C&T 5037: LITERACY, CULTURE, AND THE TEACHING OF READING Department of Curriculum and Teaching Teachers College, Columbia

University Spring 2012 Instructor: Sarah Schlessinger Email: sls2188@tc.columbia.edu Phone: (646) 745-8259 Meeting Time: Weds. 7:00-9:00pm Office: Interchurch Suite 650 Office Hours: Mon. 3-5pm; Wed. After Class

COURSE DESCRIPTION This 2-3 variable point course is a collaborative investigation into literacy as a social, cultural, and political practice. It provides opportunities for participants to unpack and reimagine literacy learning and teaching for all students, but especially for those labeled at risk due to race/ethnicity, social class, nationality/language, gender, dis/ability, and sexuality. Rooted in the assumption that power circulates in culture, literacy, and education, this course looks closely at the role of power in reading texts, whether print-based, multimodal, digital, filmic, or embodied. We will read sociocultural and socio-political theories of literacy to challenge dominant definitions and practices of school literacy, and turn to ethnographic narratives of children, youth, and families to see how power works through literacy in peoples everyday lives. Throughout the course, we will disrupt deficit discourses about students and families as we collaborate to explore curriculum frameworks that engage children and youth in social critical literacies. This courseincluding class activities, readings, and assignmentsis structured around TCs conceptual framework of inquiry stance, curricular stance, and social justice stance. READINGS AND MATERIALS: Required texts: 1. Jones, S. (2006). Girls, social class, and literacy: What teachers can do to make a difference. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 2. Choose one: Allison, D. (1988). Trash: Stories by Dorothy Allison. New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc. Anzaldua, G. (1999). Borderlands/La Frontera: The new mestiza (3rd edition). San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books. Yang, G. L. (2008). American Born Chinese. New York: First Second Books. 3. Selected articles and chapters will be available on eReserve, which can be accessed at http://docdel.tc.columbia.edu 1

4. You will also work with an inquiry community of your peers along one of the following books: Ballenger, C. (2009). Puzzling moments, teachable moments: Practicing teacher research in urban classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press. Campano, G. (2007). Immigrant students and literacy: Reading, writing, and remembering. New York: Teachers College Press. Dyson, A. H. (2003). The brothers and sisters learn to write: Popular literacies in childhood and school cultures. New York: Teachers College Press. Lewis, C. (2001) Literary practices as social acts: Power, status and cultural norms in the classroom. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Vasquez, V. (2004). Negotiating critical literacies with young children. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. COURSE REQUIREMENTS You will be responsible for: Attending all class meetings Completing assigned readings and responses for each class meeting Participating in all activities, including discussion, group work, and interactions with young children Completing all required assignments by the due date (See description below) Keeping all assignments organized COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND POINTS DISTRIBUTION 2 Point Students Attendance, Participation & Preparation (20) Literacy Analysis (15) Critical Reading (20) Critical Literacy Inquiry Group (30) Reading Portfolio (15) 3 Point Students Attendance, Participation & Preparation (20) Literacy Analysis (10) Critical Reading # 1 (15) Critical Reading # 2 (15) Critical Literacy Inquiry Group (25) Reading Portfolio (15) 3rd point assignment: Complete a second critical reading of a text, but select a different option from among the choices listed in the assignment description above. 2

