ReWRITING the Basics: Literacy Learning in Children's Cultures

225 Pages·2013·2.342 MB·Language and Literacy

by  Anne Haas Dyson

LANGUAGE AND LITERACY SERIES
Dorothy S. Strickland, FOUNDING EDITOR
Celia Genishi and Donna E. Alvermann, SERIES EDITORS
ADVISORY BOARD: Richard Allington, Kathryn Au, Bernice Cullinan, Colette Daiute, Anne Haas Dyson,
Carole Edelsky, Shirley Brice Heath, Connie Juel, Susan Lytle, Timothy Shanahan
ReWRITING the Basics: A Call to Creativity
Literacy Learning in Children’s Cultures LUKE REYNOLDS
ANNE HAAS DYSON Literacy and Justice Through Photography
Writing Instruction That Works: WENDY EWALD, KATHERINE HYDE, & LISA LORD
Proven Methods for Middle and High School Classrooms
The Successful High School Writing Center
ARTHUR N. APPLEBEE & JUDITH A. LANGER, WITH
KRISTEN CAMPBELL WILCOX, MARC NACHOWITZ, DAWN FELS & JENNIFER WELLS, EDS.
MICHAEL P. MASTROIANNI, AND CHRISTINE DAWSON Interrupting Hate
Literacy Playshop: New Literacies, Popular Media, MOLLIE V. BLACKBURN
and Play in the Early Childhood Classroom Playing Their Way into Literacies
KAREN E. WOHLWEND KAREN E. WOHLWEND
Critical Media Pedagogy:
Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom
Teaching for Achievement in City Schools
ERNEST MORRELL, RUDY DUEÑAS, VERONICA GARCIA, JEFFREY D. WILHELM & BRUCE NOVAK
& JORGE LOPEZ Overtested
A Search Past Silence: The Literacy of Young Black Men JESSICA ZACHER PANDYA
DAVID E. KIRKLAND Restructuring Schools for Linguistic Diversity,
Second Edition
The ELL Writer:
Moving Beyond Basics in the Secondary Classroom OFELIA B. MIRAMONTES, ADEL NADEAU, & NANCY L. COMMINS
CHRISTINA ORTMEIER-HOOPER Words Were All We Had
Reading in a Participatory Culture: MARÍA DE LA LUZ REYES, ED.
Remixing Moby-Dick in the English Classroom Urban Literacies
HENRY JENKINS & WYN KELLEY, WITH KATIE CLINTON, JENNA VALERIE KINLOCH, ED.
MCWILLIAMS, RICARDO PITTS-WILEY, AND ERIN REILLY, EDS. Bedtime Stories and Book Reports
Summer Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Achievement Gap CATHERINE COMPTON-LILLY & STUART GREENE, EDS.
RICHARD L. ALLINGTON & ANNE MCGILL-FRANZEN, EDS.
Envisioning Knowledge
Real World Writing for Secondary Students:
JUDITH A. LANGER
Teaching the College Admission Essay and Other
Envisioning Literature, Second Edition
Gate-Openers for Higher Education
JESSICA SINGER EARLY & MEREDITH DECOSTA JUDITH A. LANGER
Teaching Vocabulary to English Language Learners Writing Assessment and the Revolution in
MICHAEL F. GRAVES, DIANE AUGUST, Digital Texts and Technologies
& JEANNETTE MANCILLA-MARTINEZ MICHAEL R. NEAL
Literacy for a Better World: Artifactual Literacies
The Promise of Teaching in Diverse Schools KATE PAHL & JENNIFER ROWSELL
LAURA SCHNEIDER VANDERPLOEG Educating Emergent Bilinguals
Socially Responsible Literacy: OFELIA GARCíA & JO ANNE KLEIFGEN
Teaching Adolescents for Purpose and Power (Re)Imagining Content-Area Literacy Instruction
PAULA M. SELVESTER & DEBORAH G. SUMMERS RONI JO DRAPER, ED.
