The Best of New Literacies for New Times, Chapter One

The Best of New Literacies for New Times, Chapter One

• Although overwhelming in its breadth, this site is excellent for accessing primary documents.  I think it would be especially useful in creating jackdaws:  this letter from Woodie Guthrie would pair nicely with the children’s book This Land Is Your Land by Woodie Guthrie, along with maps from the era.  Uses for these primary sources are countless and extend across the curriculum – viewing pictures of children from the Civil War can be applied beyond social studies.  The lesson plans provided are helpful, but it’s even better when utilized as a springboard for new ideas.

• Here are math activities categorized by grade.  The activities would work extremely well in math centers.  They provide immediate feedback, which is invaluable, and provide authentic tasks – like skip counting by 2’s with pairs of socks or boots. 

• I could spend hours on this site.  Wow!  I’ve toyed with a lot of different strategies for engaging students with books (almost everything on here) but I’ve come across so many more!  I simply cannot wait to create a character life box.  And that’s just the homepage!  The side navigation links have so much to offer as well, like traditional and modern video clips of Aesop’s fables.

• This is really cool for emergent literacy.  Students can choose short stories that focus on the letter sound they’re learning, but unlike a book, they can click on a word and the website stretches/sounds the letters out (modeling for the child) and then blends the sounds together to form the word.  It teaches students the strategy necessary to tackle unfamiliar words.  

• My favorite site! They choose a “Site of the Week” and this week’s looks phenomenal!  It provides tons of cool, simple, and clear experiments that get me excited about science (traditionally my least favorite subject!)  But wait, there’s more!  It also links to Theme Pages, which are collections of activities and lessons centered around a theme (a second grade class I was in last week flipped over a Titanic read-aloud; a quick source like this is invaluable for teaching transactionally and student-directed learning).

• I’m a big proponent of celebrating the now and bringing the real world into the classroom.  And how much easier is it for me with this website?! At my fingertips are resources for the presidential campaign, the Superbowl, and Groundhog Day!

 
Many of these resources encourage children to search the internet for particular facts.  Does the lesson on critically analyzing the reliability of the information come before, simultaneously, or not at all?  It’s a complex concept for lower primary grade students, so is the hope that they learn by doing?

Ciao!