astray by advertisements. I think you could even make a class project out of this. Say you have $20 to spend on something for the classroom. You can look at a couple advertisements for different classroom products and also analyze them. Also think, is this something we really need and will use? Once you have the product, you can also analyze. Was the advertisement truthful? Is this product worth the money?
DeleteI never thought of advertisements or environmental print being used for critical literacy. I have used environmental print in the past with young children but I used it in a center or made a class book for reading. Critical literacy in this aspect is a new concept for me.
ReplyDelete