I teach in a 5th grade classroom at a charter school in Lansing.

This school was

labeled a priority school at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year based on MEAP
test scores. Also this year, classrooms were leveled academically based on reading
level. I teach the proficient class. Students were placed in this classroom based on their
scores on the Northwest Evaluation Association, a national test given to the students
three times a year. Students in my classroom are reading fluently and comprehending
between a beginning 4th grade level and a beginning 6th grade level. School-wide,
about 75% of the students are eligible for free and reduced lunch. In order to gather
data, I used several collection methods. First, I surveyed my students. I asked them to
think of all of the things that they read in a day, giving non-traditional examples like
reading web pages and social media sites. Then I asked them to write down their
favorite book and explain why it is their favorite. I, also, conducted individual
conferences with students to inquire about their motivations regarding literacy. Finally, I
sent my students parents a survey to discover literary practices being promoted at
home. The survey questions included the use of tablets for reading, trips to the library,
and parents literary goals for their student.
Part 1 - Data Analysis
During both the class survey and individual conferences with my students, it was
clear that students are highly engaged by any form of electronic literacy. My students
spend a majority of their time out of school using technology. 78% of my students have
their own personal tablet or computer, and use it daily to access the internet and several
social media sites. Approximately half of these students also use their tablet daily to read
electronic books. During the individual conferences, student responses became much
more animated and detailed when discussing literacy that involves electronic forms.
They were excited to discuss non-school related activities in school and some seemed
shocked that I considered these activities valid forms of reading.
The results from the parent survey were very interesting as well. About 87% of
my parents indicated that they read daily for work or school. They are required to read
data, email, articles, and educational materials, among other things. Parents, on
average, read 120 minutes a day. The most intriguing findings were from a question
where parents checked forms of literacy that they used on a daily basis. The most
prevalent forms were email (87.5%), social media (87.5%) and news articles online
(75%).

Type of Literacy

Percentage of Parents

Book

50%

Textbook

25%

Cookbook/Recipe

12.50%

Food Label

25%

Magazine

12.50%

Newspaper

12.50%

News Article Online

75%

Web Page

50%

Email

87.50%

Social Media Site

87.50%

Text Message

62.50%

Table 1 - Parents of my 2013-2014 class were surveyed. This table shows the results of types of literacy that parents
encounter on a daily basis.

Both parents and students were asked about their favorite book. One significant
differences in responses were the explanations of why a book was their favorite. Another
interesting finding was that some of my students could not choose a book as their
favorite. Some reported that they had not ever finished a book and others reported that
although they had completed books, they did not have a lasting impact from the text.
Parents, however, did not seem to have a difficult time choosing a favorite book or giving
an explanation of the impact that book has had on them.
Title of Book

Explanation

The Five People You Meet in

Heaven

Appreciate people and the time you have with them

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

What friendship means to different people

A Boy Called It

How common child abuse is

The Bible

Peace, love, joy, forgiveness

Messi

What it takes to be a professional soccer player

Peace From Broken Pieces

To remain diligent throughout lifes obstacles, and how

to find peace within

Holes

No matter what challenges I face, I can change my

outcome

Trophy Women

Inspiration

Dune

Even the most powerful can fall

Divergence

It is ok to be different

Table 2 - Selected combined responses from students and parents regarding their favorite book and what they learned
from that book. It is interesting to note that there were students that could not identify a favorite book.

This was very interesting research for me. I expected to see that my students
spent more time reading online than they did with books, but I was appalled to find out
that some of my students had not ever finished a book or had not ever made a
connection to one. All of the parents responded in their that they would like their child to

read proficiently, but most also mentioned that they would like their child to learn to love
books as much as they do. This information, along with previously stated evidence,
leads me to believe that although some of my students could choose a favorite book, on
average my students are not engaging with texts as they do with other things, like video
games.
Since my school levels their classrooms based on reading proficiency, the
information I found is fairly consistent among testing groups. I am worried that as
students progress through grade levels, they will become less and less engaged with
academic reading and subsequently fall further behind their peers that score above
grade level. It is also interesting to note that not only are students more engaged with
electronic forms of literacy, but parents are as well. This is emphasized by the fact that
only 12.5% read the newspaper, but 75% read articles online. Our classrooms need to
reflect this change in our society to a more technologically rich environment.
Part 2 - Literacy Goals and Curricular Commitments
Like their parents, I want each of my students to learn how to read and gain
information from all types of literacy. For example, reading and comprehending a book is
completely different from an interactive website. All students should have access and
motivation to read both fiction and nonfiction books in order to gain knowledge and just
for pleasure. Reading offers you many opportunities to leave your own life behind, travel
to new places, and gain insight into situations that you may or may not have
experienced. It has been shown that students that disengage from reading, for whatever
reason, struggle more the longer they are in school.
I also think that it is important for students to learn how to effectively use
technology to extend their knowledge. Internet research is going to be required as the
students progress in school, and probably in their respective job fields. There is a lot of
false information on the internet, especially social media sites, and students should know
how to verify the information that they find.
Part 3 - Integrating Adolescent Literacies and Literacy Goals For Effective Instruction
Since we have gotten the label as a priority school, my administration has made
it abundantly clear that we are not allowed to deviate from our curricular tool at all. We
must implement it with fidelity. Which means that I am unable to form and implement
things like book clubs or blogs in response to class reading in my classroom this year. I
am also unable to create my own assessments or activities that do not come exactly
from the curricular tools.
That being said there are other things that I would love to have done, if I had
been given the freedom. The first thing that I would implement would be reading groups.
Since my classroom is already leveled based on ability, I would group students together
based on interest. I could create activities that account for students interest in
technology. They could read and research related topics or events online. Students
could create a wiki or Google doc, which they could collaborate on as their discussion
board.
I think it is important for students to be affected by the written word. Whether that
is from poems, speeches or books, text can impact how you see the world. I would like

