And...Action! (Let's Make a Movie)

Over the past several weeks I have read the book Literacy Playshop, by Karen E. Wohlwend. It is no secret that play time has been replaced in the school day with "learning" time.  Many schools have eliminated or shortened recess time.  In Dr. Wohlwend's book, she describes the importance of play, especially for some, "Equitable access to play becomes a social justice issue when some children get opportunities to play in school while others do not."  Dr. Wohlwend continues, "Literacy play levels the field by giving children access to their cultural expertise and time to play the stories they know best, whether classic children's books or popular media."  In Literacy Playshop, popular media franchise toys are allowed in the play.  Through research, Dr. Wohlwend has found that when young children play with this media, they revisit themes together.  They improvise and create their own characters and revise scripts.  Also, in the end, children work through stereo types, by creating their own heroes, with characteristics that are more inline with themselves.  Most schools have a "commercial-free" policy which translates into 'no toys in school'.   Yet backpacks, lunch boxes, pencils, notebooks, folders, clothing, shoes, etc., easily slip past this rule.  Banning popular media can mean disadvantaging many children's background knowledge.  Children come to school having knowledge, yet most schools want students to "start fresh" with their knowledge.  The more background knowledge a student can connect concepts to, the deeper a student can explore a topic.

Armed with fresh information and thoughts on popular media in schools, as well as having finished reading Literacy Playshop, which has a "how to" framework in the second half of the book, I headed off to make a movie with a second grader.  I'll call my student Buddy (not his real name).  Buddy and I have been meeting once a week, all semester long.  I have worked with him on his reading skills, and his writing skills.  Honestly, he's a smart boy.  But, I sense his boredom set in when I want to do the same old thing with him.  "Let's read this book."  "Can you write about this character...?" He has ten more years of schooling, at least!  Two weeks ago when I came into his classroom, right away I said, "I have a bag of toys and I want you to help me make a movie with my iPad."  Buddy was curious.  He wanted to see inside my bag of goodies! We headed off to his school library and I displayed all my toys on the table in front of him.  I had both boy and girl toys...toys from McDonald's Happy Meals.*

In my collection were Sherman and Mr. Peabody, Smooth Smurf, a My Little Pony, some other pink, round creature, two fairies and my Lego key chain of Capt. Jack Sparrow.  Buddy knew immediately what our movie should be about.  It would be called Everyone Falls off a Cliff, and...everyone would fall off a cliff.  I asked what I should do and Buddy said I could hold the iPad, and film him.  There would be no talking in this movie.  When I asked if they were to all stay on the ground, Buddy said one of the fairies could rescue everyone.  I questioned why the fairy and not say, Capt. Sparrow?  Capt. Jack doesn't have wings.  That is a valid point. The end of the story didn't really end.  After the fairy saved Sherman, who was the original first guy

Buddy and I worked together.  I showed him what a storyboard was, and he sketched figures in the order they would appear:

NOTE: the eye of the Pony (3) and the key chain for Capt. Jack Sparrow (4).
Buddy had his own system for recalling who was in each picture.

Then I wrote out the story as he dictated it to me:

The end of the story didn't really end.  After the fairy saved Sherman, who was the original first guy to walk off the cliff, the silly boy walked right off the cliff again!

What did I learn from this project?

Immediately, I would have to say that Buddy was intensely engaged in working with me on this day.  Buddy knew what would make an appropriate story.  He knew who should be the hero, and what made sense.  In his mind, he knew what would make a good story.  He could easily and logically problem solve. He could create, and make meaning using the pop media Happy Meal toys.   He had fun not doing the same old thing, yet he didn't realize I was talking about stories anyway with him! Buddy really enjoyed seeing his finished work.  It was very rough though to watch.  My skills as a videographer need help!  I promised to edit his movie, and bring it back to him.  

I thought I might be done visiting with Buddy each week after I did this project.  But, I decided I wanted to work with him just one more time...so I went in again this week, and brought some different characters.  Last semester I made a children's book for a science methods class.  I took all my back drops, bases and figurines in for Buddy to use.  I read him my book first, and then he had a blast making up this weeks story.  Mario, Luigi, Yoshi ad Wario are timeless.  I can't wait to edit our second project and to share both movies with Buddy and his classmates.

