Hello? Hi? Is This Thing On?!

Ever find yourself picking up new slang or words when hanging out with a new friend or group of people? It's probably because a lot of our oral communication skills come from listening or modeling after other people. As educators, we must model good oral communication which may include good enunciation, descriptive word choice, proper flow, and geared toward the correct audience. By providing students with a good model at school, they can hopefully transfer those observations to their own practice.

How To Develop Concise Oral Instructions
Depending on how a student comprehends vague instructions, the product they produce could be very different from what you intended. The paper tear challenge we completed in class provided an amazing framework for teaching students how to use proper and concise language. I have embedded a video of this task being done with adults at a conference to remind us. Although this task does provide instructions, they may not be overly clear. Following completing this activity with your students, you can have them help you create more specific instructions. They should make note of potentially providing interactive strategies such as being able to ask questions (OC2.2), making the instructions more clear and coherent (OC2.3), and using more appropriate/descriptive language (OC2.4). After the students help me create a clearer set of instructions, we may retry the activity to see if we achieve more similar results with our "snowflakes" than before! I will most likely be completing a similar activity with my placement class since it is fun and allows students to work with the teacher to create criteria. This could really help with providing a basis for preparing students to help create success criteria as a class for an upcoming assignment.


Would You Trust One of Your Classmates to Guide You Through an Obstacle Course?
I remember in gym class always doing obstacle courses but sometimes being blindfolded and getting directions from my classmates. This may traditionally be seen as a physical activity for gym class, but could very easily be used as a tool to develop listening to understand oral communication skills. This website highlights a lot of different strategies to strengthen communication skills, but I particularly want to focus on the blindfold game. You could easily complete this activity in groups of 3: one student will be blindfolded, one student can give instructions, and the other can be present to provide support through any difficult obstacles. Through this activity, you can look for expectations such as OC1.2 and 1.3. The student listening to the instructions will need to be an active listener so actions are completed in an appropriate time while also listening well in order to comprehend what to in order to overcome the obstacle. You could also look at OC 2.1 and 2.3 for the student actually giving the instructions. This student needs to understand the purpose of giving the instructions is to get the other student through the obstacles safely and in order to do this, they need to be very clear and specific on what they are saying. This sort of activity is also just fun for the kids to complete, it gets them up and moving, and helps them further develop communication and teamwork skills. I have embedded below a similar activity you could do potentially with older students. This game looks at non-verbal communication and teamwork.

Can We Make Predictions Based on Things Other Than Books?
During a lot of literacy lessons involving reading, we are often asked to consider what is going to happen next. This may be done through a writing task, through comprehension, or just through sharing thoughts. But why not consider making inferences and predictions based on videos or audio recordings? We can pause them just like we can stop reading or finish a chapter. This website highlights some strategies to help students learn and practice making inferences about things in literacy whether it be a book, video, or audio source. The main activity I would look at for oral communication is show and infer. This activity basically asks students to use what they know about their classmates to predict what the item is the student brought in. For my placement purpose, I would consider adapting this activity to using some sort of video. I may have students view a part of a video, pause it, and have them discuss what may happen next, or pose a prompt to them to answer. EdPuzzle would be an excellent tool you could use for this in class. This would highlight expectations such as OC1.5, 1.6. Following a few of these pauses throughout the video, I could then have students reflect on what strategies they used to pay attention to the information and how they were able to make concrete predictions. This may satisfy expectations such as OC3.1. Another common practice in classrooms is shared reading. I believe this is a great strategy to strengthen oral communication because it allows for students to work together in a comfortable environment to read aloud to each other and learn new skills. You could further this activity by then having students read a story based on a certain point of view (OC1.8). Having students communicate this way they are still practicing speaking clearly (OC2.1), listening attentively (OC1.2), and potentially interactive practice (OC2.2). Shared reading is something I would like to implement in my own classroom since it provides a great opportunity to assess many aspects of the language arts.

Writing... Do We Have Too?

