Leu 5
Tricia Abernathy 's classroom scenario shows us how we can learn from others about Internet usage. New curriculum resources are being developed by students and teachers and are being posted on classroom webpages.
Internet Project provides possibilities for cross-curricular integration and cultural understanding.
The Internet connects listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Central Directories for literature and authors were cited, as well as directories containing full texts and poems for perusal.
Central directories for student writer support and student publishing were listed. Student work can be published on a class weblog or homepage. There are other locations on the Internet that will publish student work also.
Grammar websites that explain and engage students in interactive grammar lessons were explored in this chapter.
Using Internet workshop for enriching literacy by linking fiction and non-fiction, by studying fairy tales from around the world, by studying indigenous peoples' literature, and by focusing on a certain author's work were mentioned.
Internet Project helps teachers organize learning around Internet projects with other world wide classrooms. Examples of Internet project language arts websites were listed.
Webquests that concentrate on language arts were explained.
Websites that integrated Internet inquiry and Internet workshop in the Language Arts and Literature were listed.
Instruction in the effective use of the Internet such as citing electronic sources is vital to avoid plagiarism. Complying with copyright laws is an important issue as well.
Websites are posted which address how to cite resources and gain permission to show work on the Internet.
This chapter gave me some good websites and project ideas to use with my Kindergarten students. We do ABC books in the spring so I can take my Kindergartners to the computer lab and look through websites to choose a theme for their ABC book. Once a theme is chosen each child can organize and print their ABC book from the Internet.
My Kindergarten children have a fairy tale unit in the Spring where we expose the children to various fairy tales. At the end of our unit, we have a fairy tale ball with fairy tale dust, dancing, and food.
There were several website references in this chapter for fairy tales from around the world, and fairy tales for younger children. I could add these resources to enrich my fairy tale unit.
I liked the website where stories are read to younger children.
I am trying to get my three older computers hooked up to the Internet so I can use these websites on a daily basis instead of twice a week in our overscheduled computer lab at school.
Xu 4
This chapter explains how Lark integrated students' interest in rap music and the book "Holes" to meet literacy standards for 6th to 8th graders. In order to do this task Lark conductedf research on adolescent popular culture shows and cartoons.
Lark had his/her students play a truth shuffle game to uncover their popular culture text interests. Rap music was the top interest for the majority of his/her students.
Each student chose a favorite rap artist and identified a theme from one of their songs by using a 4 box journal. Profane words were replaced by symbols.
Students then wrote their theme on butcher paper. Most of the themes were about bullies, oppression or getting justice.
Lark then linked rap music to other text genres that had pertinent information regarding the rap business or oppression.
The class shared their concept of bullies and investigated how characters in books handle bullies and get justice. Students chose to produce a text related to the book "Holes" as a whole or about the main character Stanley. They made a bubble map of possible bullies and wrote questions for a short story and discussed them in small groups. Next they made a flow chart that depicted events in the story "Holes" to show the various story lines.
The culminating project involved comparing the book "Holes" to the movie "Holes," completing a major themes worksheet, finding interesting words from the book, writing a rap about the charaacter Stanley, and completing an artistic collage.
Lark says that because the students were interested in the subject matter they produced a vast quantity of quality work while addressing the state standards at the same time.
I think that the teacher did a great job of finding out the interests of his/her students. The research and planning that went into this rap unit was impressive.
The lessons from this chapter include the importance of planning curriculum around student interests, doing your research, and linking different social literacy genres while complying with state literacy standards. This formula is a win win situation for teachers and students.
I have taught middle school students and they are a hard sell sometimes. This teacher used student interest to sell his/her curriculum with great success. This is an important lesson for all of us as educators.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Website Review 2/25
I chose the bensguide.gpo.gov/website as my review. I was interested in this website because it has information I can have my Kindergartners access to make their originalf themed ABC books this spring. It listed separate sections for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 grades. It had other links for parents and teachers, about the Ben site map, Help, Use Ben's guide as a learning tool, U.S. government publications for sale, curriculum links, U.S. Government Web Sites for kids, and U.S. Government Information in Libraries. When I clicked on the ABC section it wasn't a good link for my younger students so I clicked on the Yellowstone animal alphabet link that took me to the National Park website. It has pictures of the various animals that are listed in alphabetic order with a description of each and a sound option. There is a print and coloring book that goes with it as well. I would use this link with my Kindergartners as part of my science curriculum.
