Literacy to Enhance Learning and
Achievement
Gerard Bossard
bossardg@yahoo.com
Outcomes
• Attendees will be able to apply fundamental
principles of literacy to individual lessons,
unit-plans and assessments for all disciplines.
Furthermore, administrators and curriculum
supervisors will gain a deeper understanding
of how literacy not only can be applied across
disciplines, but also how it relates to the
Common Core Curriculum.
Rationale
• In our internet and electronic age, information
on any and all subjects can be found
instantaneously, with the click of a mouse.
Information gathering, then, is not growing as
the focus of education - literacy is. These
presentations will make literacy across
disciplines (and applied to multiple
educational contexts) understandable,
relevant and applicable.
ACTIVITIES
• Problem-based learning, team-building
activities, and the demonstration of literacy
scaffolding will all be employed. Additionally,
fundamentals of reading and writing will be
presented in a unique and student-relevant
way. Attendees will leave the presentations
will a firm grasp of how literacy is created,
scaffolded and applied to multiple educational
contexts.
Description
• "Literacy to Enhance Learning and
Achievement" is a hands-on, activitybased workshop that applies to all
educational contexts. Attendees will
leave the presentations will a firm grasp
of how literacy is created, scaffolded and
applied.”
Bio
• Through this work, school districts have seen
tremendous gains in student achievement and
student-empowering through literacy. The
literacy concepts that will be explained here
jhave led to tremendous gains on all of the
following standardized tests: Grade Eight
Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), NK ASK (4th
through 8th grade)for Math, Science and
English, Advanced Placement, SAT and ACT.
Why are
test
scores
important?
1) Student self-esteem:
When it comes to any test,
children
feel good about
themselves …
when they pass.
2) It is good to know that
students possess vital
academic content knowledge,
and can perform at or
above National standards.
3) Reputation for
being a good
school:
Effects school
budgets and real
estate prices.
Federal Law:
“NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND”
ACT of 2001
(NCLB)
“This new law represents some of the most
significant changes to the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since it was
enacted in 1965” (NJ State Dept. Power
Point), and is STILL IN EFFECT under PARCC
and other accountability measures.
“So where is
our school?”
2006
4th Grade
Lang. Arts
Total
91.5 (DFG 85.9)
GE
94.6
SE
72.7
Adv Pro 6.7 (DFG 3.5)
4th Grade
Math
Total
87.7 (DFG 86.7)
GE
90.2
SE
81.8
Adv Pro 41 (DFG 43.8)
4th Grade
Science
Total
86.7 (DFG 89)
GE
89.1
SE
63.6
Adv Pro 24 (DFG 25.4)
2005
Total
86.2 (DFG 86.6)
GE
93.6
SE
57.1
Adv Pro 6.3 (DFG 4.1)
Total
GE
SE
Adv Pro
82.1 (DFG 85.4)
88
64.2
29.5 (DFG 34.8)
Total
91.7 (DFG 88.5)
GE
93.6
SE
80
Adv Pro 31.4 (DFG 31.8)
2006
2005
8th Grade
Lang. Arts
Total
GE
SE
Adv Pro
84.8 (DFG 80.6 )
95.9
60
12.1 (DFG 7.7)
8th Grade
Math
Total
GE
SE
Adv Pro
78.8 (DFG 72.1)
89.6
53.3
19. 7 (DFG 20.8)
Total
GE
SE
Adv Pro
90.9 (DFG 87.2)
100
73.3
37.9 (DFG 23.1)
Total
GE
SE
Adv Pro
8th Grade
Science
Total
GE
SE
Adv Pro
Total
GE
SE
Adv Pro
79.4 (DFG 79.4)
93.1
38.1
9.3 (DFG 7.7)
70.1 (DFG 70.6)
80.8
38.1
16.5 (DFG 19.9)
86.6 (DFG 87.2)
97.3
57.2
30.9 (DFG 23.5)
2004
Total
81.4
GE
96.9
SE
37.5
Adv Pro 2.3
Total
GE
SE
Adv Pro
66.6
83. 1
11.8
19.5
Total
83.9
GE
93.9
SE
70.6
Adv Pro 20.7
2004 /2005 – Neighboring Schools Comparison
4th Grade LA
A
86.2
B
88
C
84.4
D
61.6
4th Grade Math
A
82.1
B
83.7
C
87.1
D
70
8th Grade LA
A
79.4
A
70.1
B
81.1
B
81.1
C
72.2
8th Grade Math
C
57.9
D
63.6
D
46.7
In ’04/’05, School A had NO instances of the highest score, in ANY category, at
ANY grade level.
