English, Literacies and Policy Contexts A Week Eight

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations : Criteria one is worth 20 marks. It involves what your young literacy learner can do. You will find valuable information to support you with this in the set text (Tompkins et al). If you revisit the readings for monitoring and assessment you will find lots of information and simple assessments to support you.

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations The Victorian Curriculum provides developmental ‘benchmarks’ that will also support you in identifying not only current skills but also future learning needs. ACARA and other Australian states have websites with valuable supporting information (eg WA First Steps) many of these are available through Links on Moodle but they are also easy to access through the web.

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Schools you visit may/will use alternative methods of assessment, eg PM benchmark kit, Reading Recovery running record sheet, online testing, record of oral language checklist and grade based checklists, that you may also be able to access. Make sure you have sufficient details to enable you to reference those from commercial sources or identify where it is from if you use others (eg school based, placement teacher’s checklist).

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Work samples and Running Records provide important ‘evidence’ of learning abilities (as well as learning needs). The set text (Tompkins et al) and the WA First Steps (see Moodle) provide useful information on how you can interpret these. Assessment also involves monitoring, this involves observation which includes looking at learning behaviours and progression not just ‘results’.

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Criteria one refers to reading, writing, speaking listening and viewing. Even though your learning plan for your student may have a focus on a specific area, you need to display that you have knowledge about their skills in all areas of literacy (and remember often they are interlinked). Explain not just what needs to be developed but also why.

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Identify not only what the child has learnt but also how they learn (based on your observations/and or analysis of work samples), and what approaches would best support their learning. Link this to the teaching and learning and literacy theories we have covered this semester, and refer to ideas and readings in this course.

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Link pedagogical suggestions to the ideas and readings in this course. If your placement teacher has some suggestions you may wish to incorporate these but still link them back to readings related to the course material (again Moodle has lots of links to relevant articles).

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Observe the way the child is learning (and even not learning). Is there one approach that suits them better than another? What are their strengths and weaknesses (See record of reading behaviour for ideas here)? Then consider how this relates to what you have read about literacy ‘learning theory’.

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Proofread your work, and if you can, get someone else to read it as well. Leave a day or a couple of hours between finishing and proofreading (the danger is that you read what you think is there, rather than what you have written).

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Use references of a suitable academic standard, beware of using random internet sites unless you can verify the quality of the source. If you use a ‘non academic’ site look for supporting evidence in the course readings as well. The course readings have been selected because they are authoritative and relevant. Refer to them (and articles on Moodle). Seek out relevant journal articles (again, Moodle can provides some guidance here).

Assessment 2 Some useful considerations Download the Federation University referencing guide (APA) and make sure you are familiar with what referencing involves. When you proofread take time to check your references against the APA guide.

Multiliteracies & Multimodal Texts In the Australian Curriculum, Literacy is defined as a process that involves “students listening to, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating oral, print, visual and digital texts and using and modifying language for different purposes in a range of contexts.” (Honan, 2013) The term multiliteracies covers what has also been regarded as electronic literacies, technoliteracies, digital literacies, visual literacies and print based literacies. (Hill, 2012) Multimodal texts are complex texts that involve the use of multiple modes (sound, movement, visual imagery)

Multimodal texts What are you seeing in the classrooms you are visiting? computers ipads ipods ebook readers interactive whiteboards xbox, Wii etc digital cameras television/film other

Multimodal texts Task: In groups of 4-6 discuss and record: How multimodal texts are being used in classrooms you are visiting. What advantages and disadvantages are you observing ? How are skills using these texts being developed? What other ways could/can they be utilised?

Multimodal texts Hill (2012) states ‘It has become evident that digital literacies and print-based literacy are not oppositional concepts; both are required for effective functioning in the 21st century’ (p. 369). Consider how you would justify the use of multimodal texts to a parent. How would you explain the importance of multiliteracies to them?

Questions, Reflections Concerns