INTEGRATING LITERACIES INTO MY LEARNING AREA 1

Integrating Literacies into my Learning Area

Ashley Hart - 2121327
Flinders University
INTEGRATING LITERACIES INTO MY LEARNING AREA 2

Responding to feedback

In responding to feedback from Assignment 2, I have attempted to make better use of the
wider reading and resources supplied on FLO in order to better support and enrich my analysis of
the Four Resources Model in relation to the pedagogical strategies used in my unit plan. I have
achieved this by engaging with readings other than those used in my Double Entry Journals.

Although it is generally considered that literacies are fundamentally embedded in the

curriculum of the English classroom, a number of pedagogical strategies can support student
literacy development. Better still, execution of a variety of approaches works to develop a range
of diverse learning needs and abilities in a diverse group of students. There are a number of key
literacy practices essential for success in the English classroom; reading, writing, identifying,
interpreting, evaluating and constructing texts (ACARA, 2017), each of which can be better
supported by an in depth understanding of literacies as a skill for life, not one exclusive to
learning in the English classroom.

My responsibility for teaching literacies is not born in my role as a teacher of English, but as a
teacher in itself. It is essential to integrate literacies into every learning area in order to empower
students to become fluent in the many literacies required in all aspects of life (Groundwater-
Smith, Brennan, McFadden, Mitchell, and Munns, 2009). ACARA (2017) highlights the
importance of literacy learning in every learning area, stating that ‘students become literate as
they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to interpret and use language confidently for
learning and communicating in and out of school and for participating effectively in society.’
Acknowledging literacies as a responsibility I carry into each of my teaching areas has helped
me to consider how I can more thoughtfully embed literacies into my practice. As well as this,
Gee’s (2012) work has informed my appreciation and acknowledgement of student primary
Discourses when developing units of work. With this in mind, there are two strategies I have
incorporated into my four week English unit alongside the four resources model to assist student
literacy learning outcomes; Think-Marks and Literature Circles. It is my intention that these
strategies cater to the diversity of student backgrounds, needs and prior-knowledge, and develop
essential skills in literacy to enable students to become successful, participating members of
society.
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Think-Mark’s are a pedagogical strategy for reading, designed to develop student vocabulary
and critical thinking, as well as assist students in identifying links between their primary and
secondary Discourse. Gee (2012) explains primary Discourse as the social, cultural, life
experiences and backgrounds that students are a part of outside. Primary Discourse’s must
therefore be considered a ‘framework’ for student learning, rather than the secondary Discourse
or school. Linking primary and secondary Discourses are critical for enabling students to achieve
mastery in a secondary Discourse. Because students come from diverse backgrounds, they will
have different levels of prior knowledge that will position them closer to, or further from, the
content specific literacies required of the learning area. Students therefor have different needs
and it is essential that I select pedagogical strategies that are fluid for diversifying the
curriculum. Think-Mark’s are a bookmark for students to note down new words and their
meanings on one side, and questions that arise during their reading, on the other. Not only does
the tool become a personal glossary for student use, but also an observational formative
assessment to determine student knowledge.