Attendance, Participation, and Preparation: This course is a collaborative inquiry. As such, your attendance and participation in all aspects of the class are essential to the knowledge we construct together. You are expected to be prepared for class, attend every class punctually, and participate in class discussions. Bring the assigned reading materials with you to every class. You have one excused absence without penalty only on the following conditions: (1) you must inform me by email before class of your anticipated absence; and (2) excused absences are consistent with university policy and include illness, documented observance of a religious holiday, and funeral attendance. Unexcused absences and any additional absences will result in a deduction from your participation grade. It is TC policy that is you miss more than two class sessions, you will not receive credit for this course. I will pass out an attendance sheet at the beginning of each class. It is your responsibility to sign in. In case of absence, you are responsible for turning in all required assignments the same day that they are due. You are also responsible for being prepared for the next class sessions. Weekly Readings and Responses For each week you will have an assigned reading from articles or the course text. You will be required to respond to these readings whether in the form of a one-page typed reflection, a guided multimodal response, or, more informally, the completion of a graphic organizer to record your thoughts. These responses will be used in our classroom discussions, and therefore cannot be handed in late or made up if missed. Please check our weekly agendas for details on the response assignment due the following week. Literacy AnalysisExploring Your Own Literacies through an Ethnographic Lens Due: Week 7 This assignment is designed to encourage metacognitive awareness of your everyday literacy events and practices. Choose two activities that you do as part of your ordinary life), document them (i.e., take notes immediately after the activity so you can remember it), and analyze them using a chart to be handed out in class. You will bring your analysis chart to class for peer discussion, and then prepare a 5 page paper in which you briefly describe the events and analyze them in relation to course concepts and readings about literacy, positioning, and power. Critical Reading Paper Due: Week 10 Each of you will select a text (broadly defined for example, a television commercial, a print advertisement, an oral conversation, a childrens literature text, etc.) and conduct a critical reading of this text in the form of a 5-7 page paper. Each critical reading will engage the three layers and tenets of critical literacy as described in Jones (2006). Below please find some specific questions to guide your thinking along these aspects of critical literacy. 1. Write a brief context and synopsis of the text: Depending on the type of text you choose for your critical reading, you might consider: On what network is the commercial? At what time did it play? In what venue did you find the advertisement? Who participated in the conversation and where did it take place? Please give a brief synopsis of the text you have selected for analysis. This is to help orient the reader to the 3

text you will be unpacking; however, the bulk of the paper will consist of analyzing rather than simply describing or retellingthe messages in the text. 2. Analyze the text: Possible questions to explore include: Who is part of the target audience and why? How did you read this target audience? What perspectives are privileged in this text and what are the cues that this is so? Whose interests are being served through this text? How does your reading connect to Culture? Power? Literacy? From where did you read the commercial (Insider? Outsider? Cultural similarities? Differences?) Note: The questions above are intended to scaffold your reading. The papers should do more than simply answer the questions; they should demonstrate an emerging understanding of the issues we are examining by incorporating your own synthesis of course readings and ideas into the paper. Be sure to include a link or copy of the text you are analyzing. 3-point students: 2nd Critical Reading Due Week 14 Critical Literacy Inquiry Group Due: Weeks 12-15 (depending on your selection) For this assignment, you will have the opportunity to work with peers around inquiries deriving from a selected academic book as it relates to your own teaching. You will spend time with your inquiry groupboth in and out of classreading and discussing your chosen text, working through structured ways of looking at classroom events in light of the themes of the text, and drawing implications for your own teaching. The assignment has two inter-related parts. The first involves unpacking the selected text, considering a range of questions, such as the following: What are the major themes and ideas of the book? What images of teachers and teaching are represented? What are the images of students? How does the book help us rethink what counts as literacy? How does it help us consider what it means to take a critical stance in the classroom? The idea is not to review or report on the book, but to use it as platform to inquire into issues related to critical literacy. The second part of the assignment involves thinking with the readings to analyze and reconceptualize literacy and classroom practice in your own context. Some questions to consider include: What in your own context resonates with the ideas in the book? How does the book provide a lens for understanding and rethinking particular classroom literacy events and practices? What are your emerging thoughts about what it means to adopt a critical stance? How might the book broaden or shift your own understandings of literacy? This part of the assignment will require you to bring in data from the classroom to examine in light of the themes of your book as well as the course more broadly. We will also spend some class time devoted to analyzing classroom data. You will share findings from your group inquiries with the rest of the class, who will not have read your book but will have had an initial introduction to the ideas through assigned articles. 4

Since each groups inquiry processes will be unique, you will also decide how to represent your thinking in light of the text themes, analysis of teaching, and future implications. Reading Portfolio Due: Last day of class The purpose of the reading portfolio is to develop and strengthen your abilities to critically analyze your thinking processes while engaged in reading print and non-print texts. Constructing metacognitive awareness of reading processes and conscious awareness of ones cultural location are key components of this project. Exploring multiple and critical perspectives of texts in schools is essential because it calls attention to the intersections of culture and power, and forces the practitioner to consider her or his students as situated readers. This portfolio will be developed across the semester, and will serve as a tool for you to assess their own habits, processes, and growth as readers and as teachers of reading. The three sections of this portfolio will be: Reading the world Reading the word Implications for teaching