When I went under the bensguide.gpo.gov/ it had a K-2 section I accessed. Under this section it listed our nation, your neighborhood, Ben's ABC's, symbols for U.S. Govt, games & activities, and U.S. Govt websites for kids. The neighborhood section, games and activities, and U.S. Govt websites for kids are all website resources I can use with my Kindergarten class.
When I went under the bensguide.gpo.gov/ it had a K-2 section I accessed. Under this section it listed our nation, your neighborhood, Ben's ABC's, symbols for U.S. Govt, games & activities, and U.S. Govt websites for kids. The neighborhood section, games and activities, and U.S. Govt websites for kids are all website resources I can use with my Kindergarten class.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Reading Response 2/18
Leu 4
This chapter explains the various ways people can communicate with each other via the Internet. The first form of communication that is explained is email. The section on the email was very basic. It talked about your email address, email software programs, identifying yourself, setting preferences, reading, receiving, and replying to messages, original messages with your reply, forwarding mail, composing and sending new messages, printing, attaching files, working with folders, deleting messages, and so on. The authors feel that email is the most effective way to get ideas for websites, resources and activities through other teachers.
Suggestions for email use are to remember your purpose, write concisely, write explicitly, be careful when you are using humor, proofread your messages before you send them, and pay attention to netiquette.
Emailing keypals was discussed as a positive collaborative venture.
The second form of communication was subscribing to a mailing list. When you become a subscriber you are able to discuss a topic of common interest with other subscribers. The rest of this section explained how to subscribe to a mailing list, the welcome message, unsubscribing, posting a message, and mailing list netiquette.
Privacy issues were mentioned with a warning to consider email as an open postcard instead of a sealed letter.
Newsgroups are the third communication category. Newsgroups are available to anyone whose server receives and stores them. They are like bulletin boards where people can post and read material over an extended period of time. More people belong to newsgroups than mailing lists. The rest of this section explains how to read newsgroups, subscribe, post messages, and respond with the proper netiquette.
Weblogs are the last category of communication addressed in this chapter. Weblogs can be described as online journals on any topic with no links to actual news. They are popular because they are inexpensive, free and very user friendly.
Real time communication venues such as radio broadcasts, reading and writing through chat rooms or instant messaging, and audio and video conferencing were mentioned as other communication options on the Internet.
The email section was something I already knew how to use so there was no interest for me there. However, the other three sections had information I had never seen before, so I gained some new information on how to access information on the Internet through mailing lists, newsgroups, and weblogs. I do like the website references and the easy to follow instructions on how to do different functions on the Internet. This book is an invaluable resource for me to use when I am trying out these new literacies on my computer.
Xu 3
I think this chapter was exciting for a variety of reasons. This fourth grade teacher was able to tap into her students' comic book interest and meet the state standards at the same time.
The teacher did a good job of planning the unit. Prior background knowledge was activated with the help of the KWL chart. Questions were sorted by categories. Students interviewed the comic animator artist to get facts for their writing. The animator demonstrated how to draw a comic strip for the students. Guided writing and research followd the demonstration.
Students self selected the business they wanted to start and they wrote an expository piece using the comic strip format as a graphic organizer. At the end of the unit each child wrote a reflections piece on what they had learned. Students finished the project by giving other people tours of their class book and website. They shared their learning with others.
