Week 13: Reading and Writing in Different Contexts 2

B&M Chapter 7: New Perspectives on Literature for Young Children

A main point in this chapter was the need for teachers to focus on more than just the text of picture books. More meaning can be added to the text by interpreting and focusing on the illustrations.

Illustrations can function in five ways:

1. Illustrations can be redundant and match the written text explicitly.
2. Illustrations can be complementary, where they are required for full comprehension of the text.
3. Illustrations can enhance a text by adding more to the text.
4. Illustrations can tell a different story than the written text.
5. Illustrations can be contradictory where the reader creates their own interpretation of the meaning.

Teachers should also think about the visual images present in texts. By looking at the colors, types of lines, shapes, locations of shapes, textures, and perspectives used the reader can interpret another layer of meaning in the text. Illustrators use these visual elements purposefully hoping for children to question and discuss them.

Postmodern Picture Books

Postmodern picture books not structured around a linear plot, rather they “encourage a reader/viewer to co-create the plot with the author.” (p. 122) These books allow students’ to draw their own interpretations and meanings from the books. Teachers help students create meanings by facilitating discussions and conversations about the text and its complex illustrations.

Characteristics:

• Nonlinear: The reader works with the author to create a message through going back and forth between the pages to determine the meanings.
• Self-referential: These books are not purely for enjoyment, but readers are asked to question how the book was constructed and to become a part of the story.
• Playful and Sarcastic: These books may poke fun at particular subjects or societal norms.
•  Against Authority: These books don’t have to be set against authority, but sometimes they are. The reader is asked to make a judgement about a particular rule, law, or societal norm.

It is important to note that children do not have to be taught how to read these books. They naturally question and explore these books to draw their own understandings. Children enjoy flipping through the pages and easily have conversations about them.

Books Making Connections Between Paper and Electronic Media

There are many books that are exploring the relationship between paper and electronic media. They show the unique ways written and multimedia text interact. These books exemplify the fact that children are Digital Natives, and are tech-savvy at very early ages. Notable titles include: It’s a Book, Goodnight iPad, Blackout, and Press Here.

E-Books

E-Books are print books that have been converted to a multimedia format, sometimes with added animations and features. As adults, we feel strong emotional attachments to print books and save them on shelves. On the other hand, our students don’t feel this attachment—they are learning to read using screens. There interaction with print books is lessening as they grow older.

Advantages of E-Books:

• Can be accessed through digitized libraries.
• Cheaper than print books
• Come in a variety of genres including narrative and informational.
• Easily shared with whole class using projectors, document cameras, or Smartboards.

E-books can be used in homes as well as at school. Many young children do not differentiate between reading print books and reading e-books. Children who are familiar with and use technology on a regular basis at home have no trouble navigating e-books or apps. They see these two mediums as a connection between home and school. 

App Picturebook Interpretations

App picturebook interpretations are apps for specific books or authors. There are also apps that have a collection of picturebooks to choose from.

What makes a good app?

• Right amount of interactive parts
• All parts are enjoying or motivating, so much so that the child wants to repeatedly use it.
• Easy to navigate
• Make “turning the page” just as exciting as if reading a printed book
•  Add to or extend the book.

Informational Picturebooks

In the past, teachers have been hesitant to use informational picturebooks because teachers preferred fiction, these books were associated with dense nonfiction (encyclopedias, textbooks), these books are more expensive, and there were myths that students thought informational texts were boring. Today, there many developmentally appropriate, affordable, and high-interest informational picturebooks available. They can cover content areas in math, science, social studies, and the arts. Steve Jenkins and Seymour Simon are prolific informational text writers that offer books appropriate for early childhood classrooms.

How to use informational picturebooks:

Teachers must model for their students that informational texts do not have to be read in a particular order or in their entirety. When sharing these books with younger students, teachers may choose to only read small chunks instead of the entire text in one sitting. They must draw attention to the text features of these books, such as maps, diagrams, illustrations, and photographs to show how much these visual features add to the understanding of the content. Interestingly, B&M draws the conclusion that reading of informational picturebooks is similar to how we read websites.

