“Why Downt You Riyt Back to Me?”

Abstract

This article presents research that investigated how a school year‐long letter‐writing project between kindergarten students and extended family members could facilitate literacy development in students, as well as provide a way to build inter‐generational bonds through correspondence focused on family history and stories. Analysis centered on the body of correspondence between the students and their family members, and used a comparative analysis technique. Themes that emerged include how the project helped improve literacy skills, how letter‐writing encouraged students to write more, with longer thoughts and multiple ideas, and how the project helped develop stronger family bonds.

“I Practice Teaching”: Transforming Our Professional Identities as Literacy Teachers Through Action Research

“…The International Literacy Association's website is helpful in locating these outlets and even locating possible funding sources for action research. Teachers publishing action research in journals like The Reading Teacher is not just possible but a reality (e.g., Ciampa, 2016;Larson, 2014;Pole, 2015). Part of your movement into action research can include reading publications that have drawn on this tradition.…”

“Want to hear my story?” Developing Latino children’s written narratives through culturally relevant family photographs

“…Second, learning to write is a socially constructed process where children learn from and with others. Parents and peers scaffold children's language and literacy learning through social interaction (García-Alvarado et al, 2020;Pole, 2015;Reyes & Azuara, 2008, Roessingh, 2011Rowe & Fain, 2013;Saracho & Spodek, 2007). Additionally, children want an audience to hear their story.…”

“…They assert that teachers must support families' interactions with their children in the language in which they are most comfortable and encourage parents to write with their children to develop a host of cognitive skills, including associating sounds with letters, creating narratives, and developing a concept of how to write. Pole (2015) found kindergarten children who engaged with their family in letter writing had higher levels of engagement with the writing process and used various resources to improve their letters. This led to improved handwriting and spelling, as well as deeper thoughts and themes about their letters.…”

Designing a Community Translanguaging Space Within a Family Literacy Project

“…Family and community members also brought varying language experiences into the project so that teachers, students, and other family members all had something to learn from each other. Essentially, this community translanguaging is aligned with the idea of leveraging the collective "funds of identity" (Esteban-Guitart & Moll, 2014;Pole, 2015) that the community members have collaboratively developed and shared to define, understand, and express themselves and one another. In turn, community translanguaging also aligns with culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012), which goes beyond culturally responsive or relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995).…”

“…Literacy classrooms where translanguaging was incorporated into instruction also promoted academic achievements as well as metalinguistic proficiencies through strategic use of diverse semiotic modes (Pacheco & Miller, 2016). As an in-class activity, teachers can incorporate a family history project in which students write about their families and communities, including those from abroad or design a letter-writing activity to a specific family or community member (Pole, 2015). All these examples have in common the idea of leveraging the (extended) family and community members' resources and stories as worthwhile assets in developing an integrated curriculum in an inclusive environment.…”