Category Archives: literacy

Picture Books

Curriculum Resources, literacy, Teacher education, , ,

arrival_02Clare and I (Lydia) routinely integrate picture books into our pre-service literacy methods courses. We often begin each class with a read aloud from a picture book. The feedback we have received from student teachers suggests they appreciate this practice because it introduces them to a variety of texts they can use in the classroom, and it models storytelling and read aloud techniques. We have often used the creative and compelling picture books of author Shaun Tan in our literacy courses. I wanted to share a quote from Shaun Tan in which he comments on the “visual language of illustrations”.

“the word illustration is a little misleading, because the best illustrations do not actually illustrate anything, in the sense of describing or illuminating. My own narrative images, and those of my favourite artists, are actually far more concerned with deepening the uncertainty of language, enjoying its ambiguous references, exploiting its slipperiness, and at times, confessing its inadequacy.  My own aspirations as an illustrator – using that term advisedly – is to simply present the reader with ideas that are essentially silent, unexplained, and open to very broad interpretation”.— Shaun Tan

(Quote taken from an essay originally written for ABC Radio National’s Lingua Franca.)

Semiotic Linguistic Quiz

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Saussure   Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)

As of late, I (Cathy) have been exploring semiotic linguistics to further  my understanding of multimodality (Jewitt & Kress, 2003). Ferdinand de Saussure is considered to be one of two fathers of 20th century semiotic linguistics.  He described semiotics a as a system of signs that are created within a cultural context.  Sausuure defined a sign as being composed of:

        • a ‘signifier’ – the form which the sign takes; and
        • the ‘signified’ – the concept it represents.

On the internet I stumbled upon these diagrams which are intended to illustrate the meaning of signifier and signified.  Do you think they are both correct?

tree

rose

A multitude of communication resources

curriculum; teachers, education, literacy, Literacy teacher educators, research, Teacher education, teacher educators, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

cartoon_newliteracies

When I saw this comic it made me chuckle.  I enjoyed the comic’s gentle reminder that children/youth routinely engage with and expertly navigate a variety of communication tools. Clare and I (Lydia) conducted a two-year collaborative self-study of our efforts to incorporate various technological resources (e.g. a wiki) into our pre-service literacy methods courses. This research helped us identify both the challenges and successes we encountered along the way.  Our research efforts also made us more mindful of why we chose to incorporate certain technological resources into our pedagogical practice — questioning for what purpose and to what end.   Through the analysis of our efforts we realized that we had initially seen technology as an end in itself, not as a tool to support learning. In the second year of the study, we focused much more on student learning and became more systematic in our efforts. Over the two years of the study, our identities as teacher educators shifted as our pedagogies became richer, our use of technology more fully integrated into our literacy courses, and we received validation from others and from each other.

Multimodal Valentines

classroom teachers, literacy, Teacher education, teacher educators, , , , , ,

I (Cathy) love special occasions.  Just give me a theme and I suddenly have an opportunity to be creative.  Lately, my outlet is a three dimensional mode of expression- cupcakes!  I can experiment with my designs using colour, texture, size, shape, and taste.  For my Valentine’s cupcakes, aside from the cake and icing choices, there were a multitude of affordances (decorative toppings) to choose from. For this dozen, I decided on a range of tastes and textures:  cinnamon heart candies, red and white jube jubes, tiny snowflake hearts, red sugar sprinkles, silver balls and message hearts.  Remember those tart tasting message hearts?  They say things like “hug me”, “I love you”, “kiss me”, and now there is one that says “text me”- so new literacies!  This is truly a multimodal sensory experience for me (the designer) and everyone that gets one (the receiver of my communication). I see this as a perfect example of my Western culture influences channeling through me to create a social semiotic representation of my caring.  But I won’t tell that to my husband.  All he will see a pretty cupcake that is “Mmmmm, delicious!”  And that’s fine too.  I am not sure if this is what Gunther Kress had in mind when he created the Centre for Multimodal Research, but it works for me.   Happy Valentine’s Day all!photo

