Course: C&T 840: Emergent Literacy and Beginning Reading

Title: “What Do You Know About Pollution?” E-Book

In C&T 840: Emergent Literacy and Beginning Reading, I created an e-book called “What Do You Know About Pollution?” My e-book is meant to be used with some sort of technology, such as a computer because it contains a read aloud option for scholars to use, includes questions for scholars to engage with, provides the definition different types of pollution and how to solve those problems, and it contains an activity related to the text for scholars to complete.

Learning Outcome 1E focuses on appropriate applications of technology by creating experiences and opportunities for learners to engage with technology to enhance and extend their learning. As I previously mentioned, my e-book is meant to be used with some sort of technology like a computer, iPad, or smart phone so scholars can listen to be read aloud.

For my e-book I chose to write about the topic of pollution since it relates to reading, writing, science, and Primary Talent Development. It was also intended to meet the needs of my scholars by giving them the opportunity to engage with the text and listen to the text be read aloud in case they need that support. My e-book relates to reading and writing because scholars are reading about the topic of pollution and answering questions that relate to pollution such as,

● What do you know about pollution?

● What would you like to learn about pollution?

● Have you ever seen trash on the ground?

● Have you ever seen trash on the ground, ocean, or river? If you have, how do you think the animals feel when they see trash in their habitat?

● What is one thing you remember about air pollution?

It also relates to science and Primary Talent Development because scholars are learning about how pollution is affecting our Earth, living things, and how to solve this issue based on researching findings. In the PTD program, scholars need to think about how they would solve a current issue in our world so this was a perfect fit for my scholars last year. They were able to either read the text aloud on their own or listen to it be read aloud on their Chromebook. After reading or listening to the information all about pollution, my scholars choose one type of pollution to discuss in small groups to share what they learned and wonder about this current ongoing issue. Then as a whole group, we came together and continued our discussion on pollution before they had to complete the activity at the end of the e-book on their own which was to explain what causes pollution, describe how we can prevent it, and explain and illustrate what they are going to do to help prevent that type of pollution.

This course was helpful because it provided me with reading resources that I can use in my daily teachings as well as in my e-book. I learned about decontextualized language which requires scholars to think outside of the book instead of only thinking about the here-and-now (Galinsky, 2018). I included words for scholars in the automatic phase for scholars that can decode words and use context clues to understand what each passage is about (Ehri & McCormick, 2006, p. 156). I also included words in the full-alphabetic phase (Ehri & McCormick, 2006, p.149) which are sight words along with a few challenging words for scholars to practice decoding. I included kid-friendly words, sight words, as well as challenging words so scholars could use their inferencing and curiosity skills to help them determine the definition of the words using the visuals, other words in the sentence, or the glossary. For the follow up activity, it is related to grade 2 standard 1 in the Common Core State Standards because it requires scholars to answer questions to demonstrate their understanding of the text (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2020). The questions are related to the text and asks scholars to explain what causes the type of pollution they choose to write about, how that type of pollution can be prevented, and what they plan on doing to help reduce that type of pollution.

Listening to how much information my scholars gathered from reading and listening to my e-book all about pollution has indicated that creating opportunities for scholars to use their Chromebook to listen to read alouds about current problems in our worlds gets them engaged and interested in learning and speaking more about the topic.

References

Galinsky, E. (2018). Helping Young Children Learn Language: Insights from Research. YC Young Children, Vol. 73, No. 3, p. 16-17

Ehri, L. C., & McCormick, S. (1998). Phases of word learning: Implications for instruction with delayed and disabled readers. Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 14(2), 135-163

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2020). English Language Arts Standards »Reading: Informational Text» Grade 2. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA- Literacy/RI/2/