Critical and Cultural Thinking

Over the semester, I have read so many articles about literacy. Sometimes, I felt like I read so much that I was not understanding as much as I could. I read, re-read, and sometimes read for the third time these literacy articles. And here we are, at the end of the semester and I still find it terribly difficult to define literacy without explaining through a quotation or paraphrase. More than gaining new vocabulary, I feel like the understandings I have developed are penetrating my life. Not only do I think about the library in a different way, but also my relationship with children, how I speak to them, and how I interact with adults as well.
I find myself analyzing classroom situations that I observe. I am looking for positioning, power, and perspective where I was passively involved before. I am looking to see what I have not included in my teaching that might benefit the children from popular culture and the knowledge I have of what the child can offer to the classroom. I am challenging culture that I felt was natural because I have realized it is a social construction. I feel like the understandings I have gained are helping me develop as a teacher/librarian.

Reading Reflection

I have always been someone who really loves reading. I remember what the first book I ever read by myself looked like. It was a picture book about the four seasons. I was a late reader, so it was in first grade. Another important moment in my journey of reading was a year later in second grade. My teacher, Mrs. Hutchingson, always had a chapter book to read aloud to our class. Some of my favorite children's books are from that year: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and Wait Till Helen Comes. Not only did I love these books, I knew I had to read them on my own. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was the first chapter book that I read in just one evening.

That was also when I realized that I read faster than most people. In fact, I read so much faster than most people that they do not believe I am reading. I can remember the same details as an average reader when I read. Sometimes, I have to read a book more than once, which often takes about the same amount of time as the average reader takes to read the book the first time. However, because I read so many books, I forget what I have read. I will start a book and realize twenty pages later that I know everything that is going to take place. Online social-networking tools such as Shelfari and LibraryThing have provided some assistance in that area. Both websites let you put books on your shelf and review them and given them ratings. I prefer Shelfari’s interface with the easy five star rating system.

I have found a way of being a little more critical of my reading, but I feel like I am still a passive reader for the most part. I realize I am applying my “funds of knowledge” to understand what I read, but unless I am discussing the text in class, I am not finding many ways to incorporate my academic reading in my life (Moll et. al, 1992). Thanks to my job, I am having more and more conversations about children's literature with students and other teachers. That comes through recommending and discussing books that both the students and I have read.

My goal is to begin writing about not only the academic texts that I read, but also for children's and adolescent literature. One way I plan to achieve this goal is to start a blog on my library webpage that I will have to update often because of its location. I worry that it won't be authentic enough because of me censoring my thoughts because of my audience, so I would need a journal to write in as well.

Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141.

How Technology is Changing What We Read

How Technology is Changing What We Read

This article is talking about the changes that technology is making to what we read. I agree that people are spending more time reading because of internet access. I know that I read many blogs and newsfeeds online. Easy access has changed the way I read the newspaper. I often only read articles that I find interesting rather than all the articles in a section of the paper. I read much more about my interests these days because of all the blogs that people with specialized knowledge are writing. People have the opportunity to read classic texts that Google has scanned into the internet. These books no longer have to be borrowed or purchased.

Writers have new outlets online as well. Short, twitter-length stories have begun to appear. Writers are enjoying writing more because they have a new audience. Technology also makes it quicker, easier and cheaper to reach that audience. And, the audience could be so specialized that many topics are read rather than just general texts.

Books for children are changing online as well. A few companies are taking picture book illustrations and turning the text into movies. Two examples of that are: Tumble books, which is accessible through the NYPL children's website and Scholastic Bookflix. Children can watch and listen to the book being read to them without a parent assisting pretty easily. They can also turn off the volume and read the text to practice those skills.

It is exciting to see the changes that are producing new literacies for students and teachers to learn everyday.

How Literacy Relates to the Library

According to Green in "Critical Literacy Revisited", "the stance taken in terms of critical literacy depends on the kinds of questions that are asked" (pg. 7). In my role as a librarian, I have to think about many of the questions that have been discussed in class. Some of these issues are:
What do I include in my library collection?
What is not included?
How do I represent multiple cultures?
How do I acknowledge the "funds of knowledge" students bring with them to the library (Moll et. al)?
Should I buy books that have familiar cartoon characters, but are not quality literature?, Who decides what is quality?
How can I add that social justice piece to my curriculum?
Do I just join in with other teachers who aleady have an idea of their kids' interests?
How do I collaborate more with the literacy specialists at my school?


