In Emily Skinner’s article “Writing Workshop Meets Critical Media Literacy: Using Magazines and Movies as Mentor Texts,” she writes about Teenage Addiction, an after-school writing club that uses popular media as a spring-board for critical writing projects. Skinner cites Freire and Macedo’s concept of “reading the world” as grounding philosophy for Teenage Addiction. “Reading the world” is described as “reading not only words (and images) in texts, but also critically interpreting the ideologies that underlie the words and images (p. 30). Skinner provides the example of Raquel’s project- looking at fashion magazines in a critical way. I thought this project was great because it harnessed the interest Raquel already had in fashion magazines and helped direct it toward critical thinking and literacy skills.
I think this idea of “reading the world” is really powerful! Showing students the connection between what they are reading, looking at, or watching and the wider world is not only inherently interesting, but also teaches an invaluable life skill. Katie Wood Ray’s article about “Exploring Inquiry as a Teaching Stance in the Writing Workshop” echoes these ideas- encouraging students to constantly ask question and search for hidden meanings in texts. I loved the idea of students writing Op-Eds!
It is incredibly beneficial for students to see the connection between things that they read and the world around them, and both of these articles do a great job of providing examples of how to help students realize the way the word reflects the world. This is important, because it both allows them to understand problems of the world, and allows them to develop the skills they will need to create change. I was reminded of this book by Linda Christensen (a Rethinking Schools publication) which includes essays, lesson ideas, and student writing that help show the connection between language arts and social justice: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/ProdDetails.asp?ID=0942961250
I agree with Sarah’s response to Skinner’s article “Writing Workshop Meets Critical Media Literacy.” I think that the notion of “reading the world” alerts students to literacy skills they already have and connects the philosophies present inside a classroom to their extra-curricular interests. If the Teenage Addiction club had been offered as an after-school activity when I was in middle school and high school, I definitely would have joined. It seemed like those girls were having a lot of fun analyzing and writing about the things that were currently relevant to their lives. The only disappointing aspect of this article is that it is about an after-school program. Is there any way that the media employed in this club can make its way into the classroom, maybe in the form of an independent project? I know that “chick flicks” are not the typical classroom resources, but I think that grabbing the students’ attention with media that they do not typically encounter in school is an effective way of introducing literacy skills. This article demonstrates that students can learn even when the texts are not classic “literature,” which is reiterated in the article “Making It Matter Through the Power of Inquiry” by Jeffery D. Wilhelm and Michael W. Smith (from Beers, Probst, and Rief). Both of these articles not only make me think about how to use students’ personal interests to push them academically, but also cause me to reevaluate the accepted canon of classroom resources.