Reading Matters
Research Matters
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Reading Matters | Volume 16 • Winter 2016 |
scira.org CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTSABSTRACT —Authentic learning is critical to the development
of readers and writers. These types of experiences have been
found to improve student achievement and motivation.
In this article we describe an electronic pen pal book study
project between third graders and preservice teachers. We
will share the perspectives of the participants and offer
considerations for designing authentic literacy experiences.
Authentic practice has been defined as a “combination
of personal meaning making and purposefulness within an
appropriate social and disciplinary framework” (Stein, Issacs, &
Andrews, 2004, p. 241). Research supports the use of authentic
literacy in accompaniment with reading and writing instruction
(Duke, Purcell-Gates, Hall & Tower, 2006; Gambrell, Hughes, Calvert,
Malloy, & Igo, 2011; Parsons &Ward, 2011; Schmoker, 2007; Teale
& Gambrell, 2007; VanDeWeghe, 2008). These experiences provide
real-world texts for a real-world purpose, which may result in tasks
students value (Perry, 2012; Tompkins, Campbell, Green & Smith,
2014). Often, authentic literacy tasks require social interaction
and collaboration among participants (Tompkins et al., 2014).
These types of activities have been shown to increase students’
academic achievement on general and standardized tests, as well
as motivation (Gambrell, Hughes, Calvert, Malloy, & Igo, 2011;
Teale & Gambrell, 2007). As university professors, we (Drs. Helf and
Barger) advocate for these types of learning opportunities as we
seek to enhance the intellectual development of our students.
In the fall of 2015 we designed a book study project with third
graders at a local elementary school and preservice teachers.
Essentially, the third graders and preservice teachers were
electronic pen pals, reading/discussing a piece of children’s
literature over a seven-week period. The purpose of the project
was to (1) engage elementary school students in an authentic
literacy activity and (2) provide undergraduate, preservice teachers
opportunities to observe the features of elementary school
students’ literacy development and respond to the students in a
meaningful context. In this article we will provide an overview of
the project, share the perspectives of the project participants, and
offer considerations for designing authentic literacy experiences.
Book Study Project Overview
From the beginning, we knew book selection was critical
to the success of the project. The novel had to appeal to
both third graders and preservice teachers. It had to have
short, manageable chapters and be on an instructional
or independent reading level for the third graders. It
also had to have an eventful plot for students to want to,
and be able to, engage in a discussion of the story.
After conversations with the classroom teacher, learning more
about the abilities and interests of her students, we decided
on
Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a
Knowledgeable Stingray, a Tough
Little Buffalo, and Someone
Called Plastic
by Emily Jenkins
(2006). In this short novel,
three toys (Stingray, Buffalo,
and Plastic) go on adventures,
learning more about their world
and themselves in the process.
This novel is written on a 3.9
reading level, with a Lexile
level of 730. Each chapter has
a problem and a resolution,
providing students enough
material to generate discussion.
There are six chapters, which
fit perfectly with the timing of
our project and the elementary school and university calendars.
Setting up the Technology
The next step was to create an online forum for the book
study project. The first design included email correspondences
between elementary students and preservice teachers. However,
because of privacy and security concerns the third graders did
not have individual access to email; therefore, we had to explore
other platforms. Our university had just moved to Microsoft Office
365, so all of our preservice teachers had access to Microsoft
OneNote. This program allows multiple people to share access
to the same notebook, which provided a layer of security for
the students involved. The university professors, preservice
teachers, and classroom teacher had access to the notebook.
OneNote allows for multiple dividers in each notebook. We set
up the notebook so that each third grade student had his or her
own tab across the top of the notebook. This organization allowed
us to keep all responses in one notebook, with specific locations
for each student. Under each student tab, we inserted multiple
pages, one for every pen pal entry across the book study. We
wanted to ensure that the organization made it clear where each
entry should go. See Figure 2 for a picture of the Notebook layout
(names of the participants have been removed). Each student tab
was password protected (accessible to the university professors,
Pen Pal Book Study Project: Authentic Literacy
Experiences with Third Graders and Preservice
Teachers
By Shawnna Helf, Bettie Parsons Barger, Hannah Brandon,
Haley Nash, Winthrop University & KimWhite, Sugar Creek Elementary, Fort Mill, SC
Figure 1.
Figure 1. Selected text.