Chapter 10 Bee Stings, Wooden Blocks, and Web Browsers by Tim C. Lauer

Elizabeth B
Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education
Chapter 10 Bee Stings, Wooden Blocks, and Web Browsers by Tim C. Lauer

Chapter 10 once again highlights the versatility of computers, a digital camera and the Internet. Tim gave an example of how a simple incident as a bee sting had spiraled into not just an Internet project but also attracted interested viewers including an expert in his field of study (Dr. Buchman) to the site. One wonderful characteristic of young children is that they are very fascinated by everything, hence it’s really easy to generate projects that stimulate them. Young children are so impressionable; therefore it should be really fun to work with them.

The “Bee Stings” project demonstrated how students were very committed to publish correct information to the public. As soon as they were informed that their diagnosis of the insect which stung Ted was incorrect, they went full stream ahead to change the information on their website. This show how powerful and influential the Internet is. We have often read or hear negative aspects of the Internet through the media that has really over shadowed the positive influence it may have on young minds.

Tim described in detail how he created and operated his school’s webpage at his previous school – Buckman Elementary. His webpage can be compared to an electrical bulletin board. This gave the parents, staff members and other interested viewers a chance to access relevant information about the school. This will also force the novice to be come computer/Internet literate.

Tim displayed numerous snap shots of his websites. His Buckman’s website had a Welcome, Class projects and Student Work, Bus Safety Rules, Alphabet book and Special Events such as Mother’s Day.

Tim reported that he investigated variety of web-based publishing tools which utilized little technical skills, e.g. weblogs. Weblogs are quite easy to use, until you come across some technicalities. For example, for a few days I was unable to log on to my weblog site. I was just recently connected back to it, but I have absolutely no idea what the problem was.

Tim reported that he created his website for the staff bulletin, in order to publish information of interest to the teaching staff. This type of system is quite familiar to me. At my previous job in the cooperate world, my organization used an Intranet system. The entire staff was connected to one main server. Staff members were able to communicate via computers either locally (member to member) or through the World Wide Web. All the meetings and important events were listed there.

Tim concluded “that teachers and educators seek a middle ground where technology is seen as a communication tool”.

Chapter 7 Getting Connected: My Experience as a Collaborative Internet Project Coordinator by Susan Silverman

Elizabeth B
Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education
Chapter 7 Getting Connected: My Experience as a Collaborative Internet Project Coordinator by Susan Silverman

Susan discussed a number of Internet collaborative projects in detail. Before reading this book I knew nothing about the Miss Rumphius Award. In fact I was totally ignorant as to the number of collaborative Internet projects that existed in cyber space. This is primarily due to the fact that the students I teach are not allowed to use the Internet for security reasons. Nevertheless, I can still use the ideas generated from some of the collaborative Internet projects in my lessons.

Susan tells how appreciative she was of winning the Miss Rumphius Award for her project – “An Apple a Day”. Susan explained how the idea for her project developed from a 1997 Conference she had attended. She highlighted the fact that at the start of the project she had little or no knowledge about computer technology and the Internet. Bill Gates should be credited for designing his popular user-friendly computers, this made computer novices into pros in a short time.

“An Apple a Day” project objectives were to develop reading /writing skills, and poetry appreciation. The project was geared towards second graders (age 6-7). The students were encouraged to write original poems about apples using a particular format. The format includes specific number of words per line, the use of the five (W)s and the use of descriptive words. I viewed the project on line and found the poems posted by Mrs Nunneley’s class from South Africa were fun to read. My five-year old daughter and I read a couple of them. Her favorite one was by Gaby.
My apple looks tasty and good.
It sounds crunchy and crackly.
It tastes sweet.
It feels round.
It smells healthy.

The “Winter Wonderland” was Susan’s second Internet Collaborative project. The project involves participants extracting information from a selected book with a winter theme. Students were encouraged to create some form of activities from the winter book. Susan pointed out that a rubric was produced to evaluate the creations that the participants had submitted. She noted that the students were very critical of their peer work.

