Caroline Stevens, Literacy 2.0

Chapter 8 discusses the technology across the curriculum and the importance of students' thinking and how well they are able to develop questions. "By modeling how you organize, understand, and ask questions about the material, teachers increase the likelihood of students becoming interested and engaged in content learning"(121). Teacher's have a lot of influence on their students because they look up to them and we are the ones who are guiding them through the material. It is important for students to make prior and background knowledge and connections to the text because it is based on their past and their own personal experience. It is important to motivate the students and have them think critically and independently to see if they are applying and inferring and understanding the material. Being an English major and a reading minor, I feel as if every time I read something I always stop and relate it to a connection of mine, without even knowing it because it is a...

"Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type", written by Doreen Cronin is a well known popular children's story, as this was one of my favorite story to read as a kid. This book is about Farmer Brown and his cows who know how to type on a type writer. When the cows find the type writer, they begin to write commands to Farmer Brown on things that they need. For example, they want heated blankets because the barn was cold, and they could not make any milk one day because Farmer Brown denied their request. This book for a child is very funny because realistically, no cows know how to type on a typewriter and demand their Farmer of things that would suit them. The illustrations are also very well drawn and they perfectly describe the story line. I remember reading this book as a child, and when the cows finally got what they wanted from Farmer Brown, the ducks immediately started to write their own notes. It is a funny book and I definitely recommend this book for all children.

Chapter 7 focuses on the idea of students using digital writing which is described as, "compositions created with and oftentimes for reading or viewing on a computer"(99). This chapter also focuses on the types of tools that students use, for example, blogs, anchor charts, and ever notes. The point of a blog is for students to write/express their opinions on the content material that they are learning in class, as it allows other classmates' to comment and agree or disagree with their opinion. Blogs are worldwide and it lets others see what their prior knowledge and their comprehension of the material. While reading through this chapter, I have realized that I have not really used blogs until this course began. I am seeing that it is becoming more worldwide and students are using it more frequently for their classes. "Blogs provide an easy and natural transition from paper-and-pencil response activities to online writing environments because they are easy to use an...

Chapter 6 was a very informative chapter, as it introduces different tools and comprehension strategies for students to use involving digital texts. I found the chart on page 83 to be very useful because it shows readers what both the students and teachers do before, during and after reading. I just learned about the "B,D,A" reading strategy in one of my classes, and I find this strategy to be extremely helpful because you get to ask students their prior knowledge and by the end of the lesson, you can see what they learned, and what they got from the material, which is extremely beneficial. I found the WebQuests and the Sticky Notes to be a tremendously useful tools for students because it actively engages them in their learning and it motivates them to want to learn more. This is an effective strategy; as I am someone who is a visual learner, and being able to do a WebQuest online would be useful and sticky notes, because it tracks where I left off, and where I had trouble...