KaitlynPhillips

Ms.HolemanandMs.Orswell
EDUC340:LiteracyandtheLearner
1December2015

EDUC340CaseStudy

Literacyisthekeytosuccessfullearning
and
teachingallteachersareteachersof
reading,andliteracyisanimportantpartofstudentlearningineverycontentarea.Whether
studentsarereadinghistorytextbooks,solvingmathequations,completingsciencelabsor
writingbookreports,allstudentsarestudentsofliteracy,andallteachersareteachersofreading.
PartI:AllTeachersareTeachersofReading
Mathteachersareteachersofreadingbecausestudentsneedtonotonlyreadinstructions,
notes,andwordproblems,butalsomustbenumericallyliteratetheymustbeabletoreadand
understandnumbersinordertothinkcriticallyabouthowtosolvemathproblems.Anexample
ofthiswasseeninMs.Bindersmathclassroom,wherehersixthgraderswerelearningtosolve
twostepequations.Thestudentshadtoreadnumberslefttorightandunderstandhowtosolve
anequationbeginningtomiddletoend.Itslikereadingastory,searchingfortheevidenceyou
needtosolveamystery.Onestudenteventalkedmethroughthestepsoutloud,startingwiththe
originalequationandrunningthroughhisworkwithhisfingeritwasverysimilartothekindof
sightreadingyoungerkidsdowhentheyrelearningtoread.Thisstrategymakessenseas
studentsarebecomingliterateinmathematics,becausethoughmostofthemareproficient
readersby6thand7thgrade,readingnumbersissomethingnewtothem,andtheyrevertbackto
thebasicreadingstrategiestohelpthem.

AnotherexampleofallteachersbeingteachersofreadingcouldbefoundinMs.Jordans
roboticslabnotonlyistherealotoftraditionalreadingtodoasfarasunderstandinghandout
materialandthemanybooksonroboticskeptintheroom,butalsotheimplementationof
computercodingisinstrumentaltoroboticsandengineeringifthestudentscannotread
and
understand
code,theycantimplementit.Learningtoreadcodeisatotallynewkindofliteracy
thathasemergedinthetechnologicalage,anditrequiresstudentstodevelopnewliteracy
strategiestohelpthemreadandunderstandcodethesamewaytheylearnedtoreadand
understandsentences.Similartomathematics,alotofthestudentsrevertedtothebasicsof
literacy,likesightreadingonestudent,Amber,referredtoothertextsintheclassroomtohelp
herunderstandthelastlineofcodetoimplementthenext.BecauseMs.Jordantaughtherthis
literarystrategyofusingothersourcestoprovidecontextforsomethingyoudontunderstand,
Amberwasabletocontinuehercodingandsolvetheproblemshewashavingwithherrobot.
AfinalexampleofallteachersbeingteachersofreadingcanbefoundinMs.Holemans
scienceclassroomthere,studentsimplementliteracystrategieseverydayinordertoutilizethe
scientificmethod,aswellastoreadthematerialsprovided,labinstructions,tests/pretests,and
articles/backgroundinformationforresearch.Forexample,studentsinMs.Holemansclass
completedawormlabinwhichtheytestedvarioushypothesesusingthescientificmethodthe
scientificmethod,likethetwostepequationsinthemathexample,isalotlikesolvingamystery
inliteratureyoulookthroughtheevidence,reconstructthestory,andcometoaconclusion.
Duringthisprocess,studentsuseliteracystrategieslikeaKWLtheyfigureoutwhatthey
alreadyknowanddeveloppriorknowledgethroughinclassreadings,establishwhattheywant

toknowintheirhypothesis,andtalkaboutwhattheylearnedintheirconclusion.Allareasof
sciencerequireliteracy,andthereforeallscienceteachersmustbeteachersofliteracy.
PartII:HowWillYouUseWhatYouLearned?
OneofthebiggestfactorsthatnegativelyaffectedmysuccessasaK12studentwas
stressIknewmystresswasnormal,becausealotofmypeerswereexperiencingit,too,butI
wasnevergivenanyconcretewaystodealwithit.InChapterthreeofJudyWillis
Research
BasedStrategiestoIgniteStudentLearning,
Willisdiscusseswaysthatteacherscanreducestress
onstudentbrains.Onestrategythatstuckwithmewasprovidingwithstudentswiththreeminute
brainbreaksbetweensubjectsorinthemiddleofintenseorlonglectures(Willis).Inmy
classroom,thiscouldlooklikestandingupandstretchingaftereveryactivity,orallowingthree
tofiveminutesofsocialtimeafterlongstretchesofsilentreading.Asstatedinthereading,
whentheamygdalabecomesoverstimulates,informationcannotpassfromsensoryawareness
tothememoryconnectionandstorageregionsofthebrain(Willis).Thoughthesebreakswill
takeupclasstime,adestressedbrainretainsmoreinformation,andthereforemakesthesmall
amountofclasstimelostworthit.
AnotherstrategythatIcouldimplementinmyclassroomistheCornellnotetaking
systemdiscussedinlecture,lab,andrecitation.ThisoneisparticularlyusefulinEnglishbecause
itsahighvolumecontentarea,oracontentareathatinvolvesalotofinformationthatstudents
oftentimesmustuseallatonce.Becauseimmediatememoryonlylastsfor18seconds,and
workingmemoryonlylastsanhourortwo,thebrainrequiresrehearsal,organization,and
practicetomoveinformationfromworkingmemorytolongtermmemory(Seahorn).Cornell
notesisperfectforthis,becausethestudentsreviewthenightofwhentheycreatetheir

