Wikipedia

The Term 4 Transdisciplinary unit, planned for the Year 2 class I am working with, is called A Feast of Authors. In order to support this unit with the implementation of ICT’s I have conducted a search of Wikipedia for suitable Australian Children’s Authors. I came up with the following list of sites, which includes information sites, on Wikipedia, about each of the selected Authors. There are also links to sites such as Mem Fox’s where learners can, search the list of books she has written, listen to Mem read some of her stories aloud, there is also a page of frequently asked questions that Mem has answered. This page could lead into a discussion about conducting an interview, resulting in a brainstorm of possible questions to ask an Author.

English Essential Learnings by the end of Year 3

Speaking and Listening
Words and phrasing, volume and pitch can add interest and emphasis, clarify meaning and be monitored by listeners.
Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning,identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting.

Reading and Viewing
Writers and designers can adopt different roles for different audiences.
Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation.

Wikipedia not only provides a definition and explanation of the subject of your search it also provides direct links to a range of resources that are related to the topic. It is however up to the individual, or in this case the Learning Managers, to critically analyse the content of these links and determine their value as a respectable source of information. When educating ou lerners we must inform them that Wikipedia is a source of information that can be edited by onyone, therefore, not everything we read on is entirely accurate. Iin this case it is our role, to begin educating even the youngest of our learners to develop and use their own knowledge and skills for evaluation and decision making about the content of the resources.


http://www.memfox.com/
http://www.memfox.com/mem-reads-aloud/
http://www.memfox.com/possums-faq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mem_Fox#Children.27s_books
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Australian_children%27s_writers
http://www.jeanniebaker.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannie_Baker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Gibbs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snugglepot_and_Cuddlepie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Jennings_(Australian_author)
http://www.pauljennings.com.au/index.asp