| ________________ CM . . . .
Volume VIII Number 4 . . . . October 19, 2001
A Project Approach to Language Learning offers teachers many
ideas in the organization and implementation of project units in language
arts. The projects discussed at some length include writing picture
books (and having a "publisher's fair"), constructing a newspaper (and
celebrating with a "newspaper release press party") and telling stories
from around the world (and conducting a "storytelling festival"). While
none of these projects may seem fresh and innovative to experienced
teachers, they will be of assistance to many new teachers who need ideas
for planning language arts units. As further discussed below, teachers
will have to choose and shape the ideas in this book carefully to match
curricular mandates in their own provinces.
Luongo-Orlando's book has seven chapters. Six of them outline in some detail six projects
suitable in elementary classrooms (but probably most suitable in grades 4 to 6). Each of these
chapters contains a connection to a literary genre, such as myths and legends, poetry, newspapers,
and oral stories. Introductory activities and closing celebrations are included for each project.
Chapters also include reproducible black line masters (always popular with teachers). For
example, a sheet called "Creating a Mythical Character" guides students to decide on a name,
physical appearance, personal history, area of responsibility, and so on for the main character of a
story.
Chapter 7 contains information on assessment and evaluation. Twelve pages of assessment rubrics
and other reproducible evaluation sheets follow a three-page introduction. The book is well
organized with a clear pattern of headings and sub-headings to guide the busy teacher through
each project. Illustrations of student products are small and reproduced in black and white. This
approach is unfortunate as they are largely unhelpful in such a format. The index, on the other
hand, is detailed enough to be useful. Also noteworthy are the book lists of text-sets and
professional references.
Readers should be warned that A Project
Approach to Language Learning follows a philosophy of genre-focused
teaching no longer followed in most regions of Canada. The Western Canadian
Protocol, for example, uses an outcomes-based curriculum model. In the
Manitoba curriculum, teachers are expected to build units around children's
inquiry questions and ensure that they address outcomes mandated in
the "managing information" section of the English Language Arts document.
Luongo-Orlando's work looks instead at newspapers as a genre - identifying
the sections of a newspaper in preparation for writing a newspaper.
While she suggests that these skills are useful ones for presenting
the results of research information, most students I know would rather
be learning about how to share their findings in a variety of ways so
that they can choose according to personal interests and styles of learning.
Recognizing a diversity of learners means also offering students many
ways to shape and represent ideas. For example, some might produce a
web site, others a videodocumentary, and some might produce a newspaper!
Recommended with reservations.
Deborah L. Begoray, formerly an associate professor in Reading/Language
Arts in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, became,
as of July 1, 2001, an associate professor of secondary English in the
Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria.
To comment on this
title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal
use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other
reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by NEXT REVIEW | TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - October 19,
2001.
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