Percentage Passing 4th grade Language Arts, ’05’06
A
91.5
B
76.6
C
84
th
5 Grade Language Arts
D
80
87.2
90.2
90.4
6th Grade Language Arts
76.4
86.7
79.2
93.4
79.1
96.3
7th Grade Language Arts
67.7
85.2
Grade Language Arts
71.5
8th
84..8
85.5
75
Percentage Passing
Grade Math, ’05/’06
60.2
4th
87.7
76. 6
80
86.3
5th Grade Math
85.4
82.4
83.8
Grade Math
69.2
7th Grade Math
74.1
8th Grade Math
74.1
6th
74.5
58.4
75.3
74.4
78.8
69.1
50
65.2
65.6
47.4
School A in ’05/’06: FIRST in 7 of 10 categories; FIRST or SECOND in 9 of 10
Literacy Defined
“Literacy is the ability to think, as well as know how to
acquire knowledge for thinking and communicating.
Literacy is more than the acquisition of a specific,
predetermined set of skills in reading, writing, speaking,
listening, and viewing. It is also recognizing one’s own
purposes for thinking and communicating (through print
or nonprint, verbal or nonverbal means) and being able
to use one’s own resources to achieve those purposes.
“( New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards3-1)
Being a fan of simplicity, let me propose
the following definition:
Literacy is the ability to understand, to
communicate that understanding to
others,
and to be fully aware of how you
did these two things so you can
do them again, any time you want,
for the rest of your life.
The two most prominent manifestations of literacy are,
and likely always will be, reading and writing; therefore,
these two aspects of literacy will receive the bulk of the
attention here. It is important to remember, however, that
we, and the students we teach, do far more all day than
reading and writing. We do indeed view and listen and
speak, as the Common Core suggests, and many are the
correlations between reading/writing and the
interpretation/creation of art and of non-artistic
information, but we also formulate, and extend, and
probe, and synthesize, and evaluate, and infer, and
question, and so on. And we do these things in all school
subjects, and in life, for that matter. So, when we teach, if
we want to be deeply effective in a life-long way, we must
teach these cognitive skills along with all the regular
content of our disciplines.
And it just so happens, in an interesting paradox, that
the best way to teach something as abstract as
cognitive skills is to make them concrete. This can only
happen when we are fully aware, in a highly specific
way, of how we, as individuals, “cognate,” so that we
may teach this process back to our students.
What I am suggesting, then, is that you use this
presentation in concert with an investigation of
how you, yourself, learn: investigate, in a detailed
and reflective way, the processes that you go
through when you read and write. Teach these
processes to your students; these are what they
will take with them into a standardized testing
situation, and, in fact, into every situation that calls
for literacy skills (i.e., into every situation in life).
Reading Becomes Writing
When we stop and think about which happened first when we
were very little, an investigation of reading or an investigation of
writing, most of us would recall that an adult reading to us was the first
contact we had with literacy; we did not do any writing until a few
years later. When we stop and consider this order, reading then
writing, it makes sense: it helps to be familiar with the symbols
(letters) that, when put together, form ideas, before we start to write
such symbols ourselves, and it helps to be familiar with the
organizational structure of literature so that we can later see the same
structure in the notions of “beginning/middle/end,” “introduction/
development/conclusion,” “introduction/inciting action/rising
action/climax/falling action/resolution-denouement.” So, let’s begin
this present investigation in the same order, with a discussion of what
it means to be able to “read” and, then, what it means to be able to
“write.”
It seems that two answers arise in relation to the initial
question. The first definition of reading that was implied to us when
we were small children was that it was to be able to assign certain
sounds to symbols (that we learned were called letters) and to be
able to put these sounds together to form what we learned were
called “words.” It was then told to us that these words, when strung
together, were called “sentences,” that these sentences strung
together were called “paragraphs,” and that these paragraphs when
strung together were called “stories.” Reading at this level
essentially meant reading aloud and interpreting symbols
phonetically. It did not, necessarily, mean understanding what you
read. Later, when we started to engage in “reading comprehension”
activities, it started to become clear that our teachers wanted us to
figure out what someone was telling us; essentially, reading became
thinking – deducing, inducing, inferring, analyzing, synthesizing,
evaluating, extrapolating and more. All of these terms of cognition
were essentially to lead to one goal - understanding.
