That's All Folks!

It's final project time in RDNG681. While Jennifer and I already presented our project, we did not present the entire final product leaving questions in the minds of some of our classmates. I thought that it would be beneficial to post the project and explain further our thoughts and added ideas since taking the New Literacy class. I believe it will also be obvious that Kist's 5 suggested characteristics of a New Literacy Classroom are imbedded throughout the project.

The weebly we created is designed to be used in third grade classrooms and the science, language arts, and art GLCE's are attached (CCSS crosswalk). This project is meant as a capstone project for the school year. I have asked my students to complete this project and another similar project, famous people of history (wax museum), for the last five years.

After teaching the various genres in language arts throughout the year, students should be ready to enthusiastically tackle this project by the end of the year. For added buy-in the students get to choose what animal they want to learn more about. This helps students stay engaged and, generally, few classroom management issues arise. While most students choose to do this project on their own, I have had students work in pairs or in a small group to complete some of the tasks. Students also like to help each other in their research. When researching an animal whose predator or prey is being researched by a classmate, students have been known to 'shout out' information they believe would be helpful to the other researchers. I usually have a couple of students that, no matter what the project is, have issues with staying focused and on task. It's the norm and I deal with it accordingly.

The “Text” that will be utilized in this project is the internet, software/applications, digital cameras, webcams, SmartBoard, books when requested, art supplies, and other resources that are student driven in need and that are accessible.

When I first started this project in my classroom five years ago, while I gave my students choice in topic, I checked out books from my county library for students to use solely for their research. Today, we spend time in our computer lab and students get guidance from the technology teacher. We still use books, but the vast majority of our research is conducted through on-line reading and watching.

The project: Amazing Animals Multi-quest

http://amazinganimalsmultiquest.weebly.com/index.html

Main Goal: The main goal of this assignment is to create a multi-genre presentation based on an animal of the students choosing. They share their final products with their school community (fellow students, parents, and other family members) during a designated time during the day or evening or both.

Expectations and Responsibilities: The project is inquiry based. Students will look closely at animals, their habitat, diet, and adaptations to environments. Students will develop new perspectives and understandings about the animals they think they know all about. They will make connections within their community and their world at large. Students will explore issues concerning the animal of their choice and will share their findings with their school community in several creative ways. The creative choices the students have can be countless depending on the resources that you have available. We present them as tasks in our weebly project, however these could also be made into podcasts.

Task 1 – Students are asked to pick an animal.

Task 2 – Students are asked to dig deeper and fill out a KWL chart. There is a link to one within this task.

Task 3 – Students are reminded of or given tips for conducting research.

Task 4 – Students will need to keep all their research (and the sources) together and organized. When we initally created this project we asked students to keep a research journal. However, after taking RDNG681, having students write their notes in a blog would be an interesting and new way for them to present their acquired knowledge. A rubric of expectations for the written journal is linked on this page. Expectations for the blog would be nearly identical.

Tasks 5 and 6 – Students are expected then to sift through all their accumulated information and begin the writing process. Again, this originally meant the traditional pencil and paper product, however, students can use a word processor, digital storytelling, a PowerPoint presentation with pictures, sounds, and imbedded videos or create a pod-cast.

Task 7 – As part of the students dynamic presentation, they will be required to create a poem about their animal. They are given three potential options (but are not limited to these choices) and links to the Read, Write, Think! website to assist them in writing their poem online if they desire. We provide a rubric for the poetry task as well and it can be accessed from the poetry task page.

Task 8 – Students are asked to artistically represent their animal and its habitat in a medium of their choosing. Suggestions are shared, but students are not limited to those listed. Again, after taking RDNG681 we came up with other potential suggestions such as, making a movie or creating an informational poster with graphics using poster wizard or another like program. As with all tasks, we provide a rubric that students can refer to.
Task 9 – Students are asked to become a reporter and create a newspaper article (news feature, informational feature, or human-interest feature) and another link to Read, Write, Think! is embedded so that they may write it on-line and print it. Also embedded in this task is a useful handout that helps students idenify each key element of an authentic newspaper article. A rubric is also provided so that each student knows they are hitting the target. While the newspaper article is an interesting piece, wouldn't be more fun to create your very own news segment? Students could be given this choice and they could ask for the help of fellow classmates in making it happen.

