How Reading and Writing Skills and Strategies Can Support Learning in Art Classes - Coursework Example

READING AND WRITING SKILLS FOR ARTS How reading and writing skills and strategies can support learning in Art es August 05, 2009 Introduction Reading and writing skills have long been regarded as the basic and fundamental skills that students of all ages have to learn of they want to be educated. It is through the written and the spoken words that much of the knowledge is shared and gained. However, reading is different from reading literacy and this would differ as the content areas such as science, life sciences, mathematics and arts. Traditionally, reading, writing and reading literacy have been regarded as very crucial for science and life science subjects and not that much important for the arts content areas. This research paper explains how reading and writing skills and strategies can support learning in the art class content area and the many different benefits and methods to teach reading literacy in different content areas. The paper would show how similar techniques can be used in art class with the different learning styles. 2. Discussion 2.1. Challenges in Reading Literacy Zernike (2001) notes that reading and literacy skills have been declining among young Americans and school going children. The author points out that there is an achievement gap due to the socio economic and race factors. Blaming teachers for the widening gap between bright and the worst students does not help but more important is the teaching methods that are used. Other researchers have pointed out that the key to improving the reading scores is in the manner in which the teachers are trained and they imply that using scientifically proven methods help in teaching and learning among the students. The same methods can be used in enhancing the learning abilities in content areas for arts classes. Staples (2002) speaks of the concept of curriculum disabled children or children for whom the standard curriculum is not able to meet the learning requirements of 40% of the children in a typical class. There is a need for teachers who can cope with children with different learning disabilities as such children need special type of tutoring and the author notes that such children are actually quite bright and have the ability to pick up learning fast. 2.2. Content Area Reading, the challenges and Opportunities Vacca (2004) points out that that in as far as arts content area is concerned, even skilled readers face problems with literacy. They should know how to read fluently, use meta-cognitive strategies and previous knowledge and vocabulary knowledge when they take up reading. Struggling readers on the other hand have low self worth as literate and tend to be labelled as low achievers. What strugglers need is help with Meta cognitive strategies that would show them how to understand the reading process and of comprehension. It is important to develop comprehension strategies that would help struggling readers with reciprocal teaching, think aloud’s, DR TAs, flash cards and so on. Biancarosa (2004) has recommended fifteen elements that would help to improve the middle and high school literacy achievements and these are recommended for arts content areas. The elements are: direct and comprehension instruction; effective instructional principles that are embedded in content; motivation and self directed learning; text based collaborative learning along with strategic tutoring. Other elements are diverse texts; intensive writing; a technology component; continuous formative assessment of students and extended time for literacy. The remaining elements are professional development; ongoing summative assessment of students and programs; teacher’s exams; leadership and a comprehensive and coordinated literacy program. The author has recommended that in arts classes and for tutoring of students with learning disabilities, the program designers can use these elements and flexibly attempt different combinations to find the best program. Any combination needs to have three specific elements such as summative assessment, formative assessment and professional development. Yardley (2000) speaks of new tests and measures being brought into schools for testing of children. The existing standardised tests evoke dread and fear among students and this increases the number of children dropping out. Merrow (2003) speaks of how phonetics or the manner of speaking and pronouncing words needs special methods of teaching and learning. Vacca (2004) speaks of the challenges that teachers face in arts classes when they have to bring students and textbooks together. The author notes that merely expecting students to learn by rote content areas of arts classes is next to impossible. Children, especially those in the lower grades have to be taught to imagine and they have to learn how to think. The socio cultural context for teaching and learning that happens is related to the dynamic interactions that would occur in classroom settings. Students would be able to understand the dynamic interactions that have to take place between the text and the reader and the instructional activities. Slavin (1988) says that simply put, in arts classes there is nothing like ‘2+2=4’. Many of the topic areas are imaginative and thee author has instructional strategies to plan the core text lessons along with activities for during, before and after reading activities. Students should be able to show instructional framework for core lessons that would have different strategies. 2.3. Methods to be used for training in Arts Content Area Vacca (2004) has recommended a number of methods that can be used for training of children in the middle grade classes and to train children with learning disabilities and black students who need special coaching. Some of the methods that teachers can use are: Learning Logs: In this method, a set of five questions have to be answered and teachers attempt to find the optimum manner in which content area reading instruction has to be organised. Content teachers are encouraged to plan instructions so that students would become actively involved in activities such as reading. Teachers can form small groups for discussions and students can be asked to select a topic and make plans for cooperative learning for different days on specific topics. Activities: There are a number of education sites that can be used for planning lessons and teachers should visit these sites, see what lessons are suitable and ether use them directly or modify them as required (Education World, 2009). Thematic teaching lessons are available and teachers can access the sites to obtain the required lessons and find ones that are required for a specific content area (Teachers Time Savers, 2009). Flashcards: This is a new concept in eLearnig and designed to develop interest even among children with larger learning disabilities. Cards with different questions and themes are placed in front of students and answers are written at the back. When the question is posed, students have to give the answer. This is a fun filled interactive learning session for the students. MyLabSchool Activities: This is another interesting online collection of tools that help the students to easily move from student to teacher. The sites have lesson builder that allows different standards to be integrated easily and helps to get the required information. This is another effective manner in which arts content areas can be taught in a manner that would increase reading literacy (Allyn & Bacon, 2009). 3. Conclusion The paper has examined how reading and writing skills and strategies can support learning in Art Classes. The paper has examined the current problems with the teaching system and finds that there is a general reading literacy problem among a large number of students. However, a number of publications suggest that reading literacy is poor because of the faulty techniques used in classrooms. For arts content areas and students with learning disabilities, a number of new methods and systems have emerged and that which can be used to increase the reading literacy. Some methods available are learning logs, activities, flashcards and other activities. Arts content needs different skills of imagination and perception and these can be best learnt in an effective manner in which arts content areas can be taught in a manner that would increase reading literacy. References Allyn & Bacon, 2009. MyLabSchool, where the classroom comes to life. Retrieved 5 August 2009 http://www.mylabschool.com/index2.html Biancarosa, G., 2004. Reading Next—A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy: A Report from Carnegie Corporation of New York, Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved 4 August 2009 from www.all4ed.org/files/ReadingNext.pdf Education World, 2009. Early Childhood Activity Bank. Retrieved 5 August 2009 from http://www.education-world.com/ Merrow John. 12 January 2003. View; Speaking in Tongues. Retrieved 5 August 2009 from http://ethemes.pearsoncmg.com/020540796X/article_07/index.html Staples Brent, 31 March 2002. Editorial Observer; How Learning to Read a Book Is Like Learning to Play the Piano. Retrieved 4 August 2009 from http://ethemes.pearsoncmg.com/020540796X/article_29/index.html Slavin. R. E. 1988. Cooperative Learning and Student Achievement. In R. E. Slavin (Ed.), School and Classroom Organization. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Publications. Teachers Time Savers, 2009. Responding to Literature in the Primary Grades. Retrieved 5 August 2009 from http://www.teachertimesavers.com/ Vacca. Richard., & Jo Anne Vacca. May 4, 2004. Content Area Reading: Literacy and Across the Curriculum, 8th Edition. Allyn & Bacon Publication. Yardley. Jim. 9 April 2000. A Test Is Born. Retrieved 5 August 2009 from http://ethemes.pearsoncmg.com/020540796X/article_13/index.html Zernike Kate, 7 April 2001. Gap Between Best and Worst Widens on U.S. Reading Test. Retrieved 4 August 2009 from http://ethemes.pearsoncmg.com/020540796X/article_01/index.html Read More