The role of critical literacy (analytical reading) in facilitating deconstruction and understanding of text presented through different media cannot be understated. Molden (2007) observed that employment of analytical skills embodies thorough interrogation of texts by taking all components into consideration including the purpose for writing, intended outcome, included and excluded characters, and presence of any biases. For fourth graders, engagement through a critical perspective has been established to aid comprehension beyond, under, over, and around their previous level of understanding (McLaughlin & DeVoogd, 2005). The need for critical literacy strategies is informed by the understanding that knowledge is socially contracted, open-ended, and progressively unfolding, and impacted through thoughtful deliberation and practice. Creation of classroom atmospheres that facilitate transformation of students to be critically literate depends on motivational approaches employed by teachers to keep learners enthusiasm for learning high through engaging texts and instructional techniques.
However, research evidence suggests that scholars and academics in the field of pedagogy focus on the role of critical literacy through reading skills; the importance of writing skills takes a backstage position. The directive to American schools to achieve a new standard where all children attain critical literacy proficiencies represents a paradigm shift from basic literacy characterized by a model emphasizing on reading and recalling, writing neatly, and spelling accurately to a more thoughtful literacy model (Allington & Johnston, 2000). Thoughtful literacy is a mandatory requirement in the post-industrial society and is characterized by students who can read, write, and think in a critical and complex manner. Therefore, teachers’ knowledge and understanding about content and students are essential in the judicious selection of texts and other materials, including their presentation through instructional strategies that aid the development of critical literacy. The need for critical literacy is further justified in assertions by McLaughlin and Allen (2002) that the strategy encapsulates both teaching and thinking as means of being that challenges texts and life as contemporary known. In this essay, strategies for helping fourth grade students construct meaning through critical literacy using text from the story The Secret Garden (Burnet, 1985).
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References
Allington, R. L., & Johnston, P. H. (2000). What do we know about effective fourth-grade teachers and their classrooms? CELA Research Report.
Burnett, F. H. The Secret Garden . New York: HarperCollins, 1985. (1911)
From “There’s No One Left”
McLaughlin, M. & Allen (2002). Guided Comprehension: A teaching model for grades 3-8. Newark, DE.
McLaughlin, M., & DeVoogd, G. L. (2005). Critical literacy: Enhancing students’ comprehension of text. Education Review .
Molden, K. (2007). Critical literacy, the right answer for the reading classroom: Strategies to move beyond comprehension for reading improvement. Reading Improvement , 44 (1), 50-56.