Learning from Culturally and Linguistically Change Is Gonna Come
Diverse Classrooms: Using Inquiry to Inform Practice PATRICIA A. EDWARDS, GWENDOLYN THOMPSON MCMILLON, &
JOAN C. FINGON & SHARON H. ULANOFF, EDS. JENNIFER D. TURNER
Bridging Literacy and Equity When Commas Meet Kryptonite
ALTHIER M. LAZAR, PATRICIA A. EDWARDS, & MICHAEL BITZ
GWENDOLYN THOMPSON MCMILLON Literacy Tools in the Classroom
"Trust Me! I Can Read" RICHARD BEACH, GERALD CAMPANO, BRIAN EDMISTON,
SALLY LAMPING & DEAN WOODRING BLASE & MELISSA BORGMANN
Reading Girls Harlem on Our Minds
HADAR DUBOWSKY MA'AYAN VALERIE KINLOCH
Reading Time Teaching the New Writing
CATHERINE COMPTON-LILLY ANNE HERRINGTON, KEVIN HODGSON, & CHARLES MORAN, EDS.
(continued)
For volumes in the NCRLL Collection (edited by JoBeth Allen and Donna E. Alvermann) and the Practitioners Bookshelf Series (edited by
Celia Genishi and Donna E. Alvermann), as well as a complete list of titles in this series, please visit www.tcpress.com.
LANGUAGE AND LITERACY SERIES (continued)
Critical Encounters in High School English, Room for Talk
Second Edition REBEKAH FASSLER
DEBORAH APPLEMAN Give Them Poetry!
Children, Language, and Literacy GLENNA SLOAN
CELIA GENISHI & ANNE HAAS DYSON The Brothers and Sisters Learn to Write
Children's Language ANNE HAAS DYSON
JUDITH WELLS LINDFORS “Just Playing the Part”
The Administration and Supervision of Reading Programs, CHRISTOPHER WORTHMAN
Fourth Edition The Testing Trap
SHELLEY B. WEPNER & DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND, EDS. GEORGE HILLOCKS, JR.
“You Gotta BE the Book,” Second Edition
Inquiry Into Meaning
JEFFREY D. WILHELM EDWARD CHITTENDEN & TERRY SALINGER, WITH ANNE M. BUSSIS
No Quick Fix
RICHARD L. ALLINGTON & SEAN A. WALMSLEY, EDS. “Why Don’t They Learn English?”
LUCY TSE
Children's Literature and Learning
BARBARA A. LEHMAN Conversational Borderlands
Storytime BETSY RYMES
LARWRENCE R. SIPE Inquiry-Based English Instruction
Effective Instruction for Struggling Readers, K–6 RICHARD BEACH & JAMIE MYERS
BARBARA M. TAYLOR & JAMES E. YSSELDYKE, EDS. The Best for Our Children
The Effective Literacy Coach MARÍA DE LA LUZ REYES & JOHN J. HALCÓN, EDS.
ADRIAN RODGERS & EMILY M. RODGERS Language Crossings
Writing in Rhythm KAREN L. OGULNICK, ED.
MAISHA T. FISHER What Counts as Literacy?
Reading the Media MARGARET GALLEGO & SANDRA HOLLINGSWORTH, EDS.
RENEE HOBBS
Beginning Reading and Writing
teachingmedialiteracy.com DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND & LESLEY M. MORROW, EDS.
RICHARD BEACH
Reading for Meaning
What Was It Like? BARBARA M. TAYLOR, MICHAEL F. GRAVES,
LINDA J. RICE & PAUL VAN DEN BROEK, EDS.
Research on Composition
Young Adult Literature and the New Literary Theories
PETER SMAGORINSKY, ED.
ANNA O. SOTER
The Vocabulary Book
MICHAEL F. GRAVES Literacy Matters
Powerful Magic ROBERT P. YAGELSKI
NINA MIKKELSEN Children’s Inquiry
New Literacies in Action JUDITH WELLS LINDFORS
WILLIAM KIST Close to Home
Teaching English Today JUAN C. GUERRA
BARRIE R.C. BARRELL ET AL., EDS. Life at the Margins
Bridging the Literacy Achievement Gap, 4–12 JULIET MERRIFIELD ET AL.
DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND & DONNA E. ALVERMANN, EDS.
Literacy for Life
Out of This World
HANNA ARLENE FINGERET & CASSANDRA DRENNON
HOLLY VIRGINIA BLACKFORD
Critical Passages The Book Club Connection
KRISTIN DOMBEK & SCOTT HERNDON SUSAN I. MCMAHON & TAFFY E. RAPHAEL, EDS., ET AL.
