Movement as Literacy Learning in Elementary Classrooms

Abstract

Traditionally, literacy in elementary classrooms has been defined as reading, writing, and talk. Literature responses for assessment purposes, then, are often limited to what children say, draw, or write after experiencing a text. Although some work examining students’ dramatic responses to literature has been explored by literacy scholars, few studies have examined spontaneous moments of literacy learning that occur. This chapter examines the physical ways early elementary students respond to course content and provides examples of movement being an integral component of the meaning making process in whole group, small group, and individual settings. These examples illuminate the physical, embodied nature of literacy learning and provide alternative considerations for assessing student’s literacy development, especially in areas of vocabulary development, writing, and comprehension. These examples demonstrate the need for a reconceptualization of what counts as literacy in the elementary classroom and highlights the numerous ways students respond to texts that are often overlooked, ignored, or in some cases, discouraged in traditional classrooms. Instructional strategies that encourage alternative responses in the elementary classroom are offered, including a checklist to assist elementary teachers to consider the physical and embodied responses of students as a form of assessment in their classrooms.