Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us.

I loved reading this article!  I am such a sucker for articles that discuss hidden meanings in literature.  It is always amazing to me time and time again that I never noticed these hidden messages.  I was aware of the message of certain stereotypes etc. because I had focused on this as one of my points in my MGRP.  It is true that most media contains white, well to do characters that are often without worries.  This issues causes lots of children and adults from other racial and societal classes to be left out and feel bad about themselves. 
I know as a child, I was always reading and watching media that enacted these stereotypes.  I loved Disney movies; I loved Popeye; and I loved Duck Tales.  Every type of media guilty of stereotyping was enjoyed immensely by me.  I love looking back at everything I loved and see just how bad they really are.  This topic often makes me think of my sister.  She always had lots of dates and hardly had a long term relationship.  She always claimed she wanted the kind of romance you saw in the movies.  The romance, she learned through movies existed in real life.  Luckily she has gotten over the idea of the "perfect" guy and married a really great guy and has children.

Week 12 Readings

We had three readings assigned this week and the Evans and Igor readings really reached out to me.  I found the Hill reading much to choppy and difficult to really get into.  The first article I read was by Evans and it was called Literacy Moves On.  In this article, Evans discusses how the format of literacy has been radically changing through the past couple of years.  It is important for us as educators to be aware of this changing literacy formats and attend to them in the classroom.  Many children are finding literacy outside of books alone.  This article fits in well with the idea of the multiple genres we created for our MGRP.  Until this class, I had never considered the idea of literacy being outside of books.  I am happy I am now aware of the large of amount of literacy available. 
Another reading I completed this week was by Igor.  The Inner World of the Immigrant Child is about a young child Dennis and how coming to a new school and new country was difficult for him.  This article discusses how the teacher reached out to Dennis and made him feel comfortable.  The idea of making a new child feel comfortable is very important in their success.  We are educators need to be aware of this fact and do everything we can to make immigrant and new children feel comfortable.  There are many mixed emotions when entering a new classroom.  A child can feel anything from culture shock to excitement or a mix of the two.  Every child needs to have their needs met and it is important for us to figure out ways to do this.

MGRP reflection

Through the completion of my multigenre research paper, I learned a lot.  I learned a lot about my topic of critical literacy as well as ways to improve my writing and research skills.  I have never really liked writing papers, but being given the option to write about anything within elementary literacy, I became much more interested in my research.  The actual research was a lot more fun than normal research and the creation of the genre pieces was tons of fun.    

After finishing my project, I feel as though I have developed a better sense of the way I would like my future students to complete research papers.  The paper itself will always be the hardest part for many children, but when given an opportunity to write about whatever a person chooses, the paper becomes more fun.  I feel as though the genre pieces could be used even by themselves without the paper in certain circumstances.  I am positive I will at least use the genre pieces in my future teaching.  I really enjoyed taking what I had researched and had knowledge on and turning it into something else.  It was a creative way to reiterate what I already knew and make the knowledge even more concrete.

Seedfolks and more on the MGRP

I was so excited at the beginning of this semester when I saw we had to read the book, Seedfolks.  I had read it a very long time ago as a child and I remember loving it.  I still love it!  I just enjoy reading about positive experiences.  As readers, we are introduced to a sad, poor, dirty Ohio city area and it is transformed by one little girls actions.  It is just wonderful to read the different characters thoughts and opinions as they begin becoming a part of the garden!
I also continued to read about the MGRP and I love the idea of showing characters and not telling about them.  I feel as though it is a writing technique that I myself should be trying to improve upon.  One thing, I guess you could say makes me disappointed, is that we didn't write our MGRP's on people.  I loved reading chapter 7 about how people dress and act out their researched person and I feel as though I would maybe get more excited about the project!  I am sure it would be very embarrassing, but I feel as though there are a lot more options for multiple genres when you are focusing on a person. 

Poetry and Literacy Invitations!

While reading about poetry this week, I was thinking back to my knowledge about poetry and what I had learned about it as a  young child.  I felt as though I could relate to Sadie, the girl quoted at the beginning of the chapter.  I feel as though it was always a topic that was brought to light for a few days or a few weeks and then pushed aside.  I know I am unable to name many poets.  I had never really thought about my lack of poetry knowledge until today.  I love all the ways Allen suggests introducing it to the children.  I really like the I am poems and the list maker poems because I feel as though they are very accessible to all students, and I feel as though anyone could feel confident writing in these styles. 
I also read about literacy invitations this week.  I had previously read, viewed, and constructed my own literacy invitation for a class this past summer.  I find them to be very neat, mind opening, projects for children.  They allow for a lot of critical thinking skills to develop and for children to almost direct their own learning.  I feel as though if literacy invitations were used when I was a child, I would have loved them.  I feel as though everyone enjoys learning about what interest them.  I am curious to know how long the idea of these invitations as been around.  I have worked in a couple of schools and sadly, I have never seen an invitation in action.  I have only seen what one looks like on paper, not in action.  I wonder if many teachers use them or if many teachers are informed about them.

The MGRP

While reading a few select chapters from the MGRP book by Camille A. Allen, I felt as though I was better able to understand what our finished classroom projects will look like.  I really enjoyed reading about how the children got so excited when assigned these projects!  It is so great when teachers can find a project for students to work on that develops both their reading and writing skills.  The idea I love most about this project for young children is that it is developed over a three month period and the children are responsible for self evaluating.  I believe that if children are serious about their work this can essentially be a wonderful idea.  Without a teacher standing over them, children will be much more relaxed and able to focus on their work.  I know when I am working on a paper, such as the one I was writing earlier, I am unable to find enjoyment in my research because I am consumed with worry about my grade.  I don't want my future students to become overwhelmed with an A and become unable to enjoy their research.  Through the readings of the chapters, I have decided I really like the idea of the MGRP because it encompasses many different skills necessary for children to develop! 

Opening my Eyes to the Importance of Critical Literacy

Through a previous class I took this summer, I learned a little bit about critical literacy and its importance in elementary classrooms.  When I was first introduced to the idea of critical literacy, I wasn't sure what it entailed.  To ensure everyone is understanding critical literacy in the way I am using it, it is literacy which causes questioning, focusing on and understanding critical issues in society and working toward social justice.  It is so important for children to read stories which cover many different social, racial and cultural issues so they are given to the opportunity to better understand the world around them.  This is why I have chosen to focus on critical literacy for my MGRP.  I want to focus on it so I can ensure I am able to incorporate it well into a future classroom. 
When I began reading the article, Critical Literacy in the Elementary Classroom, by Donna C. Creighton, she opens with a child quoted as saying, "When I was in grade one or two and my teacher would read a book to the class, I'd always imagine myself as the main character when she read aloud to the kids.  But when she showed us the illustration, the character would be White.  I was confused for a while, but I've gotten over it."   The article doesn't mention what race or culture the child is, but I can tell by his questioning, he is most likely not white.  It is very interesting to think about many of the books we read as children and read today.   Most of the stories of our childhood focus on white, middle class children.  A lot of the time these children are boys.  It is hard for children to relate with the characters when their lives have little similarities.  If children aren't able to relate to the stories they are reading or hearing aloud, how is independent reading being promoted?  It's something to think about.....