8:2 WebQuest

Where did I find this word?

I found this word in the Ikpeze and Boyd article, Web-based inquiry learning:  Facilitating thoughtful literacy with WebQuests.

We are reading this article for a class on using media technology in the classroom.  The authors write about WebQuests and how they allow students to think critically about an issue and use many skills to develop and defend an opinion (Ikpeze & Boyd, 2007, p. 644).

What is the definition of this word?

WebQuests are techniques used in scaffolding students learning by providing frameworks wherein students hone their higher order thinking skills.

There are sic main components to WebQuests:
1.  Introduction
2.  A task or tasks
3.  A list of resources for learners
4.  The process that they would go through to accomplish a task
5.  Criteria or a rubric to evaluate learning
6.  A conclusion

WebQuests offer multiple perspectives on a topic so that the learner can easily see the real-world application of the topic.  they combine different types of activities that provide the learner with he same information presented in many different ways.

What is my familiarity with this word?

I have completed WebQuests and I have designed them as well, so my familiarity level, I thought, was quite high.  But it wasn't until after i read the article that i realized I knew very little about them.  I knew the general framework of the technique, but I didn't know there were different types or any of the background.

Do I want to know this word well? Why?

I would like to understand the implementation of this technique really well.  Teachers should use every chance they can get to use technology in the classroom. 

I would like to see more examples of WebQuests and learn a bit more about designing quality WebQuests.  I think that having students create a shorter WebQuest for a partner in class would be  a good activity to do because that way students get to see how a WebQuest is designed as well as implemented.

Do I want others to know this word well? Why?

I think teachers should be aware that this critical reading learning activity exists.  I don't think everyone needs to understand the science behind a WebQuest, but they should understand the basics of the technique.  they should also consider the limitations and constraints of this activity.  When teachers design a WebQuest they should review each site they are sending their students to and they should make it fun.

References

Ikpeze, C.H. & Boys, F.B. (2007).  Web-based inquiry learning:  Facilitating thoughtful literacy with
     WebQuests.  The International Reading Association, 60 (7.5) 644-654.

8:1 Thoughtful Literacy

Where did I find this word?

I found this term in the Ikpeze and Boyd article, Web-based inquiry learning:  Facilitating thoughtful literacy with WebQuests.


The authors state that "reading instruction and assessment increasingly requires students to demonstrate a more thoughtful literacy and flexible understanding of text through explanation, discussion, reflection, and connections between text and the real world (Ikpeze & Boyd, 2007, p. 644).


So I asked myself, "what is thoughtful literacy?"

What is the definition of this word?

The authors never offer a definitive definition of thoughtful literacy, but throughout the text, they describe the characteristics of what they believe thoughtful literacy to be.


As I understand it, thoughtful literacy goes beyond the basics such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing to application of the text to real world situations.

Thoughtful literacy is described as:

-  Using information from text and responding thoughtfully and critically to it.
-  Using various technologies to plan and design effective learning environments and experiences for students.
-  The skills, insights, and strategic knowledge required to successfully exploit the technologies.
-  Enables learners to process information using a variety of complex thinking skills.
-  Makes connections between what is rad and hte real world.
-  Authentic.
(Ikpeze & Boyd, 2007, p. 644-650)

What is my familiarity with this word?

Before reading about thoughtful literacy in this article, I had no prior knowledge of it.

Do I want to know this word well? Why?

I am very intrigued by this word.  i like the notion of thoughtful literacy.  I realize not all text lends itself to being critically responded to, but much content area text for students is the type of text that thoughtful literacy brings to mind.

Teaching students to be mindful and critical of what they are reading will be a major goal in my future classrooms.  I want my students to be inquisitive, interested, motivated, and emotional about what they're reading.  I want their learning to vbe authnetic and ot connect to their ou-of-school lives.

Do I want others to know this word well?  Why?

I feel like this concept vcan be a powerful motivational tool in classrooms that teachers shlould know about.  the be thougtful and criically responseive to anothers words can be a very powerful equalizer.  Just becuase someone wrote something in a book doesn't necessarily make that somehting ture.  Student can question many things about a text, and they should.

References

Ikpeze, C.H. & Boyd, F.B. (2007).  Web-based inquiry learning:  Facilitating thoughful literacy with
     WebQuests.  International Reading Association, 60 (7.5) 644-654.

7:4 Student Question Generation (Cognitive Strategy)

Where did I find this word?