B&M Chapter 8: Read All About I.T.!: Informational Text in the Early Childhood Classroom

Informational Text (I.T.) can be broken down into three main subcategories:

• Informative/Explanatory Text: primary purpose of this text is to give information about the world using various text features. Tends to be more authoritative because it is based on facts. (Kucer alert: We know that informative/explanatory texts aren’t bias free. They usually reflect the values and ideas of the group in power.) Uses timeless verbs and generic nouns. 
• Procedural Text: primary purpose is to teach someone how to do something. Tends to be a subject to interpretation—not every person will tell the steps to a process in the same order or create a product in the same way. Uses imperative verbs and gives materials lists.
•  Persuasive Text: primary purpose is to convince someone to change his/her beliefs and/or take action. Tends to be subjective in their interpretations because they are based on a claim. The types of evidence used to support the claim is what gives these text authority or limits the text’s authority. Uses claims, evidence, and counter arguments.

The three types of I.T. have varying degrees of authority and interpretation. They are each useful for different purposes, tasks, and audiences. Each of these subgenres has different text features, structures, and layouts. See Table 8.2 on page 137 to see the specific features of these three types of text.

Why Use Informational Text in the Classroom?

Many state and national standards are requiring that classrooms at all levels use I.T. at varying degrees. Fourth grade classrooms should be using I.T. 50% of the time. There are also parameters for the genres of writing students should be engaging in. Narrative or experience writing is only about one third of the writing that early elementary students should be doing. This is far different than early childhood reading and writing of the past. See Table 8.1 and 8.3 for more percentages.

Benefits of I.T.:

•  Children’s Interest in I.T. : BOTH boys and girls are interested in I.T.  and prefer it over other genres. One study found that though both genders enjoy these types of text, both genders perceived that boys preferred informational texts while girls preferred narrative texts. (Kucer alert: another example of how gender roles affect literacy experiences.) Using I.T. in our classroom allows for us to expose children to this genre who may not know yet if they like it or not.
•  Increasing Content Knowledge with I.T.: Much of what children learn about the world outside of their own experiences is through reading or viewing informational texts. Studies show that students take on the knowledge they hear and can engage in conversations about it.
•  Increasing Language Knowledge with I.T.: Through interactions with I.T. young children can increase their vocabulary and word learning. They hear language features and words that are specific to I.T. and being to incorporate into their own oral and written language.

There are many ways to incorporate I.T. into early childhood classrooms. Two studies mentioned in the book used different strategies and methods for teaching I.T. One used I.T. to teach comprehension strategies, vocabulary and text structure. Another focused on reading and writing real-world procedural texts. Both studies showed that explicit instruction with I.T. showed gains in knowledge. I.T. is important because it will increase as students continue their school career, and it is used frequently by adults.

There were many engaging strategies and examples given for how to incorporate I.T. texts and features into the early childhood instruction. We will explore these in our discussions.

V&F Chapter 2: Teaching and Learning with VoiceThread

VoiceThread: is an online software program in which slide shows are created using images, videos, and text. Then, leave comments using voice, text, audio file, or video.

Why Use VoiceThread?

At the time of printing of the book, Educator accounts were free, but when I looked they were $79 a year. 

• Can have up to three slide shows at a time with up to 50 slides each
• Students can have their own username/password to leave comments
• Owner of the account can decide which comments are shown
• Can be inserted into another website or blog
•  Can be exported/downloaded to portable devices or DVD
• Goes along with “textual landscape” children and adolescents are familiar with
• Allows interaction with people in the educational community and all over the world

Playing with VoiceThread—Kristin

Kristen’s goals for her project with VoiceThread were for her students to become more familiar with technology, increase access to computers, learn how to type their names, and see if VoiceThread would work with 4-year-olds. She created a VoiceThread slideshow about a community walk the class took. She put pictures in of the things they saw on their walk. Students were given 5 opportunities to go to the computer lab and add comments to these slides.

