Course Reflection Eassy English
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
Taking this literature class had a profound impact on me. I learned new strategies to use in my
classroom, such as how to incorporate multimedia into the classroom to help the students learn
and use different forms of technology, such as google slides, canvas to have students digitally
create and share a project with the classroom. Moreover, how many different genres affect
students learning and reading abilities, such as graphic novels, picture books, poetry, realistic
fiction, biography, non-fiction, historical fiction, modern fantasy, realistic fiction, and transitional
literature. Students like to read these genres because it helps with their critical skills of
comprehension and learning new vocabulary words since the language in all the genres is
different. Also, these books connect with children's interests, such as animals, aliens, and
superheroes. These books are so popular among so many children worldwide. Books support
children in achieving their set goals in any subject, not just in English. Teachers can use books in
other subjects to help the kids understand the topic and learn new information that might need to
be clarified in the textbook. As a teacher, there are many resources to maximize a student’s
learning potential and find ways to help grasp the matter at hand and introduce it to them in a
way that will catch their interest, not push them away because they are bored. It is the teacher's
job and what standard of learning they want to incorporate into the classroom to help link real-
life examples into the lesson taught. Incorporating real-life examples into our lesson allows the
students to pull in their current knowledge and connect to the lesson. Using real-life examples
builds engagement, fosters their thinking, and encourages these students to think outside of the
box. It provides applications to knowledge and skills learned relating to students and society.
The attributes of critical literacies and equity, materials, resources, digital technologies, and
engagement are essential to this class because they help teachers learn ways to teach specific
topics to students and make it grab the class's attention.
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
Critical Literacy and Equity
Critical literacy and equity impact teaching and learning because teachers must become
culturally responsive and address inequity issues in their classrooms, community, and society.
‘’
Critical literacy allows students to think beyond a text. Critical analysis lets students find a
deeper meaning to a text, critical thinking about texts, themselves, and their worlds’’ (Clarke et
al.; E.,2009). Having diverse books in the classroom; that is why they can see themselves.
Bishop (2015) asserts that diverse books are necessary in the classroom; they allow all students
to see themselves in stories, and know they matter. When introducing various books, students
should engage with them, learn to appreciate their perspectives and think critically about what
they can learn from them. Critical literacy can adapt real-life situations into the conversion and
implement topics in the classroom. Burns (2009) talks about how he adapts serious issues in the
real world to his young students.
He makes a point to say not to disclose too much tragedy to
young learners but enough to add analysis or critical thinking to the student's learning.
Experiences and assignments in ELTL 504 have informed my understanding of critical literacy
and equity in module 3, week two of writing.
One of the big takeaways from this week’s
readings is the importance of social awareness while reading realistic fiction books. While
reading realistic fiction books, students can read multiple-perspective texts: books that show
readers different viewpoints (Clarke & Whitney, 2009, p. 530). Reading books from different
viewpoints than our own shows readers the different types of lives and environments people live
in. These books allow students to see how other people live due to certain circumstances they
may have. Jones’s Framework for Multiple Perspective Texts talks about how readers can
deconstruct the books they are reading; being conscious of the different viewpoints and multiple
voices that can be seen throughout the stories (Clarke & Whitney, 2009, p. 532). Students can
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
make connections to the characters in the stories they are reading and see similarities between
their lives as well as make disconnections and discuss things they notice that are different from
their lifestyles. While reading
Last Stop on Market Street
by Matt de la Peña, you could see
through the illustrations the type of environment CJ and Nana live in. How they must ride the
public bus to get places since they do not have a car, or how some of the neighborhoods they
walked in had graffiti on the buildings and what looks like homeless people. I loved how the
book included a diverse array of characters; some with tattoos, some in wheelchairs, some who
are blind, people with different skin and hair colors, and people of all ages. I also loved Nana’s
positive outlook she had on the world around them. Bishop (2015) talks about, “Nana’s positive
outlook on life could be discussed with students, and it can be the starting point for examining
one’s worldview and the way they respond to people whose circumstances are less fortunate than
their own, as well as an incentive to try to make a difference by engaging in social action.”
(p.122). You can see how Nana is a caring woman who loves where she lives, no matter what it
looks like, and is
grateful for her community which she helps out in while working in the soup
kitchen with CJ. This book can be a great way to share with students a community that is
different from theirs. Discussions about public transportation, soup kitchens, and urban
communities could be talked about with children who may not even know these types of
environments exist if they have never been exposed to it before. (ELTL 504). (artifact#1) is an
appropriate representation of my learning since, for the assignment, we talked about what big
idea we took away from the articles and the book that was all about diversity and how to teach
children to think more critically. I learned how it is essential to show kids books with characters
that do not look like them to grow an appreciation towards them. I will transfer my
understanding of this attribute to new situations/ contexts by ensuring that all my students are
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
represented equally in the classroom and the literature we read. When learning new contexts, the
students can form questions and think critically during the lesson. This attribute will inform my
current and future practice because I had no clue what critical literacy was until I read about it.
