This blog will give you an insight into the literacy worlds of Briallen, me, and my pseudonym child Rosie.
The key topic through the blog are reading, writing and listening.
Each topic is analysed for both myself and Rosie to display strengths and weaknesses they may have in this area.
From reading this you will be able to see key triggers which allow us to analyse Rosie's abilities as well as a self analysis from me in regards to what I think I have to improve on, what my strengths are and where I can go from here with regards to furthering my literacy learning.
Enjoy!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Reference List
Catley, A (1993) Rabbit
Random House Childrens Books
Tompkins, G (2010) literacy for the 21st Century. A balanced approach
Pearson Education
Smith, Randell, Giles (2003) Where is it safe to play?
Thomas Nelson Australia
Random House Childrens Books
Tompkins, G (2010) literacy for the 21st Century. A balanced approach
Pearson Education
Smith, Randell, Giles (2003) Where is it safe to play?
Thomas Nelson Australia
Voice Recordings
My voice recordings have been uploaded to my RMIT blog as they wont upload here.
Please take a look there, I would link it but it comes up with an error about not having access.
Thanks
Bree
Please take a look there, I would link it but it comes up with an error about not having access.
Thanks
Bree
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Reading - Briallen
Oh how I love nothing more than to be huddled up under a blanket with my mind in another world, another persons head, in a murder mystery or a fantasy war. I found an intense love of oriental history through reading.
My mum is a very big reader, and from an early age always encouraged me to bring home more difficult, longer books and to expand my reading abilities. I always loved fantasy novels and continue now finding new ones to read. I was always well known to borrow 10-15 books from a library because I read so fast that I was always looking for more to satisfy my reading craving.
My reading abilities now involve me being a very, very fast reader. It drives me insane, but I just love so much to get through the book, to find out what is happening that suddenly its over and I’ve read the entire book in less than an hour. The skills that I have to learn would be to slow down for things such as important updates for my job, newspaper articles, smaller writing on pages and textbook reading. I find that with textbooks I have to re-read things because my brain moves so quickly that I just don’t take it in the first time. So now I try to slow down, and attempt to repeat out loud what I’ve just read to make sure that I have definitely processed it.
My mum is a very big reader, and from an early age always encouraged me to bring home more difficult, longer books and to expand my reading abilities. I always loved fantasy novels and continue now finding new ones to read. I was always well known to borrow 10-15 books from a library because I read so fast that I was always looking for more to satisfy my reading craving.
My reading abilities now involve me being a very, very fast reader. It drives me insane, but I just love so much to get through the book, to find out what is happening that suddenly its over and I’ve read the entire book in less than an hour. The skills that I have to learn would be to slow down for things such as important updates for my job, newspaper articles, smaller writing on pages and textbook reading. I find that with textbooks I have to re-read things because my brain moves so quickly that I just don’t take it in the first time. So now I try to slow down, and attempt to repeat out loud what I’ve just read to make sure that I have definitely processed it.
Reading - Rosie
I asked Rosie to read her school reader book out loud for me. When she picked up the book the first word was “is”.
She looked at me and said “I don’t know how to read that” but I suspected she could.
So I asked her to sound the word out. What were the letters? What sound did they make? So she finally just said, “Is it…” and continued to read.
The words that she struggled with were “garden” “teachers” and “fence’”. Though she could not identify what they were she knew the sounds that two letters made together “ga” and “ar” and was able to step through each of the words herself.
With regards to not knowing what garden is, she only sounded out “ga” and then I believe she looked at the picture of a garden and decided the word was garden.
Through out the book when she stopped reading I asked her questions about the book such as “why is the baby safe” which she was able to answer. It showed that she was reading and understanding the meaning of the book. Rosie was able to identify questions not related to what she was reading such as “What are they playing with” or “why can’t the cars get in there” which showed a deeper understanding of the text and relating the pictures to the story.
According to the Young Children’s literacy Development table (Tompkins, 2010) I believe she would fit into the Beginning Stage. She showed the ability to identify letter names and sounds, and was able to decode the words by using start, middle and ending sounds. She was able to self correct when she made a mistake, but there was a few times she missed one or two words and didn’t pick that up.
Please note I have uploaded Rosie's reading to the RMIT Blog as I couldn't do it on this one.
She looked at me and said “I don’t know how to read that” but I suspected she could.
So I asked her to sound the word out. What were the letters? What sound did they make? So she finally just said, “Is it…” and continued to read.
The words that she struggled with were “garden” “teachers” and “fence’”. Though she could not identify what they were she knew the sounds that two letters made together “ga” and “ar” and was able to step through each of the words herself.
With regards to not knowing what garden is, she only sounded out “ga” and then I believe she looked at the picture of a garden and decided the word was garden.
Through out the book when she stopped reading I asked her questions about the book such as “why is the baby safe” which she was able to answer. It showed that she was reading and understanding the meaning of the book. Rosie was able to identify questions not related to what she was reading such as “What are they playing with” or “why can’t the cars get in there” which showed a deeper understanding of the text and relating the pictures to the story.