Teachers’ Broad Conception of Their Role after Several Years

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I (Clive) have been working with Clare and Elizabeth on a paper on teacher identity, based on our longitudinal study of teachers. One thing we’ve noticed over the years is how broadly our teachers view their role.
Elizabeth has just developed a table showing what the teachers give priority to in their teaching. In spring 2012 (year 8 for cohort 1 and year 5 for cohort 2) we asked 39 of the teachers:
·      What do you think are the most important aspects of your role?
·      What are your main goals for your students?
The top 8 priorities in each case were as follows:
Most Important Aspects of My Role

Provide engaging lessons

18

Build a community, and a caring and safe environment

16

Develop a relationship with students

15

Be a role model

6

Involve parents

 

4

Teacher reflection and ongoing learning

 

4

Advocate for student needs

3

Foster strong literacy abilities in students

2

Most Important Goals for My Students

Social development

 

 

18

Love of learning

 

 

11

Development of self

 

 

11

Sense of community

 

 

10

Problem solving and critical thinking

 

 

6

Progress in learning

 

 

6

Literacy

 

 

6

Curiosity

 

 

4

Having such a broad role may appear burdensome for teachers. However, based on the teachers’ comments and our reading of authors such as Mary Kennedy and Nel Noddings, we argue that approaching teaching broadly is in fact more feasible and satisfying. Students are more engaged, understand more deeply, and develop across many aspects of their lives. And teachers are also enriched and find the daily interaction with students more enjoyable.

“Everything Changes When You Read”

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The Guardian published an edited version of a lecture Neil Gaiman delivered as part of the Reading Agency’s annual lecture series. In the lecture Gaiman makes an impassioned argument for the importance of libraries and the benefits of reading fiction.  He compellingly notes, “prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world and people it and look out through other eyes. You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You’re being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed”.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming?CMP=twt_gu

photo12

Book Clubs + Canada Reads

literacy, Reflections, Uncategorized, , , , ,

As a Ph.D. student and an educator, I (Pooja) find myself mostly reading academic journal articles or student writing these days. While I enjoy reading both types of text, I miss reading for pure pleasure; in particular, I miss reading novels. Novels are a commitment of both time and energy, but when you read a truly great novel it is totally worth it.somethingfierce

I recently formed a book club with some colleagues/fellow educators. Although I have a lot of my plate already (don’t we all?!), I thought this would be a great opportunity to connect with colleagues on a more personal and informal level, (not to mention being pulled into the world of a fascinating  novel). We selected Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre. This book, written by a Canadian author, was the official selection of the 2012 Canada Reads initiative. I’m currently reading the final pages of this gripping memoir, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great read while supporting a Canadian author. I made time for reading this book during every opportunity I could: riding the subway, sitting in the doctor’s office, waiting for my oatmeal to cook in the morning. I was surprised to find how many of those small moments I had each day, which would usually be taken up by scrolling through my smartphone. Our book club meets for the first time tomorrow evening at a colleague’s home.  I’m looking forward to discussing the book in a relaxing atmosphere.

Learn more about the Canada Reads project:

http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/

A Short Summary of the book:This dramatic, darkly funny narrative, which covers the decade from 1979 to 1989, takes the reader inside war-ridden Peru, dictatorship-run Bolivia, post-Malvinas Argentina and Pinochet’s Chile. Writing with passion and deep personal insight, Carmen Aguirre captures her constant struggle to reconcile her commitment to the resistance movement with the desires of her youth and her budding sexuality. Something Fierce is a gripping story of love, war and resistance and a rare first-hand account of revolutionary life.