The third collaborative project which Susan designed was “Frosty Readers”. This project was designed to meet NY State learning standards in language arts. The project was aimed to develop literature appreciation, language skills and creativity. Susan stated that her students were very enthusiastic about the project and were very motivated to write their own stories after viewing other student’s work.

I would like to commend Susan on following through with a promise she made with one of her student. The student had asked her to do a collaborative project on bats. Adults often times dismiss ideas and comments coming from young children.

Lessons Susan have learned
- choose collaborative projects that ties into the curriculum
- internet expose students to new literacies
- students love using the computers
- peering students is a good idea
- students/teachers need minimum technology in order to participate in Internet collaborative project

Susan ended her chapter on the “Changing Face of Literacy Instruction”. Susan believes that, “As educators we need to teach our students traditional literacy skills along with new literacy”.

Chapter 6 – My Internet Projects and Other Online Resources for the Literacy Classroom by Marci McGowan

Elizabeth B
Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education
Chapter 6 – My Internet Projects and Other Online Resources for the Literacy Classroom by Marci McGowan

Marci wrote about two projects: Fall Poetry and My Town is Important. Marci reported that the Fall Poetry Project was initiated because she was unable to find suitable Internet projects to engage her students in. Marci stated that the main aim of the Fall Poetry project was to encourage poetry writing by young children. The life of the project was three months and during that time it generated a large collection of poems.

Marci reported that individual student was given the opportunity to navigate the project’s webpage. This of course is a wonderful idea of encouraging class participation. The “Fall Poetry Project” is a very good way for students to identify with a particular term or concept. The poems created from the project will not only motivate the students, but also expose them to new literacies.

This project also assisted the students to develop their map skills. Marcie explained that the class used maps to locate the countries or states the project participants were from. This is very motivating for me, because sad to say most of my students are not cognitive about places outside of their communities.

The second project was entitled “My Town is Important”. According to Marci, this “project integrated a community theme with poetry to meet literacy, social studies and technology standards”. For this project the students had to seek out information about their towns from a number of different resources such as book, the library, photographs, and historical sites.

Marci’s project “My Town is Important” was adapted by a 4th grade class from Missouri. The students created Major Missouri Cites Webquest, this webquest highlighted one Missouri city. A third grade class from British Columbia extended the project by adding an extra writing activity based on a poem by David Bouchard.

Marci elaborated how she began her own teacher webpage by using examples she had seen on the Internet. She highlighted the fact that being a member of both a listserv and teachernet.com really help her to incorporate the internet into her classroom, thus stimulating learning.

Lessons Marci have learned when using the Internet
- students need adult supervision when surfing the Internet
- all websites must be previewed before students are exposed to them
- bookmark websites to prevent students from navigating the wrong sites
- websites may change hence flexibility is necessary
- students have to be taught how to use the mouse
- students should be paired up to make the work easier and go faster
- students have to be taught how to read and evaluate WebPages
- sites with flashy graphics and trailing cursors should be avoided

Marci concluded that, “teaching young students how to use technology is necessary “, in order for them to cope in our technological global world.

Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Giving It Away: The Earth Day Groceries Project

By Mark Ahlness

This project is extremely close to my heart due to the fact that it involves aspect of protecting the environment. In addition, to being a trained teacher, I have also done extensive training in environmental management. In chapter 3 Mark has not only explained a very good project, but also gave a number of useful educational websites.

Ahlness commented that the idea about his project had a humble beginning but over time grew both national and international. The project has had such a huge impact on a number of school communities that it was a recipient of the Ms Rumphius Awards. Ahlness said that the idea for the project came from a summer workshop back in 1991.

The Earth Day Groceries Project involves students decorating groceries bags intended for homes. Mark’s project is a prime example of networking. Mark explained that he sent the idea of his project to websites such as Kidsphere and Ednet. Due to this exposure of his project on these websites a number of schools adopted the idea and used it. As soon as Mark received an up dated report from any one of the participants involved in the Earth Day Groceries Project, he would pass it to all the other participants. In this way all the schools would get some feedback on what the other schools were doing.

Mark admitted that he developed his school’s website and eventually the Earth Day Groceries Project’s website for the love of sharing information and not for the monetary rewards which can be gained from them. He reported that he constantly update his database with numerous reports in order to share the information with his viewers.

