Identify a year level to focus on and select a high-quality children’s picture book for use in a K-2 classroom. Justify the book choice with reference to its linguistic features and the opportunities it offers for developing code breaking and meaning making. Design teaching and learning activities to develop K-2 students’ literacy skills with considerations for struggling readers and EAL/D students.
The Task: Focus on Reading and Viewing
Create a package of resources for use with K-2 students that develops emergent or early Reading and Viewing skills with Rationale.
This package has 7 sections and includes:
1. Selecting a book:
Identify a year level (from K to Year 2) to focus on. Select one picture book (THE BOOK OF THE YEAR: EARLY CHILDHOOD) to be used in the Modelled Reading strategy from The Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2018 or 2019 notable list for use in the classroom.
2. Potential teaching content and justification of the book choice: (Approx. 800 words)
To justify your selection, you will need to:
a) Describe the themes (i.e. topics and moral messages) of the book
b) Analyse and identify in the book suitable language and visual features that the teacher can use to model decoding and comprehension to students of the selected year level with reference to:
Note: Provide 3 examples of each of language and visual features that you identify.
c) Argue for the suitability of the book for the intended Year level (Refer to Hill 2012, chapter 7 and the NESA syllabus Stage Statement and syllabus Learning Outcomes or the Australian Curriculum: English).
3. Modelled Book Orientation (Approx. 200 words)
Write a transcript of a series of focused statements and questions indicating how you could get students engaged and interested in the book and prepare them well before reading it aloud to them.
4. Working with the text: (Equivalent to 400 words)
After reading the book aloud, in the Working with the text stage, you are going to use the book again to develop students’ decoding and comprehension skills. Specifically, you are going to design activities to teach ONE of the three contents: Phonological Awareness for decoding, Vocabulary and Visual Literacy for comprehension using the examples of the language features in you identified in section 2.
a) Select one aspect of each of the three contents that your book can be used to model to your students:
(1) Phonological awareness: select ONE from the followings: phonemes, onset-rime, blends, and phonics.
(2) Vocabulary: select ONE from the followings: synonyms, antonyms, homophones, tier 2 literary words (e.g. emotive words, descriptive words, onomatopoeia) and compound words.
(3) Visual Literacy: select ONE from the followings: visual for expressing ideas, visual for interacting with others, language-image relations.
b) Specify the relevant NESA syllabus learning outcome and one indicator (not counted towards the 600 words) that the teaching content addresses. Underline the specific aspect of the indicator that matches the content.
c) Using dot points, outline 1 activity sequence that includes 3 activities: Modelled-Guided-Independent) to teach of the 3 contents above.
Note: The activity sequence needs to include the use of technology. Extra teaching and learning resources can be provided in the Appendix.
5. Teaching and assessing comprehension: (Approx. 400 words)
a) Design three questions, each to assess one level of comprehension (i.e. literal, interpretive and inferential) that you could use to develop and monitor students’ comprehension of the picture book. Provide a copy of the sections of the text you used to design the questions in the Appendix (not counted towards word limit)
b) Provide possible answers to the questions.
c) Using dot points, briefly outline how you could model the working out of the answers of the literal and interpretive questions from the text. Make sure you model relevant comprehension strategies and language features to the students.
6. Supporting struggling readers: (Approx. 200 words)
Suggest 2 strategies to support struggling readers including EAL/D students: one at school (teacher focused strategy) and one at home or in the community (parent focused strategy). Drawing on the unit references, provide justification for the choice of strategies in the light of current literacy theories, including the role of oral language in learning to read.
7. A reference list using the current APA referencing style (not included in the word count).
Purpose:
This task will enable students to identify a year level to focus on and select a high-quality children’s picture book for use in a K-2 classroom. Students will demonstrate understanding of the suitability of a picture book’s theme, language and visual features to a particular year level. They will also demonstrate their ability to select relevant learning outcomes and design creative and effective teaching and learning activities to develop K-2 students’ literacy skills, with considerations for struggling readers and EAL/D students. The purpose of this task will enable students to draw on reflections and critical analysis of research, theories, issues and topics covered in the unit and to engage in critical and reflective thinking about current issues in literacy education after practical application.
Learning outcomes assessed: 1,3,4,5
How to submit: Submit as a word document including your names and student numbers in the footer on Turnitin. Save the file with your full name.
Return of assignment: The assignment will be marked and returned electronically via LEO as appropriate within 3 weeks after the submission date excluding public holidays.
Assessment criteria: See Appendix 1