I liked the teacher's final comment at the end of the chapter where she (Rachael) says that she doesn't know if she will do the same unit next year because the next class may have a different popular culture text interest than this year's class. I don't see much of this personal interest factor when teachers design their lessons. It is more work to teach this way, but it is also more meaningful and interesting for kids. Those students will never forget that unit and the things they learned because it was so fun and interesting for them. Vignettes like this inspire teachers to try different things and think outside the box. I'm going to survey my Kindergartners to find out what popular culture text they are interested in and then design a literacy unit on it!
This chapter explains the various ways people can communicate with each other via the Internet. The first form of communication that is explained is email. The section on the email was very basic. It talked about your email address, email software programs, identifying yourself, setting preferences, reading, receiving, and replying to messages, original messages with your reply, forwarding mail, composing and sending new messages, printing, attaching files, working with folders, deleting messages, and so on. The authors feel that email is the most effective way to get ideas for websites, resources and activities through other teachers.
Suggestions for email use are to remember your purpose, write concisely, write explicitly, be careful when you are using humor, proofread your messages before you send them, and pay attention to netiquette.
Emailing keypals was discussed as a positive collaborative venture.
The second form of communication was subscribing to a mailing list. When you become a subscriber you are able to discuss a topic of common interest with other subscribers. The rest of this section explained how to subscribe to a mailing list, the welcome message, unsubscribing, posting a message, and mailing list netiquette.
Privacy issues were mentioned with a warning to consider email as an open postcard instead of a sealed letter.
Newsgroups are the third communication category. Newsgroups are available to anyone whose server receives and stores them. They are like bulletin boards where people can post and read material over an extended period of time. More people belong to newsgroups than mailing lists. The rest of this section explains how to read newsgroups, subscribe, post messages, and respond with the proper netiquette.
Weblogs are the last category of communication addressed in this chapter. Weblogs can be described as online journals on any topic with no links to actual news. They are popular because they are inexpensive, free and very user friendly.
Real time communication venues such as radio broadcasts, reading and writing through chat rooms or instant messaging, and audio and video conferencing were mentioned as other communication options on the Internet.
The email section was something I already knew how to use so there was no interest for me there. However, the other three sections had information I had never seen before, so I gained some new information on how to access information on the Internet through mailing lists, newsgroups, and weblogs. I do like the website references and the easy to follow instructions on how to do different functions on the Internet. This book is an invaluable resource for me to use when I am trying out these new literacies on my computer.
Xu 3
I think this chapter was exciting for a variety of reasons. This fourth grade teacher was able to tap into her students' comic book interest and meet the state standards at the same time.
The teacher did a good job of planning the unit. Prior background knowledge was activated with the help of the KWL chart. Questions were sorted by categories. Students interviewed the comic animator artist to get facts for their writing. The animator demonstrated how to draw a comic strip for the students. Guided writing and research followd the demonstration.
Students self selected the business they wanted to start and they wrote an expository piece using the comic strip format as a graphic organizer. At the end of the unit each child wrote a reflections piece on what they had learned. Students finished the project by giving other people tours of their class book and website. They shared their learning with others.
I liked the teacher's final comment at the end of the chapter where she (Rachael) says that she doesn't know if she will do the same unit next year because the next class may have a different popular culture text interest than this year's class. I don't see much of this personal interest factor when teachers design their lessons. It is more work to teach this way, but it is also more meaningful and interesting for kids. Those students will never forget that unit and the things they learned because it was so fun and interesting for them. Vignettes like this inspire teachers to try different things and think outside the box. I'm going to survey my Kindergartners to find out what popular culture text they are interested in and then design a literacy unit on it!
Website Review 2/18
The website I reviewed was edhelper.com. This website was recommended to me by our special education teacher who subscribes to this site.
This site is designed to help educators plan instructional units from elementary school to high school. There are reading comprehension activities, read and color books, literature units, and writing activities.
There is a special section dedicated to PreK-3 for Kindergarten, phonics and themes.
Under Language there are language arts, spelling, vocabulary and word list ideas.
Special Education needs are addressed under the Special Education section.
Foreign Languages such as Spanish, French, German, and Italian are addressed with curriculum ideas for all.
