Mad Skillz for the 21st Century (and how they can be applied to English/Language Arts)

Teaching 21st Century Skills is the prominent goal of the modern teacher. The term gets thrown around frequently with other terms like innovative teaching strategies, technology integration, interdisciplinary themes and the 4Cs. These make up the second language of the 21st century teacher. But what do they all mean?

Here's a rainbow to help out the pedagogically challenged.

http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework

For those of you that would like some concrete ideas of how to make this work in your classroom, I humbly offer the following examples of how I plan to integrate these skills into my seventh grade language arts classroom.  I will also attempt to integrate the 21st Century interdisciplinary themes of global awareness and financial, civic, health and environmental literacy. Prepare to be amazed.

1. Teach students to annotate as they read. The Kindle app is a great tool for highlighting and making notes as they read so that they are active readers. Students can then turn in their notes in PDF form to the teacher or use them to write an essay or blog.

2. Create a classroom blog in which students work individually or in groups to create video or written book reviews. They should be able to discuss the major themes, characters, plot, setting and use of symbolism. The blog can also feature creative writing from students in various genres including poetry. Students should be aware that anything they post on the internet can be viewed by anyone else in the world. Additionally, students should view and comment on other student created blogs from around the world thus promoting global awareness.

3. Read Tuck Everlasting as a class. Discuss the theme of eternal life and the things that people do today to prolong life. This incorporates health literacy and students should brainstorm risky behaviors and healthy behaviors. Additionally, I will show two commercials for health products (one for men and one for women). We will compare and contrast these two ads and discuss the effects that media has on making healthy choices. We will also discuss the use of ethos, pathos and logos in effective persuasive writing. Students will then be given a budget to create their own "commercial" for the fountain of youth found in Tuck Everlasting. Students will need to research the cost of commercials and manage their money effectively, thus promoting financial literacy. Students will then work in pairs to use Powtoons to create their commercial employing the use of persuasive writing. This project incorporates the the 4 Cs of creativity, communication, critical thinking and collaboration.

4. Read The Giver as a class. Discuss why this dystopic society was created. Were there environmental factors at play? We know that there is no pain or suffering or memory of pain or suffering in The Giver, but there are also no environmental problems. Help students build their environmental literacy by brainstorming and discussing what environmental factors the society of The Giver had eliminated and why. This book is also a great way to discuss civic literacy and the role of the individual and the government in society.  Additionally, students will create a graphic novel summarizing the plot of The Giver using ComicMaster.  Students will be required to add a final chapter to the book. If they like, students can change the perspective of the story to be told from a different character's point of view. Students should work in pairs on this assignment, thus incorporating the 4 Cs of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication.

Finally, if you want to know how to incorrectly teach 21st century skills, check out this video created on Voki, another wonderful tool to use in the classroom.




References:
Framework for 21st Century Learning. (2015) Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework

See the Possibilities...21st Century Schools. (2015) Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.htm