Pop culture media and toys as a form of literacy learning

This week I found out I will be completing my student teaching in a kindergarten classroom! Since beginning my teacher education program I have worked in a fourth and fifth multigrade classroom and I'm currently in a third grade classroom. I am excited to explore the world of kindergarten and early childhood education next fall. This week as I read further into Karen Wohlwend's book, Playing Their Way into Literacies, the text took on new meaning as I will soon find myself working in an early childhood classroom.

In her book Wohlwend, one issue the author focuses on is allowing young children to play with toys and media with pop culture influences.  The author states, "When children play with popular media in early childhood classrooms gender discourses collide and converge with discourses of capitalism, schooling, and media. A discourse includes widely circulated scripts that, along with social practices and values, constitute the identity kits necessary for belonging to a global social network, in this case, Disney Princess fandom." When teachers allow children to bring pop culture into the classroom, the teacher is allowing him or herself more opportunities to engage with students on topics of interest.

As I read about allowing pop culture influenced toys and media into the classroom, I was initially surprised at the authors positive response. Pop culture is not always highly regarded in society and for this reason not often used as an educational resource.  But, once I rethought the authors stance I was not surprised at the conclusion of using pop culture influenced toys and media in the classroom.

As pre-service teachers we are consistently taught to help our students build personal and real-world connections between literacy. If a form of pop culture, such as a Disney Princess, is used as a literacy tool in the classroom, the student would be using personal or real world connections to make the literacy experience more meaningful.

Play as a literacy tool

Play can be a way to strengthen and teach literacy in the early childhood classroom. Though play is often seen as a way for children to burn off energy or take a break during the school day, play is a valuable way for young students to explore and build upon literacy skills in a real-world environment.

 When children are offered the opportunity to play within the early childhood classroom, often they will chose to re-enact scenes they see at home or at school. These "play scenes" offer the students ample chances to work together using different literacy skills. In the book, Playing Their Way into Literacies by Karen E. Wohlwend, the author writes, "In the malleable world of pretend play, children learn to work together to make, negotiate, and sustain shared meanings-interpretations of events or texts that are discussed and collaboratively accepted-as they talk and enact scenes."

Earlier in the semester, I participated in a literacy dig with three other students from my early childhood literacy class. The blog post can be viewed here.  During the dig, we explored all the ways in which literacy is used at a retail store. Today, as I was thinking about play as a strategy to develop literacy and reading Playing Their Way into Literacies I kept thinking back to the dig.

My group and I discovered throughout the dig, just how prevalent literacy is in a store and in how many ways literacy can be found, preformed, and viewed. Using play as a form of literacy development allows children to practice literacy skills in ways to prepare them for real life situations, such as visiting a store.

In todays world, many students are taught using cookie cutter literacy models that don't allow the students to add purpose and meaning to the skills they are developing. When students use play they are given time to build connections to their lives and add meaning to a wide variety of literacy practices.

Making inferences as a reader

In the book Catching Readers Before They Fall by Johnson and Keier, the authors' highlight the importance of teaching young readers to infer while reading. Luckily, many children begin school already knowing how to make inferences in everyday life, such as inferring that it is cold out so they will need to wear a coat. As teachers it is our job to transfer the skill of making an inference into reading. 

I believe the below graphic, borrowed from Johnson and Keier, is an excellent visual of what a reader does in order to make inferences.  As a person reads, he or she combines the text from the author with his or her own thoughts. The ending point or conclusion that the person arrives at, is an inference drawn from the story.

Catching Readers Before They Fall. Johnson and Kleier.

As a future teacher, I think of two issues that will be very important in the implementation of inferring in the classroom, 1) practice of inferring on a regular basis, and 2)  using different types of information to make inferences. 

The first thing, practicing inferring, is a huge thing in a classroom. Inferring is not a topic that can be introduced in one day and gone the next. In order for students to become better readers through making inferences, inferring will have to be practiced routinely. 