So many students in my placement seem to DESPISE writing and I'm sure I'm not the only one observing this. How can we as educators get students excited about writing? In my placement, a lot of students struggle with deciding what to write about or feel like they 'suck' at writing. Below I have three different resources that help with generating ideas for writing, fostering writing creativity, allow for clear organization, and group writing activities that can encourage more excitement towards writing. By implementing such strategies hopefully, students will become more engaged, become better with their spelling and sentence structure, and be excited to write. 

Doodling = Fun! Writing = Not So Fun.

After browsing Pinterest for quite some time, I stumbled upon an awesome article discussing a way to help students brainstorm a bunch of potential writing topics. This strategy basically requires students to draw a foot as a starting point, and then they are encouraged to fill the page will doodles and more ideas. In this article, the foot symbolizes the starting point of what the students did that summer, but you could easily alter this in a different direction. This activity can also be made less or more complex depending on grade level. We actually discussed a similar activity in my cohort class where you essentially do the same thing but with a heart instead. An activity could satisfy specific expectations W1.2 and 2.5. By completing what this author calls Sketchnotes, students will be encouraged to generate their own ideas, experiences, and interests as prompts for further writing ideas. Most of the ideas they generate can also be associated with a potential point of view the students may write from. Another resource I was exposed to thanks to our PLC groups, was a Scholastic website that gives students creative prompts for writing specifically for fiction. This website allows users to choose their grade level and then randomly spin to get a full writing prompt with the opportunity to change a section if they wish. Here is an example: Write a short interview with a courageous goblin who is a spy from another kingdom. This gives students the type of writing they should focus on, the main character, and another aspect to the character that they must incorporate. This resource also provides students with help generating ideas (W1.2) as well as encouragement to explore different forms of writing (W2.1). Both of these resources provide students with endless opportunities for creativity as well as many personal writing prompts to use in the future.

Mind Map, Graphic Organizer, Chart. Whatever You Call It, It Helps!

I will never forget how much I used too and still use graphic organizers in various subjects in school. I vividly remember using them frequently for writing. Another article I stumbled upon on Pinterest outlined a variety of organizers you could use for many different things such as creating story maps, facts and opinion charts, and topic webs. I love the word choice chart idea because it allows for students to begin brainstorming what 'juicy' words they can implement into their writing. This specific idea can satisfy the expectation of word choice (W2.3). The summarizing or sequencing charts provide students a framework for sentence fluency (W2.4) as well as preparation for revision (W2.6). Using these charts as a class makes ideas and statements very clear which can be used as drafts or provide a good example for peer revision (W2.7 & 2.8). Graphic organizers are a way less intimidating way to begin your writing. It can be very scary and difficult to look at a blank piece of paper or word document and just start writing. That also isn't a good practice to be teaching our students. I think implementing the option of various graphic organizers to my placement students will really help relieve some of their stress when it comes to starting any sort of writing assignment. Also having all of these strategies displayed throughout the classroom can remind students they exist and that they are welcome to refer to them whenever needed, even if it is not a literacy assignment. Getting students comfortable and familiar with using graphic organizers at a younger age can also foster further organization skills in other aspects of school and subject areas. To see an organizer in action, I have embedded a video below of a class using the five senses organizer to brainstorm before they start writing.