There are also other topics for educators to use in their lesson planning like, math, middle school math, algebra, critical thinking, Social Studies, Science, test preparation, art, music, making puzzles, monthly themes, and daily skill reviews.
I joined the website as a member! Check it out!
This site is designed to help educators plan instructional units from elementary school to high school. There are reading comprehension activities, read and color books, literature units, and writing activities.
There is a special section dedicated to PreK-3 for Kindergarten, phonics and themes.
Under Language there are language arts, spelling, vocabulary and word list ideas.
Special Education needs are addressed under the Special Education section.
Foreign Languages such as Spanish, French, German, and Italian are addressed with curriculum ideas for all.
There are also other topics for educators to use in their lesson planning like, math, middle school math, algebra, critical thinking, Social Studies, Science, test preparation, art, music, making puzzles, monthly themes, and daily skill reviews.
I joined the website as a member! Check it out!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Website Review 2/11
The website I reviewed this week was in chapter 3 of the Leu book. The URL address is http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs. I chose this site because my Kindergartners are fascinated by dinosaurs. They play with them and bring them to sharing time on a repeat basis.
This website has information on the age of the dinosaurs, getting to know your ancestors, current and classic documentaries, games, quizzes, amazing creatures from the past, and links to the latest finds and theories. There are radio programs on mammoths, dinosaurs, evolution and other science topics. The link to a 3D dinosaur landscape is available. You can see the creatures that ruled the earth before the dinosaurs and download desktop wallpapers. I am going to put my Kindergartners on this site next week for a science activity.
This website has information on the age of the dinosaurs, getting to know your ancestors, current and classic documentaries, games, quizzes, amazing creatures from the past, and links to the latest finds and theories. There are radio programs on mammoths, dinosaurs, evolution and other science topics. The link to a 3D dinosaur landscape is available. You can see the creatures that ruled the earth before the dinosaurs and download desktop wallpapers. I am going to put my Kindergartners on this site next week for a science activity.
Reading Response 2/11
Leu 3
This chapter describes four instructional models that teachers can use to teach students how to use the Internet.
The first model is Internet Workshop. The teacher locates a good site that has appropriate content for a thematic unit that will be taught. An activity is then developed that uses the site. The activity must be completed during the week. Finally, students engage in a short workshop session where they can ask questions and share what they have learned in their Internet search during the previous week.
The second model is entitled Internet Project. Your class and another class work on the same learning activity or many classes contribute data to the same site and then analyze the data that is posted. There are two approaches to Internet Project which are website projects, and spontaneous projects developed by teachers.
The third model is Internet Inquiry. There are five steps to Internet Inquiry. They are developing a question, searching for information, evaluating the information, composing an answer to the question, and sharing the answer with other students.
The fourth model is called Webquest. The Webquest model has an introduction, a task definition, a description of the process, informational resources, guidance in organizing information, and a final activity.
I really liked the descriptions of the four instructional models with the practical websites that were listed to help teachers implement these activities in the classroom. This chapter was very user friendly for Internet beginners. I would feel very comfortable trying out some of these models with this chapter as a blueprint to guide me. However, most of these models were too complex for my Kindergartners.
The Yahooligans search engine was of particular interest to me because this search engine has
been screened to ensure childrens' safety. I will definitely check this site out.
Using the educational directories for planning units was an invaluable resource for linking internet resources with the content areas.
I took a technology class called TIPS in our school district three years ago and we all had to design a webquest as the final assignment. Since I didn't have much Internet experience the navigation required to find the appropriate resources was a nightmare! If I had read this book before the TIPS class it would have helped me tremendously with the Webquest assignment.
Xu 2
Xu explains how three different teachers incorporated popular culture into their literacy lessons while addressing a multitude of required standards for their grade level.
Jean did a unit on superheroes that included brainstorming for superheroes, reading books with superheroes, and discussing the traits of superheroes.
Sherry and her students selected a common theme for a music unit, read the lyrics of two songs by two different bands, learned about the artists, compared and contrasted the two songs, and learned to dance La Cumbia.
