My ELA Vision: Then and Now

When I began this course, I didn't quite understand the concept of what "ELA" meant. Three months later, I now have a full-bodied idea of what English Language Arts is, it's importance and various ways it can be taught in the classroom. It's cross-curricular value in reading, writing and oracy is unmatched, I believe, by any other subject. One of the most important things I've learned within this course is that the Language Arts is essential to students' success.

My vision of the ELA classroom three months ago was one that was more general of the one in which I hold now. I knew that I wanted to keep my students interested, and that I wanted to integrate more "real life" examples from students' lives into the material that they were learning, but I didn't know how I wanted to do this. Basically, the difference between then and now is I had the message, I just needed a medium. I feel I have learned various techniques on how to deliver the material now.

For example, I now have ways that I can have the students represent their work and ideas. As they complete their assignments, I can have them create short picture slideshows or voicethreads to be presented in class and posted on the web. While they are thinking of ideas for a story, they can brainstorm visually using chart paper in "theme stations" as groups, or they can think of ideas for character development using the Garden Party idea and then using a writing prompt such as a fortune cookie to get them started.

Writing prompts such as the fortune cookie, and others that we brainstormed as a class are excellent ways to get the students off and running on any writing, not just stories. Reading a poem aloud and then asking the students to remember certain words with which they would use to write their own poems is a great prompt. If you have the students read their poem aloud when they are done, this can be seen as excellent practice for the students' oracy skills. The "Bare Bones" game is one that I can see working with my kids; having each student write a line, folding the paper up and passing it to the next student to write their own line and continue the story. The drama version of this writing game which Laura's group used during their lesson plan assignment is also an excellent way of getting students to write. Have a student come up and start the drama game by acting out a certain behaviour. Then have student after student come up and build on the story by picking up where the previous student left off and continuing it with their own motion. Daniel's group and their writing prompt of seeing what's inside the head of the character is another one that I will definitely be using in my classroom.

I envision my class using a lot of their oracy and group skills. I will have them do a lot of group work during brainstorming and even acting as a cross-curricular with ELA-Drama. All students will be expected to contribute ideas both orally and through written language as a class and during group work. I believe that when students are expected to speak to each other, this improves their oracy and social skills. Once in awhile I will have the students act out what they have written, as an example of alternative ways to express their ideas. This will also improve their oracy and help each student develop a deeper understanding of their work.

As for reading, I will have students read what interests them. The "Hunger Games", for example, or some other literary work that my kids will be interested in. I will try and avoid Shakespeare, however sometimes the IRPs and PLOs get in the way and it must be taught. I feel that even graphic novels would be acceptable, as they long as they are found as an appropriate resource within the PLOs. Even reading books like Robin Stevenson's series I would be very interested in trying out in my class. Anything that is fresh, appropriate and interesting to my students I will be trying to use in my classroom.

I can definitely see myself using Podcasts. Technology is becoming more and more prevalent in the classroom model and I think it would be unique and advantageous to integrate podcasts and voicethreads into the classroom. This would cause the students to become more engaged with their work because they are creating it on the computer, and they would be able to learn electronically from other students that have created voicethreads. Also, by posting their work online, this just gives students another forum to express their ideas and be proud of their work.

As for alternative assessment, I would have students read their work out loud or observe them as they acted out their stories or poems as a group. I would check for deeper understanding of the material or their oracy abilities.

I had the ideas before, now I have the methods to make it happen. I am a little bit more comfortable now with the idea of teaching ELA in the classroom, though I still have a long way to go. I'm excited to have gained knowledge of the various ways that the English language can be instructed, represented and assessed and look forward to putting these into action.