Knobel and Lankshear Chapter 1

What is this chapter about?

     This chapter discusses what new literacies are and how to understand literacies from a sociocultural perpspective.  Video gaming, fan fiction writing,  manga-anime fan practices, scenereo planning, zine publishing, and weblogging are some of  examples of new literacies. 

     The authors point out that literacy is not just reading and writing. The authors define literacy in relation to Discourses.  Discourses are ways of using language (reading, writing, speaking, listening), gestures and other semiotics (images, sounds, graphics, signs, codes).  I thought it was interesting and so true that language is only one dimension of Discourse.  There are other ways others recognize us as being a “this” or a “that,” such as how we believe, act, or dress. 

What does this chapter tell me about teaching students?

     This chapter tells me that I have a lot to learn about the new literacies and “etho stuff.”  I feel since I have started the UTK program, I have used more of the Web 2.0 column.  We have participated in several wiki projects where we wrote collaboratively, shared expertise, and encouraged inclusion. 

     The authors discuss how our primary Discourse is how we learn to do and be (including speaking and expressing) within our family early in life.  Our secondary Discourses are those we participate in school, clubs workplaces, churches, etc.  The authors state that children from marginal social groups will struggle to get a handle on the culture of school classrooms when they are further away from a secondary discourse.  I think this is talking about children that come to us with limited vocabulary knowledge.  They struggle to build background knowledge because much of the vocabulary isn’t there.  For these kids we must explicit vocabulary instruction. 

Can this chapter be applied in my content area?

     I teach kindergarten and first grade writer’s workshop using Lucy Calkin’s units.   As I was reading about “folksonomy” I was thinking how we “label” many of their early stories.  They will draw their story and label pictures and stories.  They are in a way “tagging” what’s interesting to them.   I don’t know anything about fan fiction, zine publishing, or scenerio planning but it sounds like something I might could integrate into my writing class.  I would have to read more about it.