Literacy in the 21st Century

Well, it's 2014. Isn't it time to make the shift to a 21st century framework in our education system? Just what is 21st century learning? Fundamentally, I believe it's a pedagogical shift of thinking that prioritizes learning over teaching. Our system has been undergoing this change for some time, but it's still glacially slow, especially at system levels.

Much of the groundwork is being laid by classroom teachers and is often led by technological innovation. My concerns about 21st century learning are generally twofold: as someone who believes that all teachers are teachers of literacy, I want to ensure that we do not lose the significant gains made in literacy in Ontario. More teachers believe that they bear responsibility for teaching literacy today than they did 10 years ago. Secondly, we have great opportunities with new technologies as many teachers are re-engaged in professional learning (especially after a rough year with the government last year) and are keen to experiment in their classrooms with tools that promote creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and above all, changes that empower student voice and choice.

What is 21st century learning?

Source: Ontario Minister of Education's Student Advisory Committee, August 2012

With the re-vamping of the EduGAINS website (re-launched this past January), the Ontario Ministry of Education's 21st Century Learning branch officially launched an online presence, but it's still a little light on substance, citing a continuation of the consultation process it began in 2010.

The Ministry does identify 4 areas of priority for 21st century learning:

• "Engaging students as partners in their own learning

• Harnessing the capacity of technology to engage learners and to optimize and amplify student learning and achievement

• Emphasizing and teaching important higher-order skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity and entrepreneurship

• Supporting educators in preparing our students for a rapidly changing, technology-driven, globalized world." [All text quoted directly; emphasis mine].

Much of this clearly draws from Michael Fullan's Great to Excellent (2013) report. As a "Special Advisor to the Premier" (note that this was former-premier, Dalton McGuinty), Fullan argues that "Six C's form the agenda: character, citizenship, communication, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and teamwork, and creativity and imagination" (8), which seems to be the basis for 21st century learning in Ontario. While the Ministry continues with the research and consultation phase, using the Fullan report's ideas, many school systems are already grappling with defining 21st century skills for themselves.

For me, a focus on literacy must be maintained. But, what is literacy in the 21st century?

In Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice (2007) from editors Kylene Beers, Robert E. Probst, and Linda Rief, we are offered a collection of essays that attempt to provide teachers of adolescents "an edited collection where many voices came together to explore the many facets of adlescent literacy: reading writing, motivation, young adult literature, vocabulary, comprehension, and assessment, to name a few" (xi).

In her opening chapter, Beers presents a compelling argument about the changing nature of literacy, tracking different forms of literacy: such as signature literacy of the colonial era, to recitational literacy that characterized education through to the early modern era, to the emphasis on textual analysis that characterized the post-war to late 90s (7-8). Underlying the entire collection is the belief that 21st century learners are different and are a reflection of their times, in as much as students of previous times were a reflection of their times. Beers' acknowledges the role of Thomas Friedman's 2005 The World is Flat  and Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind (2006) in defining the skills that today's students need in the conceptual age:

"making meaning and connections will be valued as will focusing on the multiple possibilities of any situation over seeking one solution. In this age, creative thinking will be the key to success. ... [I]n the flat world, producing, not consuming, information is the measure of success." (8)

Students are viewed as creators or producers of text. Nowhere is this more evident than in student use of technology; many students are engaging with texts outside of classrooms in ways that are more meaningful and more authentic to them. In all of her books, Beers excels at including students' voices, such as the student blogger engaged in environmental issues but failing English; my own observations reveal students independently creating blogs, fan-fiction, computer games, or complex digital tracking systems for hockey drafts and pools. I often try to remind myself to create these authentic tasks, but old patterns (and lesson plans) die hard. Change is slow. And improving EQAO scores and or even our own testing too often remains a goal of our classes; it's the old argument that we're preparing grade 10 Academic level students for university. Why don't we just focus on preparing students for the world rather than another system (university) within this world (and one which many will not attend)?

Beers is pretty clear about the role of standardized testing in school improvement planning; what she labels academic literacy, or the literacy needed for school texts and tests, is of limited value to the students of today (6). Instead, she offers 4 areas of learning that are fundamental to academic achievement: digital-age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication and high productivity.





