VIEWING

Objective

• The purpose of these activities is to provide guidelines for the parents to scaffold children’s learning of critical viewing with educational apps.

• Critical viewing involves critical thinking and reflection on what one has read and/or view to become critical readers and viewers (Ministry of Education, Singapore [MOE], 2010)

•  The learning activities are divided into 4 sessions according to Cope and Kalantzis’ (2015) Learning by Design framework.

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Materials

Resources

• Tablet/IPad

• Internet

• Snow White, Three Little Pigs, Dr Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, and so on.

SESSION 1 - EXPERIENCING/SITUATED PRACTICE

​Duration - 30 mins (variable)

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• In the first session, when using educational apps such as Snow White, parents can read to the children to develop critical viewing skills in them.

• During the first reading, parents can prompt children to observe the images:

  • What do you think of the character based on how she looks?

  • Where do you think the story is taking place?

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SESSION 2 - CONCEPTUALISING/OVERT INSTRUCTION

Duration - 30 mins (variable)

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• During the second session, after children have some knowledge of the story after the first reading, parents can prompt children to connect images and ideas: 

  • How do the pictures relate to what the character says?

  • What is an object in the story that has a special meaning?

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SESSION 3 - ANALYSING/CRITICAL FRAMING

Duration - 30 mins (variable)

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• During the third session, parents can scaffold a deep analysis of the story in the app with children. Parents can prompt children to reflect on the representations in the images:

  • How are the two characters different?

  • How do the pictures show the difference between the two characters?

SESSION 4 - APPLYING/TRANSFORMED PRACTICE

Duration - 30 mins (variable)

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• In the fourth session, parents can extend learning to the child's experience using the following prompters: 

  • Do we need to wear pretty clothes to look beautiful?

  • How can we look beyond the outward appearance of a person?

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References

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Ministry of Education, Singapore [MOE]. (2010). 2010 English language (primary and secondary – express/ normal (academic)) syllabus. Retrieved from https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/education/syllabuses/english-language-and-literature/files/english-primary-secondary-express-normal-academic.pdf

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Contributor: TWM