I found this word in the Ciardiello article, Did you ask a good question today?  Alternative cognitive and metacognitive strategies.  This article was written to encourage student questioning instruction as a basis for higher level thinking about subject matter (Ciardiello, 1998, p. 210).

The author introduces the topic by identifying such limitations as teacher domination, student passivity, peer pressures, and instructional barriers as the leading deterrents to questioning instruction.  He asserts that student questioning is actually counter to what is happening in classrooms today (Ciardiello, 1998, p. 210).  After thinking about this for some time, I agree, student questioning is not happening in classrooms today.

What is the definition of this word?

The author of this article presents a cognitive and metacognitive strategy for student questioning use.  Ciardiello defines a cognitive strategy as a guided learning procedure for internalizing new information and performing higher level thinking operations.

Question generation teaches learners how to look for answers to questions that are important to them.  Student questioning generation training is a higher level cognitive skill.

What is my level of familiarity with this word?

I had no previous experience with this strategy.

Do I want to know this word well?  Why?

I would like to know this strategy well.  I like the explicit nature of this strategy.  I learn best explicitly at first, so when I read about this strategy, I decided that I would incorporate it into my own study habits.  So far it has worked well for me. 

I asked myself why I don't ask more questions in class.  I came up with some sort of an answer.  I think it's because when I learn something new, it takes me a lot of time to digest it, so I never know I have questions until I have some time to sit and absorb the material.  Especially if it's completely new and I don't have much, if any at all, background knowledge.

I also feel because I am a teacher, I should know this strategy well.  Teaching students to generate thought-provoking, deeper, clarifying questions should be a strategy teachers know well and can instruct on well in all content areas.

Do I think others should know this word well? Why?

Unless you're a student or are in the business of educating youngsters, this strategy is probably not going to be useful in your life.

References

Ciardiello, A.V. (1998).  Did you ask a good question today?  Alternative   
     cognitive and metacognitive strategies.  Journal of Adolescent and Adult
     Literacy, 42 (3), 210-219.

7:3 Inferencing

Where did I find this word?

This is a word that has come up time and again in lesson plans, scholarly articles, required literacy skills lists, graduate courses, and of course, clinic.

This word came up in a methods class I am taking this semester in a unit on comprehension instruction. 

What is the definition of this word?

Wikipedia.com (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferencing) has a solid definition of the word.  The website suggests that inferencing  is the act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true.

After some careful deliberation, we as a whole class came up with a very simple yet effective definition of inferencing.  We decided that:

     Inferencing = background knowledge + Text Concepts.

In other words, inferencing is taking what a student already knows (background knowledge) and then adding to that the concepts presented within the text (text concepts) and using those two main ingredients to come to a conclusion about the upcoming text.

What is my level of familiarity with this word?

As I stated earlier, this word has come up many times over my literacy studies at Nazareth.  I guess I knew what the word meant but I couldn't explain it and I have an extremely difficult time teaching the concept of inferencing.  Because I understand it is a widely used comprehension strategy, I did some research into teaching the concept the right way, so now I have a firmer grasp on what the true definition of the concept is.

Do I want to know this word well?  Why?

As a teacher I should know this word well, I should be able to explain it, model it, answer queries about it, etc. but if I am just simply a reader, knowing this word well isn't very important to me.  As a reader, I know that I know how to inference and that I do it constantly while reading, but the response is so automatic that I don't think about doing it, I just do it.

Do I want others to know this word well? Why?

Any educators teaching English, Literacy, or Reading should understand this word well.  I think that it is one of the most difficult strategies to teach children. 

I don't feel that the general public needs to know this word well.  I think we all do it, we just don't think about doing it.



7:2 Direct Explanation of Comprehension Strategies

Where did I find this word?

I found this word while reading the Clark and Graves piece entitled, Scaffolding students' comprehension of text.  The authors in this reading describe the importance of scaffolding students' comprehension of text.  They introduce effective techniques and examples of scaffolding.

Direct Explanation of Comprehension Strategies is introduced by the authors as an instructional procedure for teaching comprehension strategies.

What is the definition of this word?

Direct Explanation of Comprehension Strategies teaches individual strategies in an explicit and  very straightforward way (Clark & Graves, 2005, p.576).

There are five components to this procedure:

1.  An explicit description of the strategy and when and how to use it.

2.  Teacher and/or student modeling of the prediction strategy in action.

3.  Collaborative use of the strategy in action.

4.  Guided practice using the strategy with gradual release of responsibility.

5.  Independent use of the strategy.

What is my level of familiarity with this word?

