Papers by Diane D. Anderson
Research in The Teaching of English, 2002
Language arts, 2008
A researcher and three third-grade authors reread their story across an 8-year period, discerning... more A researcher and three third-grade authors reread their story across an 8-year period, discerning how gender, class, and race are narrated-albeit unconsciously-through familiar and often stereotypical metaphors of "opposites." Their reflections make clear that different perspectives-in this case, age and experience-result in widely different interpretations. All of it [writing Salt and Pepper] was about being friends. "Sam," 2005 We make ourselves vulnerable in the stories we tell.
Research in The Teaching of English, Feb 1, 2008
Research on persuasive writing by elementary children posits primarily a developmental perspectiv... more Research on persuasive writing by elementary children posits primarily a developmental perspective, claiming that elementary-age children can effectively argue through talk but not through writing. While this view is commonly held, this article presents counterevidence. Drawing on two cases of third and fourth grade children writing persuasive letters gathered during six-month naturalistic studies of literacy practices and social identities in contrastive communities (one urban, one suburban), these data challenge the developmental generalization by showing that children in these settings can write persuasively. Further, this work complicates understandings of children's persuasive writing by showing how assignments and local cultures shape children's writing. Evidence is developed through rich description of the case study settings and instructional tasks, a typology of the children's persuasive strategies, and a critical discourse analysis of the children's persuasive letters. This study suggests that children in both communities are capable of persuasive writing, although they enact different patterns of response, drawing on locally learned discourses. The settings, the hybridity of the persuasive Jetter as both argument and letter, and the children's habitus may account for some of the differences in how the children address the tasks through ranges of centeredness and agentive strategies. Differing patterns of response suggest new frames for viewing and fostering children's argumentative competence in a range of settings. including understandings of agency. The author encourages a research agenda that accounts for sodally situated classroom and community practices, and argues for ongoing research and critique of the power and place of persuasive writing for children in a range of schools.
Home to School: Numeracy Practices and Mathematical Identities
Routledge eBooks, Dec 7, 2018
Review Of "Beyond Discipline: From Compliance To Community" By A. Kohn
I Call Myself Wo-man" Meets "Callie The Torturewoman": Children Naming And Renaming Across Talk And Text
Casting gender: The constitution of social identities through literacy practices among third and fourth graders
Elementary-aged children develop social identities (such as gender) and literacy simultaneously, ... more Elementary-aged children develop social identities (such as gender) and literacy simultaneously, yet little literature exists which examines the overlap of social identities and literacy. This study looked across the talk and writing, and social and academic worlds, of third and fourth graders to ascertain how literacy practices were used to constitute gendered social identities. Data was gathered on 45 children using ethnographic methods over a six-month period in two multi-age grade three/four classrooms. Collected data included: teacher-assigned writing; student-initiated writing; fieldnotes; audiotapes and transcripts of literature and writing discussions; and audiotapes of interviews of children discussing their writing and transcripts. Systematic data analysis included interactional sociolinguistic analysis, literary theories, reader response theories, and theories of gender. Children were found to cast gender: (1) by naming and renaming characters, selves, and peers, (2) intertextually, through genre structures, metaphors, anthropomorphism, and personification, (3) through bodycasts such as clothing, voice, hair and other physical characteristics, and (4) through interactions, especially verbal interactions. Literacy and gender casting practices were highly situated. Children were found to take and assign gender positions, which included border straddling across gender boundaries. Methodology was developed for using an interview technique, the redux interview, with children as they read and discussed their transcripts and writing. Conclusions included support for understanding literacy as continuous rather than dichotomous across talk and text, as well as a continuous view of social, personal, and academic learning. Intertextual references, genres, and literacy strategies were found to be implicated in the constitution of gender identities. Implications for pedagogy include attention to: the continuities of children\u27s social and academic worlds; children\u27s naming practices; dichotomous conceptual structures, genres, and literary strategies; student\u27s verbal interactions; and social resources for challenging gender categories and enhancing literacy practices
Casting gender: The constitution of social identities through literacy practices among third and fourth graders
Elementary-aged children develop social identities (such as gender) and literacy simultaneously, ... more Elementary-aged children develop social identities (such as gender) and literacy simultaneously, yet little literature exists which examines the overlap of social identities and literacy. This study looked across the talk and writing, and social and academic worlds, of third and fourth graders to ascertain how literacy practices were used to constitute gendered social identities. Data was gathered on 45 children using ethnographic methods over a six-month period in two multi-age grade three/four classrooms. Collected data included: teacher-assigned writing; student-initiated writing; fieldnotes; audiotapes and transcripts of literature and writing discussions; and audiotapes of interviews of children discussing their writing and transcripts. Systematic data analysis included interactional sociolinguistic analysis, literary theories, reader response theories, and theories of gender. Children were found to cast gender: (1) by naming and renaming characters, selves, and peers, (2) intertextually, through genre structures, metaphors, anthropomorphism, and personification, (3) through bodycasts such as clothing, voice, hair and other physical characteristics, and (4) through interactions, especially verbal interactions. Literacy and gender casting practices were highly situated. Children were found to take and assign gender positions, which included border straddling across gender boundaries. Methodology was developed for using an interview technique, the redux interview, with children as they read and discussed their transcripts and writing. Conclusions included support for understanding literacy as continuous rather than dichotomous across talk and text, as well as a continuous view of social, personal, and academic learning. Intertextual references, genres, and literacy strategies were found to be implicated in the constitution of gender identities. Implications for pedagogy include attention to: the continuities of children\u27s social and academic worlds; children\u27s naming practices; dichotomous conceptual structures, genres, and literary strategies; student\u27s verbal interactions; and social resources for challenging gender categories and enhancing literacy practices
Reading Salt and Pepper: Social Practices, Unfinished Narratives, and Critical Interpretations A researcher and three third-grade authors reread their story across an 8-year period, discerning how gender, class, and race are narrated - albeit unconsciously - through familiar and often stereotypic...