April had her students compare and contrast the popular culture hero Scooby Doo with Inspector Gadget, complete a creative writing piece about Scooby Doo, identify character traits on characters from the Scooby Doo show, and write down recipes for snacks for Scooby Doo.
I think this chapter shows how engaging and relevant using popular culture characters and text can be for students. Students can tap into their background knowledge and interests while still addressing state standards and literacy issues at the same time.
These vignettes show how powerful student motivation and learning can be. Nevertheless,
matching student interest to learning activities requires more time and effort by the teacher. For this reason some teachers will not be interested in this philosophy.
I say that some teachers don't have twenty years experience of teaching. They have one years' experience of teaching twenty times. I think it is important to keep current and try new things every year.
This chapter describes four instructional models that teachers can use to teach students how to use the Internet.
The first model is Internet Workshop. The teacher locates a good site that has appropriate content for a thematic unit that will be taught. An activity is then developed that uses the site. The activity must be completed during the week. Finally, students engage in a short workshop session where they can ask questions and share what they have learned in their Internet search during the previous week.
The second model is entitled Internet Project. Your class and another class work on the same learning activity or many classes contribute data to the same site and then analyze the data that is posted. There are two approaches to Internet Project which are website projects, and spontaneous projects developed by teachers.
The third model is Internet Inquiry. There are five steps to Internet Inquiry. They are developing a question, searching for information, evaluating the information, composing an answer to the question, and sharing the answer with other students.
The fourth model is called Webquest. The Webquest model has an introduction, a task definition, a description of the process, informational resources, guidance in organizing information, and a final activity.
I really liked the descriptions of the four instructional models with the practical websites that were listed to help teachers implement these activities in the classroom. This chapter was very user friendly for Internet beginners. I would feel very comfortable trying out some of these models with this chapter as a blueprint to guide me. However, most of these models were too complex for my Kindergartners.
The Yahooligans search engine was of particular interest to me because this search engine has
been screened to ensure childrens' safety. I will definitely check this site out.
Using the educational directories for planning units was an invaluable resource for linking internet resources with the content areas.
I took a technology class called TIPS in our school district three years ago and we all had to design a webquest as the final assignment. Since I didn't have much Internet experience the navigation required to find the appropriate resources was a nightmare! If I had read this book before the TIPS class it would have helped me tremendously with the Webquest assignment.
Xu 2
Xu explains how three different teachers incorporated popular culture into their literacy lessons while addressing a multitude of required standards for their grade level.
Jean did a unit on superheroes that included brainstorming for superheroes, reading books with superheroes, and discussing the traits of superheroes.
Sherry and her students selected a common theme for a music unit, read the lyrics of two songs by two different bands, learned about the artists, compared and contrasted the two songs, and learned to dance La Cumbia.
April had her students compare and contrast the popular culture hero Scooby Doo with Inspector Gadget, complete a creative writing piece about Scooby Doo, identify character traits on characters from the Scooby Doo show, and write down recipes for snacks for Scooby Doo.
I think this chapter shows how engaging and relevant using popular culture characters and text can be for students. Students can tap into their background knowledge and interests while still addressing state standards and literacy issues at the same time.
These vignettes show how powerful student motivation and learning can be. Nevertheless,
matching student interest to learning activities requires more time and effort by the teacher. For this reason some teachers will not be interested in this philosophy.
I say that some teachers don't have twenty years experience of teaching. They have one years' experience of teaching twenty times. I think it is important to keep current and try new things every year.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Website Review 2/4
I reviewed the website enchanted learning.com. It has a host of lesson ideas, worksheets, activities, art projects and other themed projects for primary grade teachers. It is difficult to find a website that can be used for Kindergarten students. But this website is one of the great ones! I got the website from the Leu book and it is a definite keeper!
There is a host of alphabet letter sound workbook pages for my Kindergartners. I can print them out and make an alphabet book that reinforces the letter sound associations we have learned in our classroom.
When you join the site you can print out short books for early to fluent readers.