The Mario Brothers and mischief maker Wario were the cast of our second movie adventure!

* Happy meal toys collected from my last L549 class.  We had used them in class and my fellow classmates didn't want their toys!

Research: Literacy Dig...Rollerskating

In a group of five, we met on a cold and snowy weeknight evening to explore a rollerskating rink.  We were to pay attention through the eyes of a child being exposed to literacy.  Specifically we were thinking about a school-aged child, maybe 6-9 years old, knowing that most children learn to read around the age of 5 or 6 years old.  By literacy, we interpreted that to mean every word a child may see or hear. So both visual and oratory signs a child needs to understand.

The basics of the "dig" were that we met at our chosen location for about an hour.  We would each decide on an area/item to focus our attention.  We would observe for 30 minutes.  After we finished observing, we would come together and discuss our field notes.

I was to record bits of talk.  I observed that parents spoke to children about food they were eating.  Children interacted with other children, mostly off the rink. The DJ gave instructions over the loud speaker. The staff, who were both on the floor skating, and were behind the counters interacted with young and old patrons. And cell phones were in the hands of those I judged to be over the age of 10.

Particular words that were needed to be known by skaters were "Normal Direction" and "Everybody Skates."  The DJ announced races (Men/Women races), games (The Dice Game), and special skating/dancing (the Cha Cha Slide).  During the dice game, participants would need to understand how the game was played and know the meaning of "corner number four (one, two or three) comes off, please."  During the dance, skaters or participants would need to be able to follow the directions in the song.  Left, right, side, forward, back, stomp, jump, one, two, cha cha, etc.   Paying attention to the song choice, it was noted that the bleeped out versions of the popular songs were being played.

After our observations, our team met to discuss what we experienced.  We noted numerous signs on the  walls and doors.  There were restroom signs, menus to read and arcade games with many words on them.  T-shirt's had words too.  Many patrons had their cellphones out and were texting or connecting to friends who were not at the rink.

In the real world, we are exposed to more literacy than what is written on the pages of a book.  At the rollerskating rink I felt it was important to be able to use your eyes to interpret your needs.  Reading the menu is a plus if you are hungry, but one can simply look at what is available and ask how much it costs.  The staff was so helpful and pleasant, when they saw someone needing something they would simply step in, and help.  No one would struggle being unable to read here. There were plenty of visual cues to watch showing how something may or should be done.   Written literacy here merely supports what is happening visually.  Cautions signs are in place, but mostly as a form of legal, business protection for the owners of the rink.

What surprised us most at this location was the diversity of ages.  We visited the rink on a weeknight, when school was in session.  We saw an age range from 3 or 4 years old up to retirement age.  The largest population represented being the 20-30 year old age group.  We were also surprised that the staff consisted of all men, mostly all being retirement aged.

Everyone at the rink on the particular night we visited to do our research clearly could see we were not normal patrons.  I believe our note taking and clipboards may have tipped them off!  Even so, we were asked what we were doing.  Many opinions/information being offered up when we asked questions.  We were able to ask specific questions to a third grade girl, Emma (not her real name).

Through our conversation with Emma, it was clear to see how engaged she was with this particular activity.  She was very willing to explain the How's and Why's of this place to us.  After reading "The Donut House" article by Powell and Davidson, clearly the skills Emma had learned while at the skating rink had much more meaning to her, especially as she enthusiastically, in turn, explained things to us!  We learned from her that she also ice skates, so we were able to confirm that skills learned here were being used there as well.  Again, more meaning for her in terms of literacy skills being built!

From "The Donut House" article, "Tapping into students' "funds of knowledge" is inherently motivating, and hence children are more engaged in learning when they perceive authentic purpose for their efforts." We certain affirmed a "good job" in Emma as we sincerely thanked her for her help in answering our questions.

On a side note, our group was able to deepen our own sense of community by participating in this project.  We stayed much longer than the required time constraints, rented skates, and then enjoyed dinner out to decompress while we compared our field notes.

~ltk