The Donut House: the outcomes of situated literacy

The main purpose of this blog is to provide me, a pre-service teacher, the opportunity to reflect and comment upon readings and assignments in my K-3 Reading and Language Arts class. I just completed our first article, titled The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Classroom, by Rebecca Powell and Nancy Davidson.

Summary:

This article proposes the use of situated literacy over schooled literacy. Schooled literacy is probably what most adults are familiar with. It “treat(s) written language as an object for analysis rather than as a medium for genuine communication (and)… privileges certain language forms over others” (249). Schooled literacy is also institutionalized; it can be “taught using exercises, workbooks, and other prepackaged materials” (249). Situationed literacy, on the other hand, is relevant to students’ experiences and tailored to them. It is more hands on and allows them to use literacy to solve real-world problems. When literacy skills are not taught as ends in themselves, but rather as the means to an end about which the students are passionate, they embrace it rather than resisting (paraphrased from Powell and Davidson). 

After outlining the theory behind their study, Powell and Davidson go on to describe a particular case of situated literacy. Personally, I was blown away by the ambition of the project and by the way not only the students, but also the community, stepped up to accomplish a task together. In a small kindergarten classroom in Kentucky, one inspired teacher took her class on a field trip to a nearby donut shop. They learned the steps to make donuts, were taught about the running of a small business, and took note of the types of literacy in the environment (such as the “Thank you! Come again” sign). The county building inspection helped with construction plan for their shop and approved their building (although apparently this was a miscalculation because the school janitors later deemed it unsafe and deconstructed it.) Two college students from a nearby campus were commissioned to build the Donut House for a construction charge of $15. This led to the realization that a business needs seed money. Two bank Vice Presidents were contacted and came in to discuss the procedures for getting a loan and helped the students fill out a loan application. For collateral, they put up a refrigerator and a rolling pin J. Students then invited faculty and staff from the nearby campus to become stockholders in their business. Each stockholder received a thank you for their check of $3 and an invitation to the Grand Opening.

Through this process, these Kindergarten students wrote letters, labels, signs, business cards, donut-making instructions, and filled out loan applications and building permits! They also created a Big Book with labeled pictures from the various professionals who visited their class. They began to notice and discuss language patterns, such as application beginning the same way as apple, that all sentences end with a period, and that people’s names are capitalized. They were passionate about their project and many wrote about it in their journals.

A 3-point Reflection:

•   I am sure this took more time, effort, and organization on the teacher’s part than printing worksheets would have, but look at the results! It is absolutely worth it.
•  I do not think it is necessary to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Literacy exercises still have their place in the classroom, and I hope to explore this later in the semester. Which exercises are effective and which pedantic? How can one balance the necessary skills and tools of literacy with the big picture of why literacy is important and what it can accomplish.
•    I want to reiterate how impressed I am that the classroom, the teacher, and the community came together for this project. It shows me that if I, as a teacher, reach out to the community for support, the community will respond. Perhaps my first plea will fall upon deaf (or very busy) ears, but there are plenty of professionals who care about education and the future and will be willing to take some time to share their experience with me and my students if my proposed lesson is interesting and beneficial.