Computer-based Lesson - The Four Components of Family Literacy by Sylvia Cobos Lieshoff

Integrating Computer Technology into the Classroom - Final Activity

Title: The Four Components of Family Literacy

Learner Level:  New cohort of college student volunteers in a multi-site family literacy program

Pre-Instruction: 

New volunteers are assessed to determine their interests and goals as volunteers followed by an orientation to the family literacy program. If they need it, they will have received instruction on basic computer skills: word processing, Internet searching, PowerPoint, and digital photography and downloading. Finally, they will have learned how to maneuver through the Verizon Literacy Campus, www.literacycampus.org and will have taken the 45-minute course, “Orientation to Volunteering in Literacy.”         

Duration: 1 week (approximately 20 hours)

Materials:

Computer lab with word processing, PowerPoint, and Internet capability; digital camera, transportation to other family literacy sites

Objectives:

Teams of student volunteers will

·         research one of the four components of family literacy

·         observe a family literacy program and take photos

·         create a PowerPoint presentation to describe the component, inserting photos

·         teach the other groups of volunteers about the assigned component using PowerPoint       

Procedure:        

1.       The twelve new volunteers will divide themselves into four groups of three individuals in each group. Each group will select one of the four components of family literacy on which to report: Adult Education, Children’s Education, PACT Time (Interactive Parent-Child Literacy Activities), and Parent Time.

2.       All volunteers will individually go on-line to visit the Verizon Literacy Campus www.literacycampus.org and take the 45-minute online course, “Family Literacy: The Intergenerational Approach to Learning.”

3.       Each group will arrange for meeting times.

4.       Within each group:

·         One individual will conduct a Google, Ask Jeeves, or other search for the selected component and write a summary about the component in a Word document.

·         The second group member will search the Northwest LINCS site http://www.nwlincs.org/NWLINCSWEB/FLClass.htm for information on the component and summarize the findings from that source in a Word document.

·         The third individual will search The Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy http://www.ed.psu.edu/goodlinginstitute/  at Penn State University for information on the component and summarize the research results in a Word document.

5.       Team members will take a pre-arranged group tour of one of the family literacy sites to see a program in action and take photos of the families involved in the assigned component. They will secure photo releases from participants.

6.       Group members will then reassemble to share notes, combine information, and create a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation, including photos they have taken at the site they visited.

7.       Teams will show their PowerPoint presentation to each other and the available staff.

8.       As a follow-up activity or extra credit activity from their college, the student volunteers may present their findings and PowerPoint to various student organizations in an effort to secure more student volunteers.

Evaluation:       

Teams will be evaluated on their PowerPoint presentation with the aid of a scoring rubric.