Balancing Literacy
TANYA NOLAN MED, RT(R), RDMS
Learning Objectives
 Evaluate the differences between content and
processes.
 Evaluate what is involved in a balanced literacy
program.
 Describe how balanced literacy can be implemented.
 Provide a set of guidelines to help teachers approach
literacy instruction.
LITERACY DOES MATTER!
Thinking
Language
LITERACY
MEANING
Context
Content vs. Process
 CONTENT– WHAT is taught
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Anatomy & Positioning
Patient Care
Physics and Instrumentation
Image Acquisition and Evaluation
 PROCESS – HOW it is taught
“Teaching is a problem-solving
activity” (Vaaca, Vaaca, & Mraz, 2011)
What TEXTS are available to students?
“Discipline-literate students know how to think and
learn with texts.” (Vaaca, Vaaca, & Mraz, 2011, p. 5)
We must move
beyond assigning
and telling!
What has changed in the 21st Century?
 Do we know who are students are, how they
communicate, and what they need?
If Walls Could Talk
 Students need to be fluent in reading, writing,
images, and sounds. They also need to
collaborate, share, and participate in media
driven literacy.
Content Determines Process
Disciplinary literacy combines content with thinking
processes.
How does the expert read, write, and think?
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Active
Purposeful
Evaluative
Thoughtful
Strategic
Persistent
Productive
Good Reader Strategies
 Clear Goals
 Look over text
 Make predictions
 Read selectively
 Construct, revise, and question
 Draw comparisons from prior knowledge
 Monitor understanding
 Read different texts differently
 Attention
 Think about it!
What strategies do you use?
What strategies do you use?
Finding Balance in Classroom Literacy
Know Content Area &
Academic Level of
Students
2. Make Authentic
Assessments for Reading
Writing
3. Integrate Literacy &
Strategies into
Instructional Plans
1.
Content
Process
Considerations for Learning through Literacy
 The learner’s prior knowledge, attitude, and interest.
 The purpose
 The vocabulary
 The assumptions that author’s make about the
audience
 Structures that writers use to organize ideas
 Teacher’s beliefs and attitudes toward text and
learning.
New Literacy Classroom
 Daily work in multiple
forms and
representations
 Explicit discussions of
symbol and text use
 Teachers model working
through problems
through meta-dialogue
 Collaborative activities
Collaborative Texts
New Literacy
 Classrooms that are driven by inquiry and choice –
not dependent on “right answers.”
 Technological and Information Resources Require:
GATHER
SYNTHESIZE
CREATE
 Apply critical thinking to communication!
The Old and the New
 Linear
 Reading & Writing Skills
Linear + Nonlinear =
RELEVANCY,
MOTIVATION,
SCAFFOLDING, &
EXTENSION
 Non-Linear
 Reading & writing
 Image, motion, and sound
 Reader interaction with
peers, instructor, & author
 Hypertext & Hypermedia
WARNING: New Literacy Risks
Quality Control
1. Bias
2. Site Reliability
3. Accuracy of Information
4. Meaningful Information
New Literacy: Collaborative Texts
New Literacy: Web Quests
 Breast Sonography
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Introduction
Task
Process
Evaluation
Conclusion
Credits
Teacher Page
 by Tanya Nolan, Weber State University
 This WebQuest was designed to help students analyze breast
sonography images and determine how sonographic images affect
and are related to a patient's clinical data and history.
New Literacy: Internet Inquiries
 Generate a questions or theme from class discussion
 Search for information on Internet to answer
questions
 Analyze Information
 Compose a report or product to relay findings
 Share with the class
Internet Workshops
 Range of activities to boost content literacy
 Collaboration
 Web Quests
 Internet Inquiries
 Internet Projects
 Instructor guides
Students & builds
knowledge & skills related
to internet use and products
References
Al-Huneidi, A. M., & Schreurs, J. (2012). Constructivism based blended
learning in higher education. International Journal of Emerging
Technologies in Learning, 7(1), 4-9.
Ivie, S. (1998). Ausubel’s learning theory: An approach to teaching higher
order thinking skills. High School Journal, 82(1), 35-43.
Karchmer-Klein, R., & Shina, V. H. (2012). Guiding principles for supporting
new literacies in your
classroom. The Reading Teacher, 65(5), 288-293.
Kim, K., Bae, J., Nho, M., & Lee, C. (2011). How do experts and novices differ?
Relation versus attribute and thinking versus feeling in language use.
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 5(4), 379-388.
Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. L., & Mraz, M. (2011). Content area reading: Literacy
and learning across the curriculum (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson