Blog Post 2: Writing Literacy

Hello Everyone,

Currently, I have been engaged with a discussion regarding Writing Literacy within our Ontario school system. You can check out the Ontario Curriculum here.

(Katic, 2015 October 21©. Photo) 

First and foremost, while there are many different resources available to teach how to be effective writers and the common principles to follow, you cannot write simply about nothing, and there has to be a purpose and inspiration for writing. This can come from any aspect of your life. For me, I am often inspired by nature and spending quality time with my friends and family. To the left I have included a recent picture of my sister and I; I often get inspired when we have thoughtful discussions about a variety of topics, and I draw upon such conversations when I engage with writing.

With that said, I will be discussing a variety of useful resources for teachers to access on how to effectively incorporate the Writing Literacy strand into their own classrooms. There are so many available resources it is hard to know where to begin! I generally start with Pinterest and Twitter, they are two extremely effective forums to draw inspiration from.

Within the Pinterest and Twitter forums, I am including two very effective links. The Complete Guide to Twitter Hashtags for Education is an effective toolbox of hashtags to access; there are hundreds of possibilities for including a variety of effective activities in the classroom. In addition there is a Pinterest Page through Brock University's IRC website that lists many pages for effective literacy within the classroom. Through this Pinterest page is where I drew inspiration for my literacy teaching Block this January.

(Stratton, 2015. Photo)

I have always known that I would love to do a Novel Study unit with my Grade 8s, and recently I came across the book titled Borderline by Allan Stratton. While I will give my Grade 8s a few different books to read during their Novel Study, this will definitely be on the list. This novel is based around 15-year old Sami Sabiri, whose father sends him to a private boy's school where he is the only Muslim student. The fundamental themes surrounding this book are based around loyalty, identity, courage to fight for the truth, the importance of family and friendship, and most importantly, the internal conflict between fitting in and staying true to oneself. My grade 8s are at a pivotal turning point in their lives, and I feel this book will allow them to have an internal dialogue between these central themes within the book and their own individual identity. Within the writing strand of the Ontario Curriculum, I believe that conducting a Novel Study encompasses all of the requirements. Within the Novel Study, I will have my students create a Newspaper Article that requires them to organize their ideas and summarize key themes within the read, which will address overall expectations 1 and 2 within the Curriculum. Afterwards their articles will be posted to a pin board, and individually I will do a gallery walk with my students where they will explain the main messages in their article, the use of specific images, evaluate their effectiveness, etc. which will address overall expectation 3 within the Curriculum. Finally, I will have my students reflect on their strengths as writers by having them complete a 5 paragraph essay, reinforcing all the themes addressed within the Novel Study as well as their own personal reflections, which will address overall expectation 4. The beauty of this idea is that it can be conducted using a variety of books, so not all of the students need to read the same book in order to meet all the requirements. By allowing my students the choice of the book they wish to read (from a list I create), it will allow their engagement with the material to increase out of interest.

In addition to this Novel Study, I must teach and review these fundamental principles with my Grade 8s if they are to be successful for all the activities and evaluations. I have included a link on how to be an effective writer, because writing is not as simple as taking a pen to a piece of paper, or typing: it is about consistent making connections and inferences, drawing questions and conclusions, and reflection, to name a few. This resource is great as it clearly outlines key principles of effective writers and common errors that inhibit writers from reading their full potential. You must organize and argue your ideas, be concise, write exactly what you mean, write with force, write for a reader, revise, and finally avoid common errors.

I hope everything I have discussed is helpful! Teaching our students to be effective writers is so important if they are to be successful in their schooling and eventually their adult lives.

References
Pinterest (2015). Pinterest Homepage. http//www.pinterest.com/ 
Pinterest (2015). Pinterest Page IRC Brock University. https://www.pinterest.com/ircbrock/ 
Stratton, Allan (2010). Borderline by Allan Stratton. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6618155-borderline 
Te@chthought (2015). The Complete Guide to Twitter Hashtags for Education. http://www.teachthought.com/twitter-hashtags-for-teacher/ 
The Ontario Language Curriculum (2006). The Government of Ontario. https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf
Twitter (2015). Twitter Homepage. http://www.twitter.com 

Blog Post 1: Media Literacy

Hello Everyone!