The second issue is using a variety of texts and information sources to practice making inferences with children. Though one of the primary goals of making inferences, especially in the case demonstrated by Johnson and Kleier, is to increase reading comprehension, I believe making inferences through other mediums can be a great way to help practice making personal meaning of text, art, or other 'stuff'.

 

For example, a couple of weeks ago I used a a visual thinking strategy with a third grade class, using the image pictured below. With simple questions, such as, "what do you see?", each child was able to make meaning of the picture and create his or her own story of what was taking place in the image. I believe this was a simple and captivating way to practice inferring with students. Though no text was involved, the students were able to see how much more meaningful the picture became once they applied their own thoughts and feelings to the image. 

Through practice and through the use of a variety of texts and mediums, students will learn how to create rich inferences that can help them become better readers!

Assessment: Connecting the Parent, Teacher, and Student

As a pre-service teacher my experience with on-going assessment in the classroom has been limited. Aside from formative questioning during a lesson or paper grading for a host teacher; I've never had to keep a formal document for on-going assessment. This week we talked about the importance of finding a best-fit assessment tool that works for the teacher in two of my classes.

In Catching Reader's Before They Fall, Johnson and Keier write, "Formative, on-going assessments-by teachers and students based on daily work- need to be mainstay." Though many schools focus on standardized tests, keeping a daily record of student progress, particularly for young readers, can help the teacher understand if the student is constructing a reading system that works for him or her.

In order for on-going assessment to be successful between the student and teacher, the teacher must determine a system that fits into the daily structure of the classroom. During reading workshop, a teacher should be able to meet with students through individual student conferences or student observation to complete assessment on a daily basis.

Once documentation has been taken over a period of time, it is important to analyze the information that has been collected and determine what goals need to be set for the student. If the child has been assessed by more than one teacher, it is helpful to have a conference with all teachers. Johnson and Keier write,"Together teachers can notice patterns in a child's strategy use and behavior. By examining running records over time, teachers can be monitoring changes in how the reader works on the text, what the reader is noticing, what is easy, what is confusing, and what needs the teacher's attention."

Though many on-going assessments in the classroom will be used solely for academic use, consistent and on-going assessment in the classroom can lead to better communication with parents. As parents seek reassurance about their young children a teacher can refer to reading assessment tools for specific examples to help guide conversation with parents. Having examples of student work to refer to can help the teacher provide advice on how the parent can better help the child at home or how the parent's can provide encouragement. As parent's approach the teacher with other questions, an assessment document can help the teacher recall goals and the goal timeline for the student.

Through the use of an on-going assessment tool in the classroom, teachers are able to assess students in an authentic environment to ensure the students are creating a reading process that works for them. The recording of on-going assessments by teachers helps ease communication between the teacher and parent to ensure parents are receiving current information regarding student progress and goals.

Reading to Understand

In 4th grade I was assigned to read the The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien in my group reading circle. The majority of the reading within the group was done on an independent basis during class time while some reading was done at home. On the day we were to discuss the book with the teacher I vividly remember being called on to answer a question and having no idea what the answer was, despite having read all the assigned text. I remember being confused, but most of all embarrassed in front of all my peers. What had I done wrong? Had I not completed the assignment just as they had?

In the book Catching Readers Before They Fall by Pat Johnson and Katie Keier, the authors write, "The meaning of any text does not exist in the black marks on paper but is created by combining the words on the page with the thoughts of the reader." As a fourth grade student I wasn't working to make meaning of the text on each page of The Hobbit. Teachers can begin working with young readers to begin building reading comprehension systems that will grow with the students.

When teaching children how to develop a reading system it is important to remember that the system must be initiated by the child and not one comprehension strategy is one-size-fits-all. Effective strategies are integrated together and taught together so children can see how combining strategies will help them make the most meaning from text.

