Blog Post #4- Oral Communication

Fostering a Love for Speaking Confidently!

"Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow" 

-- Lawrence Clark Powell

The Importance of Oral Communication

Oral communication has an important role for students in developing fundamental skills of literacy and is essential for thinking and learning. With this strand, listening and speaking skills are emphasized for a variety of concepts that are necessary in life, such as social interaction at home, school, and in the community. Therefore, students should learn to implement strategies to become an effective listener and speaker. As suggested in the Language Curriculum, students are required to develop their oral communication skills through "numerous opportunities to listen to talk about a range of subjects, including personal interests, school work, and current affairs" (OME, 2006, pg. 9).

When concentrating on the junior grades, teachers should provide students with opportunities that engage in various oral activities, which are equated to curriculum expectations of the language strand. For the oral communication strand, specifically regarding the junior grades, the overall expectations that students are expected to meet include:

1. Listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes;
2. Use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes;
3. Reflect on and identify their strengths as listeners and speakers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in oral communication situations.

(OME, 2006, pg. 108). 

If students are given the opportunity to experience oral communication in a variety of engaging oral activities, they don't only communicate information through speaking, they also explore and come to the understanding of ideas and concepts; identify and solve problems; organize their experience and knowledge; and express and clarify their thoughts, feelings, and opinions (OME, 2006, pg. 10).

Don't Judge a Book by its Title:

Reading books aloud, whether that is by the teacher, student-to-student, or with a parent can be extremely beneficial for students learning. Students become active listeners when others are reading, and enhance their speaking skills when they read to others. The language curriculum states that in order to strengthen oral language abilities, the development of reading and writing skills are required to help improve students' capacity to use and understand oral language clearly, accurately, and critically (OME, 2006, pg. 9-10). 

The online resource don't judge a book by its title, incorporates ways for students to read books to improve the overall and specific expectations of the language curriculum. For instance, on the website, the information "focuses on the identification and development of the skills and strategies effective listeners and speakers use" (OME, 2006, pg. 9), which can be done with the use of reading aloud. There is also an option to listen to audiobooks and share thoughts, instead of writing them. This is deemed beneficial for those who identify with accommodations, especially if they have trouble reading. Plus, using picture books and novel books with the junior grades can help with higher-order thinking, and therefore, stimulate students' interest and engage their learning (OME, 2006, pg. 10).

As for the language arts curriculum, the blog addresses overall expectation #3 and specific expectation #1.8 with respect to the grade 5 oral communication strand. Firstly, the overall expectation that would be meant is reflecting on and identifying their strengths as listeners and speakers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in oral communication situations". Secondly, for the specific expectation, students are to identify the point of view presented in oral texts and ask questions to identify missing or possible alternative points of view (Reeves & Vlahos, n.d.). Additionally, there were various multi-modalities incorporated in the resource, such as expressive: speaking and representing, as well as receptive dimensions: reading and listening. Overall, the website attached gave insightful resources for language and literacy, that I plan on implementing in my future practices.

Furthermore, this website provides various choices for books that can be used toward the oral communication strand, among curriculum connections.  This website focuses on "literature anthology" and incorporates social issues, such as equality and collectivism. I related to this on a personal level, mainly because our class has just completed a lesson plan on social justice issues. On the website, there is one book in particular that I was interested in and connected with, it is called We Share Everything! I have always been a huge fan of this book since I was younger because of the relationship I have with my brother. I remember hearing my friends talking about how their siblings were close in age and they never have to share their things. Before my brother was born, I thought the same thing would happen to me. Unfortunately, the 11 year age gap did not stop him from wanting to share everything, and so we did. 

Beneficial Online Applications:

Podcasts:

Podcasts are known as digital recordings, either with video and sound, or just an audio recording that is broadcast through the radio or a similar type of program. Generally speaking, it is a personal digital audio file that is created, shared and heard in a multitude of ways. Also, this type of resource can be ideal for meeting curriculum expectations for specific strands, such as oral communication, and possibly media literacy, depending on the focus of the content.

As described on The Beginner's Guide to Educational Podcasting, podcasts offer educators an easy alternative way to provide course content, whether in the form of lectures central to the course or in supplemental materials like interviews with experts and discussions on issues central to a course" (LT., 2016). In my previous forum post on audio resources, I discussed a few podcasts that I thought were beneficial. For example, Ted Talks are highly known for their educational and informative content. These have been shown in many classes during my undergraduate degree and are still being used throughout my current program.

