S This descriptive study documented the range and frequency of literacy practices in 20 low‐socioeconomic‐status homes over an aggregated week of observation and measured the emergent literacy knowledges held by 24 children, ages 4 to 6, in these homes. The analysis focused on the social domains mediated by print as well as the linguistic unit and complexity of discourse text read and/or written by the participants in the homes. The analysis also examined relationships between the types and frequencies of literacy events and the emergent literacy knowledges held by the focal children. Results revealed a description of literacy practice and literacy learning which included great variability in type and frequency of literacy events across the 20 homes. The results also suggested the following patterns of relationships between home literacy practices and emergent literacy knowledge: (a) children's understanding of the intentionality of print is related to both the frequency of literacy events in the home and to their personal focus and involvement in the literacy events, (b) children knew more about the alphabetic principle and the specific forms of written language more in homes where literate members read and wrote at more complex levels of discourse for their own entertainment and leisure, and (c) parents' intentional involvement in their children's literacy learning was higher when their children began formal literacy instruction in school. Reflections on literacy as cultural practice and the ways in which school and home learning can build upon each other are discussed. ESTE ESTUDIO descriptivo documentó el rango y la frecuencia de las prácticas de alfabetización en 20 hogares de nivel socioeconómico bajo a lo largo de una semana de observación y midió los conocimientos emergentes sobre la lectoescritura de 24 niños de 4 a 6 años provenientes de estos hogares. El análisis puso el acento en los dominios sociales mediatizados por la escritura, así como en el tipo de unidad lingüística y la complejidad discursiva de los textos leídos y/o escritos por los participantes en los hogares. El análisis también examinó las relaciones entre los tipos y frecuencia de los eventos de alfabetización y los conocimientos emergentes sobre la lectoescritura de los niños del estudio. Los resultados revelaron una descripción de las prácticas de alfabetización y el aprendizaje de la lectoescritura que incluía una gran variación en el tipo y la frecuencia de los eventos en los 20 hogares. Los resultados también sugirieron los siguientes patrones de relaciones entre las prácticas de alfabetización en el hogar y los conocimientos emergentes sobre la lectoescritura: (a) la comprensión por parte de los niños de la intencionalidad de la escritura está relacionada con la frecuencia de los eventos de alfabetización en el hogar y con sus intereses personales y compromiso con dichos eventos, (b) los niños que sabían más acerca del principio alfabético y las formas específicas del lenguaje escrito pertenecían a hogares en los que los mi...

S This study explored, with both experimental and correlational designs, the roles of (a) authentic, communicatively functional reading and writing and (b) the explicit explanation of genre function and features on growth in genre‐specific reading and writing abilities of children in grades two and three. The genres used for this exploration were informational and procedural science texts. Sixteen grade 2 classes participated, 10 of which were followed through grade 3 (N = 420), in one of two conditions: (a) authentic reading/writing of science informational and procedural texts or (b) authentic reading and writing of these genres with the addition of explicit explanation of language features typical of each. Growth was modeled across six assessment time points using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Results showed no effect of explicit teaching on reading and writing growth for six of seven outcomes. Similarly, correlational analyses showed no relationship between teachers' degree of explicitness and growth for six of seven measures. However, correlational analyses showed a strong relationship between degree of authenticity of reading and writing activities during science instruction and growth for four of seven outcomes, with an interaction with degree of explicitness for a fifth. Children from homes with lower levels of parental education grew at the same rate as those from homes with higher levels, and findings regarding explicitness and authenticity also did not differ by level of education. These results add to the growing empirical evidence regarding the efficacy of involving students in reading and writing for real‐life purposes in the classroom. They also contribute to a growing knowledge base regarding the complexities of language learning in school. Mediante un diseño experimental y correlacional, este estudio exploró los roles de: a) la lectura y la escritura auténticas y comunicativamente funcionales y b) la explicación de la función y los rasgos del género sobre el crecimiento en las habilidades de lectura y escritura de textos de géneros específicos en niños de segundo y tercer grado. Los géneros utilizados fueron el informativo y procedimental en textos científicos. Participaron dieciséis clases de 2° grado, diez de las cuales fueron seguidas en 3° grado (N = 420), en una de dos condiciones: a) lectura y escritura auténticas de textos científicos informativos y procedimentales o b) lectura y escritura auténticas de estos géneros con el agregado de explicaciones explícitas sobre los rasgos lingüísticos típicos de cada uno de ellos. El crecimiento se formalizó tomando seis puntos de evaluación en el tiempo mediante el uso de un Modelo Lineal Jerárquico. No se observaron efectos de la enseñanza explícita sobre el crecimiento en lectura y escritura en seis de siete resultados. De forma similar, los análisis correlacionales no mostraron relación entre el grado de explicitud de los docentes y el crecimiento en seis de siete medidas. Sin embargo, los análisis correlacionales mostraron una fuerte rela...

Authentic literacy activities in the classroom replicate and reflect literacy activities that occur in people's lives outside of school and instructional contexts. A growing body of research supports use of such activities in teaching and learning. The authors elaborate on the definition of authentic literacy, describe supporting research and theory, and give examples of authentic literacy activities documented in a research study. They identify strategies teachers can use to implement these activities for reading and writing, focusing particularly on science instruction.

This study examined low-SES, urban children's ways of interpreting traditional skills-based literacy instruction in kindergarten and first grade. Thirty-five randomly selected children from three inner-city schools were tested for entering and end-of-first-grade knowledge of six domains of written language. Their scores on two standardized achievement tests were also collected. Twelve children were randomly selected from this sample for close observation over 2 years in their classrooms. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed four patterns of success/ nonsuccess in literacy development within the classroom context: (a) the Independent Explorer children who began kindergarten with the big picture of written language and successfully interpreted the skills-based instruction while engaging in numerous self-directed explorations of print, (b) the Curriculum Dependent children who did not have a big picture of written language from the start and exhibited major mismatches between their understandings and those required by the curriculum, (c) the Passive Nonweavers who failed to actively construct relationships between the many skill activities required of them, and (d) the Deferring Learners who moved from a knowledgeable active stance to a passive one after confronting mismatches between their knowledge of print and the curriculum.Literacy achievement, overall, among children from low-income, inner-city families consistently falls below national norms. At Grade 11, according to NAEP (1988), the average proficiency for these students falls at about the seventh-grade level for all students nationally. Drop out rates among these children have risen to 1