Language Identity in the Elementary English Language Arts Classroom

Brownell, Cassie J.

doi:10.1002/trtr.1591

Cited by 20 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Along these lines, her writing and experiences in this unit also bring existing examinations of child culture in early literacy classrooms into a transnational space. Although many young children recontextualize popular media, such as cartoons and sports characters, in their compositions (Brownell, 2018; Dyson, 2003), Susan brought transnational media into her writing and integrated transnational media into the forms and genres associated with the classroom. Taken together, her poems showcase border and boundary crossings between languages, modes, genres, and cultural experiences, including those that extended beyond the countries associated with her ethnic identity.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It Took Us a Long Time to Go Here”: Creating Space for Young Children’s Transnationalism in an Early Writers’ Workshop

Machado

Hartman

2020

Reading Research Quarterly

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Although growing numbers of children engage in transnational literacy practices in their homes and communities, these practices are rarely invited into the early literacy classroom, where teachers face increasing pressure to standardize instruction. In this qualitative, participatory case study, we examined how one early literacy teacher created space for young children to explore transnationalism within his primary‐level writers’ workshop. Drawing on theories associated with the trans‐ turn in scholarship and using portraiture in analysis, we document how this teacher modified his published literacy curriculum to center students’ translingual and transnational literacy practices. We also describe how three young children took up invitations to compose poetry that explored their transnational identities and experiences, highlighting how explorations of transnationalism enriched their writing. Ultimately, we suggest that early literacy teachers, including those working within the confines of increasingly standardized curricula, can create spaces for children to explore and express the fullness of their lives, including their transnationalism. We conclude with implications of this work for teaching and future research.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It Took Us a Long Time to Go Here”: Creating Space for Young Children’s Transnationalism in an Early Writers’ Workshop

Machado

Hartman

2020

Reading Research Quarterly

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“…At 10 years old, Jairo self-identified as a Mexican American boy and, in his pursuit of Spanish (Brownell, 2017a), could be framed as an emerging multilingual. Only in his first year at CSJ, Jairo had already made many friends.…”

Section: Jairomentioning

confidence: 99%

Writing as a Minecrafter: Exploring how Children Blur Worlds of Play in the Elementary English Language Arts Classroom

Brownell

2021

Teachers College Record

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Background/Context Educators have considered how Minecraft supports language and literacy practices in the game and in the spaces and circumstances immediately surrounding gameplay. However, it is still necessary to develop additional conceptualizations of how children and youth's online and offline worlds and experiences are blurred by and through the games. In this study, I take up this call and examine how the boundaries of the digital were blurred by one child as he wrote in response to a standardized writing prompt within his urban fourth-grade classroom. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Through snapshots of Jairo's writing, I illuminate how he muddled the lines between his physical play experiences and those he had in the virtual world of Minecraft. In doing so, I argue that he carried over his personal interest as a fan of Minecraft into the writing curriculum through creative language play. As Jairo “borrowed” his physical play experiences in the virtual world of Minecraft to complete an assigned writing task, he exemplified how children blur playworlds of physical and digital play in the elementary ELA classroom. Research Design Drawing on data generated in an 18-week case study, I examine how one child, Jairo, playfully incorporated his lived experiences in the virtual world of Minecraft into mandated writing tasks. Conclusions/Recommendations My examination of his writing is meant to challenge writing scholars, scholars of play, and those engaged in rethinking media's relation to literacy. I encourage a rethinking of what it means for adults to maintain clear lines of what is digital play and what is not. I suggest adults might have too heavy a hand in bringing play into classrooms. Children already have experiences with play—both physical and digital. We must cultivate a space for children to build on what was previously familiar to them by offering scaffolds to bridge these experiences between what we, as adults, understand as binaries. Children do not necessarily see distinctions between “reality” and play worlds, or between digital and physical play. For children, play worlds and digital worlds are perhaps simply worlds; it is we as adults who harbor a desire for clear boundaries.

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“…In Table 1, we offer a list of the children who appear in the findings as well as their self-selected pseudonyms and demographics. Prior to this study, Cassie had spent three years at CSJ and was a familiar face within the school (for more see, Brownell, 2017aBrownell, , 2017bBrownell, , 2018Brownell, , 2019aBrownell, , 2019b. As a white, monolingual, U.S.-born cisgender woman in her early 30s, Cassie fit readily in with the professional community at CSJ as her appearance paralleled that of the majority of the faculty.…”

Section: Context and Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Bridges Instead of Walls: Engaging Young Children in Critical Literacy Read Alouds

Brownell

Rashid

2020

JCSR

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Situated in the months after the 2016 United States presidential election, this qualitative case study illuminates third-grade children’s sense-making about the GOP Administration’s proposed border wall with Mexico. In light of these present-day politics, close analysis of how young children discuss social issues remains critical, particularly for social studies educators. Looking across fifteen book discussions, we zero in on three whole-class conversations about (im)migration beginning with initial read alouds through the final debrief wherein children conversed with a local university anthropologist about the clandestine migration of individuals across the U.S.’s southern border. During initial discussions, children in the Midwestern school demonstrated their frustration towards racist laws of the mid-1900s. Others responded with empathy or made personal connections to their own family heritage. In the findings, we note a clear progression in how children understood (im)migration issues as evidenced by how their questions and curiosities shifted in later lessons. We highlight how, when children are encouraged to engage with social topics, they can act as critical consumers and position themselves as politically active and engaged citizens.

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Language Identity in the Elementary English Language Arts Classroom

Cited by 20 publications

References 6 publications

“It Took Us a Long Time to Go Here”: Creating Space for Young Children’s Transnationalism in an Early Writers’ Workshop

“It Took Us a Long Time to Go Here”: Creating Space for Young Children’s Transnationalism in an Early Writers’ Workshop

Writing as a Minecrafter: Exploring how Children Blur Worlds of Play in the Elementary English Language Arts Classroom

Building Bridges Instead of Walls: Engaging Young Children in Critical Literacy Read Alouds

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