Subject Code & Title: EPT126 – Becoming a Teacher 1
Assessment Title: Reading Aloud for Learning
Value: 40%
Submission Date: 4/5/2015
Length: 1442 words
Statement of Authenticity: I declare that the work within this assignment is my own, that it has not been submitted previously and that I acknowledge the ideas of others throughout.
1
Reading Aloud for Learning
1. Planning to Read Aloud
Real World Issue
The children’s text ‘Where the Forest Meets the Sea’ (1990) written by Jeannie Baker is a fascinating and innovative text that portrays the reflections of a young boy exploring a prehistoric rainforest in North Queensland. The real life collage illustrations contained within the text are constructed from natural materials. This creates a stunning three-dimensional effect bringing together visions of the past, present and future.
Jeannie Baker showcases through the text the issue of sustainability and the very real need to protect our environment. Environmental sustainability is an important and relevant issue for children, families and communities. We must empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable future. We must seek to develop knowledge about the environment and to establish an ethic of caring towards the natural world. ‘Sustainable development is a life long endeavour which should challenge individuals, institutions and societies to view tomorrow as a day that belongs to all of us, or it will not belong to anyone’ (UNDESD 2005-2015.) Everyone including young students need to understand the complex world in which we live in. We all needs to develop the knowledge, critical thinking skills, values and capacity to participate in the decision making about environmental and developmental issues.
A quote by the Australian Greens states that: ‘Human society depends upon the ecological resources of the planet, therefore we must protect and maintain the integrity of its ecosystems’. Environmental education needs to take place especially for children early in their development. This would create new patterns of behaviour for individuals, groups and society as a whole towards the environment thus assuring a sustainable future.
Age Appropriateness
This books has a wide audience appeal extending to all ages. Young students from 7 and up would begin to appreciate the strong message this text portrays. It is the young people of today who need to become actively involved and educated in the protection of the environment and the promotion of economic and social development.
Today, because of the rapidly changing and interconnected world in which we live, our youth
2
need to have a more holistic view of the world around them. They need to understand the natural and physical environment as well as the social side.
Learning Outcomes
1. Interpreting, analysing, evaluating - Use comprehension strategies to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed, or read independently. (ACELY1650)
2. Interacting with others - listen to and respond orally to texts and to the communication of others. (ACELY1646)
3. Use interaction skills including listening - participating in speaking and listening situations/asking questions. (ACELY1784)
Children respond to a range of spoken and written texts. They demonstrate active listening behaviours and can communicate clearly and purposefully when engaging in pair, group and class discussions.
Children develop reading, viewing and comprehension skills and strategies. They interpret and provide relevant explanations of characters and main events in creative texts. Children can also recognise, discuss and respond to different types of texts. They learn interaction skills including listening while others speak, using appropriate voice levels, body language, gesture and eye contact.
When we read aloud to children we are giving them potent ways to internalise language, because children learn
