Engaging Students in Literary Reasoning and Argumentation

• In Event: Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Language and Literacy in Designed Learning Environments

Abstract

This study examines a 9-week instructional intervention in a 9th grade classroom at an urban, ethnically diverse public school in the Midwest. The intervention focused on providing students opportunities to build literary interpretive strategies using the rhetorical device symbolism and the theme “coming of age” and make them explicit through literary argumentation. We examined changes in students’ process skills over the course of the module and in relation to performance on pre/post literary reasoning assessments scored using a rubric-based approach. Results indicated significant increases in interpreting theme and symbols, justifying claims, and synthesis. This study demonstrates a learning environment designed to foster literary reasoning and the interplay of text, tasks, and practices necessary to engage students in these practices.

Authors

• Candice Burkett, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Teresa Sosa, Indiana University - IUPUI

• Allison H. Hall, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois at Chicago