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This digital visual journal is based on six journal entries, such as an overview of paper material, oral language development through signing, exploring drama, emergent literacy, first nations deep listening, and multiliteracies in the library. Each journal entry specifically explains ways to develop children's language skills and multiliteracies, as shown below.

Overview of paper material: Engage with the paper to make the art designs.

Oral language development through signing: By using songs to enhance the oral language

Exploring drama: Through drama, children's ability to increase literacy

Emergent literacy: Giving children the opportunity to learn language rather than teaching

First nations deep listening: respectfully listening to everyone

Multiliteracies in the library: Recognising multiliteracy elements in the library

Additionally, each item in the journal provides background information on the topic, as well as my own experiences and connections to materials or artistic languages, as well as how we will be using this knowledge to apply it to an early childhood setting with the use of a variety of mediums.

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Journal Entry 1: Overview of Paper Material

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Journal Entry 1: Overview of Paper Material

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Children can fold, bend, cover, tear, rip, roll, gather, crumple, launch, chew, paste, wear, elevate, wrap, read, draw on, flip, and crimp with the papers, according to Pacini-Ketchabaw, Kind, and Kocher (2016).

In addition to making birthday cards for my family and friends, I used recycled papers and thermal paper to make a wallet out of scrap paper, a paper CD/DVD holder, a paper pen, and a pencil holder as a child. In particular, I play with papers by folding, bending, ripping, rolling, crumpling, pasting, reading, and drawing on them. As a result of that, I created the artwork displayed above Figure 1.

When we apply this paper artwork to the childcare setting, we can inspire children to create a collage art piece for the major celebrations as gifts. For instance, students may use the collage design shown above to create gift cards for Christmas, Mother's Day, and birthdays.

First, if they choose to design a Mother's Day card, they can choose an appropriate image (for instance, a photo of their mother) and any paper to use as a canvas. They can then adhere their mother's picture in the centre of the paper, and all around it, they can adhere shredded, crumpled, and ripped pieces of paper. Additionally, they incorporate additional information and visuals.

Children can also enhance their fine motor skills, imagination, critical thinking, social skills, etc. while playing with paper-based products.

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Journal Entry 2: Oral Language Development

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Journal Entry 2: Oral Language Development

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Referring to the idea of "Nature vs. Nurture," language development is influenced by both the environment and genes. According to the idea of nature, children learn languages because it's in their nature to do so and because of biological factors. On the other hand, the nurture concept holds that human conduct and environmental factors play a role in language acquisition.

Additionally, musical exposure during childhood can actually enhance brain growth, especially in the areas of language acquisition and reading abilities, according to a study done by the University of Southern California in 2016 (Bright Horizons, 2022).

A study by Fellowes and Oakley (2014), children can increase their vocabulary quickly after birth by improving their spoken language, and teachers can use the following techniques to do so:

·       Reading

·       Conversing with children

·       Play video games

·       ​Sing

·       Use proper language.

I used to play with music as a child to work on my vocabulary. For instance, I repeated the songs as much as I could after listening to them while singing along with the lyrics and making a list of any unfamiliar words I heard.

An illustration of how to teach children about human body parts through singing and dancing is shown in the video above (Wood, Thall & Parnell, 2015 ).

Video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/qogqu9IW0Mo

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Journal Entry 2: Oral Language Development through signing

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According to Mages (2018), drama develops children's ability to take different viewpoints and use their imagination, and these drama-focused activities concentrated on methods created to encourage young children to fully engage with children's books. I took part in several theatre activities as a child, which helped me develop my first and second languages, vocabulary, face expression, and other skills. My kindergarten regularly organized the annual theatre creation, and I participated in it using the script that our teachers provided.

In addition, teachers can practise four different kinds of drama with the children

Dramatic play: Children can pretend to be some characters by using such materials according to their own interests and choices by using the defined areas and costume pieces that educators can give based on the requirements and interests of the children.

