Mmmmmmm. What's that you smell?
LEARNING!
That's right! And this is about to fire up your tastebuds! This learning isn't bland old telling. This recipe isn't for weak and watery memorization and repetition. The exquisite and delectable cooking style, literacy, inspires this recipe. Literacy is more than reading and writing. Follow this recipe and take a bite out of knowledge.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients (Internal Modes of Communication
2 cups Listening (boredom-free for those who are boredom-intolerant)
2 cups Reading (1 cup informative texts; 1 cup literary texts)
2 cups Viewing
Wet Ingredients (External Modes of Communication)
2 cups Speaking (1/2 cup in partners; 1/2 cup in small groups; 1/2 cup with whole class; 1/2 cup public speaking)
2 cups Writing (Only certified authentic tasks)
2 cups Representing
Choose one or more dry ingredients and mix with one or more wet ingredients. Stir until doughy and then knead the dough. Keep kneading or start a new recipe with a new combination of ingredients.
Don't be fooled by the short directions. This is not a simple recipe. This is a base recipe, like adding vinegar and oil to make a salad dressing. What herbs, mustards, and juices can we add? How can you customize? This recipe captures the fundamental interaction of learning through literacy: something comes in, something comes out. For every action, there should be a reaction. Literacy happens when learners interact with ideas they hear, read, or see. They should think about them and show learning and growth through putting something from their unique brain, back out into the world: a verbal, written, or visual thought. Depending on the learning target in the lesson, teachers can customize this recipe. The most important moment is when the student has their hands in the dough, kneading and thinking over and over. Literacy happens with learners knead, play, interact, and sculpt the world around them.
As a teacher of ELA, the identity I want my students to accrue is that of wordsmith. After reading informative and literary text, they should have the ability to play and morphs words as a blacksmith does with metal. I want my students to consider language as a medium of art they can use to create. To really grasp this creative world they need to become master chefs that use the above recipe and all modes of communication.
Content Specific Modes of communication
Listening: to classmates, to teacher, to speeches, to speakers
Speaking: discussion, debate, public speaking, presentation, drama
Reading: novels, short stories, plays, satire, fables, newspaper, magazines, articles, online and physical
Writing: papers, stories, articles, blogs, RAFTs, minisagas
Viewing: Youtube, Animoto, Film, Art, Webquests
Representing: Youtube, Animoto, Art, Webquests
