Continuing My Research

How can schools reform to eliminate the difference in literacy between children of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds?


This question best fits the argument that I want to make so I am sticking with it (for now). 

I found a few books that I plan on using for my paper. The first is Because Teaching Matters by Marleen Pugach. This is actually a textbook and covers many reasons for the achievement gap, many definitions, and many solutions to the issue at hand.

Next is a book titled Lessons from the Heartland by Barbara Miner. This is a nonfiction book that covers the history of public education in Milwaukee and I think it will really provide me with some excellent support for my argument.

The third is a scholarly article called "Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms" by Luis Moll, Cathy Amanti, Deborah Neff, and Norma Gonzalez. I chose this article because it has one of the key concepts from the textbook in the title, which is "funds of knowledge". This key concept is extremely important for all teachers to know, especially in this evergrowing, culturally diverse country. http://www.sonoma.edu/users/f/filp/ed415/moll.pdf

These sources will, I think, bring many different perspectives to my paper and help me to argue my case. I purchased the textbook for a curriculum and instruction class I am taking, which is an intro to teaching in urban settings. The next book was recommended to me by a classmate who I was explaining my argument to. Finally, the third article found just by typing in some key words in Google Scholar.

Appropriate Style for My Research Paper

The styles I am going to use for my paper are clarity and emphasis. Since this is a research paper in which we have to argue our point, I want to make sure my point is clear and that I emphasis on important details. I want to avoid all unessesary words, sentences, paragrahs. I don't want the audience to think I am desperate (might make me seem crazy) but I want them to see how serious my argument is, without any question.

Reading Johnson on Style

Focus, flow, story, rhythmic emphasis

These are the four stylistic principles that Johnson explains in this chapter. Johnson also  spends a great deal of time talking about a "felt sense". This sense basically allows a writer to tell if they are writing well or not. It's a bodily sense that makes us feel good, feel relieved, when our writing is going well and makes us feel the opposite when it is not.
What stood out the most to me was when Johnson said "rhetoric as the study of style is the primary focus of education, culture, and even humanity". I feel like the main concept Johnson wants his readers to grasp regarding style is that it has the ability to give any writing great power. Style is taking your own thought, your own writing, and twisting and turning it into many forms until you feel confident, great, excited about it.
I found the information on story as a stylistic principle the most useful. Johnson made a point that readers gain interest and want to continue reading when ia writing is in a story format; stories have a way of sucking readers in and not stopping until the end. I am going to attempt to use this style somehow in my paper.

Style in Handbooks

Hill's chapter was just too much for me. I feel like it was the very first book ever written about writing a paper. It covered style, but in WAY too much detail, as well as too much detail about every other aspect of writing. It even went so far as to explain what certain words are used for when writing, like "but" and "instead". Not interested in reading that whole thing in the least bit! Glad we were able to just skim it...

The other two readings were much more to my pace. Brooks covered all kinds of sentence structures and styles, and the DKHBStyle reading had many helpful tips that I know will help me towards developing a great paper. Brooks, to me, covered things I have learned about writing since elementary school. The DKHBStyle reading was interesting because it covers style from the words used, sentence and paragraph structure, down to the font and color, but not until after a first draft is written. I like this technique because it takes less think work out of writing the first draft. It makes it less of a stressful task and more about just getting your ideas out first, and then going back and cleaning it up. So much emphasis has been made in my prior education background to really make a rough draft almost as good as a final, but now I see that is totally unnessesary. A rough draft should be just that-rough.

My definition of style

Writing can take many forms and writings have the freedom (most times) to develop their own style of writing, or adopt a style from other writers. A style of writing is what gives writing life and personality. A style of writing makes it funny, or emotional, or clever. Choosing a style before writing really lays the foundation and gives your writing a voice; it sets the tone of your work.

reforming research question

Original Question: What are the causes of achievement gaps of children from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds and how can these gaps be closed?

Problem/Solution Form

New Question: How can schools reform to eliminate the difference in literacy between children of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds?