There are many questions that I have been considering, but not too many that I have an answer for. I will continue to ask more questions and answer them as I become a reflective practitioner.

"No Blood, Guns, or Gays"

In response to "No Blood, Guns, or Gays", I surveyed some of the teachers that I work with about their free-choice writing times as well as their personal narrative work. In the article, "teachers revealed that writing was constantly controlled in their classrooms" (Schneider, 2001,pg. 423). Teachers decided what kind of writing, "the amount of writing, and the length of writing time", as well as limiting choices by assigning topics and "directly prohibiting certain topics"(pg. 423). This is on par with what I found in the first and second grades of my school. First grade classes have a greater opportunity for free-choice writing than second graders. They spend more time with their writing which occurs more often. Most of their writing time is spent working on assigned writing topics within genres;however, in these topics students can choose to create any story they want. Second grade classes have free-choice writing less than once a month for about thirty minutes. Two teachers out of six discussed the merits of allowing pop culture like Pokemon and movies to be discussed in writing. These teachers thought it would help the teacher and student bond when the student has the responsibility to teach his/her teacher about something new. Almost one teacher from each grade said that the children do write about violence at some point, but had the idea that it was better to write it down in school, where there was someone to talk about the violence.

Here are the most popular writing topics of the children:
playdates, family outings, animals, first experiences, shared school experiences

I agree with the author that sometimes a choice in writing will lead children to "explore their thoughts about certain undesirable issues" (pg. 423). However, I think space to explore in the classroom through writing is a safe venue for that. That way students can have some kind of guidance if they need it.

In the library, I try to give students the a choice of what they want to read. Of course, as a book buyer, I have power to include through buying or refusing to buy books and other products.There are also books labeled as YA or Young Adult that are not available to forth grade and younger. This is because of content that usually does not match their maturity such as sex, drugs, and deep violence. I allow students to look at puberty books whenever they feel like it.

Schneider, J.J. (2001). No blood, guns, or gays allowed! The silencing of the elementary writer. Language Arts, 78(5), 415-425.

Making meaning using technology’s tools

Digital technology has changed the world of literacy inside the classroom and all other aspects of life within the last ten years. We have witnessed the development of social networking communities like MySpace and Face book. We have spent time chatting by typing first over IM, now through Gmail or Facebook. For the first time, people are more concerned about the volume of music they have rather than the sound quality to play on their mp3 players like the iPod. Phones like the iphone or Blackberry Storm have given us the opportunity to surf the web with ease and check our email every two minutes. Skype, one of the free services, has offered communication with distant people using video conferencing and voice chat. These are just some examples of technologies that have been successfully integrated into the fabric of society, but there are many more. As we adjust to these technologies in our roles as users and teachers, our students are growing up situated as consumers and devours of the same resources.

One thing that all of these technologies have in common is that they are social tools. The tools require that we interact with other people in some way, in order for the tools to work. This social requirement establishes definite implications on the ways we interact socially. The changes in interactions produce a rapid transformation in social literacies.

In “Instant messaging, Literacies, and Social Identities,” Cynthia Lewis examines the relationship of instant messaging and social identities. At the surface of instant messaging, we see many reading and writing strategies at work including: “decoding, encoding, interpretation, and analysis,” yet if you delve deeper there are literary practices there for discovery as well. One important distinction that Lewis makes is the difference between literacy events and literacy practices. Literacy events are “any event[s] involving a written text”, while literacy practices are “what can be inferred from observable literacy events as embedded within broader social and cultural norms” (Lewis and Fabos, 2005). I think that the act of instant messaging has elements of both literacy events and practices.

Instant messaging is available on almost all of the technological gadgets mentioned above. It can involve pictures, video, voice capabilities, as well as the expected reading and writing making it multimodal. Allan Luke makes the argument that IM “blurs the distinction between speech and writing” (Lewis and Fabos, 2005). This seems like it would be obvious because it is a form of talk. However, in their research Lewis and Fabos found that just like there are important aspects of speech that are not talking (eye contact, voice, body language) there are also important codes to look for in IM. These codes are part of the meaning making of instant messages. As users found that sarcasm cannot be read through IM, ways to convey sarcasm were developed. These codes are not explicitly taught in the instant messaging world, but users learn them through experience and analyzing the interactions they participate in during these literacy practices. This is part of blending both speech and writing to create a new literacy. While instant messaging has changed social communication, it has not impacted more formal areas of communication in big ways yet.