What If We Write Together?!
I never really considered creating a piece of writing to be a very collaborative process with other classmates. Everyone has different ideas and strategies, how can groups work together to effectively create a piece of writing. I was certainly proven wrong in our second lecture on writing. I absolutely loved the collaborative writing activity we did in class (view slides 4-7). Putting my student hat on, I would love to have to expand off someone else's thoughts and create my own section of the story. It is also funny to see how some of the stories turn out at the end of the task. Thinking about my placement, I believe my class would absolutely love this activity. This being said, I actually hope to maybe implement this in my placement at some point. This sort of task could focus on choosing the correct voice, point of view and sentences to fit with the previous persons' thoughts (W2.2, 2.4, & 2.5). This sort of task could be completed following almost any lesson exploring the different forms of writing. It may allow students to explore different examples and get them practicing writing a particular form in a comfortable environment. I have embedded a video below that highlights a similar activity, specifically focusing on sentence structure. As an extension, following completion of this task, I could then ask students to look through the short story for grammar issues, spelling, and punctuation (W3.1, 3.2, 3.4, & 3.5). As a class, we could outline some common mistakes and where to go next in terms of improvement. We could also create a word wall that displays words students are spelling correctly and incorrectly. As an educator, I could also use this activity as a reflection opportunity for the students. They can express their confidence level of writing at this point, what they liked and didn't like about the activity, and where they think they may need to improve (W4.1 & 4.2). Although this sort of activity is meant to be fun, it is important to still be reminding students of good writing practices. 

Fiction vs Nonfiction; Which Do Students Enjoy More?!

If I asked you now as an adult which type of book do you enjoy reading more? Fiction? Or Nonfiction? I would say I'm torn between both and it is dependent on the subject area, but some people have a distinct favourite that most likely stemmed from enjoyment in school. As educators let's look at how we can use fiction and nonfiction texts to increase students' enjoyment for reading!

What is Fiction? What is Nonfiction?

For students to explore what they may enjoy reading most, they need to understand the different types of books they may encounter. Understanding the difference between fiction and nonfiction is essential to this. Some students love the opportunity to put themselves into the situation happening in a book and use their imaginations to decide what might happen next or how it will all end. Others may enjoy learning facts, real-life events, and about theories they can teach or debate with their friends about. Students need to understand the purposes and points of view these types of texts may be written in which directly relate to curriculum expectations R1.2 and R1.9. This slideshow gives some good questions and general ideas about authors' purposes and the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Students may be intimidated by the idea of nonfiction but providing them with tools to understand the structures of nonfiction will help with their comprehension (R1.3) Giving students the option of exploring both types of texts allows them to possess more freedom and room to discover what they enjoy and what they will get excited to read about. I came across an article where a teacher discussed strategies she used to increase her students' love for writing, but it could be easily related to reading. They were as simple as allowing them to choose what to write (or choose what to read), giving them more freedom on assignment directions, and allowing students to share ideas and feedback (R4.2). One of the things I like most about nonfiction is that a lot of the ideas and vocabulary can be more challenging. By exposing students to these types of texts it can improve their fluency with tougher texts (R3.3) and expose them to tougher words (R3.2). 

Graphic Novels; A Still Movie

When I first thought of graphic novels I thought "oh, they are just stupid comic books. How nerdy". After looking at how much variety is present in graphic novels in class and how beneficial they can be to students I have a whole new appreciation for them. Reading graphic novels provides students with a whole new point of view (R1.9), writing style (R2.4), and a more exciting way to make predictions(R1.5) and connections to the text(R1.6 and 1.8). The graphic novel article we looked at in class gave some insight directly from teachers regarding using graphic novels in class. The teacher roundtable discusses how graphic novels are beneficial to students, the misconceptions people have about using graphic novels in the classroom, their personal favourite graphic novels, and the dos and don'ts of being successful in using graphic novels in their classroom. I also enjoyed exploring how you could use graphic novels to teach more than just reading. I viewed a few books that showed how you could teach kids about science subjects (a nonfiction text) such as different types of terrain such as deserts or rainforests. This article highlights some of the most popular graphic novels to use for various lessons in the STEM field. I would love to explore using graphic novels to create some sort of cross-curricular lesson that may incorporate students favourite subjects into reading their choice of graphic novel. I also came across a TED talk that discusses why comics (or graphic novels) should be in the classroom. A lot of people including students, parents, and even educators are skeptical of using something that may be viewed as "not for education, only for fun", and this talk clears some of that up. I believe using graphic novels can excite students about reading and learning about new topics; it's like reading a still movie.

Are Nonfiction Texts Really Boring?