Similar to Beers, Jim Burke draws on both Pink and Friedman extensively, using Friedman's argument that "a flat world is a competitive world in which, thanks to digitization and the Internet, work will increasingly go to the people with the best skills, who can do it with the necessary time constraints, for the best price, regardless of where they live (152). He provides his students with real world examples of this by bringing community members into his classroom to discuss the realities of literacy in their workdays. Burke uses Friedman's list of skills necessary in the flat world to generate his list of 21st century learning in which students will need to be:

• great collaborators and orchestrators: the ability to effectively combine different individual skill sets in any situation (be it with geographical, political, cultural, linguistic challenges) for the benefit of a team goal (153)
• great synthesizers: "take the many (perspectives, texts, ideas) and synthesize them into one new idea and form that draws on all the others that came before it" (154)
• great explainers: the ability to provide, with clarity and in specific contexts, explanations of complex processes and products (154-55)
• great leveragers: "managing oneself despite a constantly evolving workplace that demands new skills and abilities from its workers" (155)
• adaptors: given the changing demands of workplaces, this is the ability to adapt one's current skills and knowledge to meet the needs of different situations that will arise (156)
• green people: the ability to think of inter-connected systems (as in nature) as well as those who will capitalize on the emerging opportunities in "bio-inspired solutions to our looming energy and environmental problems (Friedman in Burke, 157)
• passionate personalizers: "the ability to take a basic service and transform it into something only they can do or that meets some local need the community has" (158)
• great localizers: the ability to use global resources and technologies to create local solutions (159).

At the core of Burke's thinking are students: he is attempting to ensure that the skills taught in his high school English classes are relevant to both students and the community at large. I would argue that this is akin to Fullan's notion of citizenship. One of the clear functions of schools is to prepare our students for society; today, the notion of socialization is called character education or citizenship education, but the goals are the same: prepare students to be good citizens. Or as Burke frames it,

"If Friedman's is a flat world, it is also a brave new world, one in which we are inextricably a part, and where success and well-being go to those who learn how to live in it despite its ever-changing demands."

I share Kylene Beers' concerns for the students of today and hope to foster her vision of schools of the future:

"Schooling is still primarily about teachers distributing information and then students giving it back. Some schools understand the importance of inquiry, the value of collaboration, the critical need for creating and questioning and wondering. They understand the learning potential when students self-select writing topics and reading material. They have come to appreciate the absolute necessity for using technology as a tool for learning and not an electronic workbook for remediation, the difference between writing  as a way of understanding and writing as reporting, and the inescapable truth that the measure of success must be more than a single state-mandated, minimum-standards test." (11) 

I believe in schools that are responsive to students' needs, that encourage student voice, that focus on critical and creative thinking while grounding everything in literacy (and numeracy for that matter), all while maintaining high expectations for students. I believe that this vision of schools needs to be collaboratively developed within school communities -- staff, students, parents/guardians, community members, administrators -- all have a responsibility in developing effective programming for students.

I also believe we can deliver this in Ontario schools. Our teachers, administrators, board level staff -- and yes, I would even argue the Ministry of Education -- also believe in 21st century learning.  And, while much of the innovation will continue to come from teachers' classrooms, soon some clarity of thinking and coherence of goals will need to come from people in leadership positions. As the Ministry shifts to K-12 models (which is well underway in the division responsible for literacy), systems have the opportunity to envision better ways of meeting student needs.



References:

Beers, Kylene. (2007). "Introduction" and "The Measure of Our Success." Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice. Eds. Kylene Beers, Robert E. Probst, and Linda Rief. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. pp. ix-xvii and pp.1-13.

Burke, Jim. (2007). “Teaching English Language Arts in a ‘Flat’ World.”  Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice. Eds. Kylene Beers, Robert E. Probst, and Linda Rief. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. pp.149-165. 

Fullan, Michael. (2012). "Great to Excellent: Launching the Next Stage of Ontario's Education Agenda." Retrieved from  http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/FullanReport_EN_07.pdf .

Do You DI?

Why should you differentiate your instruction?

In Ontario, differentiated instruction (DI) has been actively promoted by the Ministry of Education since 2007. The Ministry has advocated for the use of DI to "foster instructional, assessment and evaluation practices that support student engagement, learning and academic achievement for all students in Ontario schools". ("2011 DI in Action Survey" p2).  Fundamental to the DI strategy in teacher learning was the intent to offer multiple opportunities for teachers to learn about DI (DI workshops, DI mentoring/coaching, online webinars, DI summer programs, DI brochures, and teaching/learning examples, many of which are available on the GAINS website). 

