Understanding of Reading, Writing, and Speaking - Literature review Example

Running Head: Social Studies Your name Course name Professors’ name Date Introduction In a research done by Diana (2008), text is defined as a means of communication where meaning is created. Text falls under various categories including spoken, written or visual text. The renowned researcher further classified visual texts into daily texts, mass-media texts and literary texts. This paper seeks to select a fiction and an information text for 4th grade students. Fiction texts normally have mythical elements including characters, setting, problem or solution and plot. As students begin to read such kind of a text, they anticipate that there will be characters and that some are more valuable than others. Students further expect a resolution where the ending is satisfying. On the contrary, an information text is structured in a way to demonstrate cause effect relationship, sequence, problem/solution, description, comparison, and contrast. Students therefore ought to be taught words and phrases that illustrate organization. Choice of year level This essay will focus on grade four students who are in a position to expand and deepen their understanding of reading, writing, and speaking. It is at this level that students develop their knowledge regarding connections among various types of communication. Fourth grade students can read and comprehend texts from different sources including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Students at this level of study can as well understand and learn content of text without necessarily sourcing teacher’s attention. Moreover, fourth graders have the ability to read and comprehend informational texts from various subjects. While reading, students make use of metacognitive strategies to improve their understanding of the text. In this case, strategy employed is self-questioning technique when reading material which seems hard to understand. Fiction Text The American Author Jeff Kinney authored Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, which is one of the books in the Diary of the Wimpy Kid series. This book brings to surface adventures done by Greg Heffley during middle school level (Kinney, 2008). This book utilises illustrative graphics which cannot escape scrutiny of a child. The theme of the book revolves around sibling rivalry and friendship which is common during pre-teen ages. The Rodrick’s Rules are the words of wisdom given to Greg. Justification for choosing Jeff Kinney’s book This text has graphics which provides students with an opportunity to express feelings and opinions by relating with characters and evaluating images. Rodrick categorically draws violent cartoons of Greg being pushed off a cliff. Besides, there is a graphic of a boy injured after kicking an object. According to Arizpe (2003) students participating in reading fiction texts focus on contents of images, storyline, observation, and drawing comparison with other texts. Besides, students tend to enter into life of a character in a text so as to establish appropriate ideals. This text is further appropriate given the heuristic response whereby problem solving is involved, inferences made, and imaginary language is employed. Example from the text Literature and graphics contained in the book shows how bad behaviour is punished. The book accounts for sibling rivalry where one party is wild and scheming to cheat on exams and further evade daily chores. This is explained by Rodrick’s Rules where Greg is advised never to be good in anything he does not like doing and to lower both parents’ expectation. Finally is to evade doing what another person can do. These rules exemplify deviancy or rather rivalry within a family context. A graphic of boy being pushed off a cliff clearly illustrates lack of friendship. This book is appropriate for the fourth grade students given that they are vulnerable to bad behaviour. Middle school kids, whose characters are wanting, often meet punishment after being caught. It is from the book that families can disseminate knowledge about lying and friendship. Informative text A study done by Duke (2004) reveals that an informative text should have rich content. This enhances student’s ability to learn from text and further serves the purpose of building student’s background knowledge (Wilson, 1986). Vocabulary is another factor that should be considered when choosing an informative text for fourth grade students. As Wagner (2007) alludes to, vocabulary knowledge is a good predictor of reading ability in later grades. In 1974, Criswell Patty Kelley authored a book titled, Friends: Making them and Keeping them (Criswell, 2006). This book is an informative book given that girls are given insights on how to make friends and keep them. It is apparent that the book furnishes girls with information they need to know concerning friends and how to utilize friendship constructively. The intention of the book is to minimize rivalry among the children by cultivating a sense of togetherness and belonging. This text is interactive given that it uses quizzes, crafts, and thought advice. The back of the book contains posters that can be shared among amongst girls as a demonstration of friendship. Justification for choosing the informative book This book is suitable given that it gives knowledge of the social world i.e. girls learn how to make friends in a social context. It is obvious that the text is interactive in nature consequently building readers motivation and enthusiasm. The book further prepares students to handle real life situations. The art of sharing is built where students share posters amongst themselves. This is informative text as it gives learners the ability to handle reading and writing in later grades. Presence of quizzes at the end of this text confirms that students are required to internalize concepts and even practice them (Bainbridge, 2000). Correct response to these quizzes depends on ability of a child to grasp vocabulary used in the text. Example Fourth grade students are at their critical stage in life thus they should be guided well in building social relationships. This book acts a source of new knowledge for girls who are looking forward to having new friends. The presences of quizzes at the end of the book clarify the fact that students must internalize the content. This aspect is very important for students when progressing to other grades. Part B: Reading and Viewing activities Reading activity Viewing activity Fiction Text Prediction activity: This is where a teacher reads a book to the class. It is an opportunity for students to predict. When the teacher completes the first part, discussion of what might come next ensues. Children are then asked to justify their reasons. The teacher then continues to read while confirming student’s prediction. Students are subsequently divided into small groups and asked to read the text. This is followed by a discussion and a prediction of what might take place next. The activity is repeated until the book is complete where the students then discuss the whole story and confirm skills gained. Skimming and scanning: the teacher chooses 2-3 words occurring once on a page and writes them on the board. Students are then asked to look for these words and the sentence containing the words. The first person to spot the words and the sentence wins. Students can then write individual keywords for other students to write. Story map: a student is asked to draw a map of key events by using a graphic organiser. Students are asked to draw figures that connect with story line. This will assist students to build their creativity and reflection. Informative text KWL chart: this is where a student creates three columns which are completed during reading. The columns are divided into: what a student knows, what a student wants to know, and lesson learned after reading. The activity will verify whether students have gained any knowledge on making friends Character sketches: while reading, students are asked to write key features of characters in the story. The profiles would reflect physical descriptions, and roles in the story of friends. The teacher should ask students to deduce whether graphical pictures in the text signify existence of friendship. It is important to analyse the graphics in order to confirm whether contents have been summarised using the graphics. Role play: Students are supposed to watch other students as they demonstrate friendship. Students can be asked to share the posters among themselves. Reference List Arizpe, E., & Styles, M. (2003). Children Reading Pictures: Interpreting Visual Texts. London: Routledge. Bainbridge, J., & Malicky, G. (2000). Constructing meaning: balancing elementary language arts. Toronto Canada: Harcourt. Criswell, Patty Kelley. (2006). Friends: Making them and Keeping them. Middleton: American Girl Publishing Inc. Diana, E., et al. (2008). Viewing Map of Development. 2nd ed. Port Melbourne, Vic.: Pearson Education. Duke, N.K., & Mallette, M.H. (2004). Literacy research methodologies. New York: Guilford Press. Kinney, J. (2008). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. New York, NY: Amulet Books. Wagner, R. K., Muse, A. E., & Tannenbaum, K. R. (2007). Promising avenues for better understanding: Implications of vocabulary development for reading comprehension. In R. K. Wagner, A. E. Muse & K. R. Tannenbaum (Eds.), Vocabulary acquisition: Implications for reading comprehension. New York: Guilford. Wilson, P. T., & Anderson, R. C. (1986). What they don’t know will hurt them: the role of prior knowledge in comprehension. In J. Oransano (Ed.), Reading comprehension from research to practice (pp. 31–48). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Read More