Making Race Visible Until We Are Strong Together
STUART GREENE & DAWN ABT-PERKINS, EDS. CAROLINE E. HELLER
The Child as Critic, Fourth Edition Writing Superheroes
GLENNA SLOAN ANNE HAAS DYSON
LANGUAGE AND LITERACY SERIES (continued)
Critical Encounters in High School English, Room for Talk
Second Edition REBEKAH FASSLER
DEBORAH APPLEMAN Give Them Poetry!
Children, Language, and Literacy GLENNA SLOAN
CELIA GENISHI & ANNE HAAS DYSON The Brothers and Sisters Learn to Write
Children's Language ANNE HAAS DYSON ReWRITING
JUDITH WELLS LINDFORS “Just Playing the Part”
The Administration and Supervision of Reading Programs, CHRISTOPHER WORTHMAN
Fourth Edition The Testing Trap
SHELLEY B. WEPNER & DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND, EDS. GEORGE HILLOCKS, JR.
“You Gotta BE the Book,” Second Edition the Basics
Inquiry Into Meaning
JEFFREY D. WILHELM EDWARD CHITTENDEN & TERRY SALINGER, WITH ANNE M. BUSSIS
No Quick Fix
RICHARD L. ALLINGTON & SEAN A. WALMSLEY, EDS. “Why Don’t They Learn English?”
LUCY TSE
Children's Literature and Learning
BARBARA A. LEHMAN Conversational Borderlands
Storytime BETSY RYMES Literacy Learning in
LARWRENCE R. SIPE Inquiry-Based English Instruction
Effective Instruction for Struggling Readers, K–6 RICHARD BEACH & JAMIE MYERS
BARBARA M. TAYLOR & JAMES E. YSSELDYKE, EDS. The Best for Our Children Children’s Cultures
The Effective Literacy Coach MARÍA DE LA LUZ REYES & JOHN J. HALCÓN, EDS.
ADRIAN RODGERS & EMILY M. RODGERS Language Crossings
Writing in Rhythm KAREN L. OGULNICK, ED.
MAISHA T. FISHER What Counts as Literacy?
Reading the Media MARGARET GALLEGO & SANDRA HOLLINGSWORTH, EDS.
RENEE HOBBS
Beginning Reading and Writing
teachingmedialiteracy.com DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND & LESLEY M. MORROW, EDS.
RICHARD BEACH
Reading for Meaning
WhaLtIN WDAa Js . ItR LICiEke? &BA PRBAAURL AV MAN. DTAEYNL OBRR,O MEKI,C HEADESL. F. GRAVES, Anne HAAs Dyson
Research on Composition
Young Adult Literature and the New Literary Theories
PETER SMAGORINSKY, ED.
ANNA O. SOTER
The Vocabulary Book
MICHAEL F. GRAVES Literacy Matters
Powerful Magic ROBERT P. YAGELSKI
NINA MIKKELSEN Children’s Inquiry
New Literacies in Action JUDITH WELLS LINDFORS
WILLIAM KIST Close to Home
Teaching English Today JUAN C. GUERRA
BARRIE R.C. BARRELL ET AL., EDS. Life at the Margins
Bridging the Literacy Achievement Gap, 4–12 JULIET MERRIFIELD ET AL.
DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND & DONNA E. ALVERMANN, EDS.
Literacy for Life
Out of This World
HANNA ARLENE FINGERET & CASSANDRA DRENNON
HOLLY VIRGINIA BLACKFORD
Critical Passages The Book Club Connection
KRISTIN DOMBEK & SCOTT HERNDON SUSAN I. MCMAHON & TAFFY E. RAPHAEL, EDS., ET AL.
Making Race Visible Until We Are Strong Together
STUART GREENE & DAWN ABT-PERKINS, EDS. CAROLINE E. HELLER Teachers College, Columbia University
The Child as Critic, Fourth Edition Writing Superheroes New York and London
GLENNA SLOAN ANNE HAAS DYSON
Portions of this book were drawn from earlier, partial analyses of research data.
Those analyses appeared as:
Dyson, A. Haas. (2010). Writing childhoods under construction: Revisioning
“copying” in early childhood. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 2010, 10, 7–31.
Copyright 2010 by SAGE Publications. Used with permission.