A 2011 survey conducted by the University of Ottawa revealed several interesting findings related to Ontario teachers' attitudes about DI:

• Teachers gave a very high rating to the statement, "Encouragement from school administration to try new practices or strategies" (Avg 4.06 out of 5)
• Well over 80% of teachers either strongly agreed or agree with the statement, “I believe that by implementing DI, student engagement can be significantly improved.”
• Some of the top professional learning strategies for implementing DI were identified as:
  • Planning and teaching with a colleague focusing specifically on DI 
  • Mentoring by a DI-knowledgeable colleague 
  • Working with a DI-knowledgeable learning team facilitator 
  • Co-assessing student work
• Although teachers felt confident and supported in implementing DI they indicated that developing DI practice requires time; 
• Most teachers are implementing elements of DI but some are unsure of the deeper implications and rationale for its use, and of its application to specific grades and/or subjects; misconceptions are evident.

As a result, the Ministry of Education concluded that school boards, administrators, and staff needed to continue their work by creating a deeper understanding of DI (with a particular focus on improving attitudes at the secondary level), which could happen by considering a range of professional learning approaches to promote and foster DI implementation. Additionally, I would argue that this study (along with others like it, such as the TLLP program), contributed to the current focus on job-embedded collaborative inquiry.

I have been fortunate to participate in projects like those with GAINS and DI projects such as those initiated in boys' literacy research on best practice and published in Me Read? (And How!). Some of the best professional learning sessions I have attended were as a result of Ministry initiatives for cross-panel work involving these documents. Me Read? And How! was created as a direct response to  Me Read? No Way!; both documents outline a variety of strategies and programs (much of which were about differentiation, before it was called DI) created by schools to respond to poor rates of literacy in boys.

"It is critical that we provide classroom experiences that respond to the interests, needs, and learning styles of all students, and that we explore ways to engage boys and girls equally as readers and writers." (Me Read? No Way! p.5)

Research has shown that differentiation works; students respond to an approach that takes their needs, interests, learning styles, and readiness into account.

"In a recent article entitled “What Students Want From Teachers” (2008), students identified what they needed in order to be engaged in the classroom. Their comments fell into the following categories (pp. 48–51):

➔ Take me seriously
➔ Challenge me to think
➔ Nurture my self-respect
➔ Show me I can make a difference
➔ Let me do it my way
➔ Point me toward my goals
➔ Make me feel important
➔ Build on my interests
➔ Tap my creativity
➔ Bring out my best self    (as cited in Me Read? And How! p6)

 Much of the above list speaks directly to the need to differentiate in order to engage the learner. In secondary schools, one of the biggest challenges is engaging the reluctant reader. It's so important to include their voice and choice when selecting texts for reading. In Education for All, teachers are reminded of the importance of differentiation for reading (especially for students with special needs):

"The instruction that students with special needs receive may not be different in content from that of other students, but teachers may need to deliver that instruction with more support and guidance, with more intensity, and with more opportunities to facilitate growth." (p93)

Using research-based, high-yield instructional strategies has become the backbone of our board's BIPSA; ultimately, it's important that we are using the right strategies and interventions at the right time. To determine appropriate interventions and supports, assessment once again becomes so important for teachers. We need to ensure that we are constantly assessing for student growth.

"Effective teachers will, however, vary instructional strategies and methodologies to provide students with special needs with the increased intensity and duration of instruction they may require. At the same time, teachers need to keep all students engaged and active in the learning process".  (Education for All, p 94).

References:

Ontario Ministry of Education (2009). Me Read? And How! Ontario teachers report on how to improve boys’ literacy skills. Queen's Printer for Ontario.

Ontario Ministry of Education (2004). Me Read? No Way! A practical guide to improving boys’ literacy skills. Queen's Printer for Ontario.

Ontario Ministry of Education (2005). Education for All:The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6. Queen's Printer for Ontario.

Ontario Ministry of Education, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Team, Student Achievement Division (2011). "2011 DI in Action Survey: Toronto Region Part of the Evaluation of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Differentiated Instruction Professional Learning Strategy" and "Key Learnings and Recommendations from the Evaluation of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Differentiated Instruction Professional Learning Strategy".