Understanding what, someone might ask. Well, simply put:
what someone is telling us, in writing. That’s it, and that’s all.
Someone is telling us something, and our job is to figure out what
that something is, and all of the subsets of reading, all of the little
clues are all to lead back to the same point: What, specifically, is
this person trying to tell me, whether it’s Peggy Parish in Amelia
Bedelia for Mayor or Immanuel Kant in Critique of Pure Reason.
And the beauty of “Language Arts Literacy” is that, in terms of
writing, the student who attempts to understand, quite simply,
becomes that one who attempts to be understood. So, the
simplest (and therefore easiest and clearest) definition of writing is
that it is communicating. Now, as we know, there are seemingly
myriad subsets of what it means to be able to write well, and
some of these will be broached later. For now, however, let us
consider simplicity to be beauty:
Writing
is
communicating;
reading
understanding what has been communicated.
is
"Mama Is a Sunrise,“ by Evelyn Tooley Hunt
When she comes slip-footing through the door,
she kindles us
like lump coal lighted,
and we wake up glowing.
She puts a spark even in Papa's eyes
and turns out all our darkness.
When she comes sweet-talking in the room,
she warms us
like grits and gravy,
and we rise up shining.
Even at nighttime Mama is a sunrise
that promises tomorrow and tomorrow.
“Mama Is a Sunrise” notes
Extended metaphor w/many elements of A.C.
A)metaphor B) parallel structure C) simile D) alliteration E) irony F) diction and imagery to
CONNOTATION G) allusion H) POV – 1st person
Main idea – Mama is a warm, loving, care-giving, inspiring provider of life, happiness and safety.
•metaphor: “sunrise” extended throughout the poem, diction
linked to connotations of life, love, care-taking, energy, happiness, protection, renewal
•parallel structure in TWO ways: 1) in the physical structure of one long, three short, then two long lines (for
each stanza) and 2) in the traditional manner of parallel structure, i.e., keeping parts of speech the same and
in the same order.
A.P. of the A.C. – shows STABILITY and SAFETY in
CONSISTENCY of structure
C) simile: IMAGERY to connotation of WARMTH,
PROVIDER, SUSTAINENCE
D) alliteration: L sound happy, W like water (clean, lifegiving), G for “grounded”
E) irony: “turns out…darkness” – gets RID of darkness (could
have chosen “lights up darkness”) – “at night-time…a
sunrise” – darkness to light, sadness to joy, death to life
F) diction and imagery to connotation to tone and attitude:
“slip-footing, kindles, lump coal lighted, wake up glowing,
spark even, turns out darkness, sweet-talking, warms, grits
and gravy, rise up shining, sunrise, promises tomorrow and
tomorrow”
G) allusion: “tomorrow and tomorrow” – FLIP of Mac Beth’s
existential crisis – not even death can dampen the spirit of
“Mama” and the life she gives her children
H) POV – 1st person, “we” makes it personal - warm, familial tone.
Reading Becomes Writing, across Disciplines
All reading, regardless of the discipline, can be
summed up in one concept: author’s
purpose/author’s craft, that is to say, discerning
everything an author is trying to tell you (so the
term author’s purpose, in this handbook, is broad,
referring to all of the manifestations of the notion of
“main idea”) and figuring out how the many
elements that comprise the literature are creating
that message. Let us examine this notion through
the prism of one, simple example, from
mathematics.
Bob goes on a 40-mile bike ride every day; he completes the distance in
5 hours. At this rate, how many miles can Bob pedal in 4 hours?
If Albert Einstein misunderstands a math question, Albert Einstein is
getting it wrong! Find the author’s purpose of each question !!!
*** ALL TESTS ARE AT FIRST READING TESTS: IF YOU
MISUNDERSTAND A QUESTION, THERE IS NO WAY YOU’RE
GETTING IT RIGHT. ***
Since standardized math test questions are essentially riddles, wordmazes that entail only some math and mostly reading, thinking and
logic, the most important strategy is to RE-WRITE THE QUESTION
TO ENSURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING. This is the
mathematical equivalent of PARAPHRASING when you read in other
classes.
