Alex Umsted

Byrd

EDRD 651/Reading Reflection

15 July 2014

Teaching Literacy in the Digital Age:

 Inspiration for All Levels and Literacies

 

Page # (Kindle)	Quote	Reflection
Loc 552	“Not only do we ding that showing students digital book trailers is a great way to spark interest in reading specific titles, we take this approach an important step further: we assign students to create their own book trailers.  They understand that an important dimension to this assignment is that the book trailers they create will be used to inform and motivate other students to read those same books.”	Though I have never heard of book trailers before, I absolutely love the idea.  Like a commercial for a film, the book trailer serves as the advertisement for the book.  For students who may not like reading or have a harder time visualizing texts, book trailers can be just what they need to actually pick up that book and read.  Additionally, I love the students are the ones making the book trailers.  Not only will this show that they comprehend the text, the creation of the book trailer can serve as another form of assessment.
Loc 705	(Online animation) “Lori then taught students the basics of selling the short stories they had written using animation.  She shared the importance of considering audience and purpose before selecting text, images, and sound.  She also stressed the need to match content and style to an audience, along with the need to hook the audience by carefully considering characters, conflicts, and plot points that should be highlighted.”	By adding in the online animation aspects to the 3-5 page story Lori asked her students to write, the students are being introduced to so much more than they were originally aware of.  Though the creative story is the backbone to this project, the animation aspect shows students how to consider important aspects like audience, sounds, direction, and style.  There are so many more elements that these students are being introduced to because they are essentially recreating their stories.  Again, this project would also be very helpful for students who have a hard time visualizing texts.  Through this project, students are also critically thinking about the text they have created.
Loc 852	“…I provide each student with a short story and a blank storyboard with exactly 20 empty shots.  I tell the students that they are to assume the role of the director and using the assigned short story, sketch out, in exactly 20 shots, a filmic version of their story.  By limiting the shots to 20, everyone has the same framework from which to work.”	The storyboarding part of The 20-Shot Short Story seems to be one of the most imperative steps.  By giving each student an assigned text and telling them that they only have 20 shots to tell the whole story, students are forced to closely pay attention to details and see what information is the most critical.  Students are learning how to summarize and identify the important information in texts.  Additionally, they are also being given the opportunity to make the story as explicitly visual as possible, which will help better their understanding of what is happening in the major plot.
Loc 967	“…Regardless of whether I assign this [movie production] as a group or an individual project, I always have students do most of the planning and writing individually.  Then I assign them to groups and have them decide on which script they’ll produce.”	I like the way Katz still emphasizes the importance of the individual writing process.  Though some films are done individually and some are done in groups, each student still has to produce just as much writing as the next.  This is very important because, ultimately, this is one of the most important goals in the English classroom.  Also, I like that the groups are able to decide which script they like the most because it gives students a goal to work towards as they are engaging in their writing process.
Loc 1100	Do-It-Yourslef Digital 3D Storytelling in general	Though this project was originally created for 3rd graders, I think that it can easily be turned into a high school English project.  Though high school students will obviously have a better base knowledge of words, students can still use the idea of finding or identifying words by using their critical thinking skills when reading and/or writing a short story to decipher what is the most important in the text.  Additionally, the project will teach them how to organize their thoughts/information and explicitly visualize what they are reading.
Loc 1592	(Graphic Novels) “The high level of engagement created by the visual art aspect of the project provides momentum that in turn engages students in the writing dimension of the project.  While extended text passages are not unheard of in graphic novels, communication that must be accomplished in the text is generally done with only a few sentences at a time.”	Creating graphic novels is a great outlet for teaching students how to carefully choose how they want articulate their message when writing.  When students are only given a small amount of space, they cannot write absolutely everything they want; it is necessary to formulate what information is needed to be said and not said.  For example, some information can be explained through visuals instead of words in graphic novels.  This genre is a great way to teach students how to be consciously aware of different expectations in various writing styles.
Loc 2131	(Creating Podcast/Radio show) “Students spent the first two days in the computer lab doing research and gathering support material to answer questions and learn more about their topics.  Students gathered relevant information from multiple digital sources and integrated it into their podcasts.”	Because informational texts are being pushed even more into our everyday curriculum, this project is a great way to make informative texts still seem engaging.  Even though they are eventually going to be turning their research into a radio show, they are learning many needed skills. Some include: proper research techniques, summarizing, finding important information, comprehension, debate, and forming a strong argument.
Loc 2290	“As students started their first notebook, Mrs. Smith asked them to capture some of their initial thinking by creating their first note.  Very much in the spirit of a freewrite, she wants them to use this first note as a way to document the research experience over the next few weeks, adding to it as they see fit.”	Even the research itself is obviously very vital, a notebook discussing the experience Samantha had as she conducted research is also very important because she can refer back to it when she does research in the future.  I love the idea of keeping record of the experience because one can learn about their growth as a researcher throughout the project.  Additionally, students may refer back to this if they ever get stuck with their research; they can see what other areas they had broadly looked at before and revisit the concepts again if necessary.
Loc 3049	(Making a Mini News Station) “Beyond its authentication of the Common Core English Language Arts literacy goals, the DNN program validates and concretizes college and career readiness.  Indeed, students walk away from this program not only able to demonstrate competence in using technology but also to use persuasive, argumentative, and information language as required in the Common Core ELA Standards.”	Having middle school students produce their own News is one of the most ambitious project we have read about thus far in the book.  This is definitely applicable to the high school classroom, and it could possibly be taught alongside a government and/or social studies class.  By having students produce their own News program twice a week, students gain so much knowledge and experience.  They are not only learning about current events, but they are also practicing writing, vocational skills, organization, argumentative tactics, and technological skills.  Along with meeting many of the English common core standards, students are learning about serious career opportunities.  This project uses common core standards in such a way that students are learning what they are supposed to be while they are also gaining real life experience.
Loc 3165	(Video Feedback) “Video messages are another way to provide video feedback.  Using webcam, teachers can respond to student work in a holistic way, addressing their entire piece.  I have found most success using this in conjunction with the scoring guide you used for that assignment.  By recording your comments talking through the scoring rubric with students, your video gives you the opportunity to “speak” with each student.”	I especially like this feedback tactic because it is a personal way for the teacher to talk to students without taking up too much time in the classroom.  Additionally, students will see the sincerity of the teacher’s comments and see how much time and effort they put into reading/viewing the students work.  Additionally, students will be able to look back on the videos as they create more work in the future.  This, obviously, cannot be done if the teacher gives individual conferences to each student in person.  Students also do not feel as exposed by getting feedback this way.  Though they know and see what the teacher thought of their work, students do not feel the added pressure of receiving criticism directly from the teacher in person.  Many students get very stressed over such conferences.