This new form turns the issue into an identifiable problem/solution form. I can list the problem first and then spend the rest of the paper addressing several different solutions OR it might be better to list all the problems out, along with a solution for every problem. In my head I am thinking:

      I.        Intro/Thesis

     II.        Problems

    III.        Solution #1

   IV.        Solution #2, 3, 4, etc.

    V.        Conclusion

OR

I.              Intro/Thesis

II.             1^st problem and a solution

III.            2^nd problem and a solution

IV.           3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, etc. and their solutions

V.            Conclusion

Appearance/Reality Form

New Question: Is the home life of children in poverty or low-income to blame for illiteracy in school?

This new form shines a light on the fact that many believe the background of children (home, social, economical, parenting, etc.) play a major role in how that child performs in school. This can easily be turned into an argument because research shows that schools also play a major role in how children perform. I think that schools are to blame for the achievement gap so I would show what appears to be the issue and then what the reality really is.

I.              Intro/thesis

II.             Appearance

III.            Reality #1

IV.           Reality #2

V.            Reality #3, 4, 5, etc.

VI.           Conclusion

My First Attempt at My Research Question

How do different social and cultural backgrounds affect children's reading and writing abilities?

To answer this I would have to:

- develop a cause/effect form

- find statistics of children with different cultural and social backgrounds and compare/contrast reading/writing scores

- figure out what causes these literacy gaps between different cultural/ethnic groups

-find solution that can be used in schools to help children

What are the causes of achievement gaps of children from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds and how can these gaps be closed?

(note to self while it is fresh in my brain-- the argument can be that I believe the issue starts at home; more specifically it is the parenting, or lack thereof, that affects children's ability to learn and enjoy it...or something like that)

Who would disagree with this? Why would they disagree?

Schools in urban settings do not have enough resources to stimulate children and teach them at a higher level. Schools in urban settings follow a strict curriculum and don't go above and beyond to reach their students. Schools in suburban areas push their students more and challenge them.

Lack of parenting at home leads to illiterate children and achievement gaps in school.

Some would disagree with this, stating that it's the schools/teachers fault. Or they blame the child as having some kind of learning disability. Or they think that some kids just don't have an interest in school. Parents without higher education may teach their kids that school isn't important. 

Kayla and Steph's Revised Research Questions

Is the death penalty effective and moral?

Revised:

How has the death penalty shown to be effective and moral?

Is there any pattern to occurrence of earthquakes?


Revised:

What is the pattern of occurences of earthquakes in the United States in the past decade?

Kayla and Steph's Research Questions Response

What is the effect on the environment from global warming?

This question would need to be researched in order to find out the effects of global warming on the environment. This question is similar to the second one above and would take that form. It would probably be best written using a cause/effect format, listing all of the effects from global warming and what causes them. It would be a good idea to also include possible solutions to reduce global warming.

Should teens in the US adopt the British custom of taking a “gap-year” between high school and college?

This question takes a similar form to the first question above. It can be easily answered with a "yes/no" and does not need to be reserached; it is more of an opinion of the person answering the question. It would probably be best written by listing advantages and disadvantages and then ultimately choosing a side. It could an argumentative paper, as well.

How I Define 'Form'

I define the form of a paper as the layout or arrangement of it. You have to figure out the form you would like your paper to take before you can actually write it. It's important, aslo, to make sure that the form fits with the point you are trying to make. For example, if you are arguing an issue, it might be a good idea to use a cause/effect form so that your paper flows nicely.

Starting My Research

Found some good research to start with. The first two are scholarly articles and the other two are from some credible websites. Three of them lay out the causes of literacy gaps between children with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and include facts that I can use in my argument; they also give solutions for closing this gap. Another resource covers academic standards and ways it can close this gap. I found some others, as well, that I think will be very helpful in arguing my stance.

Matthews, J. S., Kizzie, K. T., Rowley, S. J., & Cortina, K. (2010). African Americans and boys: Understanding the literacy gap, tracing academic trajectories, and evaluating the role of learning-related skills. Journal Of Educational Psychology, 102(3), 757-771. doi:10.1037/a0019616

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=843d90dc-525e-4c68-85bf-e031a9e03628%40sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=114&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVpZCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=60629116

Haskins, R., Murnane, R., Sawhill, I., & Snow, C. (2012). Can Academic Standards Boost Literacy and Close the Achievement Gap?. Future Of Children, 1-5.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=843d90dc-525e-4c68-85bf-e031a9e03628%40sessionmgr110&vid=5&hid=114

National Center for Education Statistics

http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=680

Inequality at the starting gate: Social background differences in achievement as children begin school

http://www.epi.org/publication/books_starting_gate/

My Research Issue

So, it took me awhile this past week to decide what my research topic/issue was going to be. I finally came up with something, though, after re-reading the items due this week and realizing that I just needed to come up with the issue, not the actual thesis. Phew! So here it goes...

