I found this article
extremely constructive. Many scholarly articles on teaching provide theories on
why teaching methods should be done, but does not provide real world examples. This article not only informs the reader
of why each approach is important, it goes further suggesting ways in which the
teaching tactic can be done. Through step by step instructions the reader can
see how each process can and should be performed. The author established six categories in
which literacy skills, in the form of speaking and listening, can improve: 1.
Activate Prior Knowledge, 2. Make Inferences, 3. Use Knowledge of Text
Structures, 4. Visualize, 5. Generate and Answer Questions, and 6. Retell and
Summarize. Section 2. Make Inferences had a procedure that I could certainly
use in my History classroom. I could create, like the author suggests, an
interview between characters after a selected reading. I also like what the
author suggests in section 3. Allowing my kinesthetic students to act out
scenes three scenes within a text will really increase their comprehension of the selected
reading. I could do something similar with my visual learners allowing them to
draw three scenes of a selected text. In Sharron Kane’s Literacy and the
Learner she recommends the use of dramatic performances and storytelling within
history. (p.240) She claims that fluency in speech develops students literacy
skills. This is founded on the idea that if one can promote ideas clearly
through speech then these skills can translate to paper. I have attempted
something similar to these literacy simulations. My learning activity was based
on terms and events, but by finding an appropriate text I could easily turn the
activity into a literacy engagement. My students really enjoy such
interactions. While they are unable to develop a decent script due to the fifty
minute period they do learn from these interactions and would enjoy such an
activity. Ultimately these speaking and listening strategies can motivate students so that they enjoy being assigned texts.
