Financial Literacy, Oral Language & Media

As an oral language project, students recently created a presentation...documenting a dream trip.

This task involved: a) internet research skills b) financial skills (calculating total costs based on real world amounts), c) preparing a media presentation (using the medium of their choice: Frames 4, Prezi, PowerPoint or old fashioned bristol board) and d) oral language skills (speaking to the topic using appropriate terms, clear loud voice, etc)

Students were given 'an unlimited budget' for a long weekend getaway (approximate time frame) that required air flight. They were to research flight times and costs, as well as hotel costs, and transportation at the destination. They were to plan an itinerary (things they planned to do), with incidental expenses included as needed. The total cost of their getaway was to be included (in Canadian dollars). Pictures were also to be included.

Some of the places we have visited so far include Banff, Las Vegas, Cancun, Madagascar, Paris, and Moscow. We are not quite finished, and have a few more places yet to travel to...

With each presentation, we have been noting the 'total costs' of each trip on chart paper. Our final task, once all the presentations are completed, is to look at minimum wage in Ontario and calculate how many hours it would take to work and save for each trip's final tally. Just to put some of these dream trips into perspective!

Here are photos from some of today's presentations!

Using Games & Media to Promote Writing, Among Other Things

I consider myself to be a creative person. I admire creativity in others & also want to inspire creativity in others. Video games and media have tremendous potential as a means of creative expression and also as a focus for our own engagement and creative thought.

We used both media & games today in our language class.

1. Video Games & School: Discussion on Effective Feedback.

Click here for the prezi version of the presentation I gave today on comparing the effective feedback in video games to the effective feedback in schools. (The original version was on powerpoint and also had Spanish subtitles. If anyone would like that version, please email me. The prezi version is easier for the online community to view so I created it after the fact).

Your gamer profile in the video game called 'literacy'.

The point of this activity was two fold.

First, to discuss the idea of 'effective feedback'. What is it in video games? (tool inventory, health meters, maps, rankings, etc).

What is it in schools? (report cards, comments, conversations, notes from the teacher, regarding various subject areas & skill sets, etc).

And, in both cases, what is the purpose? To inform your next steps, to grow in 'gamer points' so that you can proceed to the next level.

Your 'gamer/student profile' should be different from the start of the year to the end in the various areas. As in the video game, we expect you to grow. Teachers also need to take base lines data (through reading comprehension tasks and writing samples, for example) so we can determine your profile 'starting point'.

Secondly, as an opportunity for students to provide feedback & also understand oral language criteria. Before the presentation, I gave the students the criteria for 'effective speaking' (part of our Oral Language curriculum). They then needed to rate my presentation based on this criteria. At the end of the presentation, I asked them for their 'feedback'. I also asked to explain why they rated me the way they did.

They also had to write down the 'main point' of the presentation (in a sentence). Here are some responses:

• It was about how she wants to improve the levels of our thinking.
• Her point was that school is kind of like a video game in terms of feed back.
• It's saying school is like a video game in feedback.
• She was showing how we start out the year. At the end of the year we should be better.

This activity generated a lot of interesting discussion about gaming, school, feedback, and game design.  I think it was a new experience for students to 'critically' examine familiar games. (ie: Why did the game designers put those feedback systems in place? They did it for a reason!).

We will continue to examine all forms of media (and texts) with a 'critical' eye.

POPLIT

Today I introduced students to the 'quick write' activities in my literacy/media site poplit.net. This was highly engaging and provoked considerable reaction & response (in both written & oral forms).  We did 30,000 Dominoes, The Duck Song, Dot, and Western Spaghetti.  We will continue to use this site as a way to generate short writing pieces & respond to creative visual 'texts'.

PS. to further extend this activity, students will be reading this blog post & evaluating how well I 'reported' on the event (we are soon to focus on 'news-report' writing criteria).