Using Assistive Technology for Literacy Instruction

Photo courtesy Old Shoe Woman via Flickr

What happens when students fall behind in their reading skills?  As adolescents, "students should make the leap from learning to read to reading to learn and should be capable of reading to solve complex and specific problems (Urquhart Engstrom, p.30).  For many students in our school systems, a learning disability (LD) makes it difficult for students to make the shift to reading to learn, especially in text-heavy courses.

In Ontario, defined by the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario, "learning disability"

"...refers to a variety of disorders that affect the acquisition, retention, understanding, organisation or use of verbal and/or non-verbal information. These disorders result from impairments in one or more psychological processes related to learning (a), in combination with otherwise average abilities essential for thinking and reasoning. Learning disabilities are specific not global impairments and as such are distinct from intellectual disabilities." 

 One solution is to design the class to meet the individual needs of those most at risk of not doing well -- that is, students with special needs. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is defined by the Ministry as a "teaching approach that focuses on using teaching strategies or pedagogical materials designed to meet special needs to enhance learning for all students, regardless of age, skills, or situation". The catchphrase, "necessary for some, good for all" sums up the general idea well.

Common Misconceptions of Learning Disabilities:

The most common misconception is that students with LD have cognitive impairments or limitations; in fact, students with LD are able to function at age appropriate cognitive levels when they are provided appropriate tools to accommodate for their LD. Generally, students with LD have difficulty in oral communication, writing, reading, and mathematics.

Another misconception centres on how an individual "attains" an LD; in fact, learning disabilities are biological in nature.

"Learning disabilities are due to genetic, other congenital and/or acquired neuro-biological factors. They are not caused by factors such as cultural or language differences, inadequate or inappropriate instruction, socio-economic status or lack of motivation, although any one of these and other factors may compound the impact of learning disabilities. Frequently learning disabilities co-exist with other conditions, including attentional, behavioural and emotional disorders, sensory impairments or other medical conditions." (Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario)

So, since students with LD are cognitively able to do grade or age appropriate work, then what are some of the technological accommodations available to help with literacy? What tech tools can teachers embed into their classes using Universal Design?

Common Tech Tools for use as Assistive Technology in UGDSB:

Education for All (2005) defines assistive technology as "any technology that allows one to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of an individual with special learning needs (Edyburn, 2000). Its applications and adaptations can help open doors to previously inaccessible learning opportunities for many children with special needs (Judge, 2001)" (p.127). In Ontario, many of these tech tools are provided, at no charge, to students.

Read & Write for Google: This web-based Google application (to be used in Chrome) will read aloud text in multiple formats - Google Docs, the Web, PDFs, ePub, and Kes (Kurzwell 3000 Files). The application sits right over top most pages launched in Chrome and is activated either through a drop down tab & menu or through the extension link in your toolbar. The voice can be customized (multiple choices and accents are provided as it is a global market); students are able to create their own, printable dictionaries (standard and pictorial) and vocabulary lists; a prediction tool helps with spelling; and students can directly search terms that may not be clearly defined in the reading. 

Kurzweil is software which promotes independent reading and writing in students with LD by converting scanned text and images into pages that can be read aloud by the computer (students can choose from a number of voices). Files are editable, so that students can also write tests and compose their own writing on computers. 

Word Q and Speak Q: these programs suggest words and read aloud words for students while sitting overtop their regular software programs. Especially useful for those with challenges with spelling and auditory processing.

Dragon Naturally Speaking: speech recognition software which allows students to dictate their notes, tests, essays, etc. Students can train the software to recognize their voice and essentially allows students to run their computer programs using their voice, which is significant for those with processing delays or students having difficulty writing.

Promethean & Activ Inspire: Promethean multi-touch, interactive whiteboards and the sophisticated software allows students to actively engage and collaborative in a digital context. Students can interact with the software through their tablets or interactive devices, allowing teachers to collect data and provide immediate feedback to students.


Smart Ideas: SmartBoards and the software, Smart Ideas, allows students to actively engage with a touchable and computer-like, interactive whiteboard screen. The package is engaging, collaborative in nature, and appeals to multiple modalities in students. Smart Clickers also allow teachers to collect data from students and provide immediate feedback.

Need help with these programs? Contact your Resource teachers and those with Special Education Specialists. Much of the software is available through the OSAPAC (Ontario Software Acquisition Program Advisory Committee). 

Why use these technological supports?