questions,thenextnightwhentheywritetheirsummary,andthenextfewdays/weeksasthe
instructorremindsthemtoreviewinclass.InEnglish,thiscouldbeusedwhenlecturingon
importantwordsforliteraryanalysis,thingslikemotif,theme,symbol,etc.Insteadofwriting
reviewquestionsinthelefthandcolumn,studentscouldwriteexamplesfromtextswereadin
class(seefinalpageforexample).Thisway,whentheyreaskedtowriteafinalessay,notonly
dotheyhavethedefinitionsoftheseimportantwords,butalsospecificexamplesfromthetexts
thatweveread.Itsagreatwaytoincorporatemultiplepartsoftheclassintoonelesson,and
intotheirreview.
InEnglish,literacystrategiesareespeciallyimportantanywaytotransferinformation
thatstudentsreadintotheirlongtermmemoryisincrediblyusefulforanEnglishinstructor.In
chaptersevenof
PearsonCustomEducation:EDUC340
,MichaelMcKennaandRichard
Robinsondiscussseveralstrategiesthatdojustthat,oneofwhichbeingtheSketchtoStretch
(Richardson).Thisstrategyinvolvesreadingtheassignedtext,immediatefollowedbyaquick
sketchofwhatthestudentbelievesisthemostimportantorinfluentialpartofthereading
studentsthenpairupandsharetheirsketchesandwhytheychosethatspecificmomenttodraw
(Richardson).Inmyclassroom,thiswouldbemostusefulwithHemingwayshortstories,
becausetheyreoftenlackingindetailandfullofseeminglyinsignificanteventsthisway,
studentscouldexplorewhotheythinkthemaincharacteris,whatthemaineventis,whatthe
mostimportantdetailsare,etc.andtheseareallquestionsthatleadtothelargerquestionofthe
themeofthetext.Itsalsogreatforvisualthinkers/learners,andprovidesabrainbreakfrom
oftentextheavylecturesorclassperiods.

Astrategythatstoodouttomeinrecitationwascharactermapping,astrategythat
involvesdrawingoutacharacterandattributingdifferentcharacteristicstothisdrawing
dependingonthelesson.Anexampleofthisfromthehandoutinclasswastodoatemplatefor
acharacterafterthefirstchapterandafterthelastchapterinanovel.Compareandcontrast
templatestoidentifyareasofcharactergrowthandchange(CharacterMapping).Inmy
classroom,thiswouldlooklikeakindofpretestandfinalexamforthebook1984students
woulddoacharactermapofwhattheyknowaboutthenovelalready,andthenasafinalexam
theywoulddoacharactermapofoneofthemaincharactersatthenovelsend.ThiswayIm
abletoassesswhatstudentsknowandtesttheirknowledgeafterreadingwhilestayingaway
fromthetraditionalmultiplechoiceformat,whichcanbeabigstressorforalotofstudents.
AfinalstrategythatIdefinitelyplantouseinmyclassroomwouldbetoestablisha
dialogicalpedagogy,oranactiveprocessofseriouscontinuingdiscussionwhichallows
peoplesvoicestobeheardanddeveloped(FernandezBalboa).Insteadofassertingmyselfas
theoneauthorityofknowledgeintheroom,Ihopetoinsteadactasafacilitatorofknowledge,
andallowopendiscussionandnewideasintotheroom.InsteadofposingquestionsthatI
alreadyhavetheanswerstoorquestionswhereImexpectingonespecificanswer,Illaskmore
openquestionsandallowformorediscussions.ThisisespeciallyimportantinEnglishbecausea
lotofwhatistaughtisinterpretationitisteachingcriticalthinkingsostudentscanformtheir
own
opinionsandanalysisofthetext.Howcanteachersexpectstudentstodeveloptheirown
thoughtsaboutliteratureiftheirnotallowedsomefreedomtoexpressthesethoughtsinthe
classroom.Asaneducator,Ihopetofosterstudentsideasandexpression,ratherthanactasa
competeauthority.

WorksCited
"CharacterMapping."
GettingIntoCharacterMapping
.Boston:ScholasticProfessional,1999.
N.pag.Print.
FernandezBalboa,JuanMiguel,andJamesMarshall.
DialogicalPedagogyinTeacher
Education:TowardanEducationforDemocracy
.Greeley:UniversityofNorthern
Colorado,n.d.PDF
Richardson,Robert,andMichaelMckenna.
PearsonCustomEducation:EDUC340
.Boston:
PearsonLearningSolutions,2011.Print.
Seahorn,Janet."MemoryandtheStudentBrain."EDUC340Lecture.ColoradoState
University,FortCollins.17Nov.2015.Lecture.
Willis,Judy."Chapter3:HowStressandEmotionAffectLearning."
ResearchbasedStrategies
toIgniteStudentLearning:InsightsfromaNeurologistandClassroomTeacher
.
Alexandria,VA:AssociationforSupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment,2006.5673.
Print.