Mon+4-2

How can we connect our current life to our current pedagogy?

Before Class:

1.) Read my article found on this [|website]. (Scroll down a bit, it's called "Critical Biliteracy in the ESOL Classroom."

Think about the connections I made and the students made to learn language through reading and writing in multiple languages.

What kind of connections to your life might you share with students to foster learning? How would you define mentor text? How do dual language mentor texts benefit teachers and students?

Cahnmann (2005) wrote that many studies in bilingualism focus only on the learning of the language and not the “larger systems of social inequality,” and it is “less common [to] have” studies where “discourse[s] [are] examined for [their] potential for resistance rather than containment” (p. 231).

2.) If you have a laptop, please bring it to class. If you don't we'll share!

During Class:

1.) Explore the [|NY Times Education Section]. Read one article. Discuss with your partner. Try to apply Jone's questions for critically reading a text.

“Perspective” questions teachers can encourage readers to ask: • Who could have created this text? • Who did the author/illustrator think s/he was making this text for? • What does the author think about his/her audience? • What kinds of readers might think the same way? • What kinds of readers might think something different? • What other ways of thinking are not a part of this text?

“Positioning” questions teachers can encourage readers to ask: • What kinds of people/lives/experiences/beliefs are in the center of this book? • What kinds of readers might feel like “insiders” reading this book? • What kinds of readers might feel like “outsiders” reading this book? • How does this book position me as a reader – as an insider, outsider, both, or neither?

“Power” questions teachers can encourage readers to ask: • How is the author/illustrator using her/his power in this book? • Does the author/illustrator use his/her power to repeat things that already happen a lot in books? • Does the author/illustrator use his/her power to show how important things are that don’t happen a lot in books? • What kinds of people/lives/experiences get attention from the way the author/illustrator used his or her power? • What kinds of people/lives/experiences don’t get attention from the way the author/illustrator used his or her power?

2.) Explore one news site for kids.

[|Scholastic News for Kids] [|Time for Kids] [|National Geographic for Kids] [|http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/] [|Sports Illustrated for Kids] [|Dig: The Archaeology Magazine for Kids] [|http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html]


 * Critically read a couple of articles.
 * How do you see connecting these articles to the classroom?
 * What materials could you use to supplement them?
 * How could these sites be used differently across grade levels?
 * What about emerging bilingual students? Do they need different resources to read these articles?