For the elementary grades, like junior and intermediate, podcasts have been proven to stimulate interest and engage students learning. This type of resource is appealing to students because of the likelihood of making connections to 21st-century competencies. Especially, to current technological advances that they are familiar with, such as downloading, streaming, and other techniques. Also, students are confident using devices like ipads and laptops that house these types of apps, such as podcasts. Though, there is an accessibility factor that needs to be considered and addressed as an issue. There is going to be a few students, who may be of low socioeconomic status or do not have access to these types of resources, and could feel isolated if podcasts are incorporated into a class project.

Overall, teachers use podcasting as a versatile tool in the classroom. Here are some diverse ways that podcasts can be incorporated as an educational application:

• Record classroom expectations at the beginning of the year
• Classroom lectures
• Supplemental information
• Testing review sessions
• Help students with different learning styles
• Record classroom discussions
• Share teaching advice with other educators
• Use for student projects
• Supplement course material with outside experts

(Learning Technology, 2016).

Finally, as a future educator, I plan on incorporating different types of podcasting into my teaching practices, especially for listening purposes or creating a podcast when meeting expectations of the language curriculum.

Resources:

Learning Technology [LT] (June 21, 2016). The Beginner's Guide to Educational Podcasting. Retrieved from http://www.codlearningtech.org/2016/06/21/the-beginners-guide-to-educational-podcasting/

Ontario Ministry of Education (2006). The Ontario curriculum grades 1-8: Language. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf

Reeves, L. & Vlahos, M (n.d.). Smore: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover. Retrieved from https://www.smore.com/wdcp9-don-t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover

Blog Post #3- Writing Blog

Writing in World of Extravagant Opportunities

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that." 

--Stephen King

The Writing Process

The quote above by Stephen King is important to consider in terms of writing because students should be able to comprehend information presented to them, and then be able to reciprocate it through written work. As indicated in the Ontario Curriculum, "writing competence develops hand in hand with skills in other areas of language, especially reading" (OME, 2006, pg. 12).

Hanson, 2014

While these aspects of writing are important, it is necessary to recognize the elements of writing that make up the entire process of bringing ideas together to publish a piece. The stages of the writing process that are required in developing a piece of written work include:

1. Pre-writing
2. Drafting
3. Revising
4. Proofreading
5. Publishing

Pre-writing is the task that is taking time to think of ideas; a draft is taking the time to write down ideas; revising is the process of improving the writing while looking for errors and mistakes; proofreading is fixing the writing to make it correct; publishing is sharing the final written piece of work. The process of writing is critical because of the overall expectations defined by the Ontario curriculum guidelines. In respect to writing, students are to "generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience; and use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively" (MOE, 2006, pg. 86). Furthermore, when elementary students are writing pieces, whether that be essays, diaries, comic strips, emails, etc., they are reminded by teachers to think about the purpose, audience, and form.

Berninger, 2013

Types of Writing:

Modelled writing

Shared writing

Guided writing

Independent writing

Now that I have described the writing process, it is necessary to identify the four different types of writing that can be done with students. Modelled writing/write aloud helps with demonstrating proficient writing skills, extends student's writing ability and exposes students to varied text forms. Shared writing teaches and guides students through writing strategies, and extends understanding of the writing process. Guided writing is when teachers reinforce writing skills and strategies, teachers can ask students critical thinking question to propel writing, students can practice strategies, and helps students build confidence. Independent writing will assist students in independently practicing writing strategies, students can write at an independent level with self-regulation, and study words with emphasis on vocabulary, spelling and grammar. Other types of writing that are seen occasionally are interactive writing, reflective writing and global writing.

Wyatt, 2019 - EDBE 8P24: Language and Literacy

Making Writing Meaningful

In today's day and age, elementary students are finding any excuse possible to not take part in writing activities in Language and English classes. This is due to the misconception that students are evaluated on writing that is error-free and assessed on basic grammatical skills in their ability to transcribe speech to print (Jeter, 2016, pg. 62). When students are expected to perform the skill of writing without mistakes, they are fearful, then stressed for the next time they have to write for the purpose of being assessed and evaluated. Rather, teachers are trying to relate writing to real-world settings and reflect on past experiences. As identified in Fostering "Good" Writers: Making Writing Meaningful, students will enjoy expressing themselves in writing if they are aware of the idea "that writing is about making meaning, sharing, ideas, and getting things done", as opposed to only worrying about the grammar aspect (Jeter, 2016, pg. 63). Another viewpoint of writing to acknowledge for making writing meaningful is the concept of global writing. Global writing, as defined recently in class, is writing to be authentic, meaningful, real-life, and for a purpose. 