Bob goes on a 40-mile bike ride every Saturday; he completes the
distance in 5 hours. At this rate, how many miles can Bob pedal in 4
hours?
40 miles in 5 hours, SO ? miles in 4 hours?
Solve in the SIMPLEST way possible and convert using the
MOST simple language and math.
Proportion (a mathematical ANALOGY): 40 is to 5 as X is to 4.
40 times 4 = 160 ; 160 divided by 5 = 32.
In 4 hours, if travelling at the same speed, Bob will go 32 miles.
Finding the Author’s Purpose through the Author’s Craft,
primarily DICTION, the WORDS the author uses.
Go to DENOTATION and CONNOTATION. Find the
PATTERN of denotation and connotation; this pattern
WILL BE the main idea of the piece.
(*** The same COGNITIVE PROCESS happens in math
when “solving for x”: You solve for X by noticing the logic
of everything AROUND; in BOTH disciplines you find
what is missing by finding the PATTERN of what is there.)
Next example: Social Studies
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a
decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare
the causes which impel them to separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure
these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers[…]. “
Diction/Language: What is the reason (or reasons) for the frequent use of the upper
case? What are we to make of the tone, and what can we infer from the tone about
the nature of the document’s creators and their relationship to the document’s
audience? Who is the audience? Why do the authors of the document speak in
generalities, use broad statements about humanity, ones that sound like philosophical
tenets and that evoke a “Creator”? What are the key words in this document, ones
that lead the reader to the author’s intention?… I’m sure you see the point. Now,
would teaching students how to ask these types of questions help students
understand the historical context and, therefore, the historical content of the
document that much more deeply? Of course it would.
Glass Menagerie - Mini Essay Demonstration
Task: Define “egocentrism” and then demonstrate how it relates to
Amanda Wingfield from Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie.
Self-centered, unable to see others’ perspectives, constantly
concerning oneself solely with one’s own interests: these are the qualities
of an egocentric person. Amanda Wingfield, a principal character from
Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, satisfies the criteria for such a
person.
In scene two, Amanda demonstrates her egocentrism when she
refers to her daughter Laura’s affliction as “a little defect — hardly
noticeable” (45). Amanda completely fails to realize that to Laura, the
crippling attack of pleurosis is hardly a “little defect,” but rather, one that
has caused great emotional pain and shyness in the young woman.
Further, the fact that earlier in the play Amanda brags incessantly about
her “seventeen gentleman callers” while failing to recognize how sad this
is making Laura (the young woman has had NO gentlemen callers), also
points to the mother’s self-centeredness (33).
Mini-Essays, or, Demonstrated, Logical Connections
Example: Chemistry – Law of Conservation and Calorie
The law of conservation of energy states: Energy can be
neither created nor destroyed. This law implies, then, that energy
changes forms. By examining the concept of calorie in relation to this
first law of thermodynamics, the law takes a concrete, more easily
discernible form.
Calorie is defined as the quality of heat required to raise the
temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. The law of
conservation can be seen in this definition in that heat is indeed
energy, and when it raises the temperature of water by any measure,
the quantity of heat put in is the quantity which comes out. To the
quantity which results, we designate the name, calorie.
Thus, energy, in this case in the form of heat, is neither
created nor destroyed: it changes forms.
Examples of Mini-Essay questions for multiple disciplines:
Math: Define ratio then explain its relationship to percentage.
American History: Explain the origin, purpose and components of the Magna
Carta, and then, integrating specific historical examples, show the document’s
relationship to the Constitutional concept of checks and balances.
World History: In a well-constructed, well-developed essay, explain the analogies
to be drawn between the characters in Animal Farm and their counterparts in the
former Soviet Union. Include analogous actions taken by both parties.
Biology: Explain how the law of conservation of energy applies to the concept of
ecosystem. Give what you believe are the ethical implications for each of us.
Physics: Demonstrate how the law of conservation can be found in each of
Newton’s laws of motion.
Psychology: Explain Freud’s concepts of Id, Ego and Super Ego then demonstrate
how they are related to various levels of consciousness.
Music, Auto Shop, etc. Verbally DEMONSTRATE how concepts are related to each
other.