I am so glad I went to the RITELL event on campus last Saturday because it combined so much of what I'm learning about in 406 and 407. The part that stuck out to me the most was teaching literacy to ELL students through the use of picture books. It made me think about 407 and the different reading strategies to teach students to encourage literacy. I like the use of picture books for ELL students because, as explained at the event, even if students are unaware of what all the words mean in the story, they can still know what is going on by the pictures. This is a two-fold method of teaching two separate literacies. One literacy it is teaching is the English Language. As students see pictures and hear the words, an association between the words and what is going on in the pictures will develop which will help build a literacy of the English language. The second literacy this promotes is a content literacy. For example, if a student is reading or being read the book "I Am Oney Judge," which was a picture book discussed at the meeting which is about an eighteenth century slave, they are getting content knowledge from the pictures even if they don't understand the words. They are seeing the style of dress, the type of technology available, the race of the subservient characters versus the other characters, and the daily tasks of colonial life. This is promoting a literacy in history.
I was excited to see the connection between picture books and ELL students because I recently taught an ELL class at Central Falls High School for 407 where I had students reading and illustrating what they read as a means to promote English Language and History literacies. It made me feel more confident about that lesson plan.
I am glad I went to the RITELL event also because it made me see myself even more as a teacher. Pretty much everyone at the event was a teacher, and I didn't feel out of place despite this.
