12:1 Learning Fair

Where and When Did I Find the Word?: ‘Learning Fair' came up in my reading in  Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher's Guide by Daniels, Zemelman, and Steineke.  The context where I found the ‘Literacy Fairs’ states, "A learning fair enables students to study a topic of interest in depth and then share that knowledge with a wider, very public audience" (p. 224).

What It Means: ‘Learning Fairs,' according to Billmeyer and Barton (1998), put a "strong emphasis on field research...require strong visual and oral components" (p. 225).  'Learning Fairs' are very elaborate and require a lot of preparation and emphasis on the display component of the presentation.

Level of Familiarity: I was not familiar with the term 'Learning Fair' before reading this chapter.  I had head of Science Fairs and have participated in one but never a 'Literacy Fair.'  I closely associate my prior knowledge of Science Fairs to help me visualize and understand the components of a 'Leanring Fair' and do see many similarities between the two.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why?:  I do want to learn more about 'Learning Fairs' and feel that I will grasp a better understanding of the term once I execute my own research at our LTED 625 'Learning Fair' in a couple of weeks.  I want to know the term better because I feel that I can have my students participate in 'Learning Fairs' when they have research assignments to present in the future.  I feel that the style of presenting is unique and can be very beneficial for students to address findings in smaller groups instead of whole group, which is more traditional.
 

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word... If so Who and Why?: I think more teachers, besides Science teachers, should learn about 'Literacy Fairs' as possible presentation assignments in their classrooms.  Too often is whole group presentations the first option for student presentations and they can be stressful and less interactive than the results of 'Learing Fairs.'  I truly feel that if teachers learned more about 'Literacy Fairs' that the presentation of research for student could be more enjoyable and meaningful.

Daniels, H., Zemelman, S. & Steineke, N. (2007).  Content-area writing.  Portsmouth, 
             NH: Heinemann. p. 121