Are we moving toward a less formal style of communication in the business world or education world? Will instant messaging become more acceptable in the office as a way of communication? Libraries, including Columbia University, are already using IM to reach out to more patrons who have reference questions. Students can IM the library staff who will respond by pushing websites onto the patrons’ computers and chatting about how to search databases or Internet based resources. These uses show how IM is used as a resource, to engage and transform a system of use in the same purpose of “literacy…designing and redesigning social futures” (Lewis and Fabos, 2005). As students who are masters of instant messaging that have grown up with IM as a natural form of communication, go into the job force, I believe that we will see more uses developed and accepted within the workplace. That means that instant messaging with need to hold a more prevalent position in the school world as well.

Lewis points out that, “the reading and writing instruction common to most classrooms may be inadequate to prepare students for a wide range of reading and writing purposes and practices” (Lewis and Fabos, 2005). The implications for our lives lead us to ponder what the ramifications of the spreading use of IM in areas other than informal social communication are and will be in the classroom. In order to produce students who are capable of the “multiple modes of representation-- multiplicity, performativity, flexibility, and adaptability,” norms of school communication and study will have to change. Even if the practice of instant messaging is not introduced into the classroom, it should be acknowledged as a viable literacy practice because, “through metadiscussions of literacy practices in and out of school, students can…analyze the features of the semiotic systems with which they interact across contexts” (Lewis and Fabos, 2005).

As a librarian and teacher, I find that using small groups or partners as working buddies usually assists in creating a new level of comprehension in the group. The social benefits of bouncing ideas off one another, discussing, and changing are advantageous to the group as well. It is interesting to think about being partners with a child in a different class or school even for an integrated project. For older students, it could easily integrate their instant messaging skills allowing that literacy practiced to be “counted” in the classroom, although it is usually discourage because instant messaging often occurs between students during teaching times or other inappropriate moments of the school day. I have questions about whether instant messaging is a safe venue to talk to students outside of school, even for homework questions. Would students use IM as a venue to change the words of teachers? Conversations can be saved and printed, which would be one way a teacher could protect himself/herself from claims of wrongdoing; however, I do not know how many teachers would remember to save all conversations. Another issue of using IM within schools is access.

It should be recognized that there are many people without access to these technologies. In order to experience many of these technologies, up-to-date computers, Internet access, and certain brands of cell phones and mp3 players are required. The topic of access brings up questions about the availability inside of and out of school for most students. Many schools cannot afford computers for every student. Even those who have enough computers often have access to IM sites banned. However, as James Gee writes in the foreword for Lewis's Literary Practices as Social Acts: Power, Status and Cultural Norms in the Classroom, "We cannot separate literacy from trust, values, access, and affiliation" (Gee, 2001);therefore, we strive to continue devising new ways to learn and teach literacy to whomever we are reaching at that moment.


Fabos, B. and Lewis, C. (2005) Instant messaging, literacies, and social

Identities. Reading Research Quarterly (pg. 475-500)

"Critical Literacy Revisited"

Some common ideas of literacy are, "notions of text, literacy as a social practice, and discourse" (pg. 8). Literacy can be "liberating" or "dominating" (pg. 8). Literacy can dominate because it is an practice that can be constructed in the classroom. Literacy works along with the people and texts that are creating it. It can be grammar worksheets and stories about farm animals in one class and ripe with social action and fervor in another class. The article talks about empowerment. It notes that not all literacy empowers: "We do not gain access to the power bases of society just because we can read and write" (Green, 1992, pg. 11). There are a lot more codes to break to get to society. Reading and writing are expected from people in society. There are certain codes that we might not even recognize as codes like finding a bulletin in a church. If you are a church member, you automatically know where to look for a bulletin/program. You know what to call it and what shape it is, which is why it is a "power code Literacy" (pg. 10).
Green tells us that, "a critical perspective of literacy argues for an active, challenging approach to literacy" (pg. 10). This means readers should not accept exactly what they hear and see. Instead, readers should look beyond the text to see what is behind the actual words. One idea that Green gives for critical literacy in the classroom is offering many books on the same topic, but with different perspectives. Juxtapositioning these texts is a way students will begin to see the perspective of each author. This is also a way that I can help classroom teachers. When I order books, I can research to find books that will enable students to compare.