There are holiday activities and crafts.
Little Explorers is a picture dictionary linked to thousands of educational activities.
There is a music section that talks about notes, scales, and has printouts for these concepts.
Fill in the blank worksheets and monthly activity calendars with an activity for every day of the month are featured.
K-3 rhymes, crafts, and printouts are available on a variety of themes.
There is a section on Preschool and Kindergarten activities.
Science and Social Studies activities are available also.
It is a site I will use over and over again!
There is a host of alphabet letter sound workbook pages for my Kindergartners. I can print them out and make an alphabet book that reinforces the letter sound associations we have learned in our classroom.
When you join the site you can print out short books for early to fluent readers.
There are holiday activities and crafts.
Little Explorers is a picture dictionary linked to thousands of educational activities.
There is a music section that talks about notes, scales, and has printouts for these concepts.
Fill in the blank worksheets and monthly activity calendars with an activity for every day of the month are featured.
K-3 rhymes, crafts, and printouts are available on a variety of themes.
There is a section on Preschool and Kindergarten activities.
Science and Social Studies activities are available also.
It is a site I will use over and over again!
Reading Response 2/4
Leu 2
This chapter gives strategies on how to navigate the Internet with critical analysis and efficiency.
It gives examples of Internet usage with Mr. Montero's class. Students share navigation and searching strategies with each other and take notes so they remember what they have learned
for the whole group Internet workshop that takes place later.
Different browsers were identified and the features of each one were discussed.
Browser tools such as designating a start up page, replacing commercial links with educational links, organizing bookmarks, sharing bookmark collections, downloading plug-ins and installing them, and saving webpages were discussed.
Strategies and search tools for teachers were explained. Using central directories with links about topics were endorsed. A list of central directories were given.
Search engines were identified and directions given on how to find images, audio or other types of media besides text.
Copyright issues and web sites were listed.
Four keyword search strategies for teachers included putting quotation marks around phrases to narrow keyword searches, searching for certain phrases, typing a topic plus keyword to narrow searches, and using electronic spelling to make sure words are spelled correctly.
Child safety issues and encouraging schools' acceptable use policies were strongly cited.
How to get around internet filtering tools for teachers was interesting.
The authors were in support of having students earn an Internet driver's license before they are allowed to use the Internet without an adult's supervision. When a child encounters a site they are uncomfortable with they may hit the back button to escape and tell an adult.
Instructional strategies for students were demonstrated such as searching vs. browsing, selecting keywords, understanding search results, critical analysis, reading in a website, and managing advertisements.
A list of navigational resources on the Internet were provided at the end of the chapter.
This chapter gave me many ideas and strategies to use with elementary school students on the Internet. The websites have given me invaluable resources to check into when planning units for my Kindergartners.
I didn't know how to find out who has set up the URL addresses or how to do bookmarks until I read this chapter.
Our school district has an Internet acceptable use form that parents and students are required to sign before they can use the Internet in our computer lab. However, I feel that having each student go through a computer training on privacy and safety issues would be very important. I liked the idea of giving each student an Internet Driver's License.
I don't have much experience with the Internet so this chapter gave me lots of useful information and was very user friendly!
Xu 1
Literacy as social practice is only meaningful when it is in specific contexts. Reading and writing are more effective when they have a specified purpose.
Domains and discourse are also related to literacy as social practice. School and home are two different domains where literacy is used and learned. Discourse involves ways of behaving, thinking, reading and writing that are accepted by certain groups of people.
Literacy shows a power relationship between individuals and organizations such as between students and schools.
Critical literacy practices should include delving beyond surface text, looking at text in a wide social and cultural context, and explore meanings and what the text is saying to the reader.
Multiliteracies involves other forms of media beside the printed word. They include visual meanings, audio meanings, gestural meanings, multimodal meanings, and spatial meanings.
Literacy changes within our society and new forms of literacy emerge.
Research on popular text shows that students who engage in it learn new forms of literacy that are not learned in school. If students are directed they can become critical thinkers.
