Beyond the Basal: Defining Literacy and What it Means to be Literate

1. Beyond the Basal: Defining Literacy and What it Means to be Literate June 15, 2010 Presented by Dana Karraker and Tami Dean ROE #17 Please sign in Help yourselves to drinks and snacks

2. Outcomes • Describe literacy experiences • Define and describe types of texts • Define multimodality • Evaluate current literacy instruction • Discuss Critical Literacy and it’s importance • Describe Inquiry Process • Identify an area of literacy instruction for Inquiry

3. Key Terms • Multiple literacies/Multiliteracies • Multimodality • Semiotic Systems (Sign Systems) • Cueing Systems • Graphophonic • Syntactic • Semantic • Pragmatic

4. Agenda • Introductions • VoiceThread of the Day • Defining Literacy • Describing Multimodality • Discussion of Critical Literacy • Lunch about 11:45 (Potbelly) • Introduction to the Inquiry Process

5. Relevant Information • Wiki • Blog • VoiceThread • Assignments

6. Carousel

7. Defining Literacy • Mind map

8. Where are you? What Matters: • Kids need to read a lot • The school day is organized in a way that allows students to engage in uninterrupted, meaningful reading • More emphasis on authentic reading tasks than isolated skill instruction • Kids need books they can read • A variety of texts at various reading levels • Students make choices about what they want to read • Kids need to read fluently • Use a variety of strategies to develop reading fluency • Kids need thoughtful literacy • Students have the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with peers • Students connect reading to their lives and have the opportunity to take action based on what they read • Instruction • Teachers have the opportunity to participate in Professional Development • There are materials and resources available for teachers to use Think about your literacy program. Where do you fall on the continuum?

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10. What is a Text? • Texts communicate a message, either written or spoken • Anything that can be the subject of analysis, interpretation • What would you describe as texts? • Music • Dance • Artwork • Clothing • Theatrical Production

11. Multimodal literacies • Different literacy practices engage different and multiple semiotic systems (sign systems) to make meaning • Multiple contexts: The social situations, with particular norms (rules), that guide what we do and why • Multiple purposes: Why we engage in literacy practices • Multiple texts and tools: The things we use as we engage in literacy practices • Multiple skills: What we need to be able to do or know in order to use particular texts and tools • Texts can exist in different semiotic modes and be both products and tools of literacy practices • What, then, are some examples of texts? (Also see Evans, p. 8) • What does this mean for teaching?

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13. Semiotics • Semiotics refers to making and representing meaning; broader than reading and writing • A few key semiotic systems • Alphabetic/Character • Musical • Mathematical • Digital/technological • Artistic • Kinesthetic/physical

14. The Cueing Systems Used by readers to “unlock” the printed text • Graphophonemic System – Phonics • Semantic System – Meaning • Syntactic System – Grammar • Pragmatic System – How we use language based on our social situation

15. Grapho-phonemic System – Phonics • Symbol systems of oral and written language and the relationship between them • System of written language – orthographic system – how print is organized • Spelling system • Letters • Words • Punctuation Marks • Phrases • Phonics – Relationship between phonological and orthographic systems. What readers learn to understand as the complex relationship between how we talk and how language is organized in written texts.

16. Semantic System -- Meaning • Heart of language • Relationships between language and meaning • What words and phrases mean and how that changes • Strongly related to cultural group • Soda vs. pop • Milk shake vs. frappe • Sub vs. hoagie

17. Syntactic System – Grammar • Relationship of words, sentences, paragraphs • Word order • Tense • Number • Gender • Where parts of speech go in a sentence • How we string words together to sound like English • Structural rules of English • Does this sound like language?

18. Pragmatic System – Language in Use • Take into consideration the social, cultural, and historical context of language in use • What we know about how and when to change language to particular social settings • “Is your mother there?” (in a phone conversation) – implies “Is your mother at home? I’d like to speak to her.”

19. Read the following passage: The tam sat directly on top of his head. • What is a tam? • How did you know how to read this passage? • What cues did you use?

20. Read the following R u home? OMG! LOL. BRB. What do these mean? How do you know? What cueing system did you use?

21. Read the following passage Them chicken jackin my styleThey try to copy my swaggerI'm on that next s*** nowI'm so 3008You so 2000 and late What is a chicken? What is she saying? How do you know? What cueing system did you use?

