Format
Individual Presentation
First Presenter's Institution
Georgia Southern University
First Presenter’s Email Address
akatz@georgiasouthern.edu
First Presenter's Brief Biography
Dr. Anne Katz is an Associate Professor of Reading in the Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading in the College of Education at Georgia Southern University in Savannah. Her current research and service interests include community literacy initiatives, with a focus on middle school students in local schools.
Second Presenter's Institution
Hubert Middle School (Savannah Chatham County Public Schools)
Second Presenter’s Email Address
gabrielle.brundidge@sccpss.com
Second Presenter's Brief Biography
Gabrielle Brundidge is a Professional School Counselor at Hubert Middle School in the Savanah Chatham County Public School System.
Location
Session Five Breakouts
Strand #1
Home: Family & Community Engagement
Strand #2
Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership
Relevance
Local middle school students and College of Education students virtually participated in place-based writing to strengthen their connection to their neighborhoods, a topic they have knowledge of (funds of knowledge) and care about. This process motivated them to build literacy skills and become academically engaged, as both sets of participants draw upon a mentor text and mentor author (Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds) to influence their book discussion and place-based writing short stories.
Brief Program Description
A place-based literacy project was implemented virtually on a weekly basis with Hubert Middle School literacy leaders. Middle school students completed a project alongside pre-service educators at Georgia Southern University. All students read short stories from “Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks” by Jason Reynolds, participated in virtual literature circle discussions, and wrote short stories inspired by the mentor text. Virtual writing conferences allowed students to share their stories and conference with each other.
Summary
Georgia Southern College of Education pre-service educators enrolled in a READ course (Fall 2020) completed a pre-study survey and participated in a semi-structured interview to describe their current identity as a future literacy teacher before the project began. Middle school students read the short stories contained in Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds in weekly facilitated discussion circles. They completed reflective journal entries and participated in group discussions with a focus on character’s funds of knowledge, with comments recorded digitally as an audit trail. Simultaneously, Georgia Southern University pre-service educators read select short stories contained in Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks (2019) by Jason Reynolds in a literature circle format during portions of class. Middle school students and Georgia Southern University pre-service educators exchanged personal place-based short stories inspired by the mentor text.
This experience afforded future educators the opportunity to develop their identities as literacy teachers, cultivate an appreciation for diverse perspectives, and participate in meaningful interactions with students in the community (Vaughn, Premo, Sotirovska, and Erickson, 2020).
References
Reynolds, J. (2019). Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Vaughn, M., Premo, J., Sotirovska, V., & Erickson, D. (2020). Evaluating agency in literacy using the Student Agency Profile. The Reading Teacher, 73(4), 427–441.
Evidence
Baugh (2017) notes that a “comprehensive reading program incorporates effective instruction, multiple resources, and a wide variety of experiences to help each student achieve optimal reading progress every year” (p. 229-30). The mentor text initiated meaningful discussions regarding funds of knowledge and instilling a sense of pride in one’s neighborhood to inspire the middle school students to craft place-based writing short stories.
Research reflects that teachers benefit from “carefully planned and mentored opportunities during preparation for debriefing and reconciling prior beliefs with new knowledge and theories about pedagogy” (Risko & Reid, 2019, p. 425). Virtual writing conferences provided a forum for middle school and university students to exchange feedback regarding their short stories. It enabled middle school students to meaningfully conference with university students on their writing through online means, and for university students to informally give feedback and develop a rapport with local students in their community.
This research builds upon previous work on informal community-based literacy collaborations with pre-service educators, contributing to the literature in the field of Education on place-based writing practices. Cervetti and Hiebert (2019) noted that place-based instruction positions “readers (to) use their knowledge to fill out meaning and make connections in a text, and these connections help readers form local and global understandings” (p. 499).
References
Baugh, T. (2017). Supporting the affective needs of a struggling reader. The Reading Teacher, 71(2), 229-230. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1607
Cervetti, G. N., & Hiebert, E. H. (2019). Knowledge at the center of English language arts instruction. The Reading Teacher, 72, 499–507.
Risko, V. & Reid, L. (2019). What really matters for literacy teacher preparation? The Reading Teacher, 72(4), 423-429.
Learning Objective 1
Learn strategies to create meaningful partnerships between K-12 students and College of Education university students.
Learning Objective 2
Draw upon funds of knowledge (personal background experiences) for place-based writing (writing connected to the context and lives of students).
Learning Objective 3
Design a successful virtual literature circle discussion (based upon real-world issues introduced in the book) and implement a virtual writing conference
Keyword Descriptors
community literacy, partnership literacies, middle school literacy, College of Education students, place-based writing, virtual writing conferences
Presentation Year
2022
Start Date
3-8-2022 10:15 AM
End Date
3-8-2022 11:30 AM
Recommended Citation
Katz, Anne Ph.D. and Brundidge, Gabrielle, "A Virtual Community Literacy Partnership between Middle School Students and Future Educators" (2022). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 57.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2022/2022/57
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons
A Virtual Community Literacy Partnership between Middle School Students and Future Educators
Session Five Breakouts
A place-based literacy project was implemented virtually on a weekly basis with Hubert Middle School literacy leaders. Middle school students completed a project alongside pre-service educators at Georgia Southern University. All students read short stories from “Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks” by Jason Reynolds, participated in virtual literature circle discussions, and wrote short stories inspired by the mentor text. Virtual writing conferences allowed students to share their stories and conference with each other.