A lot of times when teachers bring out textbooks or research articles students can be immediately turned off. What if we could not only make nonfiction more exciting but increase students' enjoyment for this style of book before it becomes such a large part of their academics? I started enjoying nonfiction more when I was choosing what to read and explore. This can be hard to do with textbooks, but providing additional materials such as videos, graphic novels that relate to the concept, or even picture books can increase student interest in that subject area. This article highlights some ways to make nonfiction more exciting that I believe tailors more to elementary students. A big focus is playing to each student's interests, making real-life connections (R1.5, 1.6, 1.8), and encouraging questioning. Giving students opportunities to make inferences (R1.5), look at different forms and styles (R2.1-2.4), and giving them new challenges (R3.2) exposes them to the vast realm of nonfiction. Nonfiction comes in so many forms (R2.1-2.4) such as newspaper articles, novels, picture books, research papers, textbooks, and more, so having students explore all of these and provide comparisons teaches them more than just what nonfiction is. Another article I came across highlights some ways to improve comprehension from nonfiction by using graphic organizers to highlight ideas or important facts(R1.3 and 1.7), determining the importance of the reading(R1.2), and writing summaries to ensure students get the gist of the article or reading (R1.4). I have embedded a video below that shows a teacher working through fiction and nonfiction books with her class and highlighting how both can be good reads. Looking back now, my teachers gave me a lot of freedom when it came to research and finding articles to use for projects. I believe this is one of the reasons I enjoy viewing research articles now for mostly just sole enjoyment. Not only are nonfiction texts important during kids' studies in elementary and high school, but if they want to succeed, they need to be prepared to use them and essentially enjoy them all through post-secondary education as well.

Media Literacy + Science = Exciting Learning

“Okay, class, time for Science and Literacy.”

*significant sigh roars through the class*

A lot of students do not enjoy science. For whatever reason, it doesn’t appeal to them or it seems hard so they don’t enjoy learning about it. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case for me, but I’m a nerd so that’s beside the point. I am very passionate about teaching science, and I want to ensure students are excited when I tell them it’s time for a science lesson. Thinking and reflecting on our discussions in class revolving around technology, I believe it’s essential to implement a ‘fun’ component into a subject students sometimes don’t fully enjoy. A lot of students respond well to videos, games, and websites and that is what I have chosen to explore how to engage students using media resources to learn science and literacy all in one. This blog post will explore how you can implement teaching media literacy as well as science in an appealing, technology-rich way to students. Teaching or attempting to teach two subjects in one can be tough, but with time and effort, it can be successful. Imagine how much content we could get through in a year if we implement more subjects into one.

This post will explore in-depth the connection between literacy and the Ontario Language Curriculum document. We will look at how the different science resources I have chosen can satisfy specific expectations in the media literacy section of the curriculum document. Media Literacy has four main sections: understanding media texts, understanding media forms, conventions, and techniques, creating media texts, and reflecting on media literacy skills and strategies. Each section outlines specific expectations teachers are to satisfy using various lessons and assignments. Next, you will see how we can use science resources to both teach science concepts but also satisfy expectations from the media literacy curriculum as well.

Pop, Pop, Pop... BrainPop!
My first resource is BrainPop! I have personal experience with this website and remember being shown videos in elementary and high school. This website has an endless amount of content for both students and teachers. Students can explore videos, games, vocabulary, mind maps, coding, readings, worksheets and so much more. Educators can use any aspect of this to teach their students. You could use a video or game from BrainPop as a Minds On activity, have students review vocabulary and readings to create a mind map or movie for the active learning, and then have students share their findings with the class as consolidation. An activity such as this could satisfy the following curriculum expectations from the Ontario Language Curriculum document: M1.1-1.3, and M3.2-3.4. These expectations require students to explore the purpose and audience of media texts, task them with making inferences and interpreting messages, and respond and evaluate media texts (M1.1-1.3). They also ask students to identify appropriate form, identify appropriate techniques and conventions they should use during their activity, and actually producing their choice of media text (M3.2-3.4). BrainPop has resources available for more than just science; math, social studies, English, art and music, health, and engineering and tech are also available. This resource could be provided to students as something embedded into a lesson or something given as an extra for those who may want more clarification. I appreciate how this website gives you so many different options to use and not just videos or games. BrainPop also provides sample lesson plans to teachers. Unfortunately, since most of BrainPop requires a subscription or payment, I could not fully explore the educator side. Below is a sample video provided by BrainPop about Media Literacy. A lot of BrainPop videos can be accessed through YouTube.