Although students are equipped with the valuable tool of a personal glossary that they can
refer to throughout their learning, there is a common myth that ‘students will be able to
comprehend a text simply because they can decode the words in it,’ (Norris & Phillips, 2003. P.
226). This leads to the question aspect of the Think-Mark. Throughout their reading, students are
encouraged to think critically and analyze the text to generate questions for class discussion, and
to unpack them in their literature circles. A key part of these discussions is using annotation to
decode the text into manageable areas (Zwyica & Gomez, 2008). For groups, this can be
achieved by providing excerpts of the text, or using a PowerPoint for class discussion. Circles,
underlining, question and explanation marks, arrows, numbers and colours can be used to
distinguish between powerful or surprising words or phrases, arguments, important ideas,
examples and key details. It is clear to see how students take on the role of code breaker in this
exercise as they use these annotation skills to assist their understanding of texts and reading to
learn. As these skills are developed, students become more engaged readers and more confident
in tackling larger, more complex texts. Summarizing the text, following annotation, further
enables students to extract key information and become better at accessing important literary
techniques to use in their own writing.
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Literature circles are established to help students develop their reading and social skills with
students who have similar needs and interests. The circles not only help with accountability and
organization, but will help to prepare students for their presentations to the class at the end of the
unit, by developing their confidence through reading out loud to a small group as well as their
understanding of the text. Consisting of four students, each student assumes a different role each
week; Discussion Director, Passage Picker, Word Selector and Delegated Debater. Throughout
their individual reading of the set text, students use their Think-Mark to record information under
their assigned role. The Discussion Director must prepare 4-6 questions for discussion, the
Passage Picker must select two sentences, quotes or paragraphs that are of interest and justify the
selection, the Word Selector finds six unique, new or interesting words and provides their
definitions, and the Delegated Debater must think of alternate viewpoints and countering
questions to the findings of group members to prompt justification of responses. Through these
roles, students are able to refine aspects of the four resources model for their literacy
development. The Passage Picker becomes the ‘text user’ by justifying the selection of their
passages and their purpose in the text. The Delegated Debater becomes the ‘text analyzer’ as
well as ‘text user’, as they must consider perspectives other than their own cultural and social
views (Ludwig, 2003). The Discussion Director is the key ‘text participant’ who in their
preparation of questions about the text will ‘comprehend, compose [and] make meaning from’
the text (Ludwig, 2003). The Word Selector assumes the role of ‘code breaker’ by ‘decoding and
encoding the… Conventions of written [and] spoken... [text] in response to contextual factors,’
(Ludwig, 2003). Once students have finished discussing the findings in their groups, I bring them
into a class game of Bin Ball. Using the words that each Word Selector has found, students write
them down onto individual pieces of paper, crumple it up into a ball and swap with a person
from another group. Students then write down the definition of the word they have. If they do not
know the word they write it on their Think-Mark and review it. As students leave the classroom,
they get a chance to shoot a basket using their ball. The literature circles and these roles are
critical for enabling students to demonstrate critical and analytical thinking skills and their
engagement with the text and their reading.

The four resources model is a multiliteracies framework approach for decoding, meaning
making and critical thinking about various text types in various contexts. The model asks the
participant to assume the role of code breaker, text analyst, text user and text participant to
INTEGRATING LITERACIES INTO MY LEARNING AREA 5

unpack the text in question, in its entirety. Its application is diverse and thus important when
considering literacy learning in all learning areas. As a pre-service teacher I have come to
appreciate its use for designing lesson plans that aptly engage students with different texts and
their meaning, intention and context (Freebody & Luke, 1999).

Word count: 1252

INTEGRATING LITERACIES INTO MY LEARNING AREA 6

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015). General capabilities:

Introduction. Retrieved from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/overview/introduction

Gee, J. (2012). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (4th ed.), Abingdon, UK:
Routledge

Groundwater-Smith, S., Brennan, M., McFadden, M., Mitchell, J., & Munns, G., (2009).
Literacy teaching across the curriculum, in Groundwater-Smith, S. (ed.), Secondary schooling in
a changing world, 2nd edn, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne, Vic., pp. 183-195.

Ludwig, C. (2003). Making sense of literacy. Newsletter of the Australian Literacy Educators’
Association, pp. 1-4. Retrieved from
https://www.alea.edu.au/documents/item/53

Luke, A., & Freebody, P. (1999). A map of possible practices: Further notes on the four
resources model. Practically Primary, 4(2), pp. 5-8. Retrieved from
http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/fullText;dn=96162;res=AEIPT

Norris, S. P. and Phillips, L. M. (2003), How literacy in its fundamental sense is central to
scientific literacy. Sci. Ed., 87: 224–240. doi:10.1002/sce.10066

Zywica, J., & Gomez, K. (2008). Annotating to support learning in the content areas: Teaching
and learning science.Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(2), 155-164.