Course Reflection Eassy English

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School

The College at Old Westbury *

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Course

4121

Subject

English

Date

Dec 6, 2023

Type

docx

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Uploaded by kristincanada

Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504 Taking this literature class had a profound impact on me. I learned new strategies to use in my classroom, such as how to incorporate multimedia into the classroom to help the students learn and use different forms of technology, such as google slides, canvas to have students digitally create and share a project with the classroom. Moreover, how many different genres affect students learning and reading abilities, such as graphic novels, picture books, poetry, realistic fiction, biography, non-fiction, historical fiction, modern fantasy, realistic fiction, and transitional literature. Students like to read these genres because it helps with their critical skills of comprehension and learning new vocabulary words since the language in all the genres is different. Also, these books connect with children's interests, such as animals, aliens, and superheroes. These books are so popular among so many children worldwide. Books support children in achieving their set goals in any subject, not just in English. Teachers can use books in other subjects to help the kids understand the topic and learn new information that might need to be clarified in the textbook. As a teacher, there are many resources to maximize a student’s learning potential and find ways to help grasp the matter at hand and introduce it to them in a way that will catch their interest, not push them away because they are bored. It is the teacher's job and what standard of learning they want to incorporate into the classroom to help link real- life examples into the lesson taught. Incorporating real-life examples into our lesson allows the students to pull in their current knowledge and connect to the lesson. Using real-life examples builds engagement, fosters their thinking, and encourages these students to think outside of the box. It provides applications to knowledge and skills learned relating to students and society. The attributes of critical literacies and equity, materials, resources, digital technologies, and engagement are essential to this class because they help teachers learn ways to teach specific topics to students and make it grab the class's attention. 1

Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504 Critical Literacy and Equity Critical literacy and equity impact teaching and learning because teachers must become culturally responsive and address inequity issues in their classrooms, community, and society. ‘’ Critical literacy allows students to think beyond a text. Critical analysis lets students find a deeper meaning to a text, critical thinking about texts, themselves, and their worlds’’ (Clarke et al.; E.,2009). Having diverse books in the classroom; that is why they can see themselves. Bishop (2015) asserts that diverse books are necessary in the classroom; they allow all students to see themselves in stories, and know they matter. When introducing various books, students should engage with them, learn to appreciate their perspectives and think critically about what they can learn from them. Critical literacy can adapt real-life situations into the conversion and implement topics in the classroom. Burns (2009) talks about how he adapts serious issues in the real world to his young students. He makes a point to say not to disclose too much tragedy to young learners but enough to add analysis or critical thinking to the student's learning. Experiences and assignments in ELTL 504 have informed my understanding of critical literacy and equity in module 3, week two of writing. One of the big takeaways from this week’s readings is the importance of social awareness while reading realistic fiction books. While reading realistic fiction books, students can read multiple-perspective texts: books that show readers different viewpoints (Clarke & Whitney, 2009, p. 530). Reading books from different viewpoints than our own shows readers the different types of lives and environments people live in. These books allow students to see how other people live due to certain circumstances they may have. Jones’s Framework for Multiple Perspective Texts talks about how readers can deconstruct the books they are reading; being conscious of the different viewpoints and multiple voices that can be seen throughout the stories (Clarke & Whitney, 2009, p. 532). Students can 2

Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504 make connections to the characters in the stories they are reading and see similarities between their lives as well as make disconnections and discuss things they notice that are different from their lifestyles. While reading Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, you could see through the illustrations the type of environment CJ and Nana live in. How they must ride the public bus to get places since they do not have a car, or how some of the neighborhoods they walked in had graffiti on the buildings and what looks like homeless people. I loved how the book included a diverse array of characters; some with tattoos, some in wheelchairs, some who are blind, people with different skin and hair colors, and people of all ages. I also loved Nana’s positive outlook she had on the world around them. Bishop (2015) talks about, “Nana’s positive outlook on life could be discussed with students, and it can be the starting point for examining one’s worldview and the way they respond to people whose circumstances are less fortunate than their own, as well as an incentive to try to make a difference by engaging in social action.” (p.122). You can see how Nana is a caring woman who loves where she lives, no matter what it looks like, and is grateful for her community which she helps out in while working in the soup kitchen with CJ. This book can be a great way to share with students a community that is different from theirs. Discussions about public transportation, soup kitchens, and urban communities could be talked about with children who may not even know these types of environments exist if they have never been exposed to it before. (ELTL 504). (artifact#1) is an appropriate representation of my learning since, for the assignment, we talked about what big idea we took away from the articles and the book that was all about diversity and how to teach children to think more critically. I learned how it is essential to show kids books with characters that do not look like them to grow an appreciation towards them. I will transfer my understanding of this attribute to new situations/ contexts by ensuring that all my students are 3

Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504 represented equally in the classroom and the literature we read. When learning new contexts, the students can form questions and think critically during the lesson. This attribute will inform my current and future practice because I had no clue what critical literacy was until I read about it. Now, I learned how in the future when teaching to make sure it is incorporated into my lessons. For equity, I was aware of the many books to share with students, not just about their race but also about people who struggle with disabilities. Materials, Resources, and Digital Technologies Resources and digital technologies improve the classroom atmosphere and teaching-learning process more compelling. Using technologies with learning allows the students to learn at their own pace instead of having to learn the material quickly and get loss or miss out on something. Resources affect the way someone teaches and the students' learning since only some children have the proper access to technology, books, and other vital supplies they need for school, making it a challenge for them to do assignments online. The field of literacy talks about this topic is that Multimodal allows students to communicate their responses how they want to by using different tools/platforms. Students have many other options and can be creative while creating a multimodal response to literature. The use of multimodal can help engage students and promote critical analysis. It allows students to become familiar with how to use technology and use different platforms, such as Canva, to complete their projects. There is also evidence that shows students benefit from multimedia, “including promising evidence that composing with different modes can engage students in content and develop their literary analysis skills” (Dalton & Grisham, 2013, p. 221). Instead of doing traditional reports, teachers should move past that and use more technology-based projects to help students be creative. Digital book trailers, such 4

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