In the previous blog post A Solution to Sound it Out I wrote about world-solving strategies for early readers, as advised by Johnson and Keier. The same writers also recommend Meaning, Visual, and Structure strategies also be applied as comprehension strategies for young readers.

When teaching comprehension one of the most important things to keep in mind is the final goal:  helping the student achieve full independence in reading! Through a recipe of modeling, shared demonstrations, and guided practice lessons students can rise to reading independence. When determining the perfect recipe for success in terms of how many lessons are needed at each stage, it is important to take into account that no two students are the same. Reflection and observation of student work can gage how well the student is doing with each lesson.

Each student must learn to create meaning of text. Through the use of integrated strategies, teachers can guide students to reading independence!

Deepening Content in Leveled Reading

Each minute within the school day is precious. Not only are teachers under pressure to meet a required number of standards each year but they are also under pressure to achieve specific test scores in many places. As a graduate student studying elementary education, I am well aware of these pressures I will soon face as a teacher. 

I have had the opportunity to read with students in the classroom,  but I don't often read with students from leveled books. One time in particular I was reading with a student, and noticed the majority of the books in the student's book box were at a much lower grade level than the actual grade the student was in.  Because the books were at a lower grade level, the content was much too easy for the student to comprehend. The student was simply having a difficult time with actually reading the text. 

In the article, Let's Start Leveling about Leveling, by Kath Glasswell and Michael Ford, the authors state,"teachers need to demonstrate dual commitments by ensuring students' access to both age-appropriate material that challenges their thinking and texts that match their independent reading level." With not a moment to spare in the school day, we must think about the books we are providing to our young readers, especially struggling readers. When a struggling reader is provided with a leveled book with content that he or she may not be able to engage with, the reader will quickly lose interest in that text. 

By deepening the way we think about the content we present in our leveled reading, we can take advantage of every moment in the school day, not lose precious time because the reading level and grade level don't match up. 

Developing schema in young readers

This week the assignment in my social studies class was to develop a book discussion around a book selected off of the National Council of Social Studies Notable Trade Books for Young People list. I absolutely love social studies, so I would enjoy reading every book off of this incredible list, but for the sake of the assignment (and time!) I selected just one book. Each book on the list was listed with a small summary and I was able to make my selection by creating a connection through the brief summary. In Reading with Meaning by Miller, the author writes, "When you use your schema, it helps you use what you know to better understand and interact with the text." The book I eventually selected for my assignment was Life of Rice by Richard Sobol. Through my prior background knowledge or schema of Thailand, family connections, and travel, I felt a draw and immediate connection to the book because it is about the culture of rice in Thailand.

As a future teacher, helping children develop the ability to think and read at the same time is crucial so they can create connections to text and better understand what they are reading. Creating connections to text can be done in many ways. In the instance of the book I selected for my social studies assignment, I made a text-to-self connection when I initially read the summary of the Life of Rice.  By relating the text to a meaningful event in my life I was able to make a text-to-self connection. 

text-to-self connection

Developing several types of schema can help students deepen their understanding of literature. A teacher can help students build text-to-self connections, text-to-text connections, and text-to-world connections through various strategies. First, it is important for the students to realize the need to create connections to the story. Once the children understand that they can use what they already know during the story to interact and understand the text they can begin using their own schema in a multiple ways.

As a teacher, modeling different types of connections with text is a very important learning tool for students. In Reading with Meaning, the author states, "No matter how perfect someone else may tell you a book is, or how great a lesson they taught using it, it won't be perfect for you unless you can connect with it and put your personal stamp on it in some way." As a future teacher the books that I choose to model to my students must be meaningful to me and have true connections so that I am able to demonstrate real and authentic strategies.

As I reflect on the reading choices I have made in my past, I am overwhelmed by the amount of connections I see! So many of the reading choices I have made, if not all, are connected to my own background knowledge or schema. If I didn't use my schema when making literature choices, I would surely be dis-intersted in reading at this point in my life. As a future teacher, I hope I am able to instill the importance of connections and schema in my students through the use of literature that is authentic to me so the students may see how connections have truly enriched my reading experience throughout my life.

