Playing Their Way into Literacies: Reading, Writing, and Belonging in the Early Childhood Classroom

by Karen E. Wohlwend, Celia Genishi (Series Editor), Donna E. Alvermann (Series Editor)

Karen Wohlwend provides a new framework for rethinking the boundaries between literacy and play, so that play itself is viewed as a literacy practice along with reading, writing, and design. Through a variety of theoretical lenses, the author presents a portrait of literacy play that connects three play the girls and, importantly, boys, who played with Disney Princess media; "Just Guys" who used design and sports media to make a boys-only space; and a group of children who played teacher with big books and other school texts. These young children "play by design," using play not only as a literacy to transform the texts that they read, write, and draw, but also as a tactic to transform their relational identities in the social spaces of peer and school cultures. Emphasizing the importance of play despite current high-stakes testing demands, this

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Scaffolded approaches within a child’s ZPD

Takes about importance of space