Running Head: PICTURING CRITICAL LITERACY
Picturing Critical Literacy: Using Picture Books and Critical Literacy to Promote Social Action
in the Middle School Classroom
Sophie Springer
Vanderbilt University
2
PICTURING CRITICAL LITERACY
Abstract
This paper outlines the theory, research, and rationale for the critical literacy unit I designed for
the capstone project. I first describe critical literacy theory, identifying and explaining the four
dimensions of critical literacy practice (Lewison, Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002) that I use for the
basis of the project. I then address the practice of critical literacy in the middle school classroom
and review several techniques that researches and teachers suggest for implementing critical
literacy before suggesting areas for further exploration. Next, I provide rationale for using
picture books as anchor texts in the middle school classroom. In this section, I define the specific
learners and learning environment for the unit, which is the seventh grade ELA classroom that
includes struggling readers as well as grade level and above grade level readers. I also review
research on using picture books in middle school classrooms, which suggests that the use of
these easier texts can help provide high success opportunities for struggling readers and promote
all students’ engagement. Finally, I outline the instructional design of my critical literacy unit,
which places emphasis on the implementation of social action, the fourth dimension of critical
literacy. Attached to the end of this paper is unit for the capstone project. Additional rationale
and connections to theory are provided in the introduction to the unit materials.
PICTURING CRITICAL LITERACY
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This capstone project is a result of the inquiry project I completed in Fall 2014 for EDUC
3390: Literacy Development. In the inquiry project, I looked at the intersection of critical literacy
and young adult literature in the middle school classroom. As a result of the literature review for
the project, I found that few teachers were implementing the fourth dimension of critical literacy,
social action. My goal was to design a unit of instruction that explored all four dimensions of
critical literacy: “disrupting the commonplace, interrogating multiple viewpoints, focusing on
sociopolitical issues, and taking action and promoting social justice” (Lewison et al., 2002). The
culminating project in the unit would address the social justice component of critical literacy to
ensure that students experienced all four dimensions in the classroom.
This paper first addresses the theory of critical literacy and its application in middle
school classrooms. In this section, I also highlight my personal experience with critical literacy
work and why I think it is important for middle school students. The second section of this paper
focuses on the rational behind the text selections, which include picture books as the anchor texts
for the critical exploration. In this section, I also address the learners and learning environment
for which my curriculum is designed. This paper concludes with the framework of the unit and
the specific instructional choices I made in the lesson plans. Attached to the end of the paper is
the unit.
Critical Literacy in Middle School
Critical Literacy Theory
The practice of critical literacy originates in the emancipatory education work of Paolo
Freire. He advocated for students to question the world using critical lenses to address issues of
power and inequality (Morrell, 2008) (Luke, 2012) Freire’s work focuses on the education
system as a whole, and so scholars have adopted his ideas on critical theory to fit into the literacy
classroom context. Within the practice of critical literacy, there are four primary dimensions:
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“disrupting the commonplace, interrogating multiple viewpoints, focusing on sociopolitical
issues, and taking action and promoting social justice” (Lewison et al., 2002). While other
scholars and works have given different titles to these dimensions (Heffernan & Lewison, 2009),
they all address the same critical theory. For the purposes of this project, I will be using the four
areas as defined by Lewison, Flint, and Van Sluys.
When teachers guide students in disrupting the common place, they are asking students to
recognize that texts are not neutral entities (Jones & Clarke, 2007). The writing that students read
consists of more than literary devices and plot structure (Luke & Woods, 2009). Texts are
written in specific ways with targeted language toward a certain audience and often with a clear
goal in mind. Once students recognize how texts are positioning them, they have taken on the
first component of critical literacy. In this dimension, students are also naming the literary world
in which they reside (Luke, 2012).
The second dimension of critical literacy, interrogating multiple points of view, requires
students to consider perspectives which differ from their own and, sometimes, the dominant
voices in the text (Jones & Clarke, 2007). In the process of identifying different points of view,
students are also to attend to the voices which may be left out of the literary work and consider
what perspectives have been marginalized (Lewison et al., 2002).
Students focus on sociopolitical issues, the third dimension, when they consider the
power structures present both in the text and in their own worlds (Lewison et al., 2002). This
again requires to students to step outside of their own perspectives to consider the world around
them, building on the first and second dimensions of critical literacy. Upper level students might
also use this dimension to consider the power structures inherent in specific genres of texts as
well (Luke, 2000).