Task 10 – Students are asked to prepare and give an oral presentation. However, this again could be a creative interpretation using a media of their choosing. A rubric is provided, as with all the tasks, for the students to follow. Students are also asked to enhance their oral presentation by designing and decorating a tri-fold board display. This is used more specifically for the sharing of their research with their school community.

Task 11 – Students are asked to prepare a bibliography. Students should already have this information in their research journals or in their blogs. Students are provided with a web-site to assist them if needed.
Virtual Observations LIVE! - students are given opportunities to watch various animals, via webcams, at participating zoo's around the country and world. Youtube (or perhaps even Teachertube) is another resource since we initially made this weebly that has video segments of animals, the Denver Zoo in particular.

Blog: Talk with each other when not in the classroom – this is a good 'shout out' place for information you find.

Contact Me: Students or parents can e-mail the teacher with questions.

Resources: We provide reseach links to on-line sources that we feel are reliable.

It is important for self-evaluation and having others evaluate our work. We provide rubrics for peer and self-eval.

Providing students with enrichment activities such as visiting a local zoo, nature preserve, or skyping with a zoo vet are all possibilities.

Because it is important to not only have student buy-in, but parent buy-in, we provide a parent letter that explains what their child will be working on during the next six weeks.

That sums up the Amazing Animal Multi-Quest! Students always love learning about a topic in detail and then being able to “shock” us with their vast knowledge. This is a project that allows them to be successful and they have fun while they are at it. The multi-quest has something for each type of learner. Students have their 'safe' areas, but we also ask them to enter a domain that may be a stretch for their personality and/or learning style. It has been my experience that students are more willing to take the risk when they have been given choice and feel successful in other areas of the project.

Personal Reflection: In my classroom I strive to use as many resources as are available to me. I know and understand that to reach all learners I must use multiple modes of learning/literacy. However, that can be difficult to attain in each lesson that is taught. It is my professional and personal goal to see that I achieve this ideal.

As important as reaching each learner is, allowing the student choice in multiple forms of representation of said learning is just as important. Again, this is an ideal, but also a teachers nightmare. HOW is grading possible? I still don't even know how to use my SmartBoard to its fullest potential and technology isn't a special offered to my students (unless I specifically ask for assistance during a project). How can one person with very limited resources, a SmartBoard, a document camera, and two student computers, supposed to reach 21 students?

I have thought of a few solutions to help me in my dilemma. First, I need to start out small. I generally give my students choice in language arts during guided reading/literature circles with the books that they read. I also allow them to show me what they read/learned in many different ways. However, they are pencil/colored pencil/paper activities and of course, when they can be creative with colored pencils and drawing paper, they love it. So, what if I extended that further? I have access to a digital camera and my students could create different projects using that technology. Drama is another way that students could show me what they have learned and while technology isn't directly involved in my students creating and acting out a part of the story, it is still reaching kids with a different learning style. And, if they figured out how to bring technology into it, all the better. Adding layer by layer will help me balance any extra time needed in assessing my students work.

Second, I need to keep watch for and attend classes for new literacies at my local ISD. The county where I teach is not so good at offering this type of class/opportunity, but I do not have to limit myself to just the county I teach in. The county just north of us usually has more offerings overall as it is larger. I could also check on class offerings at my local community college or at EMU. In order to stay 'in the loop' and doing the best job for my students, I must put forth effort.

Lastly, my greatest teachers could potentially be my students. By listening to their desires and following their lead, I may just learn more than I ever could in any class.

Old Literacies vs. New Literacies

An old literacy, the written word, won tonight!  I couldn't get the new literacy - my computer and camera - to cooperate.  With that said, let me start with some 'old literacies' such as: oral storytelling, hieroglyphics, wood block printing, engraving, and the modern printing press.

With the invention of the printing press we have books, newspapers, magazines, journals, comic books, political flyers, and advertisements.  We have communicated in a certain way for many years.  Many of us understand the nuances of verbal and written communication. When someone speaks to us we understand through visual cues if they are happy, sad, or angry.  There are certain cues within the written word as well, words chosen, pressure applied when writing, and the neatness of the print.  We can usually tell if the note writer is happy or upset with the words chosen.  We have also had these modes of communication inherently censored by us and for us.   