Now, I learned how in the future when teaching to make sure it is incorporated into my lessons.
For equity, I was aware of the many books to share with students, not just about their race but
also about people who struggle with disabilities.
Materials, Resources, and Digital Technologies
Resources and digital technologies improve the classroom atmosphere and
teaching-learning
process more compelling. Using technologies with learning allows the students to learn at their
own pace instead of having to learn the material quickly and get loss or miss out on something.
Resources affect the way someone teaches and the students' learning since only some children
have the proper access to technology, books, and other vital supplies they need for school,
making it a challenge for them to do assignments online. The field of literacy talks about this
topic is that Multimodal allows students to communicate their responses how they want to by
using different tools/platforms. Students have many other options and can be creative while
creating a multimodal response to literature. The use of multimodal can help engage students and
promote critical analysis. It allows students to become familiar with how to use technology and
use different platforms, such as Canva, to complete their projects. There is also evidence that
shows students benefit from multimedia, “including promising evidence that composing with
different modes can engage students in content and develop their literary analysis skills” (Dalton
& Grisham, 2013, p. 221).
Instead of doing traditional reports, teachers should move past that
and use more technology-based projects to help students be creative.
Digital book trailers, such
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
as those available from the Digital Book Talk website (http://www.digital booktalk.net/)
or Michelle Harclerode’s Book Trailers for Readers site (
http://www.booktrailers
forreaders.com/), are one such option for inte- grating digital literacy and reading
engagement. By creating short films that describe characters, plot, setting,
and conflict, a
potential reader views the digital book trailer in much the same manner as a moviegoer
would watch previews at the theater’’ ( Hicks, 2015, pp. 31-32). When kids read many
different genres, the story can relate to them, the characters can relate to them, or
something in their life.
O’Connor (2010) brought up the idea of the importance of realistic
fiction to younger learners. This genre can be extremely beneficial for those younger learners.
These stories within this genre are made up but bring up real-life topics and sceneries. The
characters have flaws, make mistakes, and have challenges that many of our students may be
facing. This book genre can be helpful when bringing up meaningful conversations to the
younger learners. O’Connor (2010) digs deeper into the idea that all children face some life
challenges, and they can connect with these challenges through the characters, dialogue, family
relationships, and economic class being brought up in realistic fiction books.
Experiences and
assignments in ELTL 504 have informed my understanding of this attribute; the assignment
Multi-Modal response is that it showed me how to create a report in a new and different form
than traditional book reports. I noticed prominent themes in the book
Forever or a Long, Long
Time
about families, the foster care system, and how families require work and trust. While
reading this book, I noticed that many chapters were about families' struggles and challenges. In
this case, Flora and Julian had difficulties adjusting to their new family due to traumatic events
they had experienced. They had recently been in different foster homes and adopted into a new
family. This book discusses these children's struggles and how it is hard to trust that this new
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
family will forever be theirs. It took work by all family members to make their family firm. The
template I chose for this project shows a brick wall with green plants/leaves, representing
something lasting and growing. In this project, I use text, images, visuals, and designs to help
portray the meaning of what I produce. Multimodal allows students to communicate their
responses how they want to by using different tools/platforms. Students have many other options
and can be creative while creating a multimodal response to literature. The use of multimodal
can help engage students and promote critical analysis. It allows students to become familiar
with how to use technology and use different platforms such as Canva to complete their projects.
There is also evidence that shows students benefit from multimedia, “including promising
evidence that composing with different modes can engage students in content and develop their
literary analysis skills” (Dalton & Grisham, 2013, p. 221).
In my multimodal response to this book, I use several different modes to help support the
message. I used pictures, text, video, and various design elements. I chose photos that helped
represent the main ideas I noticed in the book about family. The writing part of this response
described the book's main points and included a connection I made with the story, even though it
was not specific to adoption. I also chose to have a video on adoption because that is an essential
piece to this book, and I wanted to include a story of adoption to help tie the whole thing
together. As I discussed before, I also chose specific design elements to help bring everything
together and the meaning across (ELTL 504). The reason this artifact#2 is an appropriate
representation of my learning is that this assignment helped me to showcase my creative ability
when creating the slides for the topic that was talked about in the book also that I was able to tie
in what I learned from the readings to help provided contextual evidence to back up my thoughts.
I will transfer my understanding of this attribute to new situations/ contexts because only some
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students have the appropriate funds to get computers; that way, we must provide the student with
a form of technology they can use to complete a report instead of traditional book reports.