I had a couple of ideas in mind, but I couldn't really find many resources to use for one of the ideas I had, meaning that I am hoping that the other idea in mind will get me farther than the first. Where I hope to go with this second idea is find out what cultural differences there are in regards to literacy, specifically with children. I want to focus on the gaps in the levels of reading and writing skills and find out what causes these issues. And finally, I want to research ways to resolve these issues. My argument is something I'm not so sure of, yet, but am in the process of developing. I keep asking myself, what is the argument here? What might other people disagree with as far as why I think this is happening or why I think this is even an issue? Hopefully this can be resolved in class!!

Arrangement Readings

The main difference I see between the readings is how they view arrangement. Lindemann seems to talk about arrangement as discovering and developing the form of your paper; she talks about everything from the five-paragraph form taught to us before college to Frank D’Angelo’s paradigms, which helps to form and arrange our thoughts and ideas in an “orderly manner”. Her point, or at least what I got from it, is to pick the subject apart enough to find the best way to organize and arrange the material, and she shares several examples of this.

Podis also talks about organization as a big part of arrangement. He mentions that good organization does a good job at highlighting the point of your paper. He also incorporates some of Lindemann’s ideas but focuses more on specific examples of arrangement. He mentions the order in which you lay out your points and how they all affect the reader differentlf. For example, start with more general ideas to start a paragraph off and then lead to more specific ideas. You don’t want your ideas randomly spread across the entire paper; instead, group them into similar areas so that your paper flows.

None of their ideas were new to me, but some of the points and examples given were. I gathered a lot of helpful information, including how I will organize my paper. I liked Lindemann’s cause/effect paradigm she laid out, and also Podis’ example of the pattern, which also includes cause/effect but goes deeper by explaining how to organize those causes by importance. I wrote down several examples from both to help my organize my thoughts.

Topic Idea #2 and Crowley's Techniques

Topic #2- The history in writing approaches in public schools in the United States

Are there noticeable differences between public and private schools when teaching writing/composing processes?

What is the history of writing approaches in public schools in the United States?

Why are private schools more successful than public schools as far as test scores, graduation rates, etc?

I didn't think of a lot of question because I think I have an idea of what I want to do and I didn't want to complete throw myself off by forcing myself to think of more, which I've already done a bunch of times. See Topic Idea #1 to find out how I felt about Crowley's techniques.....

Topic Idea # 1 and Crowley's Techniques

Possible topic #1- Cultural differences in writing techniques

How do people in different cultural backgrounds view writing?

What are the influences of different cultures and their relationship with reading and writing?

Do socioeconomic reasons affect the relationship between writing techniques/skills and cultures?

Crowley’s techniques weren’t very helpful for me; seemed like too much unnecessary work. I already had some questions laid out to help me come up with a thesis. It was good, however, to decide whether I was going to generate a question as a hypothesis or a thesis. I think, based on the topics I am debating over, that it should be a thesis rather than a hypothesis. I think of science when I think of hypothesis and my topics are going to be argued so a thesis would be best.

9/17 in class reflection

After tonight's class I am at the point where I can begin to start doing some research. Still don't have my exact topic/issue down so I'm hoping doing some searching of the general info will help me narrow it down. I know at least that the topic is going to be about the different cultural backgrounds of children and how it affects their interest in writing and literacy in general, and how to make it better for the ones who have less resources available to them as the other more privileged kids.

Lindemann's techniques were used in class tonight and they seemed to help me find a more specific topic and I was able to create a good starting point in order to do some research. The only part that was not helpful was the heuristic questions.

Invention now to me is grabbing a starting point of an issue and coming up with a good argument that has some good content.

