Literacy in the Modern World

I found Literacy Moves On to be a very intriguing read.  The “more modern” examples of literacy that it provided really helped me to understand the basis of this class.  Because children are submerged into the pop culture, it is important that we as teachers meet them in the middle to help their learning experiences be more meaningful.  Reading this article took me back to our literacy dig that we completed within the first couple weeks of class.  Although I’m not exactly sure why, I never seriously considered body language and simple gestures to be body language.  However, it is!  Although unintentional or subconsciously at times, we often speak through our motions.  I wish that I would have taken a closer look into the nonverbal language used at the park. 

Another valid point that this article made involved the need to teach children the value of responding critically to text.  So often, it seems that we take the information that we read for face value.  It is imperative that we encourage students to become inquisitive and promote higher ordered critical thinking skills.

I also really enjoyed reading The Inner World of the Immigrant Child.  It is amazing how much you can really learn about students and their feelings by analyzing their writing.  Reading about the feelings of isolation and challenges that the students faced and then observing the ways in which that transferred to their filmstrips was very interesting.  Seeing the students get so involved in their mini-movies really inspired me!