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The final dimension of critical literacy is promoting social justice. On social action
Lewison, Flint, and Van Sluys write, “this dimension is often perceived as the dimension of
critical literacy – yet one cannot take informed action against oppression or promote social
justice without expanded understandings and perspectives gained from the other three
dimensions” (Lewison et al., 2002, pg. 383-384). Therefore, social action cannot be fully
implemented without guiding students through the other dimensions of critical literacy. When
students do engage in social action, they are challenging commonplace and taking a stand in the
world around them. This action often culminates in a service project or other public awareness
campaign.
Critical Literacy in Practice
Critical literacy and pedagogy has powerful implications for classroom use. It provides
students tools to both unpack literature and analyze the world around them. Critical practices,
however, can be difficult to implement in the classroom without proper scaffolding. To help
students begin to disrupt the commonplace and analyze different points of view, Clarke and
Whitney suggest guided students through the process of deconstructing a text by using a text that
clearly has multiple perspectives in it (Clarke & Whitney, 2009). Reader’s theater and graphic
organizers are two tools that they suggest for aiding in the deconstructing process. After the text
has been deconstructed, students then put the pieces of the story back together to highlight a new
perspective. Clarke and Whitney write, “Through activities such as journaling, diary entries, and
changing familiar stories, teachers can help students move from an understanding of these
deconstructed "texts" to creating "new," reconstructed texts” (Clarke & Whitney, 2009, pg. 533).
Several scholars have offered specific prompts or sentence stems to assist students with
critical literacy practices. Labadie, Wetzel and Rogers suggest providing students with specific
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language to promote possibility, evidence, noticing, and naming (Labadie, Wetzel, & Rogers,
2012). By providing students with these prompts when they first encounter critical inquiry,
teachers are helping students discover how to think about texts. Students will become more
comfortable thinking about the other possibilities, providing textual evidence to support their
thoughts, and comparing and contrasting. McLaughlin and DeVoogd provide teachers with genre
specific questions such as “what does the author want us to think?” (Mclaughlin & Devoogd,
2004, pg. 53), for print texts and “what might an alternative photograph look like?” (Mclaughlin
& Devoogd, 2004, pg. 53), for a visual text. Critical literacy practices are not limited to print
texts. In addition to providing specific questions, teachers are also encouraged to remain silent
and allow students to guide the discussion once they have become more comfortable with critical
literacy (Labadie et al., 2012). Johnson and Vasudevan (2012) encourage teachers to think
beyond typical student responses when engaging in critical literacy practices. Unstructured
student talk or performance often yields great insight into the students’ critical thinking.
In the context of middle school. Middle school is a time when many students are
seeking greater autonomy and pushing the boundaries of home and school. Maples and Groenke
(2009)suggest that instead of ignoring or reprimanding students when they are pushing the limits,
teachers should embrace this tendency and channel it into discussions of text. Critical literacy
provides students a constructive, academic focused opportunity to challenge the power structures
present in the literature they read and in the world around them. Critically examining texts also
affords student the opportunity to develop caring, empathy, and social awareness (Wolk, 2009).
Wolk writes, “one of the most vital jobs of a teacher is to help students to see that there is so
much more going on in a book… that between those covers is the world” (Wolk, 2009, pg. 672).
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When using critical literacy practices with adolescents, Wood, Soares, and Watson
(Wood, Soares, & Watson, 2006) suggest using “language as a vehicle for social change”
(Wood, Soares, & Watson, 2006, pg. 55). Students need to be able question and discuss as well
as write critically. They should be able to unpack oral arguments just as they do with written
texts. Pictures and videos can also be useful tools for critical exploration as well. Heffernan and
Lewis also advise bringing in “zines” and other new media sources, which are more familiar to
students, to provide them additional opportunities to apply critical literacy practices to their
every day lives (Heffernan & Lewison, 2009).
Recently, many teachers have combined young adult literature and critical literacy into
their curricula. In my earlier inquiry project, I found that teachers often used young adult
literature to work on critical literacy projects with typically marginalized populations including
urban youth (Gibson, 2010) and incarcerated adolescent boys (Guerra, 2012). The teachers who
undertook these projects found that these critical conversations with students helped give them
coping skills to interact with the world around them (Guerra, 2012).
What is lacking. The ultimate goal of critical literacy instruction is social action (Wood
et al., 2006). However teachers who are new to the practice of critical literacy are often hesitant
to implement social action projects (Lewison et al., 2002). In my inquiry project for EDUC 3390,
I found that the critical literacy projects using young adult literature addressed multiple
perspectives and sociopolitical concerns but did not always lead to social action (Connors, 2008)
(Baer & Glasgow, 2010) (Bean & Harper, 2006). Often critical literacy lessons concluded with
an in-class writing assignment or class discussion. Young adult literature authors, including John
Green, spurred their own social action movements with their audiences and fandoms (Garcia,
2013), but these movements took place outside of school settings. The fact that adolescents are
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seeking out social action in connection with literature demonstrates interest in the fourth
dimension of critical literacy. Incorporating social action into the classroom does not require
commitment to a large scale, semester long project. The size and scope of the project is not as
important as having students engage in critical inquiry outside of the classroom (Clarke &
Whitney, 2009).