Each section will incorporate themes from the readings, conversations, and assignments across the semester. You are encouraged to see this portfolio as an opportunity to immerse yourself in the close and critical study of reading. Suggestions for pieces to include in the portfolio are listed below, but all students are encouraged to move beyond this list to make it as personal and meaningful as possible: Assignments from class and critical reflections on those assignments A readers notebook that includes entries about reading the world and the word Important articles/books/chapters for readers and teachers of reading A written reflection on how (or whether) you have changed as a reader during the semester A plan of action, including possible readings and lessons for using in the classroom A blog, website, or MySpace that includes your thoughts, questions, etc. about the act of reading and/or the teaching of reading Lists of books read and your reviews of them Lists of books you want to read and a plan of action Critical readings (including assignments) of social, visual, and print texts Video about personal journey as a reader Arts-based interpretations of the personal journey of becoming a reader Written reflections on your processes during the reading of one of the choice books Reflections on the act of reading/discussing one text with a group of people

A note on written assignments: All papers submitted for assessment must be revised and edited. Students are advised to have a peer or peers read their papers before submitting them to the instructor. The quality of the content and writing will always be the focus of the instructor during scoring, but papers are also expected to be well-edited. Please use the matters of style guide distributed in class as well as APA formatting (Owl Purdue is a great cheat sheet for APA). 5

EVALUATION Final grades will be based on the following scale: A 95-100% B 84-86% C 73-76% D 63-66% A- 90-94% B- 80-83% C- 70-72% D- 60-62% B+ 87-89% C+ 77-79% D+ 67-69% F Below 60% All assignments are due at the beginning of the class on the day they are due. All assignments will be reduced by 10% for each day they are overdue. If you are unable to attend class that day, you must send your work to class with a classmate or email it to me by the beginning of class in order to receive full points. Please Note: No incompletes will be given in this course. Grades for assignments handed in after the due date will only be accepted when prior arrangements have been made with the instructor, and these assignments will be lowered at least one half grade. Please keep a copy of any work you hand in. ASSISTING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: The College will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students are encouraged to contact the Office of Access and Services for Individuals with Disabilities for information about registration (166 Thorndike Hall). Services are available only to students who are registered and submit appropriate documentation. As your instructor, I am happy to discuss specific needs with you as well. TEACHERS COLLEGE INCOMPLETE POLICY: The grade of Incomplete is to be assigned only when the course attendance requirement has been met but, for reasons satisfactory to the instructor, the granting of a final grade has been postponed because certain course assignments are outstanding. If the assignments are completed within calendar year from the date of the close of the term in which the grade of Incomplete was received and a final grade submitted, the final grade will be recorded on the permanent transcript, replacing the grade of Incomplete, with a transcript notation indicating the date that the grade of Incomplete was replaced by a final grade. If the outstanding work is not completed within one calendar year from the date of the close of the term in which the grade of Incomplete was received, the grade will remain as a permanent Incomplete on the transcript. In such instances, if the course is a required course or part of an approved program of study, students will be required to re-enroll in the course including repayment of all tuition and fee charges for the new registration and satisfactorily complete all course requirements. EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE: Teachers College students have the responsibility for activating the Columbia University Network ID (UNI) and a free TC Gmail account. As official communications from the College e.g., information on graduation, announcements of closing due to severe storm, flu epidemic, transportation disruption, etc. will be sent to the students TC Gmail account, students are responsible for either reading email there, or, for utilizing the mail forwarding option to forward mail from their account to an email address which they will monitor. RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE: It is the policy of Teachers College to respect its members observance of their major religious holidays. Students should notify instructors at the beginning of the semester about their wishes to observe holidays on days when class sessions are scheduled. Where academic scheduling conflicts prove unavoidable, no student will be penalized 6

for absence due to religious reasons, and alternative means will be sought for satisfying the academic requirements involved. If a suitable arrangement cannot be worked out between the student and the instructor, students and instructors should consult the appropriate department chair or director. If an additional appeal is needed, it may be taken to the Provost. ASSISTING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: The College will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students are encouraged to contact the Office of Access and Services for Individuals with Disabilities for information about registration. Services are available only to students who are registered and submit appropriate documentation. As your instructor, I am happy to discuss specific needs with you as well.

