Literacy Dig: Reading in the Real World

By the time we have reached adulthood, most of us spend little time reflecting on how we learned to read and write as children. We forget the phonics, spelling, and grammar that was drilled into our young minds. We are too busy reading and writing. Every day, we are reading billboards, composing emails, following traffic signs, and making grocery lists. Through all of this, we lose sight of the literacy we engaged in as children and take for granted the literacy we engage in as adults.

In The Donut House: Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom, Powell and Davidson describe two types of literacy; the "schooled literacy" that young students experience through textbooks and worksheets, and the "situated literacy" that occurs in real life outside of the classroom. In their article, Powell and Davidson tell of one kindergarten class who was given an opportunity to engage in real-world literature in a meaningful way by visiting a local donut shop, observing the forms of literacy that were taking place there, and then using what they had learned to open up their own donut shop in the classroom with the help of members of the community.

As we go about our daily routines, it is easy to lose track of the reading and writing that happens all around us. Unless we make an effort, we may not see the literacy that happens while we are not looking. I recently engaged in a "literacy dig" with a small group of my classmates in an effort uncover what reading and writing occurs at a typical pet store.

Upon entering the store, I was immediately presented with text. Large signs hung from the ceiling, indicated the different areas of the store. It is clear that the store is arranged so that costumers can easily find the particular thing that they are looking for.

Interestingly, each sign's text was accompanied by a graphical representation. A patron of the store would not necessarily need to be able to read the word "Cat" in order to find the aisle beneath the feline silhouette. This is likely an effort to make the shopping experience easier for everyone, particularly customers who have limited familiarity with the English language.

As I moved around the store I found that, in contrast to the straightforward nature of the signage hung from the ceiling, a great deal of the text found on shelf displays and packaging contained words that may be unfamiliar to many people. The sign shown below contains a number of complex and obscure words that would require a considerable amount of background knowledge to determine their meanings.

Other signs would require a familiarity with the particular store itself in order to understand the text. The small signs showing the prices of various items also referred to a card membership that would not be obvious to individuals who are not familiar with this type of offer.

The store also presented some opportunities in which the customer would be expected to write. A computer-based pet adoption system requires customers to enter information which also requires a familiarity with the use of computers/keyboards. A form for pet training expects customers to enter information and also compose some writing to answer a fairly open-ended question.

In all, this pet store presents patrons with both relatively basic literacy and literacy that is fairly sophisticated. In our normal experience, many of us might be unaware of the intricate forms of literacy that occur in this sort of setting. Taking the time to look shows that even a visit to a pet store contains a great degree of reading and writing.

This pet store would provide a number of literacy opportunities and challenges for young children. On the day that we visited the store, there were very few customers. While other members of my group were able to observe two children in the store, I unfortunately missed this. On the other hand, I was accompanied by a very young child who is nearly two years old. While he is a number of years away from learning to read, he was still able to engage in some literacy activities, being able to decipher the meaning of both the "Bird" and Cat" signs mentioned earlier from the accompanying images. The majority of his attention was focused on the animals themselves (and throwing dog toys). I have regularly worked with this child in what Powell and Davidson would refer to as "schooled literacy." He is currently learning to recognize the letters of the alphabet (of which he can consistently identify eight letters). But as Powell and Davidson would suggest, he is far more engaged in the real-world and authentic experiences that are demonstrated by this trip to the pet store than he is with repeatedly going over plastic letters.

Certainly, a pet store is not far removed from the donut shop described by Powell and Davidson as it presents a number of opportunities to engage children in authentic literacy. Perhaps a classroom pet store would be a good suggestion for future language arts teachers.