Integrating Visual and Verbal Literacies in the Early Childhood Classroom

Young children have the strong desire to use all of the communicative tools their cultures and families offer them. They want to be able to do all of the things that the powerful people they admire can do, including talking, writing, drawing, using the computer, and otherwise creating and sharing ideas, memories, solutions, even jokes and feelings. Today, we live in a time when the communicative tools are changing rapidly, practically exploding before our eyes in terms of the formats and media available to us in complex combinations not seen before. What do these technological changes mean for how we can support children's development toward literacy? An integrated arts curriculum has long been favored by many educators, but today there are more reasons than ever to implement such a philosophy. From communications theory comes a new understanding of how modern technologies demand that children learn to "read" and "write" messages involving complex combinations and integrations of visual and verbal formats. From psychology come insights about intelligence being multiple not unitary, as well as ecological perception theory offering a well-accepted framework for analyzing the affordances and expressive possibilities of different media. From education come fresh approaches to integrated curriculum, including a philosophy and pedagogy from Reggio Emilia, Italy, that combines well with current thinking by North Americans. Altogether, we have many rationales and exciting strategies at hand for launching young children toward an integrated visual and verbal literacy that involves substance, challenge, and discipline, as well as innovation, creativity, and freedom.

Attitudes, Confidence, and Achievement of High-Ability Fifth Grade Math Students

In this action research study of my fifth grade high-ability mathematics class, I investigated student attitudes of mathematics and their confidence in mathematics. Student achievement was compared to two different confidence scales to identify a relationship between confidence and achievement. Six boys and eleven girls gave their consent to the study. I discovered there seems to be a connection between confidence and achievement and that boys are generally more confident than girls. Most students liked math and were comfortable sharing answers and methods of solving problems with other students. As a result of this study I plan to use my survey and interview questions at the beginning of the school year with my new class in order to assess their attitudes and confidence in math. I can use this information to identify potential struggles and better plan for student instruction.

Improving Mathematics Problem Solving Through Written Explanations

In this action research study of two classrooms of 7th grade mathematics, I investigated how requiring written explanations of problem solving would affect students ability to problem solve, their ability to write good explanations, and how it would affect their attitudes toward mathematics and problem solving. I studied a regular 7th grade mathematics class and a lower ability 7th grade class to see if there would be any difference in what was gained by each group or any group. I discovered that there were no large gains made in the short time period of my action research. Some gains were made in ability to problem solve by my lower ability students over the 7 weeks that they did a weekly problem solving assignment. Some individual students felt that the writing had helped them in their problem solving because they needed to think and write each step. As a result of this research I plan to continue implementing writing in my classroom over the entire school year requiring a little more from students each time we problem solve and write.

Departmentalization in the 5th Grade Classroom: Re-thinking the Elementary School Model

In this action research study of my 5th grade classroom, I investigated the benefits of a modified block schedule and departmentalization. The research consisted of dividing the 5th grade curriculum into three blocks. Each block consisted of two primary subject areas: Mathematics was paired with Social Studies, Reading was paired with Health, and Writing was paired with Science. These groupings were designed to accommodate district time-allotment requirements and the strengths of each teacher within the 5th grade team. Thus, one teacher taught all of the Mathematics and Social Studies, another all of the Reading and Health, and another all of the Writing and Science. Students had classes with each teacher, each school day. I discovered that this departmentalization had many benefits to both students and teachers. As a result of this research, we plan to continue with our new schedule and further develop it to more fully exploit the educational and professional advantages we found to be a part of the project.

Cooperative Learning in Relation to Problem Solving in the Mathematics Classroom

In this action research study of my classroom of 5th grade mathematics, I investigated cooperative learning and how it is related to problem solving as well as written and oral communication. I discovered that cooperative learning has a positive impact on students’ abilities in problem solving and their overall impression of mathematics and group work. I also found that my students’ communication skills improved in oral explanations of their work. As a result of this research I plan to continue my implementation of cooperative learning in my classroom as a general method of teaching. I also plan to continue to use cooperative learning in working with my students to increase their achievement in problem solving and communication of mathematics.

Generating Interest in Mathematics Using Discussion in the Middle School Classroom

In this action research study of my classroom of 8th grade algebra, I investigated students’ discussion of mathematics and how it relates to interest in the subject. Discussion is a powerful tool in the classroom. By relying too heavily on drill and practice, a teacher may lose any individual student insight into the learning process. However, in order for the discussion to be effective, students must be provided with structure and purpose. It is unrealistic to expect middle school age students to provide their own structure and purpose; a packet was constructed that would allow the students to both show their thoughts and work as a small group toward a common goal. The students showed more interest in the subject in question as they related to the algebra topics being studied. The students appreciated the packets as a way to facilitate discussion rather than as a vehicle for practicing concepts. Students still had a need for practice problems as part of their homework. As a result of this research, it is clear that discussion packets are very useful as a part of daily instruction. While there are modifications that must be made to the original packets to more clearly express the expectations in question, discussion packets will continue to be an effective tool in the classroom.

A REVISIONARY APPROACH TO CROSS-CURRICULAR LITERACY WORK

In this dissertation, I use qualitative research methods to study relationships between compositionists and faculty in other disciplines in the context of cross-curricular literacy (CCL) work. Drawing on a two-year CCL project in the biology department, for which I was a participant observer, I argue that compositionists need to attend more carefully to issues that influence day-to-day interactions with disciplinary faculty in order to develop more meaningful CCL relationships. Toward that end, I offer a revisionary approach to cross-curricular literacy work that cultivates complex relationships by delaying consensus and embracing disconnection and disorientation. More specifically, I employ revisionary stance as a discursive strategy to complicate three key concepts in CCL literature and scholarship—expertise, change, and outcomes. I re-vision three texts produced during my time in the biology department in order to illuminate the complexities of negotiating expertise, recognizing change, and pursuing outcomes in CCL contexts. Given the reciprocal relationship between discursive and material change (Lee), I maintain that revision of CCL discourse can inspire revision on a pedagogical level, shaping how compositionists and disciplinary faculty participate in CCL interactions. Thus, a revisionary approach leads me to conceptualize revisionary pedagogy for cross-curricular literacy work. I theorize revisionary pedagogy as a means of fostering pedagogical relationships in CCL contexts, complicating how relationships are framed in traditional Writing Across the Curriculum/Writing in the Disciplines scholarship. The literature advances three main conceptual models of CCL, each of which embraces expertise, change, and outcomes in ways that sponsor potentially problematic relationships between compositionists and disciplinary faculty. I draw on Composition scholars’ rich conceptualization of revision (Jung; Lee; Welch) and pedagogy (Kameen; Qualley; Stenberg) to challenge the litany of next-best models and imagine alternative possibilities for relationships in CCL contexts. Revisionary pedagogy is a means of approaching material circumstances that reconstitutes how compositionists and disciplinary faculty conceive of and participate in CCL relationships.