What's Climate? Find Out at Climate Kids

Next, is Climate Kids. This website is similar to BrainPop, but I found it seemed to be geared more towards grades 6-10. It has some more advanced topics and vocabulary present. It focuses solely on science and various aspects surrounding the climate. Climate Kids has videos, activities, games, and articles to explore. This website provides experiments, "how to's", and tasks teachers can try or students could complete themselves. This website allows for a lot of open-ended questions which could lead to a fun research project for students. If we look at the Grade 9 Academic English expectations students could evaluate Climate Kids and decide if they find the website effective, and if the media presented satisfies the purpose for them (M1.3). This expectation specifically asks students to evaluate how effective the information and ideas are communicated for their intended purpose. Students can be evaluating Climate Kids specifically, relating to if they believe they can thoroughly learn about the climate through this website. This assignment could be something used before students complete a unit on climate, to understand if this resource would be valuable during the unit. I believe it is a valuable skill for students to learn not only how to use websites to learn but also to be able to review if the websites are valuable. Students could then use this resource during their unit on climate to provide additional information throughout the unit. I have embedded a sample video from Climate Kids to view and understand.

Want to explore the world? Check Out National Geographic

My third resource is using National Geographic. National Geographic has a variety of options available such as magazines, books, websites, movies, and sites for kids. National Geographic allows for an endless amount of resources for students to explore in both a literacy sense and scientific sense. National Geographic provides a lot of different multimodal options that can cater to students' preferred ways of receiving and learning new information. You can tailor to those who prefer reading, those who prefer videos, or those who enjoy exploring websites. Educators could use this resource to satisfy more than just Media Literacy expectations, but also expectations from Reading, Writing, and Oral Communication. Educators could create an assignment where students examine 3-4 different resources from National Geographic and identify different characteristics, techniques, and conventions present in the various resources (M2.1-2.2). These expectations ask students to examine how elements of these different resources combine to create and reinforce meaning, as well as to identify conventions and how they help to relay the message to the intended audience (M2.1-2.2). You could then continue this project to relate it to science and have students explore their favorite resources and complete a respective assignment. Most of National Geographic’s resources can be accessed through their website and sometimes through elementary and secondary schools will have actual magazines or movies. This resource can be used in almost any grade level and could be tied in with other literacy strands such as reading, writing, and oral communication. National Geographic is also a good choice for a reputable, well-known resource to use in class that students may come across in other aspects of their life.

 

There are endless amounts of websites and apps that students and teachers can use to incorporate science into media literacy such as Crash Course or Khan Academy to name a couple. I personally used Crash Course a lot in university to reinforce topics and give me an alternate way of understanding the information besides my textbook or lecture. Incorporating these non-traditional methods into instruction can provide further engagement for students and more interest in particular subject areas. Following any of the assignments, teachers can give students an opportunity to reflect which further satisfies expectations M4.1-4.2 by allowing students to express what worked for them what didn't, and how did their other skills help them. Any of the brief assignments I discussed could inspire new passions for science or the various aspects of media. Using this approach; tying two subjects into one; can allow for greater student interest in both areas. I remember in elementary school highly disliking language/literacy. If there were sections presented to me in a similar way to what I have discussed, I know I would have enjoyed the subject much more. This dual subject method could be implemented in math, health, social studies, geography, history and more. Think of this as a way to use one subject to make another subject more engaging. Below I have embedded a video that shows how you can use gym class to practice math skills. This is what I am trying to get at. Using a more appealing task to conquer a less appealing task!