| This case study examines early literacy experiences of students in a low-income, culturally diverse kindergarten class. Its purposes are to provide an insider's point of view of children's early literacy experiences in school, to highlight the significance of social environment and interaction in relation to literacy acquisition, to uncover the role of classroom routines in socializing children into the culture of literacy, and to capture the voices of children and teachers as they express their successes and frustrations in relation to literacy learning. Utilizing methods of participant observation, collection of artifacts, interviews, and informal conversations, ten literacy routines were identified at the classroom site. Three are student-directed, individual, daily literacy explorations: journals, daily work plan, and reading groups. Another three are teacher-directed, whole-group, daily literacy explorations: morning message, calendar, and storytime. Finally, four are mechanisms that link classroom life to the home: book of the week, student of the week, the agenda, and reading folders.; There are five key findings: (1) The teacher intended the literacy routines in this sociocultural context to promote academic skills in the intellectual preparation of learning to read. (2) The teacher intended the routines to promote the students' social development by encouraging them to interact as active members of a classroom community. (3) The teacher intended routines to convey emotional messages to students, teaching them to behave in ways the teacher deemed appropriate for her classroom environment. (4) From a critical perspective, some of the routines privileged some students while silencing others. (5) The classroom teacher was limited in her instructional choices because of the particular school context in which she teaches. |