Mark reported that his Earth Day Groceries Project has many facets. He suggested that the project can be utilized in more than one subject areas: with an Environmental Awareness theme – in geography, art, science, social studies, etc. Ahlness highlighted the magnificent artworks that the students drew on the grocery bags. He commented that the most important idea behind the project was the messages which are written on the bags. Mark hopes that the content written on the bags would bring about some positive behavioral change towards preserving the environment.

Another valid point which Mark has made is giving credit to the author of any resources that his students used in their works. He advised that this new literacy is just as important as using good grammar in doing a paper.

Mark’s notion on literacy is captivating due to the method he used to introduce computer skills to his students. His writing brought me back to when I was first introduced to computers in 1992. Mark ingenious plan to use a cardboard box to cover the phone to prevent any one else to use it, while he and the students were using the Internet was really amusing. Mark is obviously a truly dedicated teacher who made sure his students were exposed to new information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Ahlness was very innovative in his approach in providing Internet assignments for his young students. Unfortunately the students at the school (incarcerated facility) I currently teach are not allowed to use the Internet due to security reasons. Nevertheless, I applaud Mark for his gallant effort in getting his students involved in the Internet as early as third grade. He certainly makes learning fun and interesting for his students.

Mark introduced me to Louis Schmier’s website, a professor at Valdosta State University. I found his writing to be both inspiring and encouraging. I enjoyed reading “The Classroom is not a Factory” and “Teaching and Caring”.

Mark believes that, “Teachers are in the business of providing service and building careers for others”. He really has demonstrated that teachers can make a difference in their students' lives if they provide the necessary tools needed, as in the case of exposing students to ICTs.

Mark gave an excellent example on how the Internet can be incorporated into the classroom to enhance learning as in the case of the webcam story. The webcam story is all about a camera set to take a series of films of a falcon’s eggs hatching. The students were able to view this entire phenomenon over the Internet for several days. The follow up activities after viewing the hatching of the baby eyasses were excellent reinforcement task. This included naming one of the males baby eyasses and writing stories about the bird’s first flight.

Mark ended his discussion on the power of the Internet in spreading information. He said, and I do agree with him, that “as long as teachers inspire their students by example and share their passions, students will grow to do the same”.

Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Books on Tape for Kids: A Languages Based Service – Learning Project by Gino Sangiuliano

I was most impressed with Gino Sangiulian’s article in Chapter 2 on Books on Tape for Kids. It struck me that I need to be more proactive in my community. As teachers we are truly excellent role models for our students to emulate. Therefore, in order for us to accomplish our task as facilitators of education, we have to motivate our students to perform at their highest educational level.

Sangiuliano introduced his project by giving a detailed description of one of the taping for Books on tape for Kids. The concept behind the project involved students selecting their favorite children’s books to read and recording them on cassette tapes. The tapes and new books would then be donated to children’s hospital all over the United States. In addition, the students sent along a piece of art work influenced by the particular book they have taped. Included in each packages was something special (e.g. a letter) from the creator of the tape.

Books on tape for Kids is such an enormous and phenomenal venture that I can just imagine the scope of preparation that have to be put into it to produce those wonderful tapes. Gino commented that “a project of this magnitude takes a great deal of preparation”, which I can really comprehend. This project is well worthy of the Miss Rumphius Award.

Gino explained that the Books on Tape for Kids was divided into 3 sections, literacy, technology and community. According to Gino, fluent readers are usually students who were exposed to oral reading from an early age. He further added that professional recorded books have shown to develop word recognition and story structure.

On the area of technology the author stated that Books on Tape for Kids was “initially sparked by the technology component”. One must agree that books on tapes are not really traditional. During my younger years I grew accustom of only hearing stories either read by my father or my classroom teachers. Therefore Books on Tape for Kids would be considered as relatively modern. Gino also declared that Books on Tape for Kids was also the springboard for the creation of the project’s brilliant website.

Books on Tape for Kids is without a doubt a valuable community service. The tapes were given to children at the various children’s hospitals all over the USA. For this project Sangiuliano listed a number of players: the audience, family members, creators (many teachers and students) and the recipients (children at the numerous children’s hospitals).

