Critical Literacy In The Classroom

Critical literacy investigates how forms of knowledge, and the power they bring, are created in language and taken up by those who use texts. It asks how language might be put to different, more equitable uses, and how texts might be recreated in a way that would tell a different story. This book is a carefully documented and critically analysed example of the growing emphasis on critical literacy in syllabuses, government reports and the like. It: * bridges the gap between academics' theorizing and teachers' work * describes how secondary teachers have planned and implemented critical literacy curricula on a range of topics, from Shakespeare to the workplace * listens to teachers reflecting on their teaching and analyses classroom talk * extrapolates from present practice to a future critical literacy in a digitised, hypermedia world. Teachers and students of education, critical literacy advocates and theorists of literacy and schooling can learn much more from this book, which shows how critical literacy teachers, and their students are contributing to the ongoing reinvention of English education as critical literacy.

Through stories from kindergarten to sixth grade classrooms where students and teachers have attempted to put a critical edge on their teaching, this book shows critical literacy in action across the curriculum. Readers see students and teachers together using critical literacy discourse to frame conversations in ways that engage students in examining the meaning of the texts they read and acting on local and global social issues that emerge. Drawing on multiple perspectives such as cross-curricular explorations, multimedia, and child-centered inquiry pedagogies, the text features a theoretical toolkit; demonstrations from across the content areas including art, music, and media literacy; integration of technology; and attention to how critical literacy can inform decisions about standards and assessment. Annotated booklists, examples of students’ work, Reflection Questions, Try This (practical classroom strategies), and Resource Boxes can be used to encourage and support engaging in critical literacy work in different areas of the curriculum.

"Literacy once meant reading and writing words on paper. Today's students need to be able to understand, use and critically analyse many different text types for different purposes in diverse contexts. This book sets out to support teachers to engage with the theory and practice of critical literacy. The author is an engaging and thoughtful guide through the theory, or "why this chapter is too important to skip," to the practical considerations. These include the tensions between traditional assessment critical literacy ("how do I know what they have learned?") and managing student voice ("when do I get my voice back?"). Along the way there are reflective interludes---questions aimed at stimulating thinking, discussion and professional development. The book also has pointers to further reading and support material and includes a lesson plan template. The aim is to provide ways of thinking about the pedagogy and assessment of critical literacy that will support teachers to implement critical literacy strategies across all content areas." -- Publisher's information.

"This is an excellent text. I particularly liked how the authors share examples of critical literacy throughout the book, especially with digital and multimedia texts." —Peter McDermott, The Sage Colleges "Through realistic discussion of how text shapes us and is shaped by us, Critical Literacy provides pre- and in-service teachers with concrete ways to engage in critical literacy practices with children from elementary through high school." —Cheryl A. Kreutter, St. John Fisher College ...a unique, practical critical literacy text with concrete examples and theoretical tools for pre- and in-service teachers Authors Lisa Patel Stevens and Thomas W. Bean explore the historical and political foundations of critical literacy and present a comprehensive examination of its uses for K-12 classroom practice. Key Features: · Focuses on the nexus of critical literacy theory and practice through real classroom examples, vignettes, and conversations among teachers and teacher educators · Illustrates how critical literacy practices are enacted in the classroom at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. · Offers step-by-step teaching strategies for implementing critical literacy in K-12 classrooms at different paces, depending on existing curriculum Intended Audience: This is an excellent supplemental text for a variety of advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in education departments on how to teach reading and writing. This text will also appeal to instructors and students exploring issues of representation, linguistics, and critical deconstruction.

This popular text articulates a powerful theory of critical literacy—in all its complexity. Critical literacy practices encourage students to use language to question the everyday world, interrogate the relationship between language and power, analyze popular culture and media, understand how power relationships are socially constructed, and consider actions that can be taken to promote social justice. By providing both a model for critical literacy instruction and many examples of how critical practices can be enacted in daily school life in elementary and middle school classrooms, Creating Critical Classrooms meets a huge need for a practical, theoretically based text on this topic. Pedagogical features in each chapter • Teacher-researcher Vignette • Theories that Inform Practice • Critical Literacy Chart • Thought Piece • Invitations for Disruption • Lingering Questions New in the Second Edition • End-of-chapter "Voices from the Field" • More upper elementary-grade examples • New text sets drawn from "Classroom Resources" • Streamlined, restructured, revised, and updated throughout • Expanded Companion Website now includes annotated Classroom Resources; Text Sets; Resources by Chapter; Invitations for Students; Literacy Strategies; Additional Resources

Compelling and highly engaging, this text shows teachers at all levels how to do critical literacy in the classroom and provides models for practice that can be adapted to any context. Integrating social theory and classroom practice, it brings critical literacy to life as a socio-cultural orientation to the teaching of literacy that takes seriously the relationship between language and power and orients readers to the social effects of texts. Students and teachers are drawn into the key questions critical readers need to pose of texts: Whose interests are served, who benefits, who is disadvantaged; who is included and who is excluded? The practical activities help readers grasp complex issues. Extending the theoretical framework in Hilary Janks’ Literacy and Power with a rich range of completely new, up-to-date activities that translate theory into practice, Doing Critical Literacy is powerful, relevant, and useful for both pre- and in-service teacher education and for use in schools.

"Getting Beyond "I Like the Book": Creating Space for Critical Literacy in k-6 Classrooms" (second edition) draws you into life in classrooms where students and teachers together use critical literacy as a framework for taking on local and global issues like racism and gender using books and everyday texts such as school posters and advertisements. This expanded second edition includes the following features: (1) Two additional content areas chapters--science and social studies--to emphasize that critical literacy is not just a part of the literacy curriculum; (2) a new chapter on new technologies such as websites, videos, and podcasts and their impact on critical literacy; and (3) a fresh focus interspersed throughout the book on multimedia literacy and using multimedia text sets. In addition, reflection questions at the end of each chapter can help you connect the ideas in this book with your experiences.

Reading from a critical stance is a natural part of comprehension. It involves making connections between the text and the world, questioning the author and the text's purpose, and understanding how we are influenced by the text. In this clear, easy-to-use resource, the authors present a sound instructional framework that is based on the latest theory and research and brought to life through a variety of theme-based classroom lessons for the primary, intermediate, and middle school grades. For use with Grades 1-8.