Teaching Connections
All of my teaching experience has been with middle school students, and I have
experienced the students’ desire to challenge the rules and gain independence. It is also a crucial
time for skill building and mentorship. I believe that critical literacy provides the right
opportunities for students to challenge power structures and consider multiple perspectives while
also building their literacy skills and helping them create positive social change.
I taught seventh grade humanities for three years in an all-girls private school in suburban
Cleveland. Despite the fact that the city of Cleveland was going through tumultuous periods of
social change particularly connected to police brutality and poverty, my students were very
isolated from the discussions of power and perspective in the city. When I was teaching then, I
was unsure about how to bring these conversations into the classroom in a way that was also
academically beneficial to the students. As I learned about critical literacy in my first semester of
graduate school, I thought it would be an effective method teaching that I could bring back to the
school and implement next year. While the unit I have designed for the capstone is targeted
toward a diverse, public seventh grade classroom, it would be fairly easy to adapt it to meet the
needs of my students next year.
Using Picture Books in Secondary Classrooms
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This capstone project uses picture books as the anchor texts for critical literacy. While I
recognize that Common Core State Standards focus on the use of appropriately complex texts, I
believe that there is a place for all levels of texts in the classroom. This capstone project is
designed for all seventh grade students, not just those who are struggling readers. However, the
use of heavy-image texts can be especially useful for the students who struggle the most.
The Middle School Struggling Reader
As my capstone project is designed for a diverse seventh grade literacy classroom, I am
anticipating that the class would have struggling readers, grade level readers, above grade level
readers, and English language learners. Cris Tovani classifies struggling readers at the secondary
level in to two primary groups: resistive readers and word callers (Tovani, 2000). Restive
readers” survive by listening to the teacher and copying the work of others” (Tovani, 2000, pg.
15). Often resistive readers need a combination of engaging texts and classwork and assignments
that require them to produce their own thinking. Tovani describes word callers as students can
decode the words that they read, but who “don’t understand that reading involves
thinking…[they] often don’t do well with tasks that require them to use the words they read to
think on their own” (Tovani, 2000, pg. 15). Both of these groups of struggling readers benefit
from classroom instruction that requires them to question the text, make inferences, and produce
their own thinking. In addition to these two groups of struggling readers, there may also be
readers with some decoding issues in the middle school classroom.
The Needs of the Struggling Reader
Struggling readers need to have successful reading experiences in the classroom
(Cassady, 1998). Middle school reading instruction focuses more on comprehension of complex,
grade level texts that may not align with the reading level of struggling readers. Allington writes,
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“struggling readers just participate in too little high-success reading activity every day. This is
one reason so few struggling readers ever
become achieving readers” (Allington, 2013, pg. 525)
High success texts, such as picture books, will help boost struggling students’ confidence and
endurance (Stephens et al., 2012). Struggling readers need to see themselves as readers, and high
success opportunities will help shape a positive reading identity. For students who have difficulty
with reading comprehension, the images in picture books provide an additional aid for
understanding the text (Hibbing & Rankin-Erickson, 2003). Some picture books require that
students attend to the pictures to get the full meaning of the text. Picture books are also useful in
building background knowledge for students with comprehension difficulties, so they have
additional context when reading a more advanced text on the same topic.
How Picture Books Benefit All Students
Picture books provide opportunities for all students to begin conversations about big
topics (Roser, Martinez, & Fowler-Amato, 2011). Issues such as race, family structure, poverty,
and human rights are often easier to introduce with s simpler text, so students are able to focus
on the concepts and not on understanding the words on the page. This is particularly useful when
working with abstract scientific topics (Miller, 1998) as picture books can present these topics in
more tangible ways. All students can be cognitively challenged by simple texts that present
complex themes and sophisticated ideas (Robertson, Dougherty, Ford-Connors, & Paratore,
2014), and struggling readers will benefit from the high success reading opportunity. Struggling
readers who fit into the word-calling category can use these simpler texts to help put meaning
and contexts to the words they read. By using picture books as the anchor texts for critical
literacy exploration, all students in the middle school classroom will be able to read the texts and
then participate in the discussions of the ideas.