Dyson. A. Haas. (2008). The Pine Cone Wars: Studying writing in a community of
children. Language Arts, 85, 305–315. Copyright 2008 by the National Council of
Teachers of English. Used with permission.
Dyson, A. Haas. (2008). Staying in the (curricular) lines: Practice constraints and
possibilities in childhood writing. Written Communication, 25, 119–159. Copyright
2008 by SAGE Publications. Used with permission.
Dyson, A. Haas. (2007). School literacy and the development of a child culture:
Written remnants of the “gusto of life.” In D. Thiessen & A. Cook-Sather (Eds.),
International handbook of student experiences in elementary and secondary school (pp.
115–142). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer. Copyright 2007 by Springer. Used
with permission.
Dyson, A. Haas. (2006). On saying it right (write): “Fix-its” in the foundations of
learning to write. Research in the Teaching of English, 41, 8–44. Copyright 2006 by the
National Council of Teachers of English. Used with permission.
Published by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY
10027
Copyright © 2013 by Teachers College, Columbia University
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dyson, Anne Haas.
ReWRITING the basics : literacy learning in children’s cultures
pages cm. — (Language and literacy series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8077-5455-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8077-5456-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Language arts (Elementary)—United States. 2. English language—
Social aspects—United States. I. Title.
LB1576.D974 2013
372.6—dc23 2013014800
ISBN 978-0-8077-5455-9 (paper)
ISBN 978-0-8077-5456-6 (hardcover)
Printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Celia Genishi,
in appreciation of years of friendship

Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
1. The “Basics” and Society’s Children:
Cases of Classroom Writing 1
On Metaphoric Mailboxes and Textual Playgrounds:
Basic Critiques 4
Neighborhood Drives:
Places for Childhoods Past and Present 9
PART I: BASIC LeSSoNS ANd BASIC TeNSIoNS
2. Welcome to Writing Workshop 25
The Classroom as Community:
Working (and Playing) Together 26
The Basics and the Official
Writing Lives of Young Children 33
Wide-Awake Children and Blinds-Shut Basics 41
3. Looking Good and Sounding “Right”: Fix-Its 43
Kindergarten Fix-Its:
Where Do Written Stories Come From? 46
1st-Grade Fix-Its: Whose Voice Is That? 59
The Basics in a Symbol-Mediated, Voice-Filled World 67
vii
viii Contents
4. The ethics of Writing: on Truth and ownership 69
“A Real Story About You”
(The You That Is Not Spider-Man) 70
Your Own Story (The One That Is Not Copied) 75
Writing a Life Story (Or Writing in a Social Life?) 78
A Change in Angle of Vision 80
PART II: WRITING “BASICS” IN ChILdhood SPACeS
5. Shifting expectations and differing ethics:
entering Childhood Cultures 87
Relational Fix-Its: “Put My Name in There!” 89
Organizing and Enacting Relationships: “Can I Play?” 94
A Caution About Developmental Order 97
6. Collegial Relations and Coordinated Actions:
Textual handclaps 99
Written Language and the
Mediation of Childhood Cultures 100
The Relational Landscape for Textual Play:
Situating Old Basics in Child Spaces 111
7. Complementary Relations and Improvisational Play:
on Matters of Birthdays, Love, and War 113
Complementary Relations and Birthday Parties 115
Complementary Relations and Their Lack:
The Complex Game of Love 122
From Complementary Relations to Collaborative
Improvisations: The Pine Cone Wars 135
The Basic Dramas of Children’s Textual Play 142
8. Performers on a Movable Stage:
on the Malleability of Voice and Image 143
Storytelling: Communicative Resources and Social Stages 145
Contents ix
Rhyming and Singing:
New Written Venues for Play and Performance 157
On Child Performers 160
9. Re-Imagining Writing Basics
for Contemporary Childhoods 162
Contextualizing the Basics 164
Toward a Re-Envisioned Basic Education 174
So, What Do You Think? 178
Appendix A. Reflections on Methods 180
Situating Teachers 180
Copying the Children 181
Constructing Analytic Narratives 183
Appendix B. demographic Tables 185
Table B.1. Sex and Ethnicity of Mrs. Kay’s Children 185
Table B.2. Sex and Ethnicity of Mrs. Bee’s Children 186
References 187
Index 197
About the Author 206