EDC424 Literacy Photo Journal
For this task you will:
A. Pre-Reflection Activity
Before you begin taking your photographs, type a short summary (300 words or less) about what you know in terms of how classroom materials, structure, and activities can be used to foster literacy development in Grades K-2. Hand in this summary as part of your final project.
B. Collecting Your Photos and Teacher Feedback:
· Set up, in advance, a time to visit a classroom (K-2). You will need about 15 minutes when the students are not in the room (and optimally about 5-10 minutes with the teacher).
· Photograph a minimum of ten (10) classroom materials, structures, and activities. (Remember, do not photograph students.) Of course, not every classroom will have the same structures and materials. However, if your classroom has a literacy center, make sure you photograph it, as it will be helpful later on in your literacy center task. Here are some other ideas: Literacy centers or stations, work or task boards, directions, book bins or other organization of books, literacy instruction area, easel materials, literacy play centers, computer station. (The Curriculum Library may have cameras if you need one).
· Make note of where in the room you found the particular structure, activity, material. Drawing a classroom map would help you with this.
· Interview the teacher (a few minutes is fine) to find out how the teacher summarizes her/his plans and intentions for using the materials, activities.
C. Compiling Your Observations and Interpretations
· Develop the film, or print the digital pictures (black and white is fine) and write (type) an annotation for each. Your annotation should include:
o Description and Location: (1 point each) A brief description of the photograph, where in the room the material was found, and how it relates to other materials. For example, you might find that a work board at the front of the classroom relates to the literacy centers in various parts of the classroom.
o **Purpose: (1 point each) The purpose of the material. Based on what you know of literacy instruction, and what you found out from the teacher, what is the literacy objective? What literacy skill/strategy is this activity or structure designed to foster or develop? Which of the five literacy components are addressed with this activity? Please use the provided checklist/tally sheet to guide your thinking and refer to/underline key literacy components when appropriate (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).
o **Why this activity: (2 points each) How the material helps students develop these literacy skills, strategies, learning. In other words, why is the teacher using THIS particular activity? Please use “EDC 424 teacher language” to illustrate your understanding of this activity. Some questions and wording to guide your description:
o –How did the teacher organize/display/explain it to make accessible, interactive, and engaging for this particular age group? (pictures, letters, words, labels/stickers, easy access to students, manipulatives, inviting, choice)
o –What stage of reading (emergent, beginning, transitional, intermediate, advanced) or spelling/writing (emergent, letter-name alphabetic, within word, syllables & affixes, derivational) does this activity address and how do you know?
o –Why is this appropriate for this grade level? What skills are most readers and writers developing at this age? Use language you’ve learned in 424 (high frequency words, directionality, word sorts, fluency, onset-rime, reading strategies, short and long vowels, etc.)
D. Reflecting On Your Learning
Write a summary reflection of your photo journal basing your reflection on what you have learned thus far in education classes and your course readings. Address:
o Your understanding of how these materials go together to create a literacy-learning environment. Discuss whether or not (and how) these materials, structures, and activities at least two or more of Tompkins 10 Principles of Effective Literacy Instruction (from Chapter 1). Give examples to support your reasoning.
o Your vision of how students might respond to the activities. In other words, would the activities/materials be engaging, authentic, and interesting from a student’s perspective (and appropriate for that age level)? Why/why not? Give examples to support your reasoning.
o Your opinion of the materials with respect to developing a supportive literacy environment. Discuss whether or not (and how) these materials, structures, and activities reflect a balance of the Big Five literacy components (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). Use evidence from your checklist/tally sheet to support your reasoning.
o Your ideas about what you feel might be missing or needed to develop a supportive literacy-learning environment. Are all five core components represented equally? What about authentic writing, motivation, and level of engagement? Refer to your checklist/tally sheet to provide ideas of literacy components (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) and refer to your textbooks/web resources for specific activities/materials you might include.
o Your realizations of what you learned from this experience. Revisit the summary you wrote for the Pre-Activity and elaborate on ways your thinking about literacy learning environments has changed or grown as a result of completing this assignment. Include at least two examples of how your thinking has changed with this assignment. Please be explicit in your wording (One way my thinking has changed is that earlier, I thought X and now I think Y.)
Checklist/Tally Sheet of The Teacher’s Use of Five Key Literacy Components
(As Represented in Your Photo Journal)
Approximate Reading Stage for this class: (circle one)
Emergent Beginning Transitional Intermediate
Approximate Spelling Stage for this class: (circle one)
Emergent Letter-Name Alphabetic Within-Word Syllables & Affixes
How well do these photos represent a “balance” of key aspects of literacy instruction?
Review your 10 photos and place a tally mark under each core literacy component it addresses:
Phonemic Awareness / Phonics / VocabularyFluency / Comprehension / Other
Review your 10 photos and place a tally mark under the aspect of literacy that activity provides:
Reading / Writing / Oral Language / ListeningReview your 10 photos and place a tally mark under the type of support that activity provides:
Modeled/Shared / Interactive / GuidedPeer-to-Peer / Independent / Other
What level of student engagement does each photo represent? / Active / Passive
EDC 424 Literacy Photo Journal Points Sheet (62 possible points)
Journal Contents / 40
Clearly describes each photograph (at least 10 photos) and its placement and relationship of activity to other literacy activities in the room / 10
Purpose: Clearly identifies purpose of activity and underlines key words that provide evidence / 10
Why this activity? Describes how the material/activity helps students develop a specific literacy skill(s), which stage is addressed, and why appropriate for this stage / 20
Pre & Post Summary Reflection / 22
Pre-Reflection Activity: 2 points
Tally Sheet Completed: 2 points
Understanding: 4 points
Discusses how materials work together to create a literacy learning environment & gives examples reflecting Ten Principles of Effective Literacy Instruction / How materials go together? (2)
One principle and example (1)
Second principle and example (1)
Vision: 2 points
Thoughtfully discusses students’ potential engagement and interest in the activities, and whether activities are appropriate to age/grade and developmental level; provides strong rationale to support opinion / Explains how engaging with evidence (1)
Explains how appropriate with evidence (1)
Opinion: 2 points
Provides thoughtful reflection of how materials create (or do not) a supportive literacy environment / Explains how fosters literacy and includes evidence informed by tally sheet (2)
Ideas: 2 points
Thoughtfully discusses activities, structures, materials currently not within the classroom that would be beneficial in developing a supportive literacy environment / Provides one example of how to improve (1)
Provides two examples of how to improve (2)
Realizations: 2 points
Thoughtfully reflects and elaborates on how thinking about literacy learning environments has changed or grown as a result of this assignment / One example of how grow (1)
Two examples of how grow (2)
Organization/Mechanics (6 points)
Submits materials well edited for Standard English grammar, spelling, and punctuation / 2 or fewer errors (4) 3 errors (3) 4 errors (2)
5 errors (1) 6 or more errors (0)
Presents well organized journal (2 points) / Yes (2) Sort Of (1) No (0)
J. Coiro FA2011