Teach Them How: Critical and Creative Literacy through Digital Fiction

1. Margo Edgar Kate Story Teach Them How: Critical and Creative Literacy through Digital Fiction

2. http://pascoevale5-6.wikispaces.com/Digital+Literacy+-+Inanimate+alicehttp://pascoevale5-6.wikispaces.com/Digital+Literacy+-+Inanimate+alice Episode 4 Sophie & Xiao Yi

3. Workshop Overview • Background • Educative Purpose of project • Explicit teaching of critical and creative literacy through digital fiction • What it looks like in plans and in action • Assessment as, for and of learning

4. Givens • Workshop model • Explicit teaching • Culture of literacy and thinking- valued, visible and actively promoted • High expectations for academic rigour • Accountable talk and conversations

5. Decisions before starting at PVPS • Grade 6 only • Timetable issues • Technology access • Prelude- Me as a reader and a writer • Accountable talk and conversations • Clear expectations for students

6. Bloom’s TaxonomyPlanning for Strategic Readers and Writers of Digital Fiction • Evaluation- How can they use their knowledge, understandings and connections of narratives, digital fiction and Inanimate Alice to evaluate theirs, and others, episodes? How can they back up and support their evaluations as writers? • Synthesis- How can the students use their understandings and connections of narratives, digital fiction and Inanimate Alice to write and create their own episode? • Analysis- How can the students further analyse and break down their understandings of printed and digital fiction to get even deeper comprehension and connections? How can they further analyse and break down Inanimate Alice to be able to establish author’s style, intent and craft? • Application- How can the students apply what they know and understand about reading and writing printed and digital fiction? How can they make connections and apply their understanding to themselves as readers and writers of digital fiction? • Comprehension- What do you want the students to understand about reading and writing digital fiction? • Knowledge- What do you want students to know about reading narratives – printed and digital? What do you want students to know about writing narratives – printed and digital?

7. Educative Purpose and Intent The intention of this unit of work: • To apply critical and creative literacy skills to deconstruct digital fiction texts as readers • To analyse and establish author’s craft, purpose and formulas to write and create their own digital text. • To reflect critically on their own role as readers and writers throughout this journey.

8. Read the text Analysed the text as readers Questions and wonderings as readers of the text Analysed their reading of the digital text Compared their reading of print to digital text Watched Episode 1 Identified structure and features of narrative texts Compared structure and features of printed and digital narrative texts Developed criteria/expectations for digital fiction • Accountability to articulate: • their journey as writers of digital fiction • the decisions made as writers in the process of creating • how their episode aligns with previous episodes. Used formula to create episode 4: written and digital elements Identified structure, features and author’s style for Inanimate Alice- formula for writing

11. Read the text Analysed the text as readers Questions and wonderings as readers of the text

13. Read the text Analysed the text as readers Questions and wonderings as readers of the text Analysed their reading of the digital text Compared their reading of print to digital text Watched Episode 1

17. Read the text Analysed the text as readers Questions and wonderings as readers of the text Analysed their reading of the digital text Compared their reading of print to digital text Watched Episode 1 Identified structure and features of narrative texts Watched episode 2 Compared structure and features of printed and digital narrative texts Developed criteria/expectations for digital fiction

23. Read the text Analysed the text as readers Questions and wonderings as readers of the text Analysed their reading of the digital text Compared their reading of print to digital text Watched Episode 1 Identified structure and features of narrative texts Watched episode 2 Compared structure and features of printed and digital narrative texts Developed criteria/expectations for digital fiction in general. Watched episode 3 Identified structure, features and author’s style for Inanimate Alice- formula for writing

29. Changes: What differences are there in the three texts? Can you identify patterns in these differences?

30. Storyline: What elements/themes can you identify that are common to all three episodes?

31. Author’s Craft: What techniques and strategies has the author used to create this text?

32. Text Structure: What is similar about how the text is structured across all three episodes?

33. Read the text Analysed the text as readers Questions and wonderings as readers of the text Analysed their reading of the digital text Compared their reading of print to digital text Watched Episode 1 Identified structure and features of narrative texts Watched episode 2 Compared structure and features of printed and digital narrative texts Developed criteria/expectations for digital fiction in general. Watched episode 3 Used our analysis and thinking to create episode 4: written and digital elements Identified structure, features and author’s style for Inanimate Alice- formula for writing