With the advent of the computer age and many different 'new literacies', electronic media barriers have been removed and we can receive more information regarding a plethora of different topics - positive and negative - at lightening speeds.  With just a click of a button or the touch of a screen you can invite many different types of individuals or groups into your home, school, or work environment and interact at a level you are comfortable with.

Dr. David O'Brien spoke to our class this semester and said that the death of the book was imminent.  This makes my hair bristle just a bit.  Could this happen?  Really? Definitely.  Who would have thought that with the invention of the computer and the internet that we would see the printed word - printed on paper, something tangible, something that smells delicious, that can have a multitude of somethings spilled on it and still 'work' would pass away?

Borders closed.  Have you been inside a Barnes and Noble or a Schuler Books lately?  Do you notice that the selection of books is dwindling?  Calendars, music, games, puppets, stationary, and other items are taking their place.  

The local newspaper is printed once a week, Sunday.  The rest of the week you have to get your news from the internet.  The little town in which I live closed down their newspaper years ago and have published an internet based newspaper since.

With the death of the book comes the death of the author, at least to a certain degree.  Anyone can post anything about any topic - anonymously.  You don't have to 'own' your work.  It used to be that you had to prove yourself a well-written, well-versed, knowledgeable individual to have your work published.  Not anymore.

New literacies are taking over!  The ways we communicate have grown vastly in number and changed in their complexity.  We don't write letters anymore, we e-mail or text.  The art of writing (pencil/pen and paper) is practically archaic and is considered a slow, tedious, and cumbersome process.

Now we have blogs!  Like bloggymom, InsaneJournal, WordPress, LiveJournal, Blogabond, Blogcheese, Freevlog, Ufem, Edublogs, Blogger, Blogster, and Soulcast.  Each of these target a different and unique audience.

We have social networks!  AsianAvenue, Buzznet, CafeMom, CaringBridge, Classmates.com, Crunchyroll, Elftown, Eons.com, FilmAffinity, Fotolog, Fubar, Gays.com, Goodreads, Google+, Hotlist, italki.com, Kiwibox, LinkedIn, Makeoutclub, Myspace, and many, many more.

We can share our photos! BeFunky, DeviantART, Flickr, Lafango, Manteresting, Photobucket, Photoshop.com, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Streamzoo, Zooomr, and more.

We have many ways to read a book!  Audio books, Kindle, Nook, I-pad, I-phone, PC, tablet, etc.

Have you got my point yet?  Certainly.  There are even scientists, right now, at this very moment, working on a way to make a computer think/act like the human brain.  We are only a microchip away from being able to be linked to our computer!  I know many people who would love to be linked to their phone that way right now - wait - they already seem to be!  Then, we will have no need for computers as we know them or even books as we have known them.  We will only need think of the topic and it will be downloaded into our brains and thus our knowledge bank.  Kinda scary.  A little like mind control?  I digress.

So, as an educator what am I doing about this?  Well, at the moment not much.  My students do not have technology class and we have two computers in the classroom.  The older students have the computer lab, when it's working, monopolized.  I have attempted, fairly successfully, to have students do research at different intervals on topics of their choosing.  Choice seems to be the factor for engagement.  Whether they are researching on the internet or in a book, they are happy.  Plus, while many of my students do not have internet or even a computer at home, those that do use them to complete assignments as necessary.  

What would I like to see happen?  I would love to see all my students with an I-pad.  Doing inquiry based projects to their hearts content.  Oh, the places we could go!  However, with 76% of our student body being free or reduced lunch and the fact that we are a charter school, my dreams of having technology in the hands of each of my students is, for now, a pipe dream.  

How can I make this happen?  I am sure there are grants out there for projects of this size and expense.  I just need to take the time to find them and get busy.  I can also continue to ask for and emphasize the importance of technology from my administration.  Sooner rather than later they will have to do something or our students will be left behind.

Technology is a good thing and it is constantly changing.  In order for our students to be successful, we must give them opportunities and encourage them use it appropriately. While keeping books, the real deal, in their hands.  I don't want our future generations to become processors of words - like computers.  Technology is important.  Technology can be dangerous.  As educators we must be vigilant in teaching our students how to interact with the multitude of modes it offers in a safe and respectable manner.

