Jeremiah and Amelia were sitting in a large bean bag chair in the corner of their preschool library corner with a large book open across their two laps. Jeremiah is telling quite a story using hand gestures and intonation in his voice to describe the actions of the monster in this story. Amelia looks at him as they get ready to turn the page and asks, “What is all this down here?” (pointing to the words).
Jeremiah responds, “That is for the dummies who can’t read the pictures!” He turns the page and begins a new story (no longer about the monster) but NOW we will hear about how a puppy got a new family.
Jeremiah, already at age 4, knows so much about reading. He knows how books work and the importance of telling a story with action and emotion for the audience. He knows those words tell a story but not the story he WANTS to tell. He knows that the visual images also tell a story and he uses that information to inform his own oral storytelling.
As we begin this blog, our promise to you is to always begin each blog entry with a story of a child (or multiple children). Children and youth are at the center of our work so it is their stories that can teach us and inform our practices in the classroom. (Please note that all names are pseudonyms).
Just as Jeremiah had to turn the page and begin a new story, we are in the process of change here in the JCCL. As we turn the page on a 10-year history, the JCCL looks to the future and what the next chapter will be. The creation of this new blog is to extend an invitation . . . an invitation to our readers to help us in this unique time to help shape and write the next chapter. We pose three questions to begin this year of strategic planning:
- How do we teach with a comprehensive literacy mindset in the time of COVID-19?
- How do we define “comprehensive literacy?” The term has been present in the literature for over 20 years. How has the past two decades re-shaped our thinking about comprehensive literacy?
- When we look to the future of literacy research, what questions should we be asking about our teaching practices and what we need to know about how children and youth learn literacy?
What are your thoughts? Join in the conversation by letting us hear your voice and perspective. Email us at jccl@uni.edu.