COURSE SESSIONS AND READINGS Note: ** This is a tentative schedule and subject to change Class 1 (Jan. 18) Introduction to the course and to each other No readings due. Class 2 (Jan. 25) From where do we read? Locations, positions, identities and subjectivities as teachers and students Jones text, Chapter 2. hooks, b. (1994). Seeing and making culture. In b. hooks, Outlaw culture: Resisting representations (pp. 165-172). New York: Routledge. Kersten, J. (2006). Whys Everyone White? Moving toward Critical Pedagogy in an Elementary Classroom. Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, vol. 2, 31-38. Class 3 (Feb. 1) What is culture? Zacher, J. (2009). Christinas worlds: Negotiating childhood in the city. Educational Studies, 45, 262-279. McIntosh, P. (1988). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Peace & Freedom, 49, 1012. McDermott, R. & Varenne, H. (1995). Culture as disability. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 26 (3), 324-348. Gonzalez, N. (2005). Beyond culture: The hybridity of funds of knowledge. In N. Gonzalez, L. Moll, & C. Amanti (Eds.), Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms (pp. 29-46). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Class 4 (Feb. 8) What is literacy? Willis, A. (1997). Focus on Research: Historical considerations. Language Arts, 74 (5), 387-397. Gee, J. P. (1989). What is literacy? Journal of Education, 71(1), 18-25. Delpit, L. (1992). Acquisition of literate discourse: Bowing before the master? Theory into Practice, 31(4), 296-302. Scribner, S. (1984). Literacy in three metaphors. American Journal of Education, 93(1), 6-21.

Carrington, V. (2003). 'I'm in a bad mood. Let's go shopping': Interactive dolls, consumer culture and a 'glocalized' model of literacy. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 3(1), 83-98. Bloome, D. & Enciso. P. (2007). Looking out across Columbus: What we mean by multiple literacies. Theory into Practice. 45(4), 296-303. Class 5 (Feb. 15) Who counts as literate in school? Literacy and Power Heath, S. B. (1982). What no bedtime story means. Language in Society, 11, 49-76. 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. Ascenzi-Moreno, L., Espinosa, C., Ferholt, S, Loeb, M., Lugo-Salcedo, B, & Traugh, C. (2008). Learning through descriptive inquiry at the Cypress Hills Community School. Language Arts, 85(5), 392-400. Kliewer, C., Fitzgerald, L. M., Meyer-Mork, J., Hartman, P., English-Sand, P., Raschke, D. (2004). Citizenship for all in the literate community: An ethnography of young children with significant disabilities in inclusive early childhood settings. Harvard Educational Review,74(4), 373-403. Class 6 (Feb. 22) What is critical literacy? Reading the world and the word Jones text, Chapters 3-7. Freire, P. (1983). The importance of the act of reading. Journal of Education, 165(1), 511. Hooks, b. (1994). Paulo Freire. In b. hooks, Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom (pp. 45-58). Either: 8 short stories of your choice from Trash by D. Alison 8 essays of your choice from Borderlands/La Frontera by G. Anzaldua; American Born Chinese by Gene Yang Class 7 (Feb. 29) Classroom connections for critical literacy: Workshop and inquiry perspectives Jones text, Chapters 9-11. Comber, B., Thomson, P., & Wells, M. (2001). Critical literacy finds a place: Writing and social action in a low-income Australian grade 2/3 classroom. The Elementary School Journal, 101(4), 451-464. Literacy Analysis Due