What I learned about my topic/issue and about invention

After doing some of Lindemann's suggested exercises, I think I have narrowed down my topic a little more. I am now leaning towards how different cultures have an affect on children's illiteracy and how schools in urban settings can find solutions to these problems. I have also created a nice map of different subjects I can touch on that relate and affect children from different cultural backgrounds.

Class Discussion Reflection 9/17

Prior to tonight's class I assumed our research papers were going to be persuasive. After the initial discussion in class I found out it is going to be an argumentative paper which kind of throws me off because my topics I thought of don't really seem to have much to argue about; instead they intend to provide factual information. With that being said, I will have to decide if I am going to keep one of my topics/issues I thought of and find some kind of argument or disagreement with my stand, or pick a new topic/issue altogether that I know some people don't agree with, or vise versa. I suppose an argumentive paper can also serve the purpose of persuading those on the other side from me, so I will have to just figure out how to find opposite points of view while researching and go from there. Hopefully I find something!

Thinking About Issues to Research

After reading some of the suggestions of possible research topics related to our composing class, I started thinking of ways that I could make this research paper not only show what I am interested in, but also make it beneficial to me in the long-run, more specifically when I am a teacher and need to teach my students about writing/composing.

A good issue would be cultural differences in writing techniques. More specifically, how people with different cultural backgrounds view writing (do they generally love it/hate it, use it as part of their cultural or religious beliefs, not exposed to it because of other socioeconomic reasons (poverty, privilege, etc.)).

Going kind of along those same lines, another good topic I am considering is the history in writing approaches in public schools in the United States. Maybe even compare those approaches to private schools and see if there is a noticeable difference (more/less resources, higher/lower expectations of the students, etc.).

Either of these topics would greatly benefit me as a future teacher because I can discover techniques I am unfamiliar with within different cultures and backgrounds, and then find ways of applying successful writing techniques and making writing fun to children. These both can help me lay the ground work as a teacher to open up doors that children were unaware existed due to their different backgrounds.

Invention Readings-Crowley and Lindemann

I read Sharon Crowley’s article “Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students” and chapter 7 involving prewriting techniques in Erika Lindemann’s “A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers”. Both touched on several ideas and suggestions regarding how to develop different ways of coming up with a topic, or thesis, as well as different questions to ask when attempting to create a good argument for your writing. Crowley really laid out the groundwork in how to ask good questions, when to ask them, and even what questions to ask based on the situation. What Lindemann did was share different techniques from a teacher’s perspective on how to get your ideas and thoughts out and then organized.

They both talked about the heuristic approach as discovery of something, or invention of something. Crowly connects invention to rhetoric in ways that lays out the ground work in discovering propositions and proofs or statements used to persuade audiences. It also helps to decide if a topic is worth writing about. Lindemann doesn’t get that much into detail but instead gives us techniques and strategies to help organize thoughts and ideas. To me, if I were writing a paper I would start with Lindemann’s techniques first, and then apply my ideas or topics to Crowley’s techniques.

Both readings had similarities to them because both shared ideas and helpful techniques in starting a research paper. However, I preferred Lindemann’s article more because, as a current student as well as a future teacher, I not only learned ways to make my writing better, I also learned ways of teaching these techniques to my future students. However, Crowley’s article also shed light on different key terms I was unaware of and provided very useful tools which will help me to develop my own thesis for my research paper. More specifically, her article has specific questions (Hermagoras’s Questions-Conjecture, Definition, Quality, and Procedure) that I should ask depending on which route I decide to go with my paper.

Defining Invention and Discovery

Invention is creating something new, something that no one has thought about before. Discovery is finding something that has already been invented, but not hearing about it right away. However, what you are discovering must be something of interest to you. For example, I won't be too excited about discovering some weird smelling, disgusting food in another country but I would be interested and excited in discovering new territory in another country.

Invention matters in writing because it allows you to develop your own style of writing, based on your own rules.

Bunn/Bean End of Class Discussion

From tonight's discussion I want to hold onto the fact that I am not and should not believe everything I read; one person's process in reading is going to be different than my own. A subject that may capture the attention of some may not always be a favorite topic of mine. Sometimes the things I read are going to be boring to me but that's ok. I can take away what I want from what I read and develop my own opinions. Although I might not use the majority of what Bunn wrote about, I may use a few tips he shared. Mostly, though, I am going to find my own technique in reading better and writing better than I do now.

