New Literacies Project-Birnkrant

Originally, I thought the term literacy meant “being able to read and write" or "versed in literature or creative writing and having knowledge or competence.”  However, over the past few weeks and from our new literacy projects I realized that there are many different definitions of the word literacy.  For instance, cultural literacy refers to being able to understand different cultures.  Someone might be culturally literate if he or she can speak or translate a culture’s language or distinguish similarities and differences between certain cultures.  I think it is vital that teachers educate students on how everyone comes from a unique background and culture and that each culture is special in its own way.  Teachers can have discussions, read books that cover different cultures or learn and celebrate certain holidays or rituals from different cultures in the classroom. 

This project also helped me explore a new type of technology that I can envision myself using when I begin my teaching career.  The website that my group used was storybird.com, which allows students or teachers to create digital stories that can be viewed by anyone online.  The website also lets you record your voice telling the story if you choose to do so.  This technology is an easy and engaging way to teach certain lessons to students and it can also be used to test students’ knowledge about material learned in the classroom or make reflections in the form of stories. 

An important thing that teachers should consider is that classrooms tend to be made up of many diverse students and it is important that teachers cater to each of these students and their needs.  I think that trial and error is key when beginning to teach students from diverse backgrounds so that the teacher can determine what methods of teaching work best for his or her students overall.  Teachers should be familiar with various resources and means of technology to aid them in their lessons and effectively teach literacy to students. 

According to one of the Common Core Standards for third grade students should be able to “Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text” (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.2).  One way that students can use digital literacy to reach this goal is to be given class time to research the history of a story, fable, folktale or myth and then recount the story by making their own mini stories on the storybird website.  They could be told to incorporate a page that includes facts about the culture that they found on the Internet.  The teacher would have to make sure that the students first know how to use the Internet and how to search for different information on it.  They would have to understand the format of the website that they use and how to read it from left to right among other simple tasks.  By giving a brief discussion and/or review prior to having students use computers and the Internet would most likely be helpful for the students.  This project was really beneficial, because I now better understand what the word literacy means and can define it in different contexts.  I also now know how to use the website Storybird and look forward to using it in the future! 

(Sorry I originally posted this on the main New Literacies website so it is a little late on here)