Teaching Critical Literacy and Reference Materials to Elementary Students

     For the final blog of this course, I will be reflecting on my philosophy and pedagogy on

instructing critical literacy to students. I will discuss how I would introduce critical literacy and

reference resources to students as a teacher-librarian in an elementary learning commons. 

Video: 

How to Use Reference Materials

 

      Once students have grown more confident in their reference use, I would implement

resource-based learning into lessons. This would help students develop their research and critical

literacies. Both print and digital reference resources would be included in these lessons as tools

for meaningful and relevant learning. According to the Canadian Association for School

Libraries, “To implement the resource-based teaching and learning model, school libraries must

provide access to a rich range of print, non-print, media-based, electronic, and digital resources-

tools that teachers and students can use for formal and informal learning” (7). These reference

resources would support research/inquiry lessons adapted for elementary grades. 

     Before starting these lessons, I would collaborate with classroom teachers to learn about

their curricular goals and needs. We would develop an information inquiry unit that has students

engage in various literacy activities in the learning commons. In the textbook Reference Skills for

the School Librarian, Ann Marlow Rielding defines information literacy as “a student’s ability to

locate, evaluate, and use information in a variety of formats to meet their information needs”

 (15). Rielding also defines information inquiry as “[t]he process of becoming information

literate…[which] begins with an information need, a problem to solve, a question, or a sense of

curiosity” (15).  I would adapt information-gathering activities that meet the abilities and levels

of each grade. For example, young primary students would participate by searching through print

reference books. Depending on their classroom’s curricular goals, students will be given simple

questions to answer, like finding the number of planets in our solar system For older elementary

grades, they will engage in similar activities but with digital reference resources and more

advanced questions, such as finding definitions in electronic dictionaries. On an educator blog,

Book Units Teacher: Educational Materials for Upper Elementary, Gay Miller provides mini

lessons on reference materials that educators could adapt into their teaching.

Figure 1: Photo captures of Miller's mini lessons for reference materials on blog (bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=3943) 

Another idea for research activities is providing games for students to engage with. The book

company Scholastic provides a lesson plan for one such game that involves Jeopardy and print

reference books. 

Figure 2: Photo Capture of Scholastic's reference material game from their website 
(https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/articles/lessons/reference-book-student-activity.html) 

I would then begin to teach critical literacy to students from all grades. I have found several

resources that could help with developing lessons and activities on critical literacy. While

reading these articles, I realize that the term ‘critical literacy’ has been defined differently by

many educators and authors. Most agree that ‘critical literacy’ is a broad term and have defined it

in a way that is relevant to their topic and discussion.

     In one article, “Critical Literacy in Early Elementary Grades: Using a form of literary

criticism in tandem with drama activities helps young students think deeply about how

stories are constructed,” Justine Bruyere states, “Although there is no set definition of

critical literacy, it essentially involves examining the relationship between language

and power in a text. This work is responsive and thoughtful in nature. The chosen text,

students’ comfort and familiarity with the text, and the lesson goals all have an effect

on what happens in the classroom.” Bruyere is a drama teacher who used the “four

dimensions of critical literacy-disrupting the commonplace, considering multiple

viewpoints, focusing on the sociopolitical, and taking action” to develop critical

literacy lessons with classroom teachers. She uses drama and writing activities to

invoke critical thinking and expression in students. Bruyere provides more details in  

her lesson plans in her article: 

 https://www.edutopia.org/article/critical-literacy-early-elementary-grades/

     Another article, “Critical Literacy: Teaching Students How to think Versus What to

Think,” by Roots Connected defines critical literacy as a tool to “help students realize

that all information comes with perspective.” The article lists three goals that educators

hope to achieve with their students while teaching critical literacy:

• analyze perspective, representation and power
• recognize bias, omission and stereotype
• innovate in order to be a part of what has yet to come (Roots Connected)

 

The article also provides critical literacy questions borrowed from the book Girls, Social Class,

and Literacy by Stephanie Jones who also discusses the importance of teaching critical literacy

to children. The following are critical questions from the book that educators can pose to students:

Perspective: 

• Who could have created this text?
• What can I guess about the perspective of the writer (composer/speaker)?
• Who are the intended audiences?  How can I tell?
• What does the author think about the intended audiences?
• What readers might think the same?
• What readers might think something different?

Positioning:

• Who does the writer make him/herself out to be?
• What perspectives, practices, and/or people are centered or valued in the text?
• What readers might feel like “insiders” reading this text?
• What readers might be positioned as “outsiders” by this text?
• How does this text position me?

Power:

• How is the author using power in this text?
• Does the author use their power to repeat stereotypes or to challenge them?
• Does the author invite readers to critique the text or is the text positioned as a so-called truth?
• Who, or what benefits from the power in this text? 
• Who, or what would not benefit from this text?

 

     I found the last article, “Critical Literacy Through Making Connections in the Elementary

Classroom” by Erik Gajeton interesting for his emotional approach to defining and teaching

critical literacy. Gajeton discusses how empathy can be integrated with critical literacy

instruction:

 

In researching critical literacy and its effect on comprehension, it is my hope that by having

students make text-to-self connections, the wheels of critical literacy begin to turn in motion. By

beginning with having students connect their own lives to text, they will become much more

sympathetic human beings. If critical literacy begins by building empathy and developing

character in students, then its potential to encourage social commentary and change are endless.

With the springboard of text-to-self connections, students may continue to grow, develop their

own opinions, and become leaders themselves in their communities by becoming and enacting

the change they wish to see (4).

 

Gajeton provides several examples of educators teaching critical literacy to students, including

one teacher who “combined inquiry pedagogy and critical literacy instruction into her

classroom” (5). He encourages educators to promote social change in students as they learn to

analyze information sources. 

 

Word count: 543

 

Bibliography

“Critical Literacy: Teaching Students How to Think versus What to Think.” Roots ConnectED,

Roots ConnectED, 2 Mar. 2023, www.rootsconnected.org/resources-list/critical-literacy-

questions-to-support-critical-thinkers-and-readers-khyny. 

“How to Use Reference Materials: No Nonsense Grammar.” PBS LearningMedia, PBS

LearningMedia, 11 Jan. 2021, www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/no-nonsense-grammar-

reference-materials/how-to-use-reference-materials-no-nonsense-grammar/. 

Asselin, Marlene, et al. Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs

in Canada. Canadian Association for School Libraries, 2006. 

Bruyere , Justine. “Critical Literacy in Early Elementary Grades.” Edutopia, George Lucas

Educational Foundation, 7 June 2019, www.edutopia.org/article/critical-literacy-early-

elementary-grades/. 

Gajeton, Erik. “Critical Literacy Through Making Connections in the Elementary Class.” Student

Research Submissions , 25 Apr. 2016, pp. 1-14, 

https://scholar.umw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1132&context=student_research

Miller, Gay. “Reference Materials Mini Lesson.” Book Units Teacher, 10 Aug. 2023,

bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=3943. 

Riedling, Ann Marlow, and Cynthia Houston. Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools

and Tips. Libraries Unlimited, an Imprint of ABC CLIO, LLC, 2019.

Scholastic. “Hands-on Activities That Teach Students How to Use Reference Books: Scholastic:

Teachers.” Scholastic, Scholastic Teachers, 31 Aug. 2022,

www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/articles/lessons/reference-book-student-

activity.html.