Critical reading of genres: a cross-curricular tool-and-result in the teaching-learning activity

1. Critical reading of genres: a cross-curricular tool-and-result in the teaching-learning activity Angela Cavenaghi-Lessa (PUC- SP) cavenagh@uol.com.br Fernanda Liberali (PUC- SP) liberali@uol.com.br

2. Organization • Objective • Research Group in AL • Acting as Citizens: reading in different fields • Theoretical background • Critical Research • Concluding Remarks

3. OBJECTIVE: • discuss the importance of genre critical reading as a cross- curricular tool-and-result in the teaching-learning activity.

4. RESEARCH GROUP IN AL • Doctors, doctoral students, master students , undergraduates • Objective: to understand - transform the unacceptable conditions of Brazilian deprived communities through education

6. If I could I would touch my own destiny

7. I wouldn’t be a lost pilgrim in this immense dog-eat-dog world

8. Nor would I be the good boy who sells lemon

9. Who works in the open fair

10. so as to buy some stale bread

11. I wouldn’t learn wickedness in life

12. Crave to placate my own starvation without robbing anyone

13. I swear I wouldn’t even be acquainted with youth prisons

14. That have been my home ever since I was a child

15. It is bad to wake up at dawn to sell candies in the train

16. If I could change my destiny

17. Today I would be someone

18. I would be an intelectual

19. But since I did not have a chance to study in good schools

20. Many people call me juvenile delinquent (pivete)

21. But very few gave me any support

22. I f I could I would not be a social problem

23. I f I could I would not be a social problem

24. I f I could I would not be a social problem

25. I f I could I would not be a social problem

26. I f I could I would not be a social problem

28. Program: Acting as Citizen • Teacher education intervention program (PUC-SP – State Secretary of Education); • Aim: develop citizenship as a condition of those who do not simply accept that which is provided to them but who also want to construct their own rights and duties interdependently. (Freire, 1970 and 2000; Lessa, Liberali & Fidalgo, 2005)

29. Project: Reading in Different Subject Areas • Carapicuíba: dormitory town in the outskirts of São Paulo; • Aim: teaching-learning of different subject areas mediated by different genres (Bakhtin, 1953).

30. Teacher Education Perspective • Need detected: problems with reading • Teachers of different subject areas meet monthly to: • discuss how to critically read different genres in their own subject areas; • discuss teaching-learning approaches to discursively engage in social practices through reading; • develop tasks to work with their students. • Emphasis on: comic strips, informative texts and short narratives.

31. REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY(Newman and Holzman, 2002) Tool-for-result • identified and recognized as usable for a certain end Tool-and-result • specifically designed to create what we ultimately wish to produce • defined in and by the process of the production of its objects

32. Revolutionary Activity: Vygotsky, 1930/ 1991 Newman and Holzman, 2002 Tools subject Object: Ideal Tool-and-Result real

33. Need: critically participate in and evaluate society Subjects: students in deprived communities Real objects: Subject Contents (scientific and everyday concepts) Ideal images: Critical use and analysis of these concepts in the real world Tools: Critical reading Initial tool-and-result: critical reading of different genres to understand different school subjects

34. Piteco Comic Strips: Science WondersNatural Science Group Tânia, Cristina, Denny, Denilson, Ernesto, Ana Maria, Rosalina, Maria

37. General Objectives : Developing knowledge of different subject areas through the reading of comic strips Specific Objectives: Working on clonning, fossils, the evolution of species and the geological eras in comic strips Target Areas : science and biology - evolution of species, fossils, clonning, reproduction, geological eras, biotechnologies and ethics. geography - vegetation, animals, climate, geological eras, formation of rocks and fossils. history - pre-history, early beginnings of humanity, technology and ethics. Portuguese - narrative text, punctuation, onomatopoeia (insect sounds), direct speech(1st person - "Professor Bagulho! Look what I found!") and chronological order.

38. The wonders of Knowledge You certainly have already observed a great variety of insects. Try to remember: Have you ever been bitten by a mosquito? (…) 2 - The wonders of Discovery: How many classmates have already been bitten by mosquitoes? How many are allergic to mosquito bites? Do these bites cause any type of disease? Which ones? (…) 3. The wonderful Comics: What is the aim of comic strips? ( ) fun ( ) investigation ( ) information ( ) entertainment ( ) motivate reading How can you support your answer? Which comics do you normally read? Have you ever read Piteco’s comics? How do you like it?

39. 4. The wonderful time trip with Piteco: 1) What evidences show you that the beginning of the story takes place in pre-history? In order to answer this question, observe the written text and the images in the story. 2) Have dinosaurs and men lived together, in the same era? 3)In this comic strip story the insect has been conserved: a) in a tree, b) in amber, c) in rocky substrata, d) in the ice 4) How did you get to this conclusion? 5. Science Wonders X Piteco: (…) 2) Why was the scientist so disappointed with the results of his experiment? 3) Why has this result occurred? 4) What did he expect to get through this experiment? 5)" We can remove the genetic code of dinosaurs and , by means of modern science, create hundreds of animals like these!". Through what scientific procedure can we “create” genetically equal beings?

40. 6. The wonders of speaking: 1)Find in the text a line that expresses: a) admiration: b) pain: (…) 4) Why is “Science Wonders” the title of the story? 7. The wonderful past and future Researching: (…) 3) What is the meaning of the word cloning? 4) What benefits can the so called modern science bring to mankind? (…) 8. The wonders of creativity : Based on the use of Biotechnology for the benefit of mankind, create a comic strip story that represents this scientific evolution. Remember that in order to create a comic strip story you have to relate the images of the frames to the text. A great part of the meaning comes from the images.

41. CONCLUDING REMARKS Reading in different areas as a tool-and-result: • integrates tool and object; • turns the teaching-learning activity into a revolutionary experience. Students: • have a chance to learn the contents of the different subject areas through the texts they read; • learn to read these genres critically.

42. CONCLUDING REMARKS Teacher Education Activity: • establishes solid ground for a cross-curricular view of education • creates a chance to move from the divided - though unshared - knowledge reproduction school model to a shared, undivided type of production, of truly non-encapsulated knowledge (Engestrom, 1991).