Topic: Exploring literacy engagement in classrooms in Ecuador and the US
Objectives: Survey literacy activities and materials in students' own placements, compare findings with Ecuador & Florida examples, investigate family engagement in the literacy development process, determine how reading and writing is taught in each country. Overall findings will address similarities and differences within approaches and the instructional approaches related to cultural and language-specific needs in each country. How do classroom teachers respond to cultural-linguistic learning needs in each country?
Work group meetings:
Zoom: https://ufl.zoom.us/my/taramathien
3 sessions with whole group via Zoom / each session includes introduction and reflection from previous meeting and then a guided work session with small groups
2/8 2:30-4:00pm
3/8 2:30-4:00pm
4/10 2:30-4:00pmCST/3:30-5:00pmEST
Each session the students are required to bring certain literacy artifacts from their classrooms to share and discuss with group members
Guiding Questions (each group chooses minimum of 3 to investigate):
What family engagement practices exist in the literacy development process for each setting?
How is reading and writing taught in each country?
What similarities and differences in instructional approaches related to cultural and language-specific needs have you identified?
How do the classroom teachers respond to cultural-linguistic learning needs?
Describe classroom student responses to activities and learning experiences related to literacy in each country.
How is literacy development assessed in each country?
What pedagogical practices are used in the classroom environments?
Final Student Presentation (10 mins.):
(1 min.) Brief description of placements - context overview
(1 min.) Guiding Questions (which 3 did you choose for your project?):
(6 mins.) Findings:
Share findings for each question chosen - include evidence and specific examples from each question investigated. Use artifacts and examples to support your discussion of each.
(2 mins.) Recommendations:
Based on appropriateness of each classroom context with rationales to support your recommendations.
What did you learn from your group findings that could be applied to diverse contexts - what strengths and challenges would be considered?
Final project can be created in Google Slides, Power Point, or other dynamic media application to present findings. All group members will be expected to contribute equally and present for final project.