Liteiacy Inquiiy

}aclyn Buii
Nichigan State 0niveisity
TE 8u2
!"#$%&'()*: I am woiking in a 1u
th
giaue English class in Novi Bigh School. Ny class
uemogiaphics aie mostly Caucasian, anu some with Koiean, Inuian, Afiican Ameiican, anu
Nexican heiitage oi backgiounu. I have a few English Language leaineis anu two stuuents
with ABBemotional impaiiment.

+"&, . /(&0123 Foi Pait 1, I askeu my focus class to answei suivey questions about theii
expeiiences anu thoughts about ieauing anu wiiting, etc. The iesults of the suiveys vaiieu,
with some stuuents expiessing a love of ieauing anu the expeiience of ieauing many
uiffeient books in theii spaie time, anu some stuuents expiessing theii beliefs that they
aie not goou ieaueis (highest ieason being slow ieauing) oi that they uo not like to uo so.
0f couise, theie weie many stuuents that fell in between. Stuuents labeleu the texts they
ieau most often, anu while many stuuents maikeu types of novels (fiction, iealistic fiction,
fantastysci-fi, uystopian), most stuuents incluueu alteinative texts like Facebook, Twittei,
oi text messages.
Stuuents weie askeu what theii most memoiable piece of wiiting one, anu most of the
iesponses incluueu a tienu of wiiting about something they weie passionate about, such
as autobiogiaphical pieces, oi a past assignment entitleu "This I Believe", in which
stuuents expiesseu theii opinions on values oi othei things they felt stiongly about.
Noieovei, stuuents weie eagei to list numeious of theii favoiite tv shows, showing that
they highly value the "texts" of pop cultuieiecieation.

4'"5678)%"%191),3 I think one way that stuuents' uniqueness in liteiacies is being valueu
is the choice of inuepenuent novels stuuents have foi 0nit 1. Stuuents can pick any novel
they want to ieau, anu all of the English 1u teacheis leu a "book talk" wheie we
iecommenueu many books in oiuei to give stuuents moie of a wiue winuow of choice. In
this way, we can honoi the stuuents' peisonal piefeiences by having them biing in theii
choice texts to ieau. We aie also incoipoiating some young auult novels into the class as
paits of uiffeient lit. ciicle units. The lit ciicles themselves seive as anothei foim of agency
foi the stuuents, as they aie going to be able to choose which books they want to ieau.

8661),:"5 ;(16,:')63 I think oui "big iueas" of chaiactei uevelopment, valuing peisonal
voice, aigumentative wiitingieseaich, anu themes of analyzing societiesiesponse to
impiopei use of powei will caiiy my goals thiough of encouiaging stuuents to finu inteiest
in ieauing anu wiiting, to expiess themselves, anu to see the value in peisonal accounts
anu questions about oui woilu - analyzeu thiough ieauing anu wiiting.

/$:5563 By these choices, as well as the fiist majoi wiiting assignment being a peisonal
naiiative, stuuents aie leaining ELA skills of authoi's style, aigument wiiting, active
ieauingannotation, anu uiscussion, while having the voice of wiiting about things that
they want to wiite about, anu choosing books that inteiest them.

+5")63 Ny specific plans aie to continue to honoi stuuent choice - as I tiy to in my uaily
lesson (foi example, letting them pick one of my biainstoimeu topics foi me to mouel foi
my naiiative, etc.). I also want to encouiage stuuents to value liteiacy by showing
enthusiasm anu pioviuing guiuing questions anu encouiagement uuiing inuiviuual ieauing
anu wiiting confeiences.
<1=,63
Inuepenuent novels
Catchei in the Rye, Loiu of the Flies, The 0utsiueis
1984, Enuei's uame, Little Biothei
Film, Ait (BIA piotest ait fielu tiip)
A Boll's Bouse
0f Nice anu Nen, The Peail