From a Pet Store to Literacy

Have you ever gone into your favorite local store or restaurant and noticed the plethora of written language?  If you are familiar with Rebecca Powel and Nancy Davidson’s 2005 article “ The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom” you will see the connection between your favorite hot spots and what Powel  and Davidson call “situated literacy.”  There are a few examples of such literacy written into the article, but what stands out to me is the importance of giving children something authentic to write about, a chance to empower them to incite change in their own communities, and how literacy helps them solve actual problems.  

 This past week, I visited a local pet shop with a group of fellow students to observe what forms of literacy a child may engage in while there.  What we found was not unexpected; but, I realized that I, and probably many others, have become desensitized to the presence of literacy in my surroundings.  I expect to see signs to guide me in my purpose, I search for additional information on products, I anticipate the presence of labels to help me understand what I am looking at, but I wonder if a child would notice these things or realize that they are there.

Through our group’s observations, I learned there were many things to attract a child’s attention, but it was a supervising adult that showed the child where and how to get more information.  The larger signs, classifying sections of the store, contained images as well as text to aid in conveying meaning, but since they hung from the ceiling, they were out of the natural sight lines of children and most likely went unnoticed.  The observed children were much more interested in their immediate surroundings, especially when they were surrounded with animals.  This got me thinking of Brian Cambourne’s conditions of learning.  The vast amounts of written words that surround a child at the pet store would definitely constitute immersion. A child’s eagerness to learn the name of the unique fish she just discovered would certainly satisfy the engagement requirement; and, if the child is accompanied by an insightful adult, then she most certainly will receive a demonstration.  While these do not account for all the conditions of learning, it does set a good foundation.  

   

Now we bring in the model from Powel and Davidson’s “The Donut House.”  Let’s say that we are going to create a pet store in our classroom; allow the students to create the signs, labels, and brochures.  Let them practice their writing while making an advertisement, or a schedule.  Have the students own the project, and let them try things without it having to be perfect.  Expect them to succeed and reinforce them with positive responses.  We now have satisfied all of Cambourne’s conditions of learning.

By engaging in a child’s interest, you have gained his attention, by giving him an authentic problem to solve, you have motivated him to learn, and by empowering him to create his own pet store, you have set him on his path toward increased literacy.