Today's technology allows students with LD to participate like never before; many tools are free to all students in Ontario (through OSAPAC) and require little training. Most importantly,

"Two major reviews of the research in assistive technology (MacArthur, Ferretti, Okolo, & Cavalier, 2001; Okolo, Cavalier, Ferretti, & MacArthur, 2000) confirmed the utility of computer-assisted instruction and synthesized speech feedback to improve students’ phonemic awareness and decoding skills, as well as the benefits of electronic texts to enhance comprehension by compensating for reading difficulties. Assistive technologies include text-to-speech software, word-processing programs, voice-recognition software, and software for organizing ideas.While these technologies are relatively new, they hold the promise of bridging the gap between a student’s needs and abilities." (Urquhart Engstrom, p.31). 

Integrating explicit instruction of reading strategies and assistive technology can improve content area comprehension. Students can improve accuracy, speed, and comprehension of text which will therefore allow them to better demonstrate their understanding of course material. More importantly, students with LD are cognitively capable of grade-appropriate work and need academic challenge; limiting critical thinking, using low level vocabulary for academic vocabulary, or substituting easier texts for challenging texts should not be accommodations. Rather, teaching students how to access these texts using assistive technology will enable success. To best accommodate our students with learning disabilities, we need to ensure careful planning and classroom instruction which will accommodate for any deficits a student may be experiencing. 

References: 

Ministry of Education (2005). Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6  "Computer-based Assistive Technology” Ch. 10, pp. 127-138. 

Ministry of Education (2010). Caring and Safe Schools in Ontario:  Supporting Students with Special education needs through progressive discipline,  Kindergarten to Grade 12. 

Urquhart Engstrom, Ellen (2005). "Reading, writing, and assistive technology: An integrated developmental curriculum for college students." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 49:1. pp. 30-39.

Cross-Curricular Connections in Literacy

"Literacy floats on a sea of talk..." James Britton (1970) in Think Literacy, p.4.

I have been really fortunate over the past week; I have participated in a number of really rich professional learning experiences with a focus on literacy, all of which were cross-curricular in nature. Additionally, all of the sessions had one key thing in common: the focus on talk (or academic discourse) as the foundation of literacy.


First, the Ontario Ministry of Education did a fantastic job of rolling out the new Social Sciences and Humanities curriculum. Part of the success of the two day sessions was the use of protocols, or talk structures to encourage equitable participation in conversation and encourage thinking (for examples, see the Facilitator's Guide for the ALG).  As a discipline, the social sciences and humanities rely on using non-fiction; teachers are, by necessity, teachers of literacy.  This expectation is fully embedded into the curriculum:

"Many of the activities and tasks that students undertake in the social sciences and humanities curriculum involve the literacy skills relating to oral, written, and visual communication. For example, students use language to understand sources, to analyse and evaluate arguments and evidence, and to present findings in oral, visual, and written forms. In all social sciences and humanities courses, students are required to use appropriate and correct terminology and are encouraged to use language with care and precision in order to communicate effectively" (Ministry of Education, 2012, p45).

Literacy GAINS resource

Foundational to Ministry documents and revised curriculum is the recently released Adolescent Literacy Guide, a resource which outlines a new vision of literacy for adolescents focused on three core skills: the abilities to read, write, and think (see graphic above).

Additionally, Literacy GAINS have created classroom-ready ALERTs (Adolescent Literacy: Engaging Research and Teaching). These practical documents use the foundations laid out in the ALG and apply them to grade 7-12 contexts. At our Literacy Symposium, one presentation focused on the "Talking to Learn" ALERT, which shares classroom ready strategies for teachers alongside the research to support the best practice. The two teachers presenting were able to share strategies that work in all classrooms (the presenters were an English teacher and a History teacher).



Later in the week, the Student Success Literacy Committee hosted the Upper Grand DSB Literacy Symposium on Friday, November 8, 2012.  Keynotes were delivered by Lucy West and Kathleen Gould Lundy, and workshops were led by over twenty UGDSB educators, who shared effective literacy practices with their colleagues in seventeen sessions. These sessions were cross-curricular in nature and covered at least one of the components (see diagram above) relating to the recent publication, Adolescent Literacy Guide (2012), published by the Ministry of Education through Literacy GAINS. Presentations ranged from discussing literacy in alternative education programs to using specific strategies in a novel study to using TED talks and Genius Hour in Geography classes to using inquiry to build knowledge in all grade 9 classes... The sharing was rich and teachers were excited to hear from each other. Participants walked away with classroom ready ideas.

