I think that Dave has some great suggestions here, but I want to expand the idea of literacy beyond text a bit. Textual literacy is central to what most of us mean when we talk about literacy, so I want to be clear that I am not saying it is not important. However, for struggling high school readers textual literacy may not be a starting point. If you have lots of technology available it might be much more effective to start with the angle of having THEM communicate using technology in a different way... What about using video and having them create video for a purpose. They can learn concepts like sequencing, beginning, middle and end, plot, character, etc... and from that move to some writing and reading. Both iMovie and Movie Maker are free and pretty easy to use, especially for students. It is a stretch for most teachers to use these in the classroom, so it might take some risk taking.
Also, I usually learn the most about something when I have to teach someone else. Giving the HS students a chance to teach someone else using the computer is another method. Either virtually or in person connecting them to someone who they can teach using PPT, a web page, email or any other software might be motivating and help them to go deeper. Just some additional thoughts. Janice On 3/4/07 9:50 PM, "Dave Middlebrook" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I think computers are fine for some things. Not so great for others. > > First, the "fine" take: If by "literacy", you mean "web literacy", I'd > suggest that you spend some time looking into web quests, and -- before you > launch your students on a web quest -- spend some time working with them on > evaluating web sources for quality, accuracy, etc. The web has grown very > rich and deep. It is a good place to practice MOT strategies. You could > also get them involved in Wikipedia -- perhaps have your students register > and begin contributing to articles. That will challenge them, draw them > into conversations with thousands of other wikepedia "editors", and of > course, provide more fodder for web quests. And there are blogs and pod > casts -- both of which your kids could learn about and produce. > > Now the "not so great" take: Other than screen readers (voice systems that > read text aloud; some of which offer what I consider to be, from the > standpoint of accessibility, a minimal set of navigation enhancements), > computer technologies for struggling readers are essentially non-existent. > When you say, "the majority of my students struggle", I take that to mean > that they have difficulty comprehending (I hope not decoding) books, > magazines, and newspapers. If that's the situation, don't look to computers > to help. In fact, the problems struggling readers have with print texts are > worsened by the shift to the screen (and the navigation enhancements offered > by some screen readers don't begin to compensate for this). Problems with > font rendering, refresh rates, etc. don't help, but I think the most > important factor is that you can only view about half of a page of text on a > screen. The actual amount varies, depending on screen size, resolution, and > font size, but the half page is a fair estimate. This compares rather > poorly to the amount that can be viewed in a book or magazine -- two facing > pages. Big difference. The importance here is that with less information > on the screen, the reading experience is less "whole" -- you can only see > small bits at a time. This puts a significant load on memory -- both visual > and auditory -- which in turn impacts comprehension. Books offer the > advantage of enabling the reader to see more of the text at one time. So > the shift to screens is not a good thing -- especially for strugging > readers. > > Now, I would not be surprised if you were to confirm that some of your > strugglers have memory deficits. It stands to reason that these students > might actually benefit from being able to see more than two pages at a > time -- that this would further decrease the memory load and enable them to > focus on comprehension. In a round-about way, this is my pitch for you to > try scrolls with your strugglers. If you scroll a text, your strugglers -- > and anyone else who cares to look -- will be able to see the whole text in a > single view. No pages to turn. Less wear and tear on memory. The whole > view is really important. If you've never seen a scroll, you'll have to try > it to understand what I mean. You just can't see this in a book. And it > does matter. > > So, I think that's great that your kids like computers. Do the web quest > stuff. Get them involved in thinking, communicating, and creating. Make > them accountable -- or let the Wikipedia community hold their feet to the > fire for you. All that is good. But if your strugglers are struggling with > books, I wouldn't expect an answer from the computer. If books are a > struggle, let them try scrolls. > > You can read more here: > * http://www.textmapping.org/whWorkshopNotes.html > * http://www.textmapping.org/scrolls.html > * http://www.textmapping.org/benefits.html > > And, finally -- hold your breath -- let me suggest a poetry exercise using a > scroll. Your students don't have to know that they will be working on a > poem. By the time they figure that out, they'll be engaged. Or at least > that would be the hope. I think it's worth a try. I have had good results > with this -- especially with reluctant readers; middle school through > college. The poem is by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It's pretty wide > open -- lots of opportunities for connections and inferences. Have your > students work in small groups (no morer than 3-4 per group). There are four > documents in the set. For your strugglers, I would definitely recommend > making the scrolls rather than letting them work with the page (this will > make sense when you see the exercise instructions): > * http://www.textmapping.org/millayScrollPages.pdf > * http://www.textmapping.org/millayInstructions.pdf > * http://www.textmapping.org/millayLayout.pdf > * http://www.textmapping.org/bioMillay.pdf > > I hope this is helpful, > > Dave Middlebrook > The Textmapping Project > A resource for teachers improving reading comprehension skills instruction. > www.textmapping.org | Please share this site with your colleagues! > USA: (609) 771-1781 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 5:25 PM > Subject: [MOSAIC] Resources for the highschool teacher > > >> I have been reading and responding (when I can) on this listserv for >> about a month now in hopes of learing about some new resources or >> strategies for the secondary level teacher. So I put the question out >> there for all. What are some good resources to promote (all different >> types) of literacy in the high school classroom? I work ina classroom >> with 14 computers and on average 25-30 students per class. I have some >> books available to me, but buying books is not an option. The majority >> of my students struggle and I want to promote success within the >> classroom. They are really interested in and enjoy using computers, >> yet everything I have come across is too elementary/middle school for >> them. Has anyone found any programs or sites that promote literacy? Do >> they work? Any suggestions are welcome. I am willing to explore also >> if someone can point me in the right direction. Thanks! >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> [email protected] >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >> >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