Green, P. (2001). Critical Literacy Revisited. In H. Fehring & P. Green, Critical literacy: A collection of articles from the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (pp. 7-14). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Personal Narrative Reflection

Sometime after second grade, my mom bought me my first diary. I actually used this for years and still have it somewhere hidden away. Unlike the school assignments, I had at the time, I felt like my diary was for an authentic purpose, keeping my secrets. While I felt comfortable keeping secrets in my journal, I have never felt very truthful in my other writing. Without that truthfulness, my writing has suffered. I have had a hard time addressing meaningful topics.
Some reasons why I had a hard time writing was because I was not able to accept my positioning. I did not want to admit to myself or other people where I was coming from and what my experiences were. I wanted to have the same upper-middle class background as all of my friends.

Stephanie Jones talks about how power is related to positioning. I agree. The ability to acknowledge my positioning has given me power. Power to write. Power to express myself. Power to tell stories about my life. Power to realize the value in those stories. Power to know that their is value in having a diverse background. I hope this is a lesson I can take to the children I work with.

Personal Narrative

A Family Dinner

Tabitha Johnson

“Ma, I’m hungry!” my sister whined. “I need some food.”

My sister had just gotten off from work at Western Sizzlin’. She worked there to pay for her car and her classes at the closest community college. She also helped my parents out with the bills when she could since she was still living at home.

I was in kindergarten. I didn’t know how to read or spell a lot of words yet, but I liked trying. At this moment, I was writing strings of letters and then asking my mom if they were words. She responded the first two times with a short, “no” and continued doing laundry. After that, she tuned me out. She was watching a Dallas re-run.

As the television flashed to a new show, momma looked up at my sister and told her to eat a few slices of cucumber my dad had picked from his garden. She told us she would cook after she finished the laundry. “My arthritis is kicking in. That damn warehouse is so hot!” she told my sister. My mom was a line operator at a plastics factory.

“Oohh! You said a bad word in front of me!” I accused her.

“Stop actin’ a fool,” was her reply. I always got that. No matter what I was doing. Singing at the dinner table, dancing in the house, playing at church. Always something.

I was distracted from her comment when my stomach started growling. It had been a long time since my after school snack with my dad. We always shared some saltine crackers and Vienna sausages before he left for work. I asked my mom if it was time for dinner. She walked into the kitchen stretching her fingers, trying to keep them from tightening. Please, no pot roast or unidentifiable microwaved mystery meat today, I prayed. God, I don’t want a spanking. Don’t let her make me sit under the table again! Please! Oh, and Lord…Thank you for not letting my mama figure out why I went into the bathroom every five minutes last night. Lord, you know why I had to spit the hamburger meat in the toilet. Thank you!

Mama leaned against the refrigerator smoking a cigarette while looking at the stove. “I’m too tired to clean the kitchen tonight,” she mumbled to herself. She decided to splurge on fast food. Usually, the only day we got fast food was on Saturday after both momma and daddy had gotten paid. This was like striking it rich! She reached up into the money jar, hesitated, and took out ten dollars.

“Mama, mama, can I have a footlong hotdog?” I begged. I had seen one last time we went to Kelly’s. “I can eat the whole thing all by myself! I promise!”

“That’s a waste of my money, Tabu. You don’t need no footlong hotdog. You’re gonna just throw it away,” she told me.

I begged with my huge bottom lip extended, my eyes almost overflowing with tears until I wore her down. However, there was a catch. “You will sit here at this table until you eat every bite of that hotdog. You ain’t gonna leave that chair,” she looked me square in the eyes. I nodded.

Twenty minutes later Mama walked in with a white paper bag with black letters. I tore the bag to reach its contents. Pushing my mom’s and sister’s food aside, I grabbed for my hotdog. As I pealed back the foil, I inhaled the scent of ketchup, mustard, and meat. I shoved the hotdog in my mouth and took a bite. Ketchup and mustard flavors overwhelmed the hotdog.

“Tammy, look at my hotdog!” I showed my sister while taking my first glance at the 11.5 inches of delicious food. As I looked at my hotdog with admiration, sirens rang through my brain. I alerted my sister to my suspicions. She nodded, looking down her wrinkled nose at my hotdog. “Mama!” we cried in unison.

Mama walked in, looked at us, then at the hotdog. We saw a flash in her eyes. “Why are you agreeing with her?” my mom asked Tammy. “She’s just afraid she won’t finish and get to go outside.” Then my momma turned to me, “I can’t believe I got that thing for you. I should’ve known better. There is nothing wrong with that hotdog. Eat it!”

I sat at the table as she forced me to take bite after bite of the hotdog. Maybe each bite was worth a dime I thought. I could just pay her to let me stop eating. My sister told her the hotdog was rancid. Out of date. Old. Should be thrown away. My mom dusted as she watched me eat. She didn’t look angry. Just tired.