According to the Young Children’s literacy Development table (Tompkins, 2010) I believe she would fit into the Beginning Stage. She showed the ability to identify letter names and sounds, and was able to decode the words by using start, middle and ending sounds. She was able to self correct when she made a mistake, but there was a few times she missed one or two words and didn’t pick that up.
Please note I have uploaded Rosie's reading to the RMIT Blog as I couldn't do it on this one.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Writing - Rosie
Rosie’s writing is neat and straight when she writes with no lines. The letters are all evenly spaced and each one is clearly distinguishable.
There were words that she could not spell such as butterfly. However she can copy letters quite neatly if you write them down for her.
Some common trends I found were she sometimes used capitals and lower case letters in the same word. (Refer to the scanned image, down the bottom “holiday”)
She writes Y’s on the same line as smaller letters such as a and b. I presume from this that they have just started learning how to drop the Y’s so that they appear lower than the text. The reason I presume they’ve just started is because out of four words with y’s, two were at the same level (Word – Holiday and daddy), but one was slightly lower down (Word – Butterfly)
Rosie seemed content to write words and show off her writing skills. She appeared to enjoy the writing and took her time not rushing anything.
According to the Young Children’s literacy Development table (Tompkins, 2010) I believe she would be in between the emergent and beginning stages.
She was able to write from left to right, and used capital letters. However she couldn’t always re-read everything she wrote and never used punctuation. She preferred to write single words rather than a whole sentence.
There were words that she could not spell such as butterfly. However she can copy letters quite neatly if you write them down for her.
Some common trends I found were she sometimes used capitals and lower case letters in the same word. (Refer to the scanned image, down the bottom “holiday”)
She writes Y’s on the same line as smaller letters such as a and b. I presume from this that they have just started learning how to drop the Y’s so that they appear lower than the text. The reason I presume they’ve just started is because out of four words with y’s, two were at the same level (Word – Holiday and daddy), but one was slightly lower down (Word – Butterfly)
Rosie seemed content to write words and show off her writing skills. She appeared to enjoy the writing and took her time not rushing anything.
According to the Young Children’s literacy Development table (Tompkins, 2010) I believe she would be in between the emergent and beginning stages.
She was able to write from left to right, and used capital letters. However she couldn’t always re-read everything she wrote and never used punctuation. She preferred to write single words rather than a whole sentence.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Writing - Briallen
Memories of learning to write…
I remember sitting in class with my thick, easy-to-hold pencils spending hours tracing over the dotted lines of letters that took up two big lines of the page.
My writing skills now change on a daily basis. I find that because my work involves typing to much, that my hand will ache after I write for too long. And the position of my wrist changes the entire style of my writing.
I have at least 3 different styles, but most are very neat. The best one I call my OCD writing, which is when I write slowly almost artistically, creating each letter on the page. If you read an entire page, its quite squished together but perfectly neat to the point it becomes quite hypnotising.
I am a very quick ‘typer’ and ‘texter’. I find that electronic writing is much more efficient for me and I can type accurately at around 80-90 words a minute.
With writing I prefer to write slowly. I get frustrated with things such as quick moving classes, which require brief messy notes. I enjoy being able to write slowly and neatly. However, I tend to just scribble what I need to down in things such as lectures, then go back and re write it in a neater form.
My only struggle with blog posting is that I want to write too much. I find that when I really think about learning to write I discover past memories, which had faded until they almost didn’t exist.
I remember sitting in class with my thick, easy-to-hold pencils spending hours tracing over the dotted lines of letters that took up two big lines of the page.
My writing skills now change on a daily basis. I find that because my work involves typing to much, that my hand will ache after I write for too long. And the position of my wrist changes the entire style of my writing.
I have at least 3 different styles, but most are very neat. The best one I call my OCD writing, which is when I write slowly almost artistically, creating each letter on the page. If you read an entire page, its quite squished together but perfectly neat to the point it becomes quite hypnotising.
I am a very quick ‘typer’ and ‘texter’. I find that electronic writing is much more efficient for me and I can type accurately at around 80-90 words a minute.
With writing I prefer to write slowly. I get frustrated with things such as quick moving classes, which require brief messy notes. I enjoy being able to write slowly and neatly. However, I tend to just scribble what I need to down in things such as lectures, then go back and re write it in a neater form.
My only struggle with blog posting is that I want to write too much. I find that when I really think about learning to write I discover past memories, which had faded until they almost didn’t exist.
Speaking and Listening - Rosie
Rosie is a very patient speaker and listener. Throughout the short time I spent with her, she listened very carefully to anything that was asked of her.
Her younger sister is nearly two years younger than her, and Rosie is very patient with her. Rosie seems to have grasped the concept of waiting her turn, whilst her younger sister hasn’t. I found there were times when Rosie would stop talking when her sister interrupted and just wait until she could speak again. She didn’t feel the need to speak over her younger sister, but just participated in the conversation and when back to what she was saying.
With regards to listening, when I asked Rosie a question she always looked at me when I spoke and would prompt me for more information if she didn’t quite understand what I was asking.