Bean Reading-What I need to work on as a future teacher

After reading his article I realized that I most need to work on becoming a deep reader altogether.  Specifically, I need to work on adjusting reading strategies to different genres. I don't have a problem identifying a purpose in most of what I read, but understanding that, based on genre, the reading may be written in a different context, I have to figure out how I can be better at reading it. I also need to know how to identify different genres and how to read based on that genre. Do I skim and look for specific points? Do I read it deeply? What's the point in what I am reading? Learning the different strategies based on genre will also be helpful because then I can teach these skills to my future students.

Powerful Reading, Deep Reading

Powerful reading, to me, is reading something and being affected by it in some way. A powerful reading is when I read something and have some kind of strong feeling or emotion, either positive or negative. I also think that the author intentionally makes the reading powerful in that they want the reader to feel some kind of emotion.

Deep reading is getting involved with what you are reading; really getting a complete understanding of what you are reading is what I consider deep. Getting lost in a book, or studying every sentence you are reading are some examples of deep reading.

Both powerful and deep reading matter to me as a reader, a writer, and a future teacher because it helps me to become not only a stronger reader and writer, but it also helps me explain and teach this kind of reading skill to students so that they can become stronger readers as well.

Deep reading is useful not only in school but in everyday life. Reading a novel, for example, can be read deeply if you are really into it. In school, deep reading helps you understand content better which therefore leads you to success. Powerful reading is useful because it either affects you in a way that opens your mind to something different and something you either were unaware of or not supportive of, or something that you were completely ignorant to. This can make you a better, well-rounded, critical thinker, reader, writer, etc. to allow readings to have such a powerful affect on you. Being a deep reader can open the flood gates to thoughts and feelings that you weren't even aware were bottled up inside.

Bean/Bunn Articles on Reading

I just finished reading two articles this week on reading, one by John Bean called "Helping Stduents Read Difficult Texts" and the other from Mike Bunn called "How to Read Like a Writer". I was interested in reading these articles because no one up until now has ever attempted to explain to me how to read as a technique. Of course as I child I learned about the alphabet, spelling, vowels, grammar, punctuation, phonics, etc., but not on the overall technique of how to read something. I suprised to learn after reading both articles that there are several things to learn by developing and using reading skills.

Bean’s main points in his article is in regards to teaching “deep reading” skills to students; these skills range from teaching students when to take the time to read something slower than others or even how to read texts of different genres using multiple techniques. The problem today relating to students with poor reading skills mainly has to do with how they are taught to read, or not taught. Teachers reward students for memorizing ideas temporarily so they read texts looking for main ideas and not the text in its entire structure; a real understanding isn’t necessary for good grades if all they have to do is memorize a few key points and answer correctly on a multiple-choice quiz. Teachers also are in the habit of lecturing students on reading assignments, thus preventing students from developing reading skills because the main points are laid out to them. To summarize, Bean discusses these problems and then shares techniques to better teach students to read.

Bunn's article, on the other hand, is about reading like a writer. In this he means trying to identify with the author as you are reading to try and understand why certain words, techniques, etc. are used to gain not only a better perspective, but to help you become a better writer by understanding how and why things are done when writing. Bunn mentioned always asking "how" when reading and also compared reading and writing to architecture in that you are reading to understand it so that you can replicate it in your own work. It is important before understanding the entire text to learn about choices that were made by the author and then try to gain a better idea as to why those certain choices were made.

Both Bean's and Bunn's articles had similarities that I caught onto. They both touched on the fact that understanding different styles and choices of how to write something are important when reading because it leads to a greater skill within your own reading and writing. They both also mentioned the importance of asking questions before, during, and after reading, again to gain a better understanding for it. Their main differences were really related to the fact that Bean focused on how to be a better reader so that you gain a deeper knowledge into how and what you read, and Bunn focused on how to be a better writer by understanding the techniques used in the reading.

I think that learning how to do both of these things can be greatly beneficial. Both techniques are new to me and both seem to have some great advantages if I use them in my every day reading and writing. I have always struggled when it came to reading things that I was not interested in, especially the contents of textbooks. However, if I have these techniques in hand, I can make any reading more interesting just by trying to gain an understanding as to why a certain piece was written.