22. Read the following passage: Jackie G. had 12 assists, 11 service points, and four aces. Taylor C. and Paige L. led the offensive attack with a combined 17 kills. Rachel F. and Jenny M. both added 10 digs. • What is this passage talking about? • What are “kills” and “digs.” • How do you know? • What cues did you use?

23. Read the following Within diasporic public spheres, where politics are played out across national boundaries, we are seeing the emergence of a “postnational political order”. • What is this passage talking about? • What is a “postnational political order?” • How do you know? • What cues did you use?

24. Take a look at the following: Es waren einmal drei Bären, die in einem kleinen Häuschen mitten im Wald wohnten. Es gab einen Papa Bär, einen Mama Bär und einen Baby Bär. Doesthishelp?

25. Exercise #1 1. Grw 11. dlghtfl 2. Knw 12. Hnd 3. Nd 13. crd 4. Ws 14. rmn 5. Whn 15. ths 6. Ld 16. btwn 7. Grdn 17. hncfrth 8. Flwr 18. mst 9. t 19. knw 10. Spps 20. Tw Taken from: Wilde, S. (2000). Miscue Analysis Made Easy: Building on Student Strengths. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

26. Exercise #2 llchldrn, xcpt n, grw p. thy snknwtht thy wllgrw p, ndthwyWndyknwwsths. N dywhnshwstw yrs ldshwsplyng n a grdn, ndshplckdnthrflwrndrnwth t tthrmthr. I sppsshmsthvlkdrthrdlghtfl, fr Mrs. Drlng pt hr hnd t hr hrtndcrd, “h, why cn’t y rmnlkthsvr!” thswsllthtpssdbtwnthm n thsbjct, bthncfrth, Wndyknwthth, shmstgrw p. y lwysknwftr y r tw. Tw s thbegnnng f thnd.

27. What do “Good Readers” Do? Think about the previous exercises • At your table make a list of the things that “good readers” do • Discuss how you teach currently teach of these • Is there anything missing? Why?

28. Putting it All Together Semiotic Systems- different modes for communicating messages. Cueing Systems- the tools readers use to unlock the messages 6 Language Arts- the literacy skills that are taught in the Elementary/Middle School Classroom

29. Critical Literacy Critical literacy is the ability to read texts in an active, reflective manner in order to better understand power, inequality, and injustice in human relationships. Students’ cultural knowledge and multimedia practices should be used (Comber, 2001, Vasquez, 2000) When we read we bring with us our past experiences and understandings about how the world works. (Vasquez, 2010)

30. Critical Literacy “The ability to read others” “…. the possibility of understanding our own and others’ experiences from that many more vantage points” “Valuing, exploring, and appreciating multiple perspectives in the classroom.” (Johnston, 1997)

31. How can we teach it? • Compare texts- incorporate literature with “real-life” texts • Discuss characters’ perspectives • Make connections (Text to Self, Text to World, Text to Text) • Use children’s literature to focus on social issues • Encourage children to take action • Incorporate a variety of texts modes

32. A 1st Grade Example National Geographic Kids http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/harp-seals/ Kids 4 Seals http://www.kids4seals.org/index.html

33. Inquiry Process • Topics based on student curiosity, questions, interests • Dig deeply into complex, authentic topics that matter • Flexible grouping • Student responsibility with peer leadership • Use of proficient reader/thinker researcher strategies • Draws on multigenre, multimedia resources • Going beyond fact-finding to synthesizing and applying knowledge • Actively using knowledge: take action, share, go public • Match kids’ learning to state and district curriculum

34. Why Inquiry? • Focuses on children’s natural inquisitiveness • Student control, responsibility and choice increases self-efficacy and is motivating • Helps develop problem-solving skills • Students are engaged in authentic, meaningful learning experiences • Small group interactions are “life-like” • Allows for differentiated instruction • Develops proficient readers and thinkers

35. Turn and Talk Discuss the following with a partner: • Describe the student who would benefit from this process • What resources do you or your school have to support this process? • What do you see as a downside?

36. Starting the Process • Teachers model their curiosity and record questions in a notebook • Share ways to answer questions • Discuss “researchable” questions • Provide a variety of resources • Explicitly teach skills needed to navigate texts, interview, work cooperatively in a group, use tools for “going public” with the learning

37. Read-Around • What are some things you wonder about related to your literacy instruction (Refer to your continuum from this morning) • Take time to explore the resources we have available • Make notes in your notebook about what you learn • Decide on a topic that you would like to learn more about.