[MOSAIC] Resources for the highschool teacher

[Dave Middlebrook]

I think computers are fine for some things.  Not so great for others.

First, the "fine" take: If by "literacy", you mean "web literacy", I'd 
suggest that you spend some time looking into web quests, and -- before you 
launch your students on a web quest -- spend some time working with them on 
evaluating web sources for quality, accuracy, etc.  The web has grown very 
rich and deep.  It is a good place to practice MOT strategies.  You could 
also get them involved in Wikipedia -- perhaps have your students register 
and begin contributing to articles.  That will challenge them, draw them 
into conversations with thousands of other wikepedia "editors", and of 
course, provide more fodder for web quests.  And there are blogs and pod 
casts -- both of which your kids could learn about and produce.

Now the "not so great" take: Other than screen readers (voice systems that 
read text aloud; some of which offer what I consider to be, from the 
standpoint of accessibility, a minimal set of navigation enhancements), 
computer technologies for struggling readers are essentially non-existent. 
When you say, "the majority of my students struggle", I take that to mean 
that they have difficulty comprehending (I hope not decoding) books, 
magazines, and newspapers.  If that's the situation, don't look to computers 
to help.  In fact, the problems struggling readers have with print texts are 
worsened by the shift to the screen (and the navigation enhancements offered 
by some screen readers don't begin to compensate for this).  Problems with 
font rendering, refresh rates, etc. don't help, but I think the most 
important factor is that you can only view about half of a page of text on a 
screen.  The actual amount varies, depending on screen size, resolution, and 
font size, but the half page is a fair estimate.  This compares rather 
poorly to the amount that can be viewed in a book or magazine -- two facing 
pages.  Big difference.  The importance here is that with less information 
on the screen, the reading experience is less "whole" -- you can only see 
small bits at a time.  This puts a significant load on memory -- both visual 
and auditory -- which in turn impacts comprehension.  Books offer the 
advantage of enabling the reader to see more of the text at one time.  So 
the shift to screens is not a good thing -- especially for strugging 
readers.

Now, I would not be surprised if you were to confirm that some of your 
strugglers have memory deficits.  It stands to reason that these students 
might actually benefit from being able to see more than two pages at a 
time -- that this would further decrease the memory load and enable them to 
focus on comprehension. In a round-about way, this is my pitch for you to 
try scrolls with your strugglers.  If you scroll a text, your strugglers --  
and anyone else who cares to look -- will be able to see the whole text in a 
single view.  No pages to turn.  Less wear and tear on memory.  The whole 
view is really important.  If you've never seen a scroll, you'll have to try 
it to understand what I mean.  You just can't see this in a book.  And it 
does matter.

So, I think that's great that your kids like computers.  Do the web quest 
stuff.  Get them involved in thinking, communicating, and creating.  Make 
them accountable -- or let the Wikipedia community hold their feet to the 
fire for you.  All that is good.  But if your strugglers are struggling with 
books, I wouldn't expect an answer from the computer.  If books are a 
struggle, let them try scrolls.

You can read more here:
* http://www.textmapping.org/whWorkshopNotes.html
* http://www.textmapping.org/scrolls.html
* http://www.textmapping.org/benefits.html

And, finally -- hold your breath -- let me suggest a poetry exercise using a 
scroll.  Your students don't have to know that they will be working on a 
poem.  By the time they figure that out, they'll be engaged.  Or at least 
that would be the hope.  I think it's worth a try.  I have had good results 
with this -- especially with reluctant readers; middle school through 
college.    The poem is by Edna St. Vincent Millay.  It's pretty wide 
open -- lots of opportunities for connections and inferences.  Have your 
students work in small groups (no morer than 3-4 per group).  There are four 
documents in the set.   For your strugglers, I would definitely recommend 
making the scrolls rather than letting them work with the page (this will 
make sense when you see the exercise instructions):
* http://www.textmapping.org/millayScrollPages.pdf
* http://www.textmapping.org/millayInstructions.pdf
* http://www.textmapping.org/millayLayout.pdf
* http://www.textmapping.org/bioMillay.pdf

I hope this is helpful,

Dave Middlebrook
The Textmapping Project
A resource for teachers improving reading comprehension skills instruction.
www.textmapping.org   |   Please share this site with your colleagues!
USA: (609) 771-1781
dmiddlebrook at textmapping.org



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <kliddle at twcny.rr.com>
To: <mosaic at literacyworkshop.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 5:25 PM
Subject: [MOSAIC] Resources for the highschool teacher


>I have been reading and responding (when I can) on this listserv for
> about a month now in hopes of learing about some new resources or
> strategies for the secondary level teacher.  So I put the question out
> there for all.  What are some good resources to promote (all different
> types) of literacy in the high school classroom?  I work ina classroom
> with 14 computers and on average 25-30 students per class.  I have some
> books available to me, but buying books is not an option.  The majority
> of my students struggle and I want to promote success within the
> classroom.  They are really interested in and enjoy using computers,
> yet everything I have come across is too elementary/middle school for
> them. Has anyone found any programs or sites that promote literacy?  Do
> they work?  Any suggestions are welcome.  I am willing to explore also
> if someone can point me in the right direction.  Thanks!
>
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