The four approaches to using popular culture texts are banning popular culture, critically analyzing popular culture, celebrating popular culture, and celebrating and analyzing popular culture. The fourth approach is the one Xu endorses. However, teachers predominantly use the third approach.
I feel that there needs to be more purpose communicated to students when they engage in literacy activities. Students do learn more if they can see the purpose for an activity at school.
Children learn different things at home than they do at school with multiliteracies like video games, movies, cartoons, etc.
Teachers need to purposefully plan to include popular text inside the curriculum to promote more current, engaging, and critical thinking literacy endeavors.
This chapter gives strategies on how to navigate the Internet with critical analysis and efficiency.
It gives examples of Internet usage with Mr. Montero's class. Students share navigation and searching strategies with each other and take notes so they remember what they have learned
for the whole group Internet workshop that takes place later.
Different browsers were identified and the features of each one were discussed.
Browser tools such as designating a start up page, replacing commercial links with educational links, organizing bookmarks, sharing bookmark collections, downloading plug-ins and installing them, and saving webpages were discussed.
Strategies and search tools for teachers were explained. Using central directories with links about topics were endorsed. A list of central directories were given.
Search engines were identified and directions given on how to find images, audio or other types of media besides text.
Copyright issues and web sites were listed.
Four keyword search strategies for teachers included putting quotation marks around phrases to narrow keyword searches, searching for certain phrases, typing a topic plus keyword to narrow searches, and using electronic spelling to make sure words are spelled correctly.
Child safety issues and encouraging schools' acceptable use policies were strongly cited.
How to get around internet filtering tools for teachers was interesting.
The authors were in support of having students earn an Internet driver's license before they are allowed to use the Internet without an adult's supervision. When a child encounters a site they are uncomfortable with they may hit the back button to escape and tell an adult.
Instructional strategies for students were demonstrated such as searching vs. browsing, selecting keywords, understanding search results, critical analysis, reading in a website, and managing advertisements.
A list of navigational resources on the Internet were provided at the end of the chapter.
This chapter gave me many ideas and strategies to use with elementary school students on the Internet. The websites have given me invaluable resources to check into when planning units for my Kindergartners.
I didn't know how to find out who has set up the URL addresses or how to do bookmarks until I read this chapter.
Our school district has an Internet acceptable use form that parents and students are required to sign before they can use the Internet in our computer lab. However, I feel that having each student go through a computer training on privacy and safety issues would be very important. I liked the idea of giving each student an Internet Driver's License.
I don't have much experience with the Internet so this chapter gave me lots of useful information and was very user friendly!
Xu 1
Literacy as social practice is only meaningful when it is in specific contexts. Reading and writing are more effective when they have a specified purpose.
Domains and discourse are also related to literacy as social practice. School and home are two different domains where literacy is used and learned. Discourse involves ways of behaving, thinking, reading and writing that are accepted by certain groups of people.
Literacy shows a power relationship between individuals and organizations such as between students and schools.
Critical literacy practices should include delving beyond surface text, looking at text in a wide social and cultural context, and explore meanings and what the text is saying to the reader.
Multiliteracies involves other forms of media beside the printed word. They include visual meanings, audio meanings, gestural meanings, multimodal meanings, and spatial meanings.
Literacy changes within our society and new forms of literacy emerge.
Research on popular text shows that students who engage in it learn new forms of literacy that are not learned in school. If students are directed they can become critical thinkers.
The four approaches to using popular culture texts are banning popular culture, critically analyzing popular culture, celebrating popular culture, and celebrating and analyzing popular culture. The fourth approach is the one Xu endorses. However, teachers predominantly use the third approach.
I feel that there needs to be more purpose communicated to students when they engage in literacy activities. Students do learn more if they can see the purpose for an activity at school.
Children learn different things at home than they do at school with multiliteracies like video games, movies, cartoons, etc.
Teachers need to purposefully plan to include popular text inside the curriculum to promote more current, engaging, and critical thinking literacy endeavors.
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