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Several scholars have recognized the power in using picture books to keep adolescent
readers motivated and enjoying reading (Miller, 1998) (Robertson et al., 2014). It is in the best
interest of teachers to allow students opportunities to read texts that they, as adolescents, enjoy in
addition to the texts that are required for class (Ivey & Broaddus, 2000). This connects back to
Tovani’s resistive reader classification, as picture books and other alternative texts may help
engage this group of struggling readers. Teachers should make picture books available for this
time as well as graphic novels, young adult literature, and above grade level texts. Picture books
also often address the concerns of adolescents and can be more culturally diverse than canonical
middle school literature (Zambo, 2005). Students may see their own lives reflected more in
picture books and young adult books compare to other books they read for school.
The Question of Text Complexity
The choice of picture books as anchor texts for a middle school ELA unit does seem to
conflict with the current push for text complexity. As a part of the Common Core State
Standards, students need to be reading appropriately complex texts, and the complexity of these
texts must increase as students progress throughout school. Text complexity is determined by
three main factors: quantitative measures, qualitative measures, and reader and task
considerations (Wixson & Valencia, 2014). Quantitative measures of text complexity include the
Lexile Framework, which considers such countable factors as words per sentence (Fisher &
Frey, 2014). Teachers can use online tools to look up the specific quantitative level of texts they
are considering using. Qualitative measures of text complexity involve studying the text and
looking at levels of meaning and purpose, structure, language conventions and clarity, and
knowledge demands (Fisher & Frey, 2014). Qualitatively determining the complexity of a text is
not as exact as quantitative assessments, though. The final factor of determining text complexity
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is the consideration of reader and task. Wixson and Valenica state that this is the most important
factor that teachers should consider when selecting texts for their classrooms (Wixson &
Valencia, 2014). The learning tasks and goals will determine which texts are appropriate. It is
this thinking that I used when shaping the capstone project. Though quantitative measures
suggest that the picture books are not complex enough for the middle school classroom, the
critical literacy approach provides the additional complexity to the unit of study. In addition,
students will be reading appropriately complex texts alongside the picture book anchors.
Project Framework
The Learners and Learning Environment
The unit plan attached to this narrative is a series of three smaller units focusing on
critical literacy using picture books as anchor texts. The lesson plans are geared toward seventh
grade students, and the CCSS for seventh grade are represented in the plans. The lessons assume
that there are struggling readers as well as grade level and above grade level readers, and the
readings and instructional strategies are chosen accordingly. These lesson were not designed for
a specific class or school, however, so teachers who use the unit plan would potentially need to
make small adjustments to meet the needs of their students.
The lessons were designed for the ELA classroom, though there are social studies
elements in two of the smaller units. This was purposefully done for schools that approach
literacy from a humanities angle, blending history and English instruction into one class. I have
found that this is a common approach, both at the urban middle school where I completed my
practicum this year and at the independent school where I taught for three years.
The place of the struggling reader. As stated earlier, the project was designed partially
to address the particular needs to struggling readers in the mainstream, seventh grade ELA
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classroom. By using high success texts with word calling struggling readers, they will be able to
fully attend to the critical literacy discussions and activities instead of spending more of their
time deciphering meaning from the words in the text. Heavy image texts may also provide more
incentive and engagement for the resistive readers. Specific supports for struggling readers are
present in the lesson and are specifically highlighted at the beginning of each smaller unit.
Lewison’s Four Categories
Each set of lessons addresses each of Lewison’s four categories of critical literacy
(Lewison et al., 2002). At the beginning of each lesson plan, the dimensions of critical literacy
that will be taught are highlighted. There is also a chart of the dimensions and when they are
used at the beginning of the unit materials. All four dimensions are not addressed in each lesson.
Usually, one or two dimensions of critical literacy are tackled. Disrupting the commonplace
occurs every time students and teachers practice critical literacy, so I chose only to highlight it
when it was explicitly addressed with students. I modified the language of the four categories
slightly to make them more appropriate for seventh grade students. The languages changes are
noted at the beginning of the unit materials
The role of social action. Social action serves as the culminating focus point of this
critical literacy unit. It is most heavily emphasized in the third set of lessons, though it is
addressed in all three of the mini-units. The social action projects present in the unit plans are
suggestions designed to guide teachers, as they pursue critical literacy with their students. When
students are reading the anchor and supplemental texts, they might organically think of different
social action projects, which would suit the needs of the class better. The goal critical literacy is
to have students see beyond their own lives (Clarke & Whitney, 2009), and so they should be
invested in the design, implementation, and assessment of the social action projects.
