[NIFL-4EFF:2269] Re: literature and EFF

From: Bonnie Fortini (bfortini@ihost.mmhs.u102.k12.me.us)
Date: Mon Jan 06 2003 - 13:38:07 EST


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From: "Bonnie Fortini" <bfortini@ihost.mmhs.u102.k12.me.us>
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Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2269] Re: literature and EFF
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I responded, off-list, to this topic, but thought I ought to pipe up 
again.  I have been working on using quality children's literature to 
discuss EFF tools and issues, and while I haven't been doing it for very 
long, it seems to have a lot of potential.  For one thing the books are 
generally very quick reads and suitable for lower literacy levels when 
working with students.  They are also not threatening which may be a 
positive factor when working with practitioners and others having 
difficulty "getting" EFF.  I began because Suzanne Carlisle, our lead 
ABE teacher threw me in with two students and a copy of "The Signmaker's 
Apprentice" which she thought could be used to discuss the Worker Role 
map.  She was right, and I was able to do it just by using what was 
there in the book. Of course, it wasn't a comprehensive discussion, but 
we only had 45 minutes to spend, and the students expressed their 
increased understanding of the role map after we were done.  It has been 
a LOT of fun reading more children's books and seeing where they might 
fit.  

As a sidebar of sorts, at our annual adult education conference last 
October, I attended a workshop on the new GED, a kind of roundtable 
discussion to share news and notes after almost a year of using the new 
exam.  One of the pieces that Shannon Cox the facilitator gave us was a 
website printout discussing Bloom's Taxonomy that used Goldilocks and 
the Three Bears as a framework.  While we saw that the content needed 
some work, the idea of using something that almost everyone is very 
familiar with in this manner helps cut through a lot of pre-organizing 
that sometimes muddies a workshop.  It puts everyone in the same, 
familiar, comfortable place from which to progress, discuss, and 
experiment. 

I believe it was Meta who suggested we begin compiling a list of titles 
for possible use, and I hope to do a bit of that in preparation for a 
workshop I am scheduled to give this summer at the Maine Adult Education 
Summer Institute in which I plan to share my experience with "The 
Signmaker's Apprentice" and other titles.

Bonnie Fortini
Machais A&CE
CWCABEC- ABE



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