The children in her class exceeded her expectations and almost changed them! The “envisaged curriculum” she had prepared took on a life of its own and become the REAL curriculum. By the end of the time, Kristen’s students could confidently use the program and computer (including using the keyboard, mouse, and manipulating tools). They also had improved their access and literacy with computers by repeated use. Half of the 4-year-olds learned to type their name.

Using VoiceThread of Social Change—Katie

As a result of critical literacy discussions and students’ connections to various causes, Katie’s students decided to use VoiceThread for social change. Because the students had a direct connection to Lubo’s cause and had heard their teacher talk about Guatamala, they had authentic purposes for creating each VoiceThread. They also cared more about the project because it was important to their lives.

One VoiceThread raised awareness about the Lost Boys of Sudan. They included slides about the Lost Boy, Lubo, one of those Lost Boys, and what needed to be done to improve education in Sudan. The second VoiceThread was about raising money for schools in Guatemala. The students compared what they had in their schools to what students in Guatemala had. Through their VoiceThreads, this class was able to persuade viewers to give $300 to these two causes. Through this process, Katie’s students learned that they could make positive change in the world even at a young age!

V&F Ch. 3: Yes, We Can! Using Technology as a Tool for Social Action

Three classrooms used technologies to enact social change locally and nationally.

• Travel Trunks: While doing a study on environments, students in Vivian’s preschool class realized that there species of animals that were endangered. After reading about and discussing this issue as a class, they decided to help by making Travel Trunks. They solved the problem of expense by only creating four trunks. The other Travel Trunks included a small toy animal, a stapeless book (see readwritethink.org) with information about the animal, a note explaining why the class made the trunk, and a stamped postcard for the receiver to send back to Vivian’s class. Vivan found other teachers who wanted to participate in the project and were willing to pass the trunk along when their class was finished.
• Sustainable Communities: PreK students in Georgia wanted to improve water usage and decrease water pollution. After finding out that most water usage was a result of flushing toilets, they came up with an idea to create something to decrease the amount of water toilets used while flushing. They consulted experts (plumbers), websites, and local authorities about the best way to do this. They decided to create plastic containers with sand or rocks in them which are placed in the toilet tanks around their community.
• What’s the Weather?: Kevan’s class was disturbed by their class weather song only having 4 types of weather in it. They had all experienced more than four types and wanted to make some revisions to the song. The class brainstormed new ideas, voted on what to include, and rewrote the song. They decided to share it by creating a video for their school’s closed circuit television program. 

The thing that ties all three of these experiences together is that they were based on inquiry. In each scenario, students were studying something and extended their own learning into some kind of project. These projects were student-driven, and students were given authority to make decisions about their learning. The teachers in these classrooms made space in the prescribed curriculum for their students’ interest to influence what the class studied. A willingness to change and a willingness to allow long-standing activities/routines/texts to be interrogated was another important aspect of these projects, especially in the weather song.

S&H: Using Multimedia to Support Word Learning in the Digital Age

Videos: Video allows for words’ meanings to be more fully realized through the use of action and images that cannot be conveyed verbally. Studies show that short video clips help students’ receptive and expressive language skills. This medium also increases vocabulary depth and breadth. Videos are especially helpful for ELL students because they show nonverbal information about words. Videos are best used in conjunction with other texts and activities.

Digital Texts/E-Books: These books work well for vocabulary development because they present both verbal and nonverbal information about words. Some E-books also include hyperlinks to glossaries and dictionaries, animations, and narrations. Both informational and narrative digital texts can be used to teach vocabulary. Low socioeconomic or immigrant children may benefit even more from digital texts. These texts are also effective when used in partners or small groups.

Computer Programs/Games/Apps: Computer games, apps, and programs can help increase children’s knowledge about words, but not all games do. Different kinds of games have different effects on word learning. Games, apps, and programs should include explicit teaching of words with engaging activities to be truly effective.