Both of the keynote speakers focused on talk structures. Lucy West's focus on academic discourse involves the teacher facilitating the discussion through specific practices to ensure that all students are held accountable for the learning. The teacher should:

• Write relevant student statements, vocabulary, and/or representations on white board or on technology board—make language and diagrams, tables, etc. visible for all learners

• Have students turn and talk to a partner to explain the idea or representation and be able to explain the idea/representation to the entire group

• Ask clarifying questions to the presenter

• Ask members of the group to explain, restate, or paraphrase what was just said or demonstrated BEFORE agreeing, disagreeing or adding to the idea and BEFORE expressing another idea. In other words, the community works to keep one important idea in play until all members of the class can engage in the conversation. (Lucy West, Metamorphosis Teaching Learning Communities)

Lucy West's focus was clearly cross-curricular; as a former mathematics teacher, many of her specific examples were not those traditionally seen at a literacy conference. However, they were clearly relatable for all teachers in the room. The need to engage students in accountable talk is a cross-curricular best practice. (For an example of a protocol from Lucy's website, see Talk Circles).

Kathleen Gould Lundy was also able to share her effective practices in an engaging and often humorous way. As a drama and arts teacher, Kathy has developed several talk structures which hold students accountable for deep thinking while engaging students. Her book, Talking to Learn, contains several specific structures that help the teacher assess oral communication, embed metacognition, scaffold talk, model talk, create informed talk, and help students present their ideas. Amazingly, woven throughout her presentation were artifacts (literal and figurative) that she uses to demonstrate the true cross-curricular nature of her work: student voice was included through student poetry created in various classes. 

On Friday and Saturday, I was fortunate to participate in the "Sharing the Learning Summit" which was the culmination of the TLLP project through OTF; the Teacher Learning and Leadership Project is a self-directed professional learning opportunity supported (financially and purposefully) by the Ontario Ministry of Education. This conference was an opportunity to set up a display to share the learning from my project while seeing others' results as well. In addition to seeing many excellent projects which were truly cross-curricular in nature, we also heard fantastic speeches from Annie Kidder, of People for Education; the Minister of Education, Liz Sandals; and Ann Lieberman, a Stanford University researcher who praises the TLLP for it's lofty goals and rich action research. I found their presentations interesting and attempted to share the ideas through Twitter, which is a fantastic tool for students to use to summarize, annotate, and comment on what they find important. Brevity is important when you only have 140 characters!

Again, what resonated in this experience was another element of talk: the importance of stories. Both Kathy Gould Lundy and Lucy West spoke of the importance of story-telling as a talk structure or for discourse; Annie Kidder shared personal anecdotes about her children's experiences in education and Ann Lieberman shared about her research in Chile and China.  Even Twitter, in it's truncated form, is about story-telling. All of these speakers wove stories throughout their presentations, making them effective by allowing for personal connections in the audience. For students, a great story can pull them in, activate prior knowledge, transmit new learning, consolidate their thinking, and even help recall important facts and details. By using the narrative structure, especially in oral forms, we enable students to understand non-fiction better, creating more personal connections to a text.

All in all, I return to one of Canada's great thinkers, Northrop Frye and his essay, "Don't You Think It's Time to Start Thinking?". Frye argues that the liberal arts and humanities are essential for today's students and the development of what we would today call critical literacy.  This great essay argues its thesis by using George Orwell, a great author of fiction and non-fiction alike.  Moreover, Frye stresses the importance of talk, for

"...ideas do not exist until they have been incorporated into words. ... The operation of thinking is the practice of articulating ideas until they are in the right words."

References:

Frye, Northrop. "Don't You Think it's Time to Start Thinking?" in Thinking Through the Essay (1993). Eds. Judith Barker-Sandbrook and Neil Graham. McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

Literacy GAINS (2012). Adolescent Literacy Guide. Curriculum and Assessment Branch, Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education. Think Literacy: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12. Queen's Printer.

What Are Your Students Reading? And WHY?

What resources we use in the classroom are often dictated by forces beyond our control: budgets limit purchases of new novels, textbooks are over a decade old, photocopying is limited... But, teachers can be creative and source new materials -- especially those in the digital realm. New media has given us video, Tweets, blogs, and a variety of other "texts" for students to read and create on their own. Our challenge is to find the right text for the right student at the right time.

