New Literacy Project: Cultural Literacy

 1. Since the beginning of this class my understanding of literacy has changed drastically. I understood that literacy encompasses reading, writing, and comprehension, however doing this project has helped me gain more knowledge about how literacy goes beyond that. I now know that literacy helps us express who we are through visual, cultural, social, etc.   It is related to our everyday life and can be used to describe one’s self. Researching my new literacy has helped me understand that it is important for students to understand each other to eliminate stereotyping, assumptions, or ideas about a person. Doing this project has also helped me realize that as a teacher it is my duty to have students relate to the materials used in class such as books and other media resources. Creating a website helped me to enhance my thinking because it caused me to search videos and different articles surrounding my topic. Doing this helped me gain a better understand of how other teachers have used, or is using these new literacy in their classroom. Also, creating the website has gave me an idea that I will be implementing in my classroom which is social networking through creating your own web page. This incorporation of technology will get my students excited about learning.

 2. Providing effective literacy instruction to diverse learners means that every student it different so it is up to teachers to make them feel a part of the learning. It is important that we educate students about diversity so that they can be productive in society. Seeing that every student is different it is imperative that we design lessons that caters to all students needs. The research I conduced about cultural literacy has informed my thinking because it has caused me to look at all literacy materials differently. Now when I look at children’s literature I look for key elements such as diversity among racial groups. Using the technology has made me technological savvy, now I am able to use this when creating lesson plans for students.

3. Lesson Plan

Target area rationale:

Cultural Literacy is important for students because it allows them understand the people around them. I will be using Weebly as a technology source that allows students to be creative and express themselves through presentation. This will not only allow them to gain knowledge about cultural literacy but also about technology.  Through this lesson students will be able to identify similarities amongst each other and appreciate differences.  

Objective:

1.     Students will be able to use Weebly to create a webpage that expresses who they are

2.     Students will chose a book that they feel represents their culture and use it on their website as a focus point.

3.     Students will work in groups and each group member will present their partners web page.

4.     Students will be able to identify similarities amongst each other and appreciate difference

Materials:

Computers (with internet access)

Pencil

Paper

Books

Outline of Key Events:

Intro: I will explain to students what culture is and how it is apart of everyone’s life. We will discuss cultural universals so that students can understand that we all share certain aspects. I then introduce the term cultural literacy to students. I will explain why it is important and how it will be used in the classroom. I will show students different books that incorporate multicultural literacy so that they know how to chose books for the lesson.

Discuss: As a whole class we will go over the Weebly and how to use it. I will share with students my web site that I will design to give them a resource for creating their own. During this will discuss how I used a book to tell my own cultural story. I will also show students how to search different things on the Internet that they may include in their website.

Activity 1: Students will select a book from the school library that they feel expresses them culturally. They will read the book and take notes about key points they feel will be good for their website.

Activity 2: Students will begin to create their website using the information they gain from discussion and their book selection.  Students will use the Internet to help formulate their thinking and acquire new knowledge about culture and literacy. Students will also use the Internet to help them with web design (pictures, videos, etc).

Pair Share: Students will pair with another student to learn more about them and their culture. Students will have their partner share their website with the class.  They will also share with the class what new aspect they learned from their partner.

Closing summary:

I will ask students what they learned by doing this lesson. We will recap what we have discussed about cultural literacy and how it affects all of us, we will also revisit cultural universals to see if students were able to identify any of them from their partners website. This lesson will introduce students to a new technology that they will be using throughout the semester. Students will also be able to identify multiculturalism when reading different books.

Ongoing Assessment: Students will use their website to publish their writing throughout the semester as they learn more about cultural literacy. Students will also use the website to post family pictures, special holidays, birthdays, family trips, or anything else that represents their culture.