Going on nature walks can help inspire students.
Chan, W.M.© (2015). Photograph.

My name is Kathlene Katic, and I am a teacher candidate at Brock University. I have many passions in life, and becoming an effective educator is clearly one of them! I aspire to teach my students effectively, and engage them with many valuable life lessons and foundational principles. I am an advocate that anyone can reach their fullest potential in life granted they have a supportive foundation and underlying moral values. In addition, I am also a huge supporter that one needs to have a healthy mind, body and environment if they are to be successful in life, and in the future I aspire to become that teacher who will be able to inspire my students to become the absolute best they can be. One strategy I find particularly helpful to become more productive is to go on a nature walk; being outside in the environment helps the body and mind relax within the present moment, then become fully engaged when it is time to work again.

Currently, I am engaging with critical discussion within our Ontario School system. Have you ever wondered about the function of our Ontario school system? I don't just mean classroom dynamics, but the Ontario Curriculum and how this affects student learning. Within the Ontario Language Curriculum, there are 4 different literacy strands that are critical to students; media literacy, reading, writing and oral communication. Throughout the duration of these posts, I will be reflecting on each strand. The first strand I will discuss is the media literacy strand.

Recently, I have discussed with my peers how important I believe it is for students to be critical readers and thinkers. As such, there are many teaching strategies I am going to encompass within my lesson planning, some of which can be found here. According to the NEA, the 4Cs of the 21st Century include Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and Innovation. This directly relates to the requirements within the Ontario Language Curriculum, media literacy strand. The curriculum specifically states that students must be able to demonstrate an understanding of various media texts, make connections, create their own media texts, and finally reflect. In a recent class activity, I found that the topic I engaged with reflected each of these principles, and is one that I will use in the future. I wrote a review regarding Banned Book Week in the American context. In short, Banned Book Week is a week allocated in America where students can access a variety of books that have been placed on the banned book list. Many teachers are advocates for promoting their students to explore these banned books (as a class collectively) as it teaches them to engage with controversial media material, make connections, create their own opinions and reflect on the issues.

Amazon.ca (2015). Autobiography of Malcolm X.

It further allows students to explore the overarching idea that this Banned Book List prohibits them from the right to read whatever material they so wish to do so. I believe that inquiry in the classroom is extremely important as the skills that students learn during the inquiry and critical thinking process are transferable skills they can take with them into their adult lives. There are a multitude of banned books on this list that, arguably, have shaped American History: see the list here. For example, to the right is a picture of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, a book on the American Banned Book List, however, it is argued that Malcolm X is one of the most influential human rights activists and one of the most influential Americans in recent history.

However, in the Canadian context, there are only a few books on the Banned Book List, which can be found here. As an emerging educator, I find this to be a fascinating observation, and it would be a source of discussion for my students. I would ask them discussion questions such as, Why do you think the government bans books? Do you think the government banning books is a good or bad idea? Why do you think that the States has such an extensive Banned Book List compared to Canada? Questions such as these will teach my students to holistically engage with controversial topics, think critically about the information presented to them, and further reflect on how this will affect their personal lives. As such, there are many fundamental aspects within the media literacy strand of the curriculum that I am a huge advocate for, and I am going to incorporate many of these fundamentals within my lesson plans in the future.

References: 
Amazon.ca (2015). Autobiography of Malcom X, 2007. http://www.amazon.ca/Autobiography-Malcolm-X/dp/0141032723 
Banned & Challenged Books (2015). Frequently Challenged Books. American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks 
GDC Team (2015). 12 Ways to Teach Critical Thinking. https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/12-ways-to-teach-critical-thinking-skills 
The Ontario Language Curriculum (2006). The Government of Ontario. https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf 
Wikipedia (2015). Book Censorship in Canada. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_censorship_in_Canada