Engagement
Students' engagement is essential in teaching and learning; they can achieve academically and
would want to attend class regularly. When engaged in the lesson, they will maintain interest in
their education. They can retain the information they learned and grow.
The field of literacy
talks about the topic that. Historical fiction is a growing genre and is being incorporated more
and more in classrooms. Rather than using traditional textbooks to study and teach historical
events, social studies teachers are shifting toward historical fiction pieces to increase engagement
and elevate critical thinking in their classrooms. At an elementary level, historical fiction picture
books allow students to develop many essential literacy skills. Beyond the actual text, historical
fiction picture books often provide many peritextual elements that will enable the student to
further understand how the meaning and perspective of the story is conveyed throughout the
book (Young & Serafini, 2011). Historical fiction texts also allow students to compare and
contrast their cultures to other cultures. Jewett’s (2011) work underscores the importance of
teaching deep culture to young students. In this study, the historical fiction books encouraged
students of a dominant culture to examine different cultures and to make cross-cultural
connections. The connections, however, were not simply looking at food, clothing, holidays, etc.
Instead, the texts presented critical issues and universal cultural concepts, such as the bonding
between families, the power of love and connection, and the meaning of “home,” (Jewett, 2011).
While engaging in these literacy experiences, students thought critically about what parts of a
culture acted out and how these aspects were present across various groups. The project by
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
Jewett and the participating teacher enhanced students’ understanding of their identity and
experiences and broadened their views of the world. Historical fiction is a broad genre that can
often be tricky to compose. Because the author has to blend both imaginative and natural world
histories, a tremendous amount of planning and research goes into writing an authentic, engaging
historical fiction piece.
Experience and assignments in ELTL 504 have informed my
understanding of this attribute; in the genre analysis assignment, I wrote about graphics novels
and how they are a trendy genre among children.
Graphic novels are books that are written and illustrated in the style of a comic book. In this
genre, many books have short dialogue and frame boxes of illustration. Books in this genre are a
series in a repeat audience. It uses graphical elements such as panels, frames, and speech/
thought balloons that follow a sequential way to create and evoke a story in a reader’s mind.
Graphic novels are more extended, complex texts that usually cover the storyline in one book.
‘’They are sequential art, sequences of words and pictures arranged to tell a story’’ (Kiefer &
Tyson,2023, p.84). The general characteristics of books within the genre are made of different
design elements like lines, shapes, colors, value, space, panels, frames, gutters, and closure and
transitions. Many people will say that the line is considered the primary element when it comes
to graphic novels since the art both starts and ends with cartoon lines, and the expression of the
line carries the weight either from a pencil or dark black ink (ELTL 504). This artifact#3 is an
appropriate representation of my learning because while reading the books I chose for the
project, I was engaged the whole time with the story, the plot, and the characters. Students must
be engaged during the lesson we teach because if not, they will be bored and not want to finish
the work or even show up to class anymore.
I will transfer my understanding of this attribute to
new situations/contexts because when teaching specific topics in the class, I will ensure they are
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
engaging for the students and have a fun built-in activity that will catch their attention and keep
them engaged the whole time. This will inform my current and future practice because when
planning lessons, I will find topics that can be eye-opening for the students and will keep
wanting them to come to class every day to learn.
References:
Burns, T. J. (2009). Searching for peace: Exploring issues of war with young
children. Language Arts, 86(6), 421-430.
Bishop, R.S. (2015). A ride with Nana and CJ: Engagement, appreciation, and
social action. Language Arts, 94(2), 120-123.
Clarke, L. W. & Whitney, E. (2009). Walking in their shoes: Using multiple-
perspectives texts as a bridge to critical literacy. The Reading Teacher, 62(6),
530-534.
Dalton, B. & Grisham, D. L. (2013). Love that Book:
Multimodal response to literature. The Reading Teacher, 67(3), 220-225.
Hicks, T. (2015). Beyond the book response: Digital writing and reflection
for deeper engagement. Voices from the Middle, 22 (4), 31–35.
Jewett, P. (2011). “Some people do things different from us”: Exploring
personal and global cultures in a first-grade class. Journal of Children’s
Literature, 37 (1), 20-29
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Kristin Cellamare ELTL 504
O’Connor, B. (2010). Keeping it real: How realistic
does realistic fiction for children need to be? Language Arts, 87(6), 465–471.
Kiefer & Tyson (2023): Chapter 4: Graphica.
Attribute
Artifact
1
Critical Literacies and Equity
ELTL 504 Module 3, Week 2
discussion post.
2
Materials, Resources, and Digital Technologies
ELTL 504 Multi-Modal
response project for Forever
a long long time
3
Engagement
ELTL 504 Genre analysis
graphic novel project.
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