Each bite I took piled up in my tummy. Little chunks of lead, one on top of another. “Mommy, I can’t eat anymore! I feel sick!” I took a deep breath. My shoulders wobbled as I began sobbing, “Look at it! It’s green! I’m not lying! Don’t make me eat anymore, Mommy! I would eat it if it was good. I promise!” I put my head down on the table.

She grabbed the hotdog and chucked it into the garbage little flecks of ketchup displaying her force. I moved out of her way. I sat in the dark on the couch as my tummy twisted and rolled. I stretched out hoping that lying on my belly would help the pain subside.

I must of drifted off to sleep because the next thing I remember is running through the house vomiting. I could hear my sister tell my mom, “We told you it was green,” as my mom held a damp washcloth to cool my face. I retched through the night, laying on the cool linoleum of my parents' bathroom. I was still awake at 5:30 when I heard her call in to work to say she wouldn’t be in, her daughter was sick.

Where I'm From

I am from a mother and father that love me to distraction.
Distraction is what they feel when I am away.
Away is where is am now.
Now, I am going further.
Further for just a while though.

I am from a sister that I used to know.
She took care of me throughout childhood.
Became my substitute mom.
Now, she is like a stranger
With a jealous tongue.

I am from a small town.
Pushing to become something new.
Infiltrated with urban workers.
Building subdivisions on the farmland
that used to be my home.

I am from a classroom
filled with violence
Couldn't stop the pain
from taking over the childrens'
lives.

I am from a relationship
with silence dictating
happiness.

On the other hand...

I am from the land of friendships
that range thousands of miles.
Supporting my very existence.
Loving, Kind, Beautiful
Friendships.

I am from a school that cares
about the students,
about the teachers.
A place where I fit in.

I am from a world of books.
Opening new experiences.
Teasing, tricking, inciting
me to want something more.
Always wanting something
more.

Lesson Plan Reflection

Witness, by Karen Hesse, is a book about the KKK infiltrating a small Vermont town in the early 1920s. The book is a free verse novel told through many characters perspectives. The reader is confronted with racism, hypocrisy, prejudice, abuse, and neglect.
This lesson is really about deconstructing the text and identity of each character in Witness. Stephanie Jones wrote, "Deconstruction is the tenet of critical literacy that promises to keep us aware that all texts are constructed and therefore can be deconstructed, taken apart bit-by-bit to unveil power, perspective, and positioning(Jones, 2006).
Karen Hesse grew up in Baltimore; however, she has now lived in Vermont for many years. For this book, she researched Vermont in the 1920s and developed her story from the historical aspects of the time. I believe that she wrote Witness to make people reexamine their prejudices.
In the beginning of the novel, it would seem that only adults have power. At that, mostly white adult men had power. However, as the story progresses, the KKK loses much of its power. One of the interesting pieces is who gains power. There is an interesting change in power that drives the plot of the story. I designed this lesson to help students look more closely at the characters and really think about the decisions they are making throughout the novel.

Jones, S. (2006). Girls, social class, and literacy: What teachers can do to make a difference. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Defining Power in Witness

Population: Designed for a basic 9th grade English class of 25 students.

Materials:

• Witness by Karen Hesse
• Powerpoint
• Smartboard/Computer access
  
• Worksheet(s)

Learner Background: This lesson would take place after the students finish reading Witness. During the pre-reading and reading of the novel, students would have researched certain events of the time period (1920's) to better understand where these characters are coming from, and the situations they were experiencing at the time. Also, students would have studied the various components of "free verse" and the figurative language devices used to create this unique, poetic style of writing.

Rationale: This lesson transitions from the reading of the text and research of the time period to the exploration of larger themes and ideas within the work, such as the concept of power. "Power" is something that is loosely defined and can take on many different meanings in various settings: society, government, schools, homes, etc. Understanding the root and role of power is in essence examining human nature and the reason as to why organizations, hierarchies, standards, and rules are created. The novel Witness provides a great opportunity for students to connect situations in history to the personal voices present in this text. It also creates the opportunity for students to further research the conventions (i.e. organizations/social movements) and trends of power in our past, and how they relate to present day society.

Essential Questions:

• What are the causes and effects of power?
• What abilities do we possess to change the constructs of power?

Objective(s):

Students will:

• Define "power".
• Explore the representation of power through close readings of selected excerpts.
• Discuss the role power plays in the story and character development.
• Compare characters' uses of power in the text.