Living Inquiry Article

This article outlines practices that Michelle uses in our classroom to foster inquiry through the use of informational texts.

Why I.T. Matters:

• Throughout their everyday lives, kids see I.T. in action—grocery lists, newspapers, instruction manuals, recipes, and in books. Ironically, their classrooms have a shortage of I.T. that is so present everywhere else. Many attribute the “fourth grade slump” to the lack of instruction and experience with I.T. in the younger grades. I.T. matters because it necessary for students to engage in inquiry-based learning. Michelle displayed Wells’ ideas that inquiry should invade all classroom activities, and children are allowed to pursue their inquiries. One chief way students research what they have questions about is through I.T.

Teaching and Learning I.T.

• Building A Community of Inquiry: Inquiry was present throughout the school day. Michelle allowed her students questions to shape and drive her curriculum not just in social studies and science, but also in language arts. Because inquiry guided lesson plans, I.T. was used throughout the day and in a variety of ways. Students read informational books, newspaper articles, magazine articles, as well as wrote observation records and word banks. Students interacted with I.T. in small group, whole group, and independent reading times.
• Capitalizing on Inquiry Moments: Michelle structured her lessons and routines, so they allowed opportunities and times for exploring I.T. But, much of the inquiry in her class came from inquiry moments when students spontaneously wondered about something. Michelle would try to capitalize on these moments even if it meant abandoning her lesson plans. When she did this, it showed her students the value of inquiry.
• Exploring and Documenting: Learning About Informational Texts: Michelle focused on text structure, features, and purposes of I.T. throughout her students’ inquiries. After first introducing text features, she created “living” charts that students continually added to as they encountered the features in their various reading/writing times. Micheelle also modeled “dipping into and out of” informational books. She showed that it is okay to read an informational book just to find a certain piece of information; one does not have to read the entire text.
• Inquiry Units: Michelle occasionally had entire units on inquiry, like the one discussed about habitats. Michelle introduced this unit by showing two articles from the local newspaper about habitats. She used a touchstone text to continue teaching about features and structures, as well as build background knowledge. Michelle flooded the room with books, and gave the children time to read them and build background knowledge. They continued to discuss what students were learning and adding to their living charts during this time. A few weeks into the unit, students were grouped according to which habitat they wanted to learn more about. The students researched this habitat using informational books, articles, internet searches, and videos.  Finally, students created a tri-fold poster that shared information about the habitat, food chains, and potential changes to the food chain. 

What can we learn from Michelle for our own classroom?

• Include I.T. daily in our classrooms
• Integrate language arts instruction with science and social studies. Allow for in-depth study of particular genres or topics.
• Encourage and model ways of using I.T. practically (showing lists, reading the weather forecast from the paper, sharing emails)
• Nudge students toward critical inquiry and reading I.T.

Critical Literacy and Inquiry:

Michelle helped her students to read texts critically and to not blindly accept what texts said. This is evidenced in the first example of the article about Benjamin Franklin. When they found discrepancies in texts they were reading, students were given opportunities to investigate the question and revise the incorrect texts.

Questions: Please answer #1-2, and then choose one more question you are interested in.

1. Select an activity B&M shared in chapter 8. Briefly summarize it. Using Kucer’s table 9.1 on pg. 232, what type of literacy does it fall under? Does this activity ask students to interrogate or question the text?
2. Share your reflections from V&F’s table on pg. 38.
3. Have you ever observed or organized an inquiry-unit? How can we do meaningful units like this in a world of pacing calendars and checking off state standards?
4. Have you ever experienced or observed a time when a teacher allowed the “real curriculum” (students interests and inquiries) to take precedence over the “prescribed curriculum?” Tell about that experience.
5. Choose one of the types of texts mentioned in any of the chapters, whether print or multimedia, and discuss the pros and cons of it in relationship to children’s literacy. 
6. What are some motivating and engaging ways you teach/have taught informational text features and structures? Tell about your experience with these activities and methods.