I hadn't seen this instructional procedure prior to reading this article.  I did know the difference between explicit and implicit instruction and before I read the article, I predicted that this procedure was similar to explicit teaching/learning strategies.

Is this a word I want to know well? Why?

Because as a learner, this procedure compliments my learning style.  I think that teachers tend to teach like they learn.  In other words, visual learners tend to use more visual/media oriented lessons, where as oral learners use a more lecture-like teaching style.

I need to be explicitly explained, preferably in writing, the requirements of an assignment in order to feel confident about doing a good job.

I think I should know this procedure well because it is a clear and concise formula that scaffolds' student's comprehension of text.

Do I want others to know this word well?  Why?

Those involved in serving students should understand this procedure.  It is important that we give our students as many comprehension tools as possible to help them understand what they are reading.

References

Clark, K.F. & Graves, M. F. (2005).  Scaffolding students comprehension of

     text.  The Reading Teacher, 6 (58), 570-580.

7:1 Pass Interference

Where did I find this word?

I first heard this word as a child while watching football games with my father.

What is the definition of the word?

The official definition, as I read on nfl.com (http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/passinterference), states that pass interference can be any of the following:

a.  Contact by a defender who is not playing the ball,

b.  Grabbing a receivers arm(s) in such a manner that restricts his opportunity to catch the pass,

c.  Extending an arm across the body of a receiver in an attempt to make a play on the ball

What is my level of familiarity with this word?

I hear this word many, many, many times every Sunday, Monday night and some Thursday nights during the NFL season.

I think it is one of the more stupid rules in the NFL rulebook (there are many).  I mean, isn't the whole point of the game to keep the opposing player from catching the pass??????

If the opposing player catches the pass, there's the possibility of that player scoring points.  If the opposing player does not catch the pass, then the possibility of scoring points is zero. 

The penalty for pass interference is ten yards, free yards, for the team that the penalty occurred against and an automatic first down.  Automatic first down?????  For those who are not familiar, an automatic first down gives the team that did not commit the penalty, THREE (yes, THREE) chances to move the chains.  Moving the chains means the possibility of scoring points.

I've seen this penalty cost teams plays, games, even championships. 

Do I want to know this word well? Why?

This is a word I wish never existed.  It doesn't make sense.

Do I want others to know this word well?  Why?

I feel that those who like the sport of football should know this word well.  The people actually playing the sport (the players, the coaches, the referees) should know this word extremely well because the consequences of committing this offense can be quite costly.

The NFL changes the rulebook every season.  This is a call that should be scrapped.

References

National Football League, (2011).  NFL Official Rulebook.  Retrieved from
     http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/passinterference.

6:3 New Literacies Skills

Where did I find this word?

I found this word in the book, Grown Up Digital, by Don Tapscott.  Don Tapscott is a commentator on the transformative impact the digital age has on our modern society.  This book is about what Tapscott describes as the Net Generation and its contributions to our society.

I found the phrase "new literacies skills" in the chapter of the book addressing the Net Generation brain.  The author goes into detail of how the brains of the members of this generation function differently (than even their parents) while searching for information online (rather than in traditional text).

What is the definition of this word?

Donald Leu, the codirector of the New Literacies Research Team at the University of Connecticut (and a member of the International Reading Association's Hall of Fame), asserts that "new literacies skills" are "litreacy skills necessary for individuals, groups, and societies to access the best information in the shortest time to identify and solve the most important problems and then communicate this information" (Tapscott, 2009, p 112).

What is my familiarity with this word?

I have transacted with the term "new litaracies" in many of my graduate classes.  I am a business teacher that instructs in a variety of computer science classes in high school, so, this term has come up a lot in the past few years. 

Because of the transformative nature of our digital society, my level of familiarity with this term continues to evolve.  I am continually adding and subtracting descriptive elements from my prior knowledge of this term.

Do I want to know this word well and why?

This is definitely a term that I want to know well.  Because I am a teacher and also becuase I'm working and going to school fully submersed in the digital culture.  I am also raising a son that will see techological advances in his lifetime that we can only imagine now.  It is imperative that I know how to communicate with and within these new literacies and new technologies.

Do I want others to know this word well?  Why or why not?

In order to live in a society such as ours, it is important that individuals are well versed in the literacies of the day.  In order to be effective employers, employees, parents, educators, consumers, and civic-minded individuals, people need to be aware of the discourses that they are involved in.

Reference

Tapscott, D. (2009).  Grown up digital: How the net generation is changing your world.  New York, NY:  McGraw-Hill.