Do Now: (10 minutes)

• Write the following sentence on the board:

Complete this phrase: People use power in order to ________________.

Have students brainstorm various words that would be appropriate in completing this phrase. Then, have students answer the following question:

• Write the two definitions of power on the board:

• According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, "Power" means:

1. the ability to act or affect something strongly; strength, might; vigour.
   
2. control or authority over others; dominance; government, command; personal, social, or political influence or ascendancy.
3. A movement to enhance the status or influence of a specified group, lifestyle, etc.

Lesson Development:

Modeling: (10 minutes)

• Before transitioning into closely examining the text, Witness, show Powerpoint on various events that were occurring at the time this story took place:

• Prohibition Act
• KKK
• Women's Rights Movement

• Explain how many of these organizations/historical events are deeply rooted in a struggle for power. Different people use power differently, and external factors play a significant role in what establishes a person's power, and what can take it away.

Group Work: (20 minutes)

• Distribute "Defining Power in Witness" Worksheet

This activity will focus on exploring both definitions of "power" within the story, Witness, by answering the following questions:

1. How is power established within this character's situation?
2. What grants this character power?
3. What can (or does) take it away?
4. What does this character use power for?
5. What is an example from your excerpt(s) that illustrates the use of figurative language to illuminate the concept of power (i.e. repetition, simile, metaphor, personification, imagery)?

• Review model for students to consider in the examination of their assigned character:

• Divide class into groups with assigned characters and excerpts (2-3 students per group). (Note: Assigning groups/having students choose their own groups is obviously left up to the discretion of the teacher. It may be easier to hand out index cards, each with an assigned character and his/her respective excerpts listed on them. This may avoid confusion and save time in the lesson).
  

• Students will complete the questions for their assigned characters. If more time is needed, students will finish their character analysis for homework in order to be prepared for the jigsaw sharing on Day Two of the lesson.

Day Two:

• There will be three groups discussing power and students will share in a jigsaw format.
• Students will record various responses and comments made about each character on their handout sheet. This information will be important for students to reference in preparation for their final assessment.

Scaffolding for Final Assessment:

• Students' final assessment will be a project selecting one historical event during this time (which they would have previously studied/researched in the beginning of the unit). Students will then select two characters that exemplify the role "power" plays in this situation (i.e. Prohibition Act, KKK, etc.). This connection and comparison may be illustrated through a Powerpoint presentation, using visuals and video clips, in addition to a written paper which will incorporate supporting excerpts from Witness and other history sources.
• The main objective of this assessment is to have students explore the complexity of power--how it means something different to each individual, and how power can affect individuals in extreme ways. Bridging the history of our nation and this fictional text with this concept will broaden and intensify students' connections with their personal lives and this piece of literature.

Response to "No Single Meaning"

"No Single Meaning: Empowering Students to Construct Socially Critical Readings of the Text" by Ann Kempe

“Yet in a world characterized by conflict, oppression, and inequality, students must be given access to a more powerful literacy (or literacies) which requires them to resist textual ideologies and to construct socially critical readings of their texts and their culture” (pg. 41).

I thought this article was really important because it highlights the need to move away from passive acceptance toward a critical lens. I feel like I often accept ideas that I read about without considering the impact of the text on me and my surroundings. I often accept these ideas at face value and then leave them there without tension or challenges, but also without a lot of thought. Some writing is so powerful that it compels the reader to do something. It could be respond critically in a way that will alter their thinking as well as events around them, but it could also just be the reader remembering the text.

According to Kempe, “critical literacy demands that people will actively contribute to changing and re-making their culture, with the aim of building a better world” (pg. 41). I feel like I have seen a lot of critical literacy taking place at school this past month. Teachers are working on personal projects based on justice in the fourth grade classes. The students are discussing justice throughout the curriculum. They are researching topics with injustices they find personally interesting and are going to go into some kind of community service based on what they find during their project research. The students are so engaged in what they are doing because they have a purpose. They want to know about justice. They also want their work to lead them to something that will truly help another person or even animal.

In the section that discusses implications for the future, Kempe mentions that she would like to work toward teacher working more as a facilitator than a dictator of information. I think that the project the fourth graders are working on has done that because they are working on my different topics that limit how much the teacher knows about the project.

Kempe, A. (2001). No single meaning: Empowering students to construct socially critical readings of text. In H. Fehring & P. Green, Critical Literacy: A collection of articles from the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (pp. 40-57). Newark, DE: International Reading Association

Mock-Caldecott Election