Class 8 (March 7) Classroom connections: Gender, race, and literacy Rogers, R. & Mosley, M. (2006). Racial literacy in a second-grade classroom: Critical race theory, whiteness studies, and literacy research. Reading Research Quarterly 41(4), 462-495. Blackburn, M. (2005). Disrupting dichotomies for social change: A review of, critique of, and complement to current educational literacy research on gender. Research in the Teaching of English, 39(4), 398-416. Blaise, M. (2009). What a girl wants, what a girl needs: Responding to sex, gender, and sexuality in the early childhood classroom. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 23(4), 450-460. Rist, R. (2000). HER Classic: Student social class and teacher expectations: The selffulfilling prophecy in ghetto education. Harvard Educational Review, 70(3), 257301. Bomer, R., Dworin, J., May, L., & Semingson, P. (2008). Miseducating teachers about the poor: A critical analysis of Ruby Paynes claims about poverty. Teachers College Record, 110(12), 2497-2531. Class 9 (March 14) Spring Break NO CLASS Class 10 (March 21) Classroom connections for critical literacy: Ethnographic perspectives on language Heath, S. B. & Mangiola, L. (1991). Children of promise: Literate activity in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association. Wheeler, R., & Swords, R. (2004). Codeswitching: Tools of language and culture transform the dialectally diverse classroom. Language Arts, 81(6), 470-480. Curry, T. & Bloome, D. (1998). Learning to write by writing ethnography. In A. EganRobertson & D. Bloome (Eds.), Students as researchers of culture and language in their own communities (pp. 37-58). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. Smitherman, G. (2000). Introduction to Ebonics. In G. Smitherman, Talkin that talk: Language, culture, and education in African America (pp. 19-40). NY: Routledge. Recommended: Wolfram, W. (1998). Dialect awareness and the study of language. In A. Egan-Robertson & D. Bloome (Eds.), Students as researchers of culture and language in their own communities (pp. 167-190). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. Stubbs, M. (2002). Some basic sociolinguistic concepts. In L. Delpit & J.K. Dowdy (Eds.), The skin that we speak (pp. 63-85). NY: The New Press. Critical Reading Paper Due Week 10 10

Class 11 (March 28) Classroom connections for critical literacy: Language diversity and English language learners/Emergent bilinguals Gutirrez, K. D. & Orellana, M. F. (2006). The problem of English Learners: Constructing genres of difference. Research in the Teaching of English, 40(4), 502-507. Orellana, M. F. & Gutirrez, K. D. (2006). Whats the problem? Constructing different genres for English Learners. Research in the Teaching of English, 41(1), 118-123. Class 12 (April 4) Negotiating critical literacy with young children Vasquez, V. (2005). Resistance, power-tricky, and colorless energy. In J. Marsh (Ed.) Popular culture, new media, and digital literacy in early childhood (pp. 201-218). New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Vasquez, V. (2003). What Pokemon can teach us about learning and literacy. Language Arts, 81(2), 118-125. ** Inquiry Group: Negotiating critical literacies by Vasquez Class 13 (April 11) Childrens multiple authoring practices in relationship to the school curriculum Dyson, A. H. (1999). Coach Bombay's kids learn to write: Children's appropriation of media materials for school literacy. Research in the Teaching of English, 33(4), 367-402. Rist, R. (2000). HER Classic: Student social class and teacher expectations: The selffulfilling prophecy in ghetto education. Harvard Educational Review, 70(3), 257-301. ** Inquiry Group: The Brothers and Sisters Learn to Read and Write by Dyson Identity as curriculum: Supporting the multiple literacies of immigrant students Campano, G. (2005). The second class: Providing space in the margins. Language Arts, 82(3), 186-194. ** Inquiry Group: Immigrant students and literacy by Campano Class 14 (April 18) Literature discussions as cultural practice Lewis, C. (1997). The social drama of literature discussions in a fifth/sixth grade classroom. Research in the Teaching of English, 31(2), 163-204. ** Inquiry Group: Literacy practices as social acts by Lewis Generating knowledge from classroom dissonance: Rethinking students understandings across the content areas Ballenger, C. (2004). The puzzling child: Challenging assumptions about participation and meaning in talking science. Language Arts, 81(4), 303-311. 11

** Inquiry Group: Puzzling moments, teachable moments by Ballenger 3-point students: Second Critical Reading due Class 15 (April 25) Reading Portfolio Work Session Class 16 (May 2) Semester reflections: What really matters? Reading Portfolios Due

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