Literacy is an evolving process from the beginning of a life, consisting of all empirical data combined. At the First Grade level there will be variance in ability dependent on their individual pasts. The first step is assessing this ability in each student for both reading and writing. Kindergarten tips the iceberg of learning sight-words. First Grade delves deeper into this. By this point they should be past the scribbling stage and well into association of graphemes to phonemes. Even some may be familiar with more complex digraphs. Along with other literacy lessons like reading stories, pointing out the author and illustrator to give deeper understanding that all text represents words and ideas, reading to each other, and pre-reading with picture analysis there is a year long project lesson that I hold complete enamor. I only wish I could remember the name of the book that it was in. If anyone knows, please comment and I will post a link. This lesson succinctly ties in multiple literacy lessons and assessments with personal experience. During the course of the year they will complete an entire book with words and illustrations of their own story using the technique of scaffolding.
This may sound a bit daunting, but it is actual for any level of learning from Pre-K to Highschool and beyond with the right modifications. At the First Grade level we begin by taking turns telling a story vocally to the group. The teacher always begins with an example. Afterward, comprehension levels are checked with a discussion, question, and answer session. This is also a good way to implement Higher Order thought by asking for more background on the story. Being mostly in the Pre-operational stage and moving into Concrete Operations, a single page colored drawing with words describing a significant piece of the events depicted in the story is presented. Madeline Hunter, another educational theorist, uses a hook to get the student interested in the assignment. In this case that hook or anticipatory set would be the question, “How many of you would like to do something like this?” The initial assignment would be to think of a story to tell the class the next time it is met. Some student would also get a chance to tell theirs only to cement the idea into the other students heads that this was something they could all do.
At the next meeting the teacher retells the story adding a few details. Children are invited to tell their story with the same audience participation process the teacher went through. At roughly half time the teacher presents another drawing. This time it is a simple sketch of another piece of the action either before or after the previous. This is the beginning stages of teaching sequencing. That sketch is talked about briefly and the class is split into two groups – those who have told a story and those who have not. The storytellers begin working on their own rough sketch. Those who have not gone are put into pairs to share their stories with the other. They are encouraged to facilitate the same process of discussion. The following days this is repeated until all stories have been told to the class entire.
The lesson continues throughout the year always growing and building upon the last, which is the basis for scaffolding. Rather than exploring each lesson in depth, I will give a brief overview. The stories are told, the initial drawings are created, writing begins. They are asked, “What is happening here?” Sometimes the teacher will write a word for them or a sentence. Other times they will supply their own. Important elements of the drawing are discovered with text. Characters and objects are labeled. Verbs and adjectives are placed. Finally, sentences evolve with the addition of sight words to link them into sentences. None of the structures need complete accuracy at first. This will also evolve with constant guiding and assessment on the part of the teacher. When one drawing is finished, the next is begun with sequencing questions like, “What happened before / after / or in between?” Descriptive questions are asked to fill out the artwork and add more text like, “Who is this? What is this? Why are they doing this?” Cause and effect questions are also discovered, “Why did this happen?” These are repeatedly shared with the class, with pairs, and with the teacher constantly questioning the motives.
During the process it is also important to tie in other lessons that relate. Where can vocabulary words be included in the story? How can Math be applied to this situation? What is the Science behind a piece of your story? I am a firm believer in the integration of studies. The more we point out the mingling of all subjects in life, the better. Most of this project is an informal assessment of their literacy. It will give an idea of what stage of writing they are involved. A child might write “LFNT” next to the big gray blob at the zoo. We know the child recognizes the phonemic relationship between those letters and the word “elephant”. Another child might have included vowels in any variety of combination or left out the ‘n.’ This gives us their range and the ability to assist them into the next realm at their own pace.
The physical end result is a book of an undesignated amount of pages. It is bound with construction paper, has a title, author, and illustrator. They are presented to the parents in an open house and displayed lovingly around the classroom. The mental result is the knowledge of sequencing, cause and effect, description, the letter-word-sentence combinations, the types of words, the importance of words, the recognition and placement of site words, comprehension, memory, and personal association of words to their life. I believe personal life experience is the most valuable learning tool.
List of materials – unlined paper, construction paper, pencil, colored pencils, crayons, markers, hole puncher, ribbon. More supplies can be added or substituted as the instructor sees fit to modify the lesson into larger art projects – glue, fabric pieces, scissors, recycled materials, etc.