Writing Resources

Online Applications

As times keep developing in terms of technology and education, it is important to consider the multiple applications that are now available, in which students may find valuable for extra practice in writing. Apps that are widely known and have been introduced in education are:

Grammarly: this online website allows individuals an opportunity to check their written pieces to detect for grammar and spelling, style and tone, clear sentence structure, helps to eliminate errors, as well as finds the perfect words to be expressive. 

Twitter: this application is available online and on smartphones, to get important information across the world in a single tweet. Within a tweet, individuals have to be cautious with what they say, as it is public, and only have a certain amount of characters to fit their thoughts. This resource has been significant in terms of "hashtagging" for written communication online. Lately, a lot of teachers can be seen using this resource to find information based on just hashtag's alone. Some popular education hashtags that have been identified in our Language class are #education, #edtech, #mathchat, #engchat and more. For more information on the use of twitter hashtags, check out The Complete Guide to Twitter Hashtags for Education. 

ReadWriteThink: this online application has a variety of benefits that are available for teachers, students, and parents. There are classroom resources that students can find helpful, such as writing and publishing, organizing and summarizing, as well as writing poetry. When looking under classroom resources-printouts, I was able to find handouts for writing starters, a strategy guide for persuasive writing, a RAFT writing template, and many other accessible documents that are essential in developing writing. With this being said, students should consider types of strategies that can be found to assist with writing. 

Wyatt, 2019 - EDBE 8P24: Language and Literacy

Writing Strategies

As mentioned above, some online applications provide convenient documents that support the improvement of writing. For the younger grades, like junior/intermediate, teachers should highlight the use of graphic organizers to combine ideas. Graphic organizers are known as visual instructional tools that are used to express, organize and plan the thoughts, ideas or concepts to help students structure their knowledge and writing. Visit the Top 10 Writing Graphic Organizers, for more examples and handouts that students can utilize to enhance their writing.

TeacherVision, n.d. 

Concerning the four different types of writing, graphic organizers are strategies of independent writing. Whereas for collaborative and shared writing, there are various strategies with the use of technology and without technology. Suggestions for the technology include writable, an ether pad, write about this, boom writer, and story jumper, and for technology, teachers could implement mini-lessons, cubing, RAFT, clusters and/or author's chair. As mentioned earlier, in making writing meaningful, such as with global writing, online strategies that could be of assistance are Wordpress, Global Read Aloud or the 100 Word Challenge.

Techniques & Methods

Recently, I was introduced to new methods of writing styles and required to complete a series of tasks. In week 7, we looked at Haiku's, as well as rant poetry and slam. While in week 8 our class observed other pieces of poetry, such as patterns, which include a simile, two descriptive traits, an action, and another action. Overall, I would have never considered using these types of writing to help with different techniques of incorporating a sense of meaning and interest. Honestly, I had never thought to incorporate poetry or these types of methods, for the purpose of writing. Plus, in life every day, we see, hear and observe the writing process in multiple forms. For instance, I believe that music is important in terms of writing. As Berner says, "writing, creative nonfiction, fiction, and certainly poetry, is more like writing music than I had ever imagined" (July 23). Musicians have to take their thoughts and ideas, write them down and then attempt to create a melody out of it. Also, they complete the 6 steps to the writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, proofreading and publishing. These methods can fit into the Ontario Curriculum guidelines because students are to draft and revise their writing, using a variety of informational, literary, and graphic forms and stylistic elements appropriate for the purpose and audiences" (MOE, 2006, pg. 86).

Personal Exemplar

Resources:

Berner, D. (July 23). The Writing Cooperative: Writing is Like Music. Retrieved from https://writingcooperative.com/writing-is-like-music-befb38644af6

Berninger, D. (August, 25, 2013). Strength: The 5 Steps in the Writing Process for Strength and Conditioning. Retrieved from http://www.dougberninger.com/the-5-steps-of-the-writing-process-for-strength-and-conditioning/

Hanson, D. (June 23, 2014). Crafting Connections: Author's Purpose Anchor Chart. Retrieved from https://www.crafting-connections.com/2014/06/anchors-away-monday-62314-plus-monday.html

Heick, T. (June 28, 2017). Teachthought: What Teaching Writing In The 21st Century Might Look Like. Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/what-teaching-writing-in-the-21st-century-might-look-like/

Leibowitz, G. (August 24, 2017). Inc.: 50 Inspiring Quotes About Writing from the World's Greatest Authors. https://www.inc.com/glenn-leibowitz/50-quotes-from-famous-authors-that-will-inspire-yo.html

Ontario Ministry of Education. 2006. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8: Language. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf

TeacherVision (n.d.). Persuasive Letter Graphic Organizer. Retrieved from https://www.teachervision.com/graphic-organizer/persuasive-letter-graphic-organizer#