What do I expect to gain from taking this New Literacies class?

What do I expect to gain from taking this New Literacies class?

Well, I hope to have a better understanding of what is and isn't a New Literacy, how to potentially incorporate a New Literacy into my current classroom, and really, have a better - more educated - view point, opinion, whatever you want to call it, regarding the New Literacies.  A few things that I have found that I DO NOT like so far are:

1. It is an area that is not widely taught in undergraduate, pre-teaching courses.  However, it does sound like that is beginning to change.
2. Our guest speaker last week, Dr. David O'Brien from the University of Minnesota (Literacy Education Professor), stated that there would no longer be printed curriculum (no textbooks). While I feel that a textbook is not necessary to teach a subject, and access to other literacies is beneficial, poor districts, such as the one that I work for, will be that much further behind.
3. THE DEATH OF THE BOOK - Dr. O'Brien also stated that the death of the book - the printed word on paper - was working it's way toward obscurity - extinction!  As a book lover, I find this most disheartening.  While I like to use my Kindle, I still like to hold the real-deal in my hands.

I'm sure there were others, these are just the ones that have 'stuck' the most at this point.

Things that I like so far are:

1. Collaboration and Research - at all levels within the insitutition of education. 
2. Again, while New Literacies are not widely taught, they are beginning to get their own class 'time' in higher learner institutions.

I probably should have discussed the lack of multimedia instruments as well.  We have ONE of each of these for our entire student body:  Kindle and I-pad. 

I stated in my last blog that I had found some books that may help in my quest for maximizing my limited capabilities.  Here are the titles that I was speaking of:

• This book has yet to be published, but is expected in June 2013.

• This Second Edition is due March 26, 2013

• Concrete, innovative ways to integrate media literacy across curriculum.

And here are others that I am hoping my help me . . .

What am I doing?

So, what am I doing to promote the use of new literacies in my classroom?  The answer to that question is . . . . not much. 

Why? In a nutshell;

• I teach in a small, about 140 students, urban charter school that services students in grades K - 8th.  In other words, we are poor, poor, and more poor. Out of my 21 students in grades 3 and 4, only 12 have some kind of internet access at home or at grandma's.
• I have two student computers in my room that I allow students to use to take Accelerated Reader quizzes and conduct research (when sites aren't blocked).
• While the school that I work at has a computer lab, it is antiquated and my students do not get time in it!  I have repeatedly brought up the desire to have my students have technology instead of art (these days you can do art using techonology!), but it would require contacting our chartering institution and making a curriculum change.  That sounds easy enough to me, but I guess it is not that easy or at least I am made to believe that the process isn't that easy.
• I do have a Smart Board, but many times it is not a reliable resource to use. So, I don't utilize it as much as I could if it always behaved and worked as it should.

I would love to do more, but with the financial constraits of my school and, therefore, the lack of technology, I have some hurdles to overcome. 

I have recently come across numerous books that I am hoping will add insight to my plight and help me maximize the potential that I do have.  I will be posting that book information next.

New Literacies Dictionary

This is a project by Adam Mackie from Colorado State University.  It appears to be quite exhaustive and filled with information to consume and apply.

New Literacies Dictionary : Primer for the Twenty-first Century Learner has been designed in Google Sites. The web-based dictionary was defended as a Master of Arts project at Colorado State University in October 2010. The project passed with distinction. The twenty-first century dictionary and primer details the experience of an English Education graduate student at CSU. All of the entries generally connect to teaching and learning with new literacies, multimodal pedagogy, and digital literacy. The entries are aimed at an audience of both twenty-first century educators and twenty-first century learners. Entries range from blogs, collaborations with other students, unit and lesson plans, rubrics, news stories, BookNotes, poetry, and reflective essays. The entries may be read A-to-Z, Z-to A, or entries can be read erratically. The erratic nature of the project design bears witness to the age of reading recursively using methods such as hyperlinks, which shifts from traditional chronological, cover-to-cover, methods. The purpose of A New Literacies Dictionary aims to provide teachers and students in a digital age with ideas, materials, and a conversational piece that encompasses the ever-changing modes of twenty-first century composition.

Others Out There

Just doing a little research on New Literacies and came across this blog for those who teach our littlest of littles.

Teaching New Literacies in the PK - 2 Classroom