Case Study One

Digital Language Experience Approach

Jan TurbillUniversity of Wollongong

jturbill@uow.edu.au

Case Study One

Digital Language Experience Approach

Jan TurbillUniversity of Wollongong

jturbill@uow.edu.au

What is DLEA*

• Based on Language Experience Approach– What can be said can be written down– What is written down can be read– Children drew/painted, teacher scribed– DLEA introduces the digital camera to capture the

experiences– Images downloaded into powerpoint to make

digital books– These can be put into school’s intranet for all

classes to read

*Labbo, Eakle and Montero (2002)

Meet KD

• Kindergarten D is one of 5 Kinders in a large multicultural urban school

• Most children come from non-English speaking backgrounds

• Most begin with little or no English

We all go home at 3 o’clock.

One Day in KDWeek 1

Using DLEA in Green Week with KD

• Mrs D uploaded each photo into Powerpoint• She printed hard copy with only the photo and no text• A copy was made for each of the four literacy groups• Citation: Turbill, J. (2003, March). Exploring the potential

of the digital language experience approach in Australian classrooms. Reading Online, 6(7).

• Available: http://www.readingonline.org/international/inter_index.asp?HREF=turbill7/

Group work

• Mrs D placed the hardcopy sheets randomly on floor for group to see

• With teacher support children ordered the sheets, constantly talking about the experiences they had had

• Children helped the teacher create a caption • Children observed teacher modeling the writing of

their captions• Mrs D worked with each group to create their own

digital book

• NB all pictures of children have been removed from this powerpoint

Green Week in KD

Koala Group

Emily, Stephie, Edwina, Jason, Connor, Kevin, Jacky, Terry,

Calvin

To make celery boats we needed celery.

We needed a knife and a board to chop the celery.

We needed a knife to add the cream cheese to the celery boat. Then we put in a toothpick for the mast.

We sailed the green celery boats off to the Kangaroo group.

We sailed the celery boats off to the Platypus group.

Carrie ate the celery boat.

We ate some cold, freezing grapes.

The grapes were passed around the cooking table.

Lynnis peeled the apple into a long

long snake.

Look at the long, long snake we

made. And it didn’t break!

The green apples tasted yummy.

Everyone likes to try the food on Friday.

From recount to procedural text

How to make celery boats

You need

A bunch of fresh celery

A sharp knife

A packet of cream cheese

Some tooth picks

Take the bunch of celery and break the stalks off.

Get the celery, knife and cream cheese ready.

Cut the green stalks into 5cm pieces.

Put a teaspoon of cream cheese in the celery. Place the toothpick in the cheese for

the mast.

Eat the celery boat.

The affordances of DLEA

• Digital books can be added to class website• Children choose to read and re-read books• Children learning more technology skills • Teacher creating activities using digital books- sequencing activities- Word recognition, phonics

Traditional literacy skills being learnt

• Reading and writing are connected• ‘Concepts of print’ • Reading is a meaning-making process• Letter/sound relationships (phonics)• Vocab development• English grammatical structures and word order• Using context (visual images) to predict words/word

meanings• Oral language development• And more!!!!

To make celery boats we needed celery.

We needed a knife and a board to chop the celery.

We needed a knife to add the cream cheese to the c_ _ _ _ _ _ boat. Then we

put in a t_ _ _ _ _ pick for the mast.

I like to write on the chalkboard.

I

like

towrite

onthe

chalkboard

Everyday technologies provide many ‘affordances’

• Digital cameras (have to work and be charged!)

• Powerpoint program• Printer (has to have ink and paper!)

Provide many new practices for enhancing literacy learning

Case Study Two

Slowmation

Case Study Two

Slowmation

What is slowmation?

• Adapted from animation process - claymation

• Involves researching, planning, storyboarding, sequencing frames

• Designing models in 2 dimension• Taking digital photos using tripod• Working collaboratively• Using Quicktime Pro to make the movie

Garry Hoban’s Slowmation site UOW

• http://edserver1.uow.edu.au/slowmation/

• Garry’s site has examples and a Manual

• The class teacher was part of an Action Learning Team exploring ‘engaging students’ learning in subject English’

• We used the materials to learn how to ‘do’ slowmation

Meet Ms Jane from Sunny Beach School

• 30 Grade 5/6 children in beachside suburb - mixed ability

• Teacher’s focus was a unit on Natural Disasters• Literacy focus: writing a factual report, researching,

notetaking …• Children had been grouped to research a specific

aspect - eg. tectonic plates, earthquakes, the core of the earth, volcanoes

• They used internet and library to gather information• With teacher modeling and support, children wrote

group reports on their particular focus

Getting Grade 5/6 Started

• Mrs Jane shared with her students the slowmation movie she had made

• Shared with students that they were going to make a movie that represented the report they had researched and written

• Each group given sequence chart to develop their storyboard

• Sequence is 2 frames per second - so lots of photos needed to create animation

• Materials provided - large coloured cardboard, play dough, coloured paper, sticks, leaves, straw …

• Tripods and digital cameras available

What did we learn

• Students had to have a deep understanding of the meaning of their ‘bit’ to create their visuals and animation

• They had to collaborate successfully for it to ‘work’

• They found it easy to use the digital cameras and Quicktime Movie Pro.

• These were part of their everyday technologies

• They were highly engaged in the task and proud of their collaborative product

What surprised us

• Teacher learned a great deal about students’ understanding of the concepts

• The degree of engagement and deep learning that occurred

• The substantive conversations among students about content, procedure, audience

• Their ability to reflect on their work, evaluate it & make recommendations for improvement

• The creativity!

What we realised

• Student understandings were deepened through transfer of knowledge in new semiotic system

• They had to ‘slow’ their thinking and actions in order to create the sense of movement

• That slowmation was a technological structure that provided ‘affordances’ for deep learning, creativity and a sense of achievement for the students

• It is a great evaluative tool for the teacher

To sum up:• Using everyday technologies in our classrooms

enhances student literacy learning• They add value to our teaching of literacy• Everyday technologies are easy to use and our

students usually know how to use them• Everyday technologies engage students’ learning.

They are comfortable with these technologies• Teachers become confident users who want and

need to use the technologies• Literacy involves multimodal texts

Contact: jturbill@uow.edu.au

My thanks to the children and teachers at

Hurstville Primary School

Leumeah Primary School

South Coogee Primary School

My thanks to the children and teachers at

Hurstville Primary School

Leumeah Primary School

South Coogee Primary School