The website I shall be reviewing is http://www.teachit.co.uk/ - a website that actually is a library of English language and Literature teaching resources. It does not cater exclusively to the Literature classroom, but I did find a couple of gems in here that would be of interest for us Lit people. Most of the resources are free of charge; you just have to register to get access to the resources.
Three interesting ideas:
1. On literary criticism: the website has designed eight flashcards, each representing a different literary school of thought ie Marxist/ Psychoanalysis/ Reader Response etc.
2. On Bloom’s taxonomy: Teaching literature texts using key words taken from Bloom’s taxonomy model. The website provides the example of teaching Little Red Riding Hood using this teaching strategy. Learners are led through the levels of Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. For instance, under Knowledge, learners answer questions like “Where did Little Red Riding Hood live?” At the ‘Evaluation’ stage, they answer questions like “What do you think of Little Red Riding Hood’s behaiour?”
3. On Media Studies: The website has a section on Media Studies. It provides a scheme of work for introducing students to Film Noir. It aims to teach the conventions of Film Noir and the historical background to Film Noir. Students will also study how camera angles and lighting bring meaning to moving pictures.
Review:
1. I like how the flashcards attempt to capture the essential differences between these eight critical approaches by having students use different critical lenses to summarize poem/ prose in one sentence. However, the brevity of description means some nuances are left out; also, students do not get a sense of how these critical approaches relate to one another.
2. What I like about this use of Bloom’s taxonomy is that teachers have to mindful of their use of terms like “analyse”, “interpret”, “assess”, “describe”. Teachers oftentimes use terms like that interchangeably; here they are reminded that these terms require students to operate at a different level of the taxonomy.
3. Good way to introduce students to language of film and media studies. However, students may be unfamiliar with and thus have little interest in the films studied - The Big Heat (1953), Double Indemnity (1944). Perhaps modern film noir works could be incorporated in the suggested viewing list.
1. I like how the flashcards attempt to capture the essential differences between these eight critical approaches by having students use different critical lenses to summarize poem/ prose in one sentence. However, the brevity of description means some nuances are left out; also, students do not get a sense of how these critical approaches relate to one another.
2. What I like about this use of Bloom’s taxonomy is that teachers have to mindful of their use of terms like “analyse”, “interpret”, “assess”, “describe”. Teachers oftentimes use terms like that interchangeably; here they are reminded that these terms require students to operate at a different level of the taxonomy.
3. Good way to introduce students to language of film and media studies. However, students may be unfamiliar with and thus have little interest in the films studied - The Big Heat (1953), Double Indemnity (1944). Perhaps modern film noir works could be incorporated in the suggested viewing list.
Review word count : 157
The flash cards technique is very interesting. Considering that we live in a multimodal age where the visual is as important as textual, such a teaching technique will engage our students. In terms of cultural literacy, I am sure our students will also enjoy this. Our students are constantly playing card games like Pokemon, Yugioh, Magic the Gathering and recently Bakyugan, I am sure they will love this.
ReplyDeletePepper, I would love to try out some of these techniques when I teach!
ReplyDeleteteachitbis a pretty good website. The flashcards are a good idea. Perhaps flashcards and blooms taxonomy to work through levels of thinking and questioning?
ReplyDelete