Once again the writer of this chapter mentioned the concept of the new literacies which are associated with the new information and communication technologies (ICTs). The new literacies would be applicable for this project due to the number of ITCs that were used to accomplish this task. Sangiuliano said that by the time most students completed schools; they would have used and shared a great deal of information due to the fact that they were exposed to these types of ICTs. Gino iterated that, “Technology instruction should be presented in a manner that allows students to apply what they learn to real-world situations”. I could not have said it better myself.

Gino stated that in addition to the students recording their story books on tapes, they also added musical instruments to enhance the quality of the tapes. Students used both songs and sound tracks to the readings to make the tapes more fun.

Sangiuliano noted that as the popularity of the Books on Tape for Kids rose, there was a high demand for them by other teachers, especially among special education and ESL teachers.

Gino was proud to announce that since the beginning of the Books on Tape for Kids, the project has seen an increased in the type of ICTs that has been utilized. He further reported that computers for many of the students are no longer a new literacy. Therefore, teachers have to be prepared to train themselves in the latest ICTs, in order to be better facilitators.

Gino also pointed out that “policy makers continue to ignore the Internet and other ICTs and omit their definitions of reading…,” he further added that if teachers are not trained to be able to deliver these new literacies, then teachers would not have carried out their duties. A big part of this change would also involve the modifying of the classrooms with the appropriate technological equipment.

Chapter 1 – Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education

Karchmer, R, Mallette, M, Kara-Soteriou, J.,Leu, D. Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education. 2005

Chapter 1 – Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is obviously a very topical issue as it has been in the media since it was first introduced. Again, it was mentioned both in Ms Patricia Polacco’s letter and in Chapter one of our textbook - Innovative Approaches to Literacy Education. Chapter 1 addresses the new literacy which is intertwined with the new information and communication technologies (ICTs).

New literacy is the new buzz term in the educational field and rightly so with all the new terminologies that are associated with the new form of technology. Some of the terms include weblog, blogger, blogging, webquest, thinkquest, etc. Just recently I introduced my students to Trellix Web software. This software allows the students to design their own web pages. For this exercise the students were exposed to a number of new terminologies. One new concept was “field”, while the word was not new to my students but in Trellix Web its usage
was different from its traditional meaning.

Chapter 1 introduced literacy scholars such as Gee and others who argued that “students must acquire multiple literacies”, to ensure that they are functionally integrated into our ever growing global community. This point I totally agree with. The students’ world are been constantly bombarded with all types of new computer games, gadgets, Internet and computer education classes. The textbook has also indicated that more people and students (page 6) are more involved in computers and the Internet.

Chapter 1 looked at the theory of the new literacies. According to Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, and Cammack the new literacies of the Internet includes “the skills, strategies, and disposition necessary to successfully exploit the rapidly changing ICTs continuously emerging in our world……” The idea behind the new literacies is that it increases the students’ awareness on current technological advances.

The following are examples of the new literacies of the Internet and other ICTs cited by the authors of the book: knowing the many new strategies for constructing and comprehending information on the Internet; effectively using a search engine to find the precise information that is sought; sending an effective e-mail message in a variety of contexts and to a variety of individuals obtain useful information; and effectively using a word processor and functions such as a spell-checking, inserting graphics, and formatting text.

Two articles I have read mentioned “new literacies are deictic”, chapter one of our textbook and an article by Matthew Beall and Steve Topp Moving Towards a New Literacy: The impact of the Internet on Literacy. Basically this is saying that literacy changes with the new form of technology. Hence learning the new form of technology is just as important as learning the new literacy that is associated with that technology.

Chapter 1 one reported that there have not been many researches done on the new literacies. According to this chapter…. No state has allowed the students to use a word processor to do its state examination; although studies have shown that approximately 20% more of the students would pass their writing exams.

Chapter one indicated that there has been an increased in the use of the Internet in the classrooms, the workplaces and the schools. Based on this information it was argued that it is imperative that teachers worked together to understand the new literacies so that they can teach them to the students.

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