35. Read the text Analysed the text as readers Questions and wonderings as readers of the text Analysed their reading of the digital text Compared their reading of print to digital text Watched Episode 1 Identified structure and features of narrative texts Watched episode 2 Compared structure and features of printed and digital narrative texts Developed criteria/expectations for digital fiction in general. Watched episode 3 • Accountability to articulate: • their journey as writers of digital fiction • the decisions made as writers in the process of creating • how their episode aligns with previous episodes. Used our analysis and thinking to create episode 4: written and digital elements Identified structure, features and author’s style for Inanimate Alice- formula for writing

38. Writing Conversations

39. Specific language skills that were developed : • Awareness and use of correct tense • Correct use of a range of punctuation • Sentence structure (simple and complex) • Use of dialogue conventions • Figurative language • Extended vocabulary – consideration of word choice / deliberate word choice • Structure of texts – specifically narrative • Importance of writing for an audience (reading your work as a reader) • Creating images for the reader – through combination of words and visuals • Writing descriptively • Using author techniques • Organisation of text • Relevance vs irrelevance • Revising your work through the lens of a reader not just as a writer

40. Planning and Assessment: Inanimate Alice Unit Planner Isabella’s reflection Will’s reflection http://pascoevale5-6.wikispaces.com/Digital+Literacy+-+Inanimate+alice

41. Using our unit of work as an entry point.

42. Entry Point: Unit of Work

43. Engage • Capabilities: • Develops shared norms • Determines readiness for learning • Establishes learning goals • Develops metacognitive capacity • Expectations clear from the beginning and revisited as necessary and appropriate • Discussion on choices of working partner (Clear expectations straight from VELS for working together, thinking, organisation) • Introduction of text before digital – to promote interest, curiosity, questioning • Purpose for reading and writing – final goal of production • Writing Conversations- Students as Writers (relationships) • Drawing on prior knowledge • Challenging learning task • Accountable Talk and Conversations- using evidence

44. Explore • Capabilities: • Prompts inquiry • Structures inquiry • Maintains session momentum • Narratives investigation- what does a good narrative look like? • Exploring digital texts – how do I read them, comparisons with print, who is Alice, inferring vs known • Questions and wonderings- ongoing as readers and writers • Work with partners, work with small groups, whole group discussions, accountable conversations • Strategic planning for exploration • Changing plan as we go to suit group • Read together, read independently • Structured explicit teaching - provide students with identified skills to achieve final task

45. Explain • Capabilities: • Presents new content • Develops language and literacy • Strengthens connections • Group discussions • Explicit focus for every session –geared to identified needs, issues or problems(individual and collective)e.g. structures and features of texts and writing process: figurative language, editing, tense, dialogue • Writing conferences • Use of appropriate language and evidence

46. Elaborate • Writing conferences • ICT Conferences • Expectations as writers to be accountable for decisions made • Sharing and reflecting as writers (workshop model) • Socratic Circles/ Fishbowls • Use of powerpointas the medium for presentation: to explore possibilities previously undiscovered • Student develop rubrics • Capabilities: • Facilitates substantive conversation • Cultivates higher order thinking • Monitors progress

47. Evaluate • Capabilities: • Assesses performance against standards • Facilitates student self assessment • Use of rubrics as a self assessment and peer assessment tool • Peer evaluations • Student reflections (blogs/ written for digital portfolios) • Final writing conference evaluations • Sharing and revising prior to completion date • Student evaluation/ feedback on unit and teaching • Parallel assessment piece

48. Entry Point: Teacher Reflections and Future Directions

49. Entry Point: Teacher Reflections and Future Directions • Inanimate Alice • Unit plan • Teacher reflections- Levels (literacy unit/ general) • Future directions • Auditing tool • Goal setting (unit plan & teaching)

50. Margo Edgar: Pascoe Vale Primary School edgar.margo.i@edumail.vic.gov.au Kate Story: Northern Metropolitan Region (Melbourne) Teaching and Learning Coach + Consultant story.kate.e@edumail.vic.gov.au