A Solution to Sound it Out

As a future teacher, I spend a lot of time in classrooms assisting other teachers or simply observing teachers. One task I frequently help with is listening to children read. As a child reads and stumbles upon difficult words I am often at a loss for how to help the child. I often find myself saying, "sound it out." Reading Catherine Compton-Lilly's article, "Sounding Out": A Pervasive Cultural Model of Reading, provided me with great insight into the actual meaning of sound it out and provided me with ideas for more effective strategies when helping children to solve words within text.

In her article,  Compton-Lilly states, "Sounding out is a cultural model for reading that is repeatedly voiced by students and their parents... it captures an image of reading that parents and children share, it does not describe what my students actually do when they read." Though students and parents may think that sounding out a word is helpful, students need more efficient ways to understand words within text. If students only learn to sound out every letter within a word, they will undoubtedly miss important context within the story.

Rather than provide students with a simple sound it out strategy, Compton-Lilly, and Pat Johnson and Katie Keier, authors of Catching Readers Before They Fall, advise teachers to provide students with multiple strategies for solving words within text. All three authors recommend using the following three sources to solve unknown words within text:

1. Meaning: background information, information from pictures, ideas from context of the story. Key Question- What makes sense?
2. Structure: how does it sound, Key Question- Does it sound right?
3. Visual: letter and sound knowledge, Key Question- Do the words look right?

As a teacher it is important to help students find a balance between all three sources (Meaning, Structure, Visual). Through a balance of all three sources, students will have multiple effective ways to solve unknown words within new texts. 

to creatively spell or not to creatively spell

Throughout last semester and this semester of my masters program, I've had the opportunity to work in various elementary classrooms through substitute teaching and a field placement. During these experiences I've heard the term creative spelling used repeatedly by teachers in the classroom. Initially, I don't think I thought much about the term, until I began helping students during writing workshop and with other literacy related projects. Students soon began asking me how to spell words and I was forced to think about how to respond to their questions, 

• Should I provide the student with the correct answer?
• Should I have the student use other resources to find the correct spelling?
• Should I allow the student to use creative spelling?

These were just a few of the thoughts that ran through my head.

After working in many different classrooms, I have found that teachers vary widely in the freedom they give their early childhood students when it comes to literacy and writing. As a pre-service teacher, I am looking forward to developing my own techniques of teaching reading and writing to my future students. 

I was initially unsure of the the term creative spelling and the reasoning behind the use of creative spelling.  In Kate Foley Cusumano's article, Every Mark on the Page: Educating Family and the Community Members about Young Children's Writing, the author writes, "...at first glance, most family and community members will notice the apparent mistakes before noticing the strengths of the piece, while as a teacher, I am looking for the message, the content of the story first, before conventions."Cusumano demonstrates that it is not the mistakes that we should be seeking out in a a student's writing, but we should be looking for the message that the student is able to communicate through his or her writing. 

In Teaching Phonemic Awareness by Rasinkski and Padak, the authors' write, "...invented spelling, is a powerful way to help students develop their phonemic awareness as well as basic phonics knowledge..". This strategy provided by Rasinkski and Padak shows that creative spelling may even improve a student's literacy abilities down the road. 

As a soon-to-be teacher, I hope I am able to implement a literacy culture in my classroom that supports creative spelling and encourages children to make mistakes so they may in return learn from those mistakes to become better writers and readers. 

Observing Literacy in Action: Community Literacy Dig

This week I participated in a literacy dig with four other people from my primary reading and language arts class. We decided to visit a major discount retail store to observe different forms of literacy taking place within the store.

Map of Store

The physical environment of the store was bright and inviting. Huge signs with labels hung from the ceiling to note where specific departments were within the store. The signs were red, the carts and baskets were red, the information kiosks were red, and all of the employees wore red shirts. 