Source: (http://www.amazon.ca/Something-Fierce-Memoirs-Revolutionary-Daughter/dp/1771000368)

Defining Literacy

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Literacy in the 21st century. What does it mean? Or perhaps the better question to ask is, what does it mean TO YOU?Children reading

  • If you are a writer, editor, public relations manager perhaps literacy means the the ability to read and write.
  • If you are a financial advisor perhaps literacy means the ability to understand “how money works in the world” (financial literacy).
  • If you are a journalist, analyst, or film maker perhaps literacy means the ability to “analyze, evaluate and create messages in a wide variety of media modes…” (media literacy).
  • If you are weather analyst, forest ranger, or environmentalist perhaps literacy means the ability to “understand ecological principals and the ways society  affects, or responds to environmental conditions” (environmental literacy).
  • In keeping with the Winter Olympics, if you are an athlete, perhaps literacy means the ability to “move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments” (physical literacy).
  • If you are an elementary school educator, literacy means all of the above. If you are a elementary school student, literacy means all of the above.
  • If you are a literacy teacher educator, literacy means… By Yiola
    * definitions taken from online google searches, mainly wikipedia.

Beatles, Popular Culture, Relevance, Perspective …

critical literacy, education, Reflections, Social Justice, , ,

the Beatles

I (Clare) was reading in the newspaper that Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ performance on “Ed Sullivan.” http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2014/02/08/beatlemania_a_moment_in_time_never_to_be_repeated.html

 I probably should not admit it but I clearly remember the event. My entire family was gathered around the TV. “Nielsen says 45 percent of all TV sets in use at the time were tuned into the broadcast, with fans and the uninitiated alike gathered shoulder to shoulder in their living rooms.” The article on the Beatles commented that they “landed on a trigger point when they hit America. It was a pop culture sonic boom spurred by talent, timing and luck that’s still rattling the windows.”
So I had a few thoughts when I read the article about the Beatles:
·      For me there are a few key events in my youth that gripped the national (and often) world stage. Events where I remember so clearly where I was sitting when I heard the news, how I felt … . For example, I remember so vividly when the school principal announced on the PA (something rarely used) that JFK had been assassinated and I can recall as if it was yesterday sitting with my family watching the live footage of the first walk on the moon … I wonder what will be key events for our youth today?
·      In our highly diverse world, events in one culture/country can be viewed very differently in another (on a small scale, my grandmother was appalled by the Beatles and their long hair). As a classroom teacher I used to bring current events into the classroom because I felt it was important for the curriculum to go beyond the classroom walls. As a teacher educator who teaches literacy courses I spend a lot of time on non-fiction, in particular perspective in newspaper and news reporting. How can we prepare student teachers to bring current events (and global events) into the classroom for discussion and interrogation when there are such different views? (The current Olympics would be a good springboard for discussion). I know as an experienced teacher the skill and diplomacy needed to handle discussions that can be controversial. Current events need to be in the curriculum if we want to be relevant but it is not a simple task.
And for those of a certain age, listen to your favourite Beatles song today and sing along as if you are a teenager.  Clare

Reflecting on Our Strengths and Weaknesses

classroom teachers, education, literacy, Literacy teacher educators, Reflections, Teacher education, , ,

I (Cathy) was reading a literacy newsletter yesterday and was intrigued by an article by literacy educator, Clare Landrigan.  She reminisced about a saying her father used to share with her, “Everyone’s greatest strength is their greatest weakness and their greatest weakness is their greatest strength.” I have heard this before and tend to agree with it.  I have referred to it often while exploring Brookfield’s critical incidences with my student teachers.  We would reflect on the possibility of how our greatest strength could be holding us from recognizing our own literacy assumptions.

What intrigued me about Landrigan’s article was the educational perspective she introduced that I simply had not entertained before.  She asked her readers to look at the weaknesses of her students and try to see them as their greatest strength.  For example, the student who cannot sit still . . . has the potential to be incredibly productive and he student who takes forever to do something . . . is attentive and thoughtful.   What a wonderfully productive way to look at the students we teach, regardless of age.  It also might help us recognize positive aspects in ourselves when we are feeling particularly critical.  What is your greatest weakness?