Process or improvisational drama: Teachers have previously prepared the drama activities with the resources, and children should play their parts and actively participate in the narrative.

Interpretive drama: Teachers provide a scripted text to act out, such as a story from a book.

Theatre or a performance: In this instance, children are acting in front of an audience, like in scripted plays.

Mages (2018) underlines that kindergarten teachers can employ the Interactive Storytelling and Creating Activities from Picture Books drama techniques when engaging in the drama activities in addition to the ELTA Head Start intervention drama practises. For instance, teachers can use the narrative pantomime drama method as seen below with the children.

Here, each student "acts it out" on their own after the teacher reads or tells a short story. Each learner can simply imitate the physical movements of the story's protagonist without the use of music, a script, or costumes.
Video Link : https://youtube.com/shorts/1nwOlS0VfEI

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According to Bardige & Segal (2005), emergent literacy means that children learn language as they decide rather than as it comes to them. "In the concept of emergent literacy, the environment serves as the main factor by offering real-world experiences to the children (Logaridis, Tranter, & Siegris, 2012). Furthermore, early literacy exposure results in stronger language abilities, a wider vocabulary, better grammar, better writing, better spelling, and more accurate oral communication.

Children acquire literacy in a variety of ways, such as through storytelling, creating an alphabet together, and creating and labelling complex structures, according to the emergent literacy theory (Logaridis, Tranter, & Siegris, 2012). Furthermore, I developed my emerging literacy abilities during my childhood by playing with letters and words, listening to stories, and exploring books. Chip Clip Poems, filling puzzles, editable name songs, word replacement for sentences, pocket chart exercises, peek-a-boo games, etc. can all be used to apply emergent literacy concepts. For instance, the Figure 2: Chip Clip Poem card above demonstrates how to play Chip Clip Poems with the fresh items.

In the Chip Clip Poem card has

5 sweet strawberries

……….. sweet strawberries are growing on the tree.

We are going to eat …………… sweet strawberries.

Now we are having ...………..sweet strawberries (repeat)

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Journal Entry 5: First Nations Deep Listening

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Journal Entry 5: First Nations Deep Listening

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To encourage people to explore and learn from the ancient heritage of Aboriginal culture, knowledge, and understanding, deep listening refers to the practises of deep and respectful listening to establish community. Aboriginal people did not know how to write; therefore, they passed down stories orally. For the next generation of storytellers, it was essential to pay close attention to the storyteller in order to accurately reproduce the tale (Korff, 2023).

Dadirri, an Aboriginal word from the Ngan'gikurunggurr and Ngen'giwumirri languages of the Daly River region, 220 kilometres south of Darwin, NT, is another name for deep listening. Each First Nation has a unique term for profound listening, knowing, and reflecting during meditation. For instance, the word is Winhangadhurinya in Wiradjuri (Korff, 2023).

My early years were spent listening to stories and songs, but we can also use games like "Be the Boss," "Telephone," "Sound Box Game," "Listen and Find Word Search," etc. But when we use First Nations deep listening in a preschool environment,

We can play a few native songs for the children, asking them to listen intently and apply their knowledge to them. For instance, "The Land of Mine" This song's meaning for children is as follows in Figure 3.

However, we should encourage children to listen to these songs with an open mind, open heart, full attention, and no preconceived notions.

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Journal Entry 6: Multiliteracies in the Library

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Journal Entry 6: Multiliteracies in the Library

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Multiliteracies is a teaching approach that acknowledges that there are multiple reading levels, not just one, needed for today's active involvement in society. This includes both more traditional forms of literacy like reading and writing as well as more contemporary ones like visual, digital, and media literacy (Hill, 2007).

I went to the Clayton library to see how multiliteracy was used there. I saw name tags in various languages, coloured maps with symbols, picture and board books, brief printed notices with illustrations, printed library rules, audio books for children, recycle bin marks, fire extinguishers, magazines, floor rugs with letters, and other examples. Children can understand the graphics and colours. For instance, children are aware that a red fire extinguisher should not be touched and that they might choose a book based on the first letter of the title.

