In my opinion, effective literacy instruction is done by incorporating different ways to learn literacy. In a video we watched in class about diverse learners, students expressed that there should be multiple ways to teach literacy so that every student is engaged. This could be done by using different methods and technologies to explore a new topic. After creating my Prezi on numeracy, I realized that technology has a purpose and that we should utilize these technologies to teach our students new concepts. I really liked creating a Prezi because I felt like I accomplished more than one thing: I learned how to use the new technology and I learned about numeracy. In my first and second grade classroom, I think it would be beneficial to teach about different types of literacies. While they are young, their brain absorbs more information; therefore, if you teach them about technology and literacies at a young age, they will be able to make more connections to it as they get older.
If my students were to do a similar assignment using Prezi and Numeracy, they would need a lot of scaffolding. They would need to know how to read and write to follow the directions on Prezi, and they would have to write down the information they wanted to portray to their peers. They would also need to be familiar with how a computer works (which they do because they have a computer class and they do different literacy and math tasks on the computer daily). It might be beneficial to give the student some kind of tutorial on Prezi before they use it because I know I had trouble just jumping right into the new technology. Numeracy could be considered the language of math, so it might be a good idea to have a math lesson before they explore about numeracy.
Lesson Plan:
Target area & rationale: Numeracy -- because students should learn the importance of math in everyday life and be able to relate it back to concepts learned in the classroom
Objectives: Student will figure out at least 10 different ways to make a dollar, and then they will put that information into a Prezi to make a collage to show the different ways as well as provide an explanation as to why this task would be useful for everyday life.
Materials: plastic coins to practice with, computers, projector screen
Key Events:
- In groups, students will come up with different ways to make a dollar using half dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.
- Short, basic tutorial on Prezi
- In groups, students will make their presentations by entering how they thought to make a dollar and then a slide to explain why this task is relevant to everyday life.
- Students will present their projects to the other classmates
Closing Summary: Teacher will make sure the students know the importance of using technology as well as why numeracy is important for everyday life.
Ongoing Assessment: Teacher could use the same format to use Prezi for other subjects (reading, writing, etc), and have them practice different forms of numeracy throughout the year (fractions, ratios, etc.)
I agree with what Heather said about literacy. Literacy is so much more than reading and writing. It includes many other things such as emotional literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy. It is really important for students to learn about all these different types of literacy. I really liked her point about teaching students to use technology when they are young. The more technology skills students can gain when they are young, the easier figuring out new technologies will be in the future. For example, it is easier for me to learn how to use new technologies since I have grown up using them, than it is for my parents who grew up with very little/basic technology.
ReplyDeleteLike Heather, I did a Prezi for my project. I also thought that the students would need a good amount of scaffolding in order to be able to properly use it. While I was able to eventually figure out how to do everything that I wanted to with regard to the technology, there were a few things that took me a while. I feel as though younger students would need a lot more help and direction in order to complete the tasks asked of them.
I really like Heather’s lesson plan. It does a good job combining both the concept of numeracy, as well as a new technology, a Prezi. Having them come up with different ways of combining coins to equal a dollar will help the students to use higher level thinking skills. I also think that it does a good job incorporating tasks that students will use in the real world. In the future, they may have to combine coins to total different amounts, and they are able to practice this in the lesson.