There were a few things I noticed about her speaking
She spoke loudly to her sister and parents when discussing things such as morning tea, watching the television or making a joke.
But when it came to answering a question such as “Do you like to read” her voice drops and is very quiet.
She has the slightest hint of a lisp
She used complete sentences that make sense and were in the correct order
There wasn’t a time when I had to get her to explain what she meant or ask her questions to grasp the full understanding, she was very good at communicating what she meant, even if that meant speaking with more basic language.
Her younger sister is nearly two years younger than her, and Rosie is very patient with her. Rosie seems to have grasped the concept of waiting her turn, whilst her younger sister hasn’t. I found there were times when Rosie would stop talking when her sister interrupted and just wait until she could speak again. She didn’t feel the need to speak over her younger sister, but just participated in the conversation and when back to what she was saying.
With regards to listening, when I asked Rosie a question she always looked at me when I spoke and would prompt me for more information if she didn’t quite understand what I was asking.
There were a few things I noticed about her speaking
She spoke loudly to her sister and parents when discussing things such as morning tea, watching the television or making a joke.
But when it came to answering a question such as “Do you like to read” her voice drops and is very quiet.
She has the slightest hint of a lisp
She used complete sentences that make sense and were in the correct order
There wasn’t a time when I had to get her to explain what she meant or ask her questions to grasp the full understanding, she was very good at communicating what she meant, even if that meant speaking with more basic language.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Speaking and Listening
From a very young age, whilst I was learning to speak I had to really learn to listen to what was said to interpret the word.
My brother, who was older than me by 18 months, struggled with pronouncing some words. He regularly attended speech therapy and whilst I had no problems learning to speak properly, I learnt to understand his way of speaking.
I find it much easier to interpret what people are saying, whether that involves accents or a slight lisp or even a speech impediment because of my younger days of having to really listen to different ways of speaking.
How do I interpret what I hear to what is said?
When I listen I do not just listen to the words. I take into account the tone, the body language, the expressions on the speakers face and the body actions.
Who taught me that listening isn’t just about hearing the words spoken? Did I take these experiences from my surroundings, my family, or my friends?
My family would have been the most influential on me. The daily conversations full of sarcasm and hand gestures are how my parents communicated; my brothers and I then developed this habit.
If I shut my eyes and just listened, would I hear the same if my eyes were open?
Simple answer, no. It would be completely different. I find it amazing that even though we hear, there is so much more to hearing then just the word that is being spoken.
My brother, who was older than me by 18 months, struggled with pronouncing some words. He regularly attended speech therapy and whilst I had no problems learning to speak properly, I learnt to understand his way of speaking.
I find it much easier to interpret what people are saying, whether that involves accents or a slight lisp or even a speech impediment because of my younger days of having to really listen to different ways of speaking.
How do I interpret what I hear to what is said?
When I listen I do not just listen to the words. I take into account the tone, the body language, the expressions on the speakers face and the body actions.
Who taught me that listening isn’t just about hearing the words spoken? Did I take these experiences from my surroundings, my family, or my friends?
My family would have been the most influential on me. The daily conversations full of sarcasm and hand gestures are how my parents communicated; my brothers and I then developed this habit.
If I shut my eyes and just listened, would I hear the same if my eyes were open?
Simple answer, no. It would be completely different. I find it amazing that even though we hear, there is so much more to hearing then just the word that is being spoken.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Introduction of Briallen and Rosie
My Pseudonym Child Rosie
Meet Rosie. She is the oldest in a family of two girls, is quite shy but friendly when she gets to know you and is 6 years old.
She is from a warm family setting, where there are rooms full of books and toys.
When I first arrived, her and her younger sister Taylor (pseudonym) were waiting for me.
I set my books and pencil case down and asked the girls to pick a coloured pencil or texta and come and sit down.
Though I was only using Rosie, before Taylor got too upset Rosie quickly asked if Taylor could help me with my homework too.
Meet Me - Briallen Pepper
My name is Briallen Pepper - but mostly I am referred to as Bree (I always spell it with two e's!)
I am 20, this is the first time that I have attended University, though I have done a few short courses in Marketing and Accounting.
I am only studying part time as I work full time as a customer service officer for two superannuation companies.
I am in love with horses. Don't ever ask me anything because I struggle to stop! (have included a picture below)
I have been riding for around 16 years, and no I'm not very good but I am very passionate.
My horses name is Kumara and he (yes he) is full of attitude and energy, even though he is 23.
I am in love with exclamation marks and smiley faces in electronic communication, so I figure I had better watch that when writing essays and submitted university work.
I love to ramble and read and to find out kooky details about people.I like t get to know someone on a deeper level than "Hi how are you?"
I have always loved teaching, whether that be teaching kids to horse ride, or my current job, which involves helping the new trainees with superannuation concepts.
Ever since I was about 13/14 people have encouraged me to seek a career in education or working with children. And after a few years of soul searching I decided it is something I would like to do for the rest of my life.
Well that's about all there is t know about me currently and I look forward to the next few years!!
Bree :)
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