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Description
This project began when I heard a story that made my mind turn. The story was about a five- year-old girl who left her glove in the car on a chilly morning before school. Upon reaching the school entrance, she turned to her mother and cried, "Oh no! Mom! I'm Doomed!!" because she neglected to put on one of her gloves (Snow, 2012). Her mother, astonished by her daughter's mature answer, asked her daughter where she had heard that word before. The daughter explained that The Marley brothers told Scrooge this in the production of "A Christmas Carol" that she was participating in at the time. After hearing this story, I began to ponder the impact scripts and theatrical participation could have on a child's literacy skills, especially a child's vocabulary. Being involved in theatre since a very young age, I decided it was time to put her theory into a research project. "Mom, I'm DOOMED!" Literacy Development Through Theatrical Participation sets out to answer three main research questions: (1) How does theatrical participation benefit students' literacy skills? (2) How do scripts enhance students' vocabulary? (3) How do scripts and theatrical participation heighten students' fluency skills? In order to explore these research questions, the researcher created a theatrical workshop to engage students in an authentic theatrical experience. Using a fourth grade reader's theatre script and on-grade-level vocabulary words, I created a six-day workshop to engage students and gather data surrounding her research questions. After the workshop was conducted and data gathered, the results were analyzed for common trends and correlations. Although the results found were minimal, they did show a positive correlation between theatrical participation and students' literacy skills. Although students' data did show improvement in scores, there were no clear findings that could prove theatrical participation is a more effective learning environment than others.
ContributorsIsenberg, Bailey Marie (Author) / Ballantyne, Cindy (Thesis director) / Weber, Catherine (Committee member) / Rubino, Michele (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Reading aloud is an experience that provides children with cognitive and social emotional
benefits. Fathers are often not a part of this experience due to outdated gender roles that have led
to the classification of reading as a feminized activity. This review discusses the literature
surrounding the cognitive and social-emotional benefits of reading aloud to children. In addition
to academic literature, this paper takes into account the experiences of educators and parents
shared through social media and literacy organizations external to academia due to their presence
on the front lines of the reading aloud. This paper is divided into five sections, each of which
addresses a different domain of the read aloud practice. The first section is a personal narrative in
which the author shares a story surrounding her experience with read alouds to provide context
on why this topic was chosen for her undergraduate thesis. Section two addresses the importance
of read alouds in a child’s literacy journey and serves as a framework for the remainder of the
review. Section three discusses the vitality of the participation of fathers in the practice and
includes the explanation of the feminization of reading and the implications of the lack of fathers
within the read aloud experience. Section four discusses the implications of fathers taking an
active role in reading aloud. Lastly, section five serves as a resource pool for fathers, including
tips, a guide to community resources, and sample book lists.
Keywords: read aloud, gender roles, educator, literacy, parents, fathers
benefits. Fathers are often not a part of this experience due to outdated gender roles that have led
to the classification of reading as a feminized activity. This review discusses the literature
surrounding the cognitive and social-emotional benefits of reading aloud to children. In addition
to academic literature, this paper takes into account the experiences of educators and parents
shared through social media and literacy organizations external to academia due to their presence
on the front lines of the reading aloud. This paper is divided into five sections, each of which
addresses a different domain of the read aloud practice. The first section is a personal narrative in
which the author shares a story surrounding her experience with read alouds to provide context
on why this topic was chosen for her undergraduate thesis. Section two addresses the importance
of read alouds in a child’s literacy journey and serves as a framework for the remainder of the
review. Section three discusses the vitality of the participation of fathers in the practice and
includes the explanation of the feminization of reading and the implications of the lack of fathers
within the read aloud experience. Section four discusses the implications of fathers taking an
active role in reading aloud. Lastly, section five serves as a resource pool for fathers, including
tips, a guide to community resources, and sample book lists.
Keywords: read aloud, gender roles, educator, literacy, parents, fathers
ContributorsCoffman, Courtney Elizabeth (Author) / Giorgis, Cyndi (Thesis director) / DeBiase, Jessica (Committee member) / Educational Leadership & Innovation, Division (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12