Chapter 4 of Reading, Writing, and Literacy 2.0 included many different
activities and ideas for vocabulary in the classroom that I found very
interesting. As the chapter states that the “full understanding of a word requires
multiple opportunities to use and think about the word’s meanings in multiple
context” (46) it is evident why incorporating multimedia could be a tool to
provide these contexts. Although incorporating technology or other multimedia
tools into vocabulary and other literacy lessons seems like such a foreign
concept to me in comparison to how I was taught in school growing up, I can
definitely see the positive aspects of using these tools and how it can help
students and English Language Learners as well. Some of these tools include:
online interactive storybooks, virtual notebooks, videos, and virtual field
trips.
The idea of virtual notebooks and
field trips were extremely interesting to me as these were tools that were not available
to me as a student growing up. With virtual notebooks students can write down
words they do not fully know or understand in their virtual notebook and it the
notebook to demonstrate the meaning and use of the word. Virtual notebooks also
allow students to add different audio and visual effects to help them learn the
meaning and use of the word. As the text states, “Creating an online vocabulary
notebook enriches vocabulary learning opportunities for students in several
ways” (55). The book also states three ways in which virtual notebooks further
helps enhance vocabulary learning in students:
1.
Students may continue their learning when they
are away from school since the notebooks are available anywhere and anytime.
2.
Students may add music, videos, and scanned
illustrations of words to their notebooks to add additional contexts and layers
of meaning to their vocabulary knowledge.
3.
Students may record themselves reading the words
and definitions aloud, which reinforces word knowledge and provides fluency
practice.
Virtual notebooks would have been very helpful to me at the
time in which I was first learning and expanding my vocabulary. I think this
would be a great tool to incorporate into my own classroom one day as there are
many positive aspects for the students when using these tools in lessons.
Virtual field trips are also a concept that is new to me but seems like a
positive tool to incorporate into the classroom. Virtual field trips are
multimedia based “trips” that “provides background knowledge and additional
contexts for learning academic vocabulary” (57). Virtual field trips are a great
way of providing students the experience and knowledge that they would from a
physical field trip. Especially to those students who wouldn’t be able to
participate in regular field trips.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteLike you, when I was reading this chapter I thought a lot about my own experience with learning vocabulary. I can remember dreading vocabulary days because it was so boring. I would have to memorize the words and do boring exercises for the quiz on Fridays and then the words would leave my brain as soon as I handed in my quiz. There was no way of making these words meaningful to me and therefore I never really learned them. Including multimedia and virtual field trips really changes this. Creating notebooks and watching videos makes these words have meaning and helps students visualize them. For me, I would just have to copy down definitions and memorize them. There was no purpose except to get a good grade on my quiz. Technology is becoming more and more helpful in the classroom, something I was blind to for some time. I am so thankful that I took this course and am able to learn so many new strategies and learn about so many great resources.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteSimilar to you, i really appreciated the virtual field trips as i did not have them growing up either. I really liked how you included quotes that directly came from the book, they help to support your topic, such as the virtual notebook. i think virtual notebooks would have been very helpful too when i was in younger grades. its definitely a good idea for the future classroom! Thank you for sharing your post, i really got to reflect on my experience I had in school and how to improve my future class.