to close read with my students, starting with famous speeches like those of Martin Luther
King, Jr. First, students would need to learn how to effectively read these challenging
texts, but my main goal would be for them to identify lines of text that have an impact on
them and what that impact is. Hopefully, after successfully comprehending difficult texts
and realizing that they know see the world a little differently, would lead to students
searching out texts on their own to continue helping them shape their own beliefs and
ideas.
I am not saying that I would get rid of my curricular tools altogether. Not only are
there good parts of the curriculum that are effective, I think that it is important that
students become successful using traditional forms of literacy that schools are inevitably
still using. For example, I would like to incorporate more articles or websites that relate in
theme to the stories that we read in the basal. In doing so, students would create a
deeper connection with the text and better understand the content that it teaches them.
Another exciting opportunity would be to get students to collaborate on inquiry
projects that relate to the readings done in class. We have multiple themes throughout
the year, including Making A New Nation, Energy At Work, and Heritage. Groups of
students could come up with research questions, design research projects, write reports
and present their findings to the class. This would allow the students to utilize engaging
tasks to further develop their content knowledge and reading ability. They would work in
groups, chose their own topics, research using the Internet, and create engaging
presentations. They found school reading and writing interesting and engaging when
they were allowed to select books to read and topics to write. (Xu, Shelley Hong, Best
Practices in Adolescent Literacy Instruction: Rethinking Literacy Learning and Teaching.
2008. Guilford Press)
Creating activities and assessments, like these, that allow students the freedom
to deepen their understanding of the content they read would inevitably lead to higher
motivation and engagement in the classroom. This would definitely take some
scaffolding in order for the students to feel confident enough to fully engage in the task
because it would require deeper thinking than just answering comprehension questions
or writing a summary of a text. Providing explicit instruction leading to guided and
independent practice. Most struggling readers need explicit instruction in literacy
strategies appropriate for specific disciplines and in a range of texts in those disciplines,
particularly in using strategies with the highest utility that meet both teacher and
students goals. (OBrien, David and Dillon, Deborah, Shelley Hong, Best Practices in
Adolescent Literacy Instruction: The Role of Motivation in Engaged Reading of
Adolescents. 2008. Guilford Press). This could lead to new levels of frustration,
especially from students that have been successful in the past. In switching to this new
way of assessing students, I would start with a whole class project that every student
could collaborate on. In this way, we could have whole class discussions about how to
complete the assignments and brainstorm how to extend their own learning. These
projects would be a great way to integrate families as well. If students are contributing to
a wiki or Google doc, they could access that at home with help of their family members.
In conclusion, I believe that in order to effectively teach this generation of
students, we need to realize that our society is changing. Technology is a large part of
our daily lives, both for work and for pleasure. Once we accept this reality, we need to
start to rethink how we are presenting literacy in school and the activities that we are
asking students to complete. ...(This) suggests a need for teachers to create a hybrid

space in classrooms that allows for an intersection of out-of-school and in-school literacy
practices. (Xu, Shelley Hong, Best Practices in Adolescent Literacy Instruction:
Rethinking Literacy Learning and Teaching. 2008. Guilford Press) School should be
preparing students for success when they get out of school. Students will need to be
proficient at technological literacy in almost any job field, therefore schools should be
providing experience with reading, comprehending and assessing technological literacy.
Sainz Rubric for Project 1
Limited
Proficiency
Organizationall
y

Some
Proficiency

Proficiency

High Proficiency
Organization is fully
visible (50 pts)

(50 points possible)

Mechanically
(50 points possible)

Logically

Mechanics are fully

used (50 pts)
Logic is fully evident

(50 points possible)

(50 pts)

Substantively

Substance is fully
cited (50 pts)

(50 points possible)

TOTAL 200 pts

Note: Melissa - Your Project 1 paper is organizationally strong, mechanically precise,
logically reasoned, and substantively cited. Moreover, it represents an interesting and
important set of understandings that you are developing from the course readings,
viewings, postings, and discussion.