"We need to examine what literacy activities our students are engaging with out of school and consider how we can form bridges to support students within school." (Pahl, p.70)
I think this is such an important concept. I feel like a lot of the time school becomes this vacuum where kids learn things for the sake of passing tests, and then as soon as they get home they forget everything they learned in school. This happens because what they're learning has nothing to do with their lives. So school becomes completely separate from "real life." We need to be in tune with what our students are doing outside of school so that we can make connections to those things in school work. This will make school relevant and memorable, not just an isolated environment that has no bearing on their real lives.
How do we find out what literacy activities our students are engaging in outside of school so that we can incorporate them in their school work?
I think your quote is very relevant to effective teaching. I think a good way to get to know how to connect the "bridge" is to have kids have a free write about what they like to do. Another idea is to have them turn to their neighbor and have them discuss about some favorites and then write about it. I think it will be hard to figure out all of the literacy activites they are involved in but it would be easier if you had a class blog all the parent could share info on. You could also have them discuss what they liked to read and write about from their world perspective.
ReplyDelete