Integrating Digital Literacy and Traditional Print Text: a Focus on Struggling Readers During Guided Reading Andrea Heckman-Hughes University of Missouri-St
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University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 12-12-2016 Integrating digital literacy and traditional print text: A focus on struggling readers during guided reading Andrea Heckman-Hughes University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Heckman-Hughes, Andrea, "Integrating digital literacy and traditional print text: A focus on struggling readers during guided reading" (2016). Dissertations. 44. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/44 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INTEGRATING DIGITAL LITERACY AND TRADITIONAL PRINT Integrating digital literacy and traditional print text: A focus on struggling readers during guided reading By Andrea Heckman-Hughes B.S., Webster University, 2005 M Ed., University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008 A Dissertation Submitted to The Graduate School at The University of Missouri-St. Louis in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy with an emphasis in Teaching and Learning December 2016 Advisory Committee: Rebecca Rogers, PhD, chairperson Angela Kohnen, PhD Virginia Navarro, PhD Nancy Singer, PhD © 2016, Andrea Hughes INTEGRATING DIGITAL LITERACY AND TRADITIONAL PRINT ii Abstract This action research examines how digital literacies can be integrated into guided reading groups with struggling readers. It looks closely at the way a well- planned text set, both digital and print, can support struggling readers in their literacy learning. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) and multimodal analysis, I analyzed observations, interviews, and documents to understand how struggling readers engaged with both digital and print texts, transliteracy skills, as well as with each other. Findings revealed that the support of a text set, both teacher and student driven, supported student engagement, comprehension, and development of transliteracy skills. With teacher support, students were able to move beyond the digital screen to engagement through discussion. Analysis showed that with time, modeling, and use of multiple texts, a sense of agency and identity was built within each struggling reader. An emerging model is presented to show the ways in which teachers can integrate digital literacies into guided reading and how over time students can build transliteracy skills that support critical thinking and deeper discussion. Key words: Teacher Action Research, digital literacy, transliteracy, guided reading, Critical Discourse Analysis, Multimodal analysis INTEGRATING DIGITAL LITERACY AND TRADITIONAL PRINT iii Acknowledgments First, I wish to acknowledge my family for their unconditional love and support throughout this journey. None of this would have been possible without my mom and dad, Jim and Debi. Their support through every hill and valley was immeasurable. They taught me that hard work and faith will help you achieve your goals and that pushed me through the difficult days. Thank you to my husband, Colby, for his constant love and support. Without him I would have never made it; he took over many aspects of our life without complaint and was always interested in listening to my research and findings. I also want to thank both my colleagues and the students at my elementary school. Thank you for your willingness to listen to me talk about my project, ask me questions about how it was going, and for looking over my many versions of this dissertation. The support and love from my students was something that I will never forget, specifically the participants in this study. Thank you for teaching me so much about teaching. I am extremely grateful to my advisor, Dr. Rebecca Rogers who answered countless questions and gave constant feedback. My committee members, Dr. Nancy Singer, Dr. Virginia Navarro, and Dr. Angela Kohnen, who provided me with countless hours of feedback. Their support and insightful comments were appreciated and valued. Last, I want to thank the University of Missouri- St. Louis’ College of Education for providing me new learning experiences and continually pushing me to be a better teacher. INTEGRATING DIGITAL LITERACY AND TRADITIONAL PRINT iv Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................. iii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. vi Chapter One: Teacher Researcher ..................................................................................... 8 Inquiry questions and plan of action ........................................................................................... 9 New Literacy Studies ...................................................................................................................... 15 Defining Guided Reading .............................................................................................................. 16 Defining Digital Literacy and using it as a tool for learning ............................................. 19 Defining Transliteracy ................................................................................................................... 21 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................... 22 Structure of this Dissertation ...................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature........................................................................ 24 Sociocultural Theory ...................................................................................................................... 26 Identity ................................................................................................................................................ 28 Agency ................................................................................................................................................. 29 New Literacy Studies ...................................................................................................................... 32 Digital Literacy/Multimodality .................................................................................................. 34 Dialogism and technology ............................................................................................................ 36 Transliteracy ..................................................................................................................................... 37 Comprehension and Guided Reading with Struggling Readers ...................................... 38 Defining a Good Reader ................................................................................................................. 40 Identifying Struggling Readers ................................................................................................... 44 AIMSWeb. ...................................................................................................................................................... 45 Development Reading Assessment. ........................................................................................................ 46 Chapter 3: Methodology ....................................................................................................... 48 Research Design ............................................................................................................................... 48 Participants ....................................................................................................................................... 52 Austin. ............................................................................................................................................................... 54 Rose. .................................................................................................................................................................. 55 Lela. ................................................................................................................................................................... 57 Menique. .......................................................................................................................................................... 58 Deshawn. ......................................................................................................................................................... 59 Researcher-Teacher Reflexivity ................................................................................................. 61 Context of Study ............................................................................................................................... 62 Data Collection ................................................................................................................................. 63 Guided Reading Groups.............................................................................................................................