Journal of Curriculum Studies Research
After the plurality of crises experienced in 2020, including but not limited to a once-in-a-lifet... more After the plurality of crises experienced in 2020, including but not limited to a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, a national reckoning with racial violence, and political violence, one teacher and twelve college students set out to explore and create actively antiracist, self-nourishing pedagogies for elementary students. Using the theoretical approaches of bell hooks, Gholdy Muhammad, Corita Kent, and Gloria Ladson-Billings, the class chose to center the approach of making and crafting as the module to challenge and dismantle systems of oppression. This article charts their journey of using BIPOC-centered books, highlighting marginalized makers and artists, to craft and test curricula that goes beyond simply telling the artists' stories, but allows elementary students to be active participants in those stories through crafting. The class also explored how crafting can be a tool of expression, liberation, and learning. Reflecting on the theoretical underpinnings of their thoughts a...
When I'm Code-Switching, I'm Becoming:" Students Examine Code-Switching and Identity in an Urban, High School, English Classroom
Home to School: Numeracy Practices and Mathematical Identities
Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 2006
Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Dec 22, 2003
Research in the Teaching of English, 2002
Language Arts, Mar 1, 2008
A researcher and three third-grade authors reread their story across an 8-year period, discerning... more A researcher and three third-grade authors reread their story across an 8-year period, discerning how gender, class, and race are narrated-albeit unconsciously-through familiar and often stereotypical metaphors of "opposites." Their reflections make clear that different perspectives-in this case, age and experience-result in widely different interpretations. All of it [writing Salt and Pepper] was about being friends. "Sam," 2005 We make ourselves vulnerable in the stories we tell.
Language Arts, 2010
Abstract: A professor and students in an undergraduate honors research seminar were inspired to p... more Abstract: A professor and students in an undergraduate honors research seminar were inspired to playfully link old and contemporary literacy theories to a 2.0 media artifact, the popular YouTube video Kittens! Inspired by Kittens!(KIbK) starring 6 year-old Maddie. In ...
Research on persuasive writing by elementary children posits primarily a developmental perspectiv... more Research on persuasive writing by elementary children posits primarily a developmental perspective, claiming that elementary-age children can effectively argue through talk but not through writing. While this view is commonly held, this article presents counterevidence. Drawing on two cases of third and fourth grade children writing persuasive letters gathered during six-month naturalistic studies of literacy practices and social identities in contrastive communities (one urban, one suburban), these data challenge the developmental generalization by showing that children in these settings can write persuasively. Further, this work complicates understandings of children's persuasive writing by showing how assignments and local cultures shape children's writing. Evidence is developed through rich description of the case study settings and instructional tasks, a typology of the children's persuasive strategies, and a critical discourse analysis of the children's persuasive letters. This study suggests that children in both communities are capable of persuasive writing, although they enact different patterns of response, drawing on locally learned discourses. The settings, the hybridity of the persuasive Jetter as both argument and letter, and the children's habitus may account for some of the differences in how the children address the tasks through ranges of centeredness and agentive strategies. Differing patterns of response suggest new frames for viewing and fostering children's argumentative competence in a range of settings. including understandings of agency. The author encourages a research agenda that accounts for sodally situated classroom and community practices, and argues for ongoing research and critique of the power and place of persuasive writing for children in a range of schools.
Uploads
Papers by Diane D. Anderson