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Role of Reflection
Each lesson plan concludes with a space for teacher reflection. The questions on the
lesson plans ask the teacher to consider what worked well and what skills might need more time.
In addition to these standard reflection questions, the final questions ask teachers to consider
their own comfort level and thinking surrounding the critical inquiry in their classroom. Crucial
to the practice of critical literacy is this type of self-reflection. Wilhelm (2009) asserts
Reflection is essential to critical literacy and to effective teaching because it
orients us to deep thinking about what we know and have experienced as
teachers. It privileges our considered experience as a source of knowledge, a
resource for extending that knowledge, and a foundation for putting it to use
in developing innovative interventions. As the old adage goes, experience is
only good if you reflect and learn from it. (37-38)
As teachers are asking students to examine multiple viewpoints and challenge the sociopolitical
context of the texts, teachers also need to consider their own beliefs and roles in society.
McDaniel (2004) writes that
Teachers need to be honest with themselves and realize that an approach to
critical literacy will be inauthentic, ineffective, and thereby futile if they do
not embrace its philosophical underpinnings. We must also recognize the
ways in which our ideologies influence our own reading and teaching of texts.
(475)
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Though I did not build space for it into the lesson plans, reflective planning for critical literacy
units is also important for teachers. Before introducing texts to students, teachers should consider
why they chose the texts that they did and what their personal views on the texts are.
Choice of Texts
The anchor texts for the project are picture books. The first two lessons use texts that
explicitly require readers to consider different viewpoints. Urban poverty is the focus of the
second mini-unit with two picture books that involve the lives of children dealing with difficult
family situations and lack of resources. The final unit uses two books, one fiction and the other
biographical, to address oppressive governments and human rights. While all of the anchor texts
are picture books, the Lexiles of two of the books fit within the seventh grade guidelines of 735L
to 1065L (“Lexile-To-Grade Correspondence,” n.d.). The Lexiles of most of the other books fit
within the middle school Lexile range as well. A chart of the texts used and their reading levels
is in the unit plan materials. The texts are shorter, which can help with endurance issues that
many struggling readers face. Students who are on grade level, however, will still find the texts
to be challenging and appropriate to their skills. In addition, all of the picture books tackle
difficult social issues or require in depth thinking on issues of power and viewpoint, thus
challenging all readers.
The secondary texts are mostly at the grade level, though some through NewsELA have
adjustable Lexiles to meet the needs of all readers in the classroom. The readings in the unit plan
from NewsELA and other sources may also need to be modified depending upon the readers in
the classroom. As always, teachers will need to further differentiate and tailor the lessons in the
unit to meet the needs of their students.
The Role of Assessment
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Formative and summative assessments are present in the lesson plans, and a chart of the
assessments is attached in the unit plan. The formative assessments often take the form of exit
tickets, journal entries, and teacher observation. The summative assessments are in the form of
performance and the action projects as opposed to tests or essays. Assessing critical thinking is
more difficult and less concrete than assessing specific content knowledge. The assessments
were designed to assess the student’s mastery of the lesson objectives, and teachers can use
additional observations to get a complete picture of where the student is in their critical literacy
process. Reading for deeper meaning is a continuous process, and cannot and should not end
after one unit of study. Rather, teachers can use this unit as a foundation from which to
incorporate aspects of critical literacy into their future ELA units.
Limitations of the Unit Plan and Future Considerations
While the unit was designed with the culminating goal of a social action project, it was
difficult to fully plan social action projects for students without knowing where their critical
inquiry would lead them. When implementing these lessons in the classroom, I would
recommend that teachers keep the framework for the social action project but allow the students
to propose their own ideas for the for the content and scope of the project. This helps to maintain
the authenticity of the critical literacy project for the students.
This unit was designed specifically for this capstone, and therefore it has yet to be
implemented. I hope to be able to modify it slightly and use it next year in an independent school
setting. When I actually implement, I will be able to assess the effectiveness of the unit and make
modifications as necessary. In an ideal world, I would also be able to have other teachers in
different school settings implement the lessons as well. Having their feedback would help me
make the unit more accessible and applicable to different seventh grade ELA classes.
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The unit that follows this literature review provides additional rationale for using picture
books and critical literacy in seventh grade ELA classroom. It is a culmination of the work that I
initially began thinking about EDUC 3390, where I first learned about critical literacy and how it
could be used in the middle school classroom. Throughout researching the theories behind
critical literacy and its practical applications, I knew I wanted to design a unit for middle school
for my capstone project. I identified picture books as the anchor literature to provide access
points to critical literacy for all students, including struggling readers, and to ensure all students
have the opportunity to participate in social action.
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