Mimi Marraal (Mother Earth), Sometimes You Fly, Peppa's Dinosaur Party, and Cleaver Crow are the children's picture books I chose. Then, after studying the image of Cleaver Crow in the indigenous book, I wrote up the following tale:

Two crows are watching over something, and one of them took an egg from another bird. However, the crow's egg was later stolen by a kangaroo, which then dropped it into the river. Then, after one guy discovered the egg, the crow once more took it from the people.

However, the story really centres on the starving crow's hunt for food. He discovers and snatches a turtle egg, but things don't exactly go as he had hoped. The egg is chased throughout the Australian bush by the cunning crow, falls into a wallaby's pouch, tumbles into a canoe, and travels all the way back to where it started.

Additionally, the words in the book exactly match the pictures in the Cleaver Crow, and the illustrations are related to the aboriginal drawings and colours. Additionally, the pictures and colours are more attractive, and they used very strong colours for the illustrations, which remind me of the cartoons I used to watch on television. The pictures shifted from page to page in accordance with the narrative, and the characters appeared realistic, giving the ravenous crow more prominence. Because the drawings are so closely tied to the tale, I think the artist created them. To draw the children's attention, numerous typefaces, colours, and sizes were employed when producing this book.

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As a summary, each journal entry explains the ways that I played with these materials and media in order to improve the language and how we can implement similar methods in order to engage the children’s literacy skills. For example,

Through an overview of the paper material, children can exhibit creativity and foster a bond with society through creating art.

Through oral language development and signing, teachers should increase the amount of reading, video gaming, singing, and other similar activities students participate in to help children improve their language acquisition and reading skills.

Through exploring drama, to improve vocabulary, teachers can employ dramatic play, process or improvisational drama, interpretive drama, theatre, or a performance.

Through emerging literacy, by playing with letters and words, listening to stories, and studying books, a teacher may help youngsters develop their language skills, vocabulary, grammar, and writing. We can use chip-clip poems to fill out puzzles.

Through first-nation deep listening, with an open heart, an open mind, complete focus, and no preconceived views, teachers can listen to children.

Through multiliteracies in the library, children can read picture books and use the stories to further their imaginations.

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Bardige, B.S., & Segal, M. (2005). Building literacy with love: A guide for teachers and caregivers of children from birth through age 5. Washington, DC: Zero to Three Press.

Bright Horizons. (2022). “Children and music: Benefits of music in child development”. https://www.brighthorizons.com/resources/Article/music-and-children-rhythm-meets-childdevelopment#:~:text=Exposing%20children%20to%20music%20during,music%20helps%20strengthen%20memory%20skills.

Fellowes, J., & Oakley, G. (2014). Language, literacy and early childhood education. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 13(1), 131-137.

Hill, S. (2007). Multiliteracies: Towards the future. In L. Makin, C. Jones Diaz & C. McLachlan (eds), Literacies in childhood: Changing views, challenging practice, (2nd ed.). (pp. 56–70). Elsevier Australia, Marrickville, NSW.

Korff, J. (2023). “Deep listening (dadirri)”. https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/education/deep-listening-dadirri

Logaridis, L., Tranter, K., & Siegris, L, (2012). Make it meaningful! emergent literacy in the kindergarten years, conference paper.

Mages, W.K. (2018). Does theatre-in-education promote early childhood development?: The effect of drama on language, perspective-taking, and imagination. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 45, 224.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Kind, S., & Kocher, L.L.M. (2016). Encounters with materials in early childhood education. Routledge. ISBN: 9781317588573

Wood, J., Thall, T., & Parnell, E.C. (2015). The move: Reggio Emilia-inspired teaching. Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity & Education, 12(1), 98–108.