Social Interactions and Meaning Making During Read-Alouds and Writing Events in a Kindergarten Classroom

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Literacy and Learning in Local Contexts

Abstract

This study is a yearlong case study of literacy learning in one kindergarten classroom in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, approached from the perspective of social semiotic theory (Hodge & Kress, 1988). The researcher was a participant observer in the classroom and used qualitative methodology to explore the multimodal nature of literacy learning, the meaning making of texts through social interaction, and the teacher’s revoicing of children’s literacy productions. Data sources included fieldnotes, children’s drawings and writings, transcripts of videotaped read-aloud events, and informal student and teacher interviews. Moment-to-moment social interactions analyzed in the study show how teachers can use children’s knowledge of multimodal forms of expression to help them transition into more conventional reading and writing work.

Author

• Cynthia B. Leung, University of South Florida St. Petersburg