Cris Tovani writes about the importance for texts to be authentic. Students need challenging texts that will push their thinking in different subject areas. Current articles, in a variety of genres, can help pique students' interest.

"If we don't begin to find accessible text for all adolescent readers, they will continue to fail, only to become someone else's problem the following year. More students will become turned off to the content we love." (Tovani 42).

It's important to remember that even students who have difficulty reading may still be able to access challenging texts if we provide them with the appropriate supports. In secondary school, content area teachers can help teach reading strategies; in fact, they might be better positioned to do so. I know science teachers who are some of the most effective teachers of reading -- not only do they convey a passion for their subject area, but also, they bring in current readings and videos to ensure that their students are accessing current thinking, controversies and theories in science.

In addition to the need for texts to be authentic is the inclusion of student voice and choice in reading materials. We need to honour the choices they make and include new media forms. In fact, we need to help them decode, deconstruct, and dissect texts (in all forms). Moreover, we need to do this so they can then construct them. Good readers become good writers. There is a fallacy that because students are accessing text online, they are able to effectively read online.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Theological Seminary

"As new technologies increasingly become a part of classroom lessons, teachers are discovering that many students do not possess the new literacy skills required to successfully read and write with the many new technologies that regularly appear in today’s world." 

(International Reading Association [IRA], 2001, cited in Henry 615)

Laurie Henry provides a framework, SEARCH, for students to utilize online text effectively. Firstly, Henry outlines the need to locate information -- if a student is unable to locate useful, quality information, then all further activities related to research (comprehending, synthesizing and communicating ideas) becomes moot (616). Henry's framework is useful for adolescents as it's fairly straightforward:

1. Set a purpose for searching.

2. Employ effective search strategies.

3. Analyze search-engine results.

4. Read critically and synthesize information.

5. Cite your sources.

6. How successful was your search?

I would argue that the last step is especially important; not only do students need to be able to research independently, but they need to evaluate their own performance (metacognition). Of course, in order to reflect, students need to have been explicitly provided direction about the purpose for reading (which can easily be communicated through learning goals).

Understanding purposes for reading and writing will also help students become proficient readers and writers. Tovani quotes one of my favourite thinkers about reading, Kelly Gallagher (2003):

"We adults have already found a multitude of reasons to read. Sometimes we are conscious of these reasons; but often, I suspect, many of these reasons have become internalized. We often take them for granted because we have long ago acknowledged their value. We motivate ourselves to read, consciously or unconsciously, because the benefits of doing so are ingrained in us. Unfortunately, this is not often the case with our students. Just because we have internalized a number of reasons why reading  enriches our lives doesn't mean we should assume our students have done the same." (in Tovani 52)

Teachers need to scaffold purpose for students in the same way we scaffold other activities; students often need to be told the purpose for reading (especially if we are assigning the reading!). Eventually, though, we need to help them determine the purpose themselves. Tovani (p.61) outlines seven key ways to "hold your thinking" (that is, determine purpose, especially when reading a 'boring' text):

1. Look for interesting details that could have multiple meanings.
2. Ask questions about titles and subtitles.
3. Ask questions about the piece.
4. Look for the author's opinion.
5. Read a piece to learn new information.
6. Make a connection to the piece.
7. Who is the author?

Photo courtesy jungleredwriters.com

Students need to practice, discuss, and evaluate texts with a variety of purposes if we want them to internalize these processes. The use of protocols such as the 4A's Text Protocol (Assumptions, Agree, Argue, Actions) or the I Say, It Says, and So Protocol help students by providing structure to ensure they all participate to create understanding and therefore internalize good reading habits.

In the end, it's important that we expand our reading choices for students. Ignite their curiousity by giving them new and interesting readings that will challenge them intellectually. Provide opportunities for students to engage in lively discussion and debate to really explore authentic texts. Engage in new literacies and help students become proficient readers and writers of digital texts, whatever form they take.


References:


Henry, Laurie A. (2006), "SEARCHing for an answer: The critical role of new literacies while reading on the Internet." International Reading Association. pp. 614–627.

Tovani, Cris (2004). Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Content Comprehension Grades 6-12. Markham: Pembroke.


Ministry of Education. Think Literacy: Language / English, grades 7-9. Queen's Printer.