The people within the store were mainly female adults. Some of the adults had young children with them. Most of the people were shopping alone. There was a wide variety of races observed, including White, Asian, African America, and Indian, While these people were shopping, many of them had their cell phones out or were just browsing the shelves. 

Aisle

Several forms of conversation and talk were taking place inside the store. Between shoppers, the conversation appeared to be very casual and relaxed. The talk between shoppers and employees was very scripted and rehearsed. Each employee at the checkout kiosk used the same phrases when checking out customers.

The store had a large amount of written literacy. Many of the phrases were not exclusive to this retailer but are exclusive to the retail shopping world. For the first time shopper, these words could be overwhelming-- price scanner, check price, check stockroom, clearance, 30% Off, F30 (aisle marker), self-checkout, express checkout, and carts have self locking wheels. Along with the written literacy, there was a large amount of spoken literacy at the store, particularly at the checkout kiosk. Some phrases that might be confusing to first time shoppers might be, "How will you be paying?", "Credit or Debit?", "Would you like money back?", "Enter your pin.", Would you like a bag?".

Price Tag

At the store we observed many different types of literacy and people using these types of literacy. People were using visual literacy to read labels, technological literacy to use the self-checkout kiosk, and written literacy to sign their name after using a credit card.

Through all of these observations we realized just how much literacy we use in a simple situation, such as making a trip to the grocery store.  Though we may think the day we leave high school or university we are only using our literacy skills on a limited basis, the truth is, literacy is everywhere!

In the article The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom by Rebecca Powell and Nancy Davidson, the authors write about Situated Literacy. Powell and Davidson write, "Situated Literacy is when literacy is embedded within real-world events. The model engages students in real life literacy and values students' worlds and their way of making meaning." As a future educator, I can't help but think of the many ways this connects with the community literacy dig and the relevance of connecting literacy education with real life experiences.

As children grow up they will do much more than just use their literacy techniques in the classroom. Literacy is about engaging yourself in the community and connecting yourself to the world. In order to do this, the children must be taught literacy using situations that are culturally relevant and engaging, in order for them to have an authentic literacy experience that will far outlast the years they spend in the classroom.

Literacy Framework: Finding a Best-Fit Reading Theory for Young Readers

As I begin the second semester of a three semester licensure program in elementary education, I am excited to learn about literacy in early childhood education. After spending my first semester of the program studying literacy in intermediate grades, I am eager to learn more about how our young people develop the necessary skills in order to learn how to read. 

After a discussion in our primary reading class last week, it was apparent that many of us have no recollection of what skills, theories, or strategies we used when learning to read. Though we have no memory of the reading learning process, many of us do have recollection of individuals who influenced our reading habits and perhaps taught us the joy of reading in the early years of our lives.  

In the book, Catching Readers Before They Fall, Pat Johnson and Katie Keier discuss two common literacy theories that teachers employ in the classroom to help young students learn how to read. Through the use of a simple reading theory, a teacher may concentrate reading time on visible reading tactics, such as, phonics, sight words, parts of speech, and punctuation. Through the use of a complex reading theory, the student is able to make meaning of the text as he is learning various visible parts of the text. 

Johnson and Keier discuss the importance of how a teacher understands the reading process and the role that understanding will play in determining what literacy theory is implemented in his or her classroom. Though both theories are beneficial in countless ways, as a teacher it is important to understand the needs of each student and how the implemented literacy framework will benefit the individual. Not one strategy or both may be effective for all learners. 

As teachers we must consistently re-evaluate the literacy theories and framework we employ within our classrooms depending on individuals in our classrooms. Though it is unlikely that our students will remember the theories we used to help them learn how to read, the decisions we make as teachers when implementing literacy strategies in the early childhood classroom will have a lasting impression on each students understanding and perception of reading. 

Most importantly, if we have done our job well as teachers, we will have helped teach the child how to learn to read through a best fit theory and be remembered for instilling a joy and love of reading in that child's mind.