A Literature-based Approach to Reading & Media Technology

Traditionally in literature-based teaching of reading, movies of books were presented as an after reading activity. A few of us may recall this activity taking place on a Friday. It was usually a reward to the class for good behavior or provided when a substitute teacher was present. Essentially, it was provided as a 'fill-in' with no guarantee that it would be subsequently related to the text.

Visual media are now purposefully provided as a before reading activity for our reluctant and low ability readers to build their background knowledge and to aid in their comprehension of text. The principle behind this is that knowledge is presented both verbally and non-verbally in a dual-coding system. Visual media could be provided of the setting, characters, and relationships in the story. This strategy can be used to teach comprehension skills, such as summarizing and evaluation skills by comparing and contrasting the media with the text.

Additionally, there are the audio-books which are available in unabridged and abridged recordings. They can provide a shared learning experience; enhance reading levels and comprehension; increase language skills and literacy; provide models of pronunciation, sentence structure, and accuracy in grammar. Additionally, they can serve to motivate auditory learners and as an introduction to the art of storytelling.

For those of us who are committed to a literature-based approach to reading a useful website is: The Children’s Literature Web Guide: http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/

Exploring the Musical Intelligence

In an earlier blog, entitled Concept Mapping and Their Possibility for the Spatial Learner, this writer mentioned the need for reading specialists to collaborate with other teachers and departments in the interest of our students. One content area in which this can be done is in music. Music teachers, may be unaware of it, but they do have a unique role to assist our students, many of whom, particularly the boys, have a musical intelligence. This intelligence can find self-expression in an intellectually and emotionally nurturing classroom environment. The reading specialist in a collaborative effort with the music teacher and the students can adopt strategies that have proven to be successful in intervention programmes. Music’s influence with skill building can extend into such areas as:

i. Music spelling: learning to spell new words to music is fun and accelerates learning

ii. Teaching reading musically

iii. Improving language skills: lyrics can provide a rich source of vocabulary words that can enrich comprehension

These are only a few of the methods in which web technology can enhance our students’ musical intelligence and contribute to their reading improvement.

This writer discovered a website called Mypanyard at http://mypanyard.co.uk/Home-steel-pan-panyard.html which is part of the U. K. ‘s Department of Education thrust to encourage the learning of music in primary and secondary schools in England. This website provides a number of steelpan-based activities to encourage reading. Through the Pan in Schools Unit of the T & T. Ministry of Education, ‘web pals’ could be established. An interesting activity would be to use a graphic organizer provided by MyInspiration and compare and contrast the development of the steelpan movement in England and Trinidad. A reading of the history as presented in Mypanyard indicates some pertinent differences.

Where Do We go from Here?

We are now convinced that technology is an asset to finding a solution to the challenges that our students face. Where Do We Go from Here? We need to:
A. Apply technology to enhance current curriculum practices

B. Join online professional learning communities:
· To stay abreast of technological development
· To engage in reflection
· To share the effects of technology on our practices and our students’ learning
· To evaluate the effectiveness of our practices

C. Conduct/encourage the conduct of action research
D. Collaborate in the design of innovative culturally responsive literacy opportunities for our students
E. Consider membership to the Trinidad & Tobago Computer Society & the Trinidad & Tobago Reading Association

Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society

While surfing the Internet, this blogger discovered that there is a Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society that has been in existence since 1997. It was particularly informative to learn that the Society has prepared a 5 pp document entitled Laptops in Schools Programme in which the Society responds to the laptops-for-children programme of the Government of Trinidad & Tobago. Of particular interest is the section that covers suggested uses of the laptop for learning activities. Currently, the Society awaits the Government's response to its document.
On the website, the Society provides a SMS Dictionary and Emoticons. Could these be other examples of the higher order thinking skills in which our students are already immersed because of the motivation present?
The Society's official website is at http://www.ttcsweb.org/

With respect to blogging, do you believe that we are what we post?

Do you believe that we are what we post?
It appears that prospective employees do. It is reported that they are using Google to discover information about interviewees that job interviews cannot provide. That is transparency for you! Consider our students! As educators, we have a responsibility to block certain websites; however, we also have a responsibility to appraise our students of the possible negative implications of some of the online services that attract them and the veracity, or lack of, of what is posted on these services.

Social networking: the panacea for overcoming the challenges of our students

Could social networking provide the panacea for overcoming the challenges of our students?
Permit me to share the concerns of educational psychologists and neuroscientists with respect to social networking websites. They believe that these websites may be
doing more harm than good. Educational psychologist, Jane Healy states that children should be kept away from computer games until they are seven years old. Most games only trigger the ‘flight or fight’ region of the brain rather than the vital areas responsible for reasoning. In addition, she states that they encourage young people to be more self-centered. Susan Greenfield, a renown British neuroscientist fears that ‘these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small
children who are attracted to buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment’.

Concept mapping and their possibility for the spatial learner:

While the literature and our current exposure to concept maps reveal their tremendous potential for the spatial learner, there are other stimuli that are necessary in order to provide a holistic approach to his/her learning. Two of them that come to mind are:
i. The physical classroom – the transformation of the classroom into an aesthetically pleasing environment
ii. Teacher collaboration – Collaboration of teachers and departments, e.g. Language Arts
& Visual and Performing Arts.
Where i.and ii. above are lacking, the reading specialist, conscious of their importance, has a
responsibility to suggest strategies to effect the necessary change.