My name is Rhonda and this is my first blog that I have ever posted. I am a University of Victoria student studying to be an elementary teacher and this blog is going to be about literacy in the classroom. I hope to post my thoughts on learning how to teach English Language arts to elementary school students.
I expect that English Language arts classes will vary greatly by grade and vary moderately by school. I would like English language arts in any grade to be colourful, somewhat noisily enthusiastic, inclusive of all students regardless of ability, and fun!
I think that English language arts in Kindergarten will be fun and include lots of story time and games. There will be many emergent literacy games and activities. I think that lessons will be short and tailored to the shorter attention span common to this age. Lessons should include an element of play and be able to be structured to include the highly diverse needs of the kindergarten students. Some students may be able to sit and focus on a task for long periods of time, some may not be able to sit for more than a few minutes. Some students may be able to read words or short sentences and some may not know the alphabet.As children progress through the grades their literacy skills will be included in more and more kinds of lessons. Thus children will be using and improving their literacy not only in English language arts classes, but also science, social studies, art and perhaps even mathematics.
These days English language arts not only encompass the world of storytelling, reading and writing, there is also the world of email, blogging, google, facebook and texting to consider. These technologies need to find their place in the classroom as well. Many children are using these technologies in their day to day lives and they need to feel that the lessons taught in class are relevant to their lives.
I would like English language arts to be a fun dynamic part of an elementary school class. I would like to have learners engage in activities such as having pen pals via email from exotic locations, write their own fairy tales and perform them, and participate in story of the week where one student choses a story to share each week and explains their choice. All these ideas can be used in varying forms for any elementary class (I hope?!)I would like to try them out and learn from the outcomes.
Welcome to the Blogosphere, Rhonda! Your insights about children are really key here - we can expect a wide range of abilities and attention spans. Your vision for ELA is a great one; students love to share their favourite stories - and global education initiatives have made connecting with other classrooms around the world even easier.
ReplyDeleteAs Carol has already pointed out, your comments on the wide range of abilities at the kindergarten level are so true. Kids enter the school system with a variety of different skill sets and abilities. It will be important for us as teachers to find ways to meet every child's needs, especially because, as you have pointed out, a child's literacy is so key to their success in all subjects. I also love your suggestions for specific classroom activities! I can’t wait to have my own “story of the week”!
ReplyDeleteRhonda, you have covered so many avenues of literacy arts here in this one entry. You have a thorough understanding of how diverse LA and your audience can be. I admire how much you emphasized FUN. What a lovely classroom you will have!
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