Using literature to connect girls and teach technology

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Abstract

According to a study by the American Association of University Women, girls rated themselves much lower than boys on computer ability and used computers less than boys outside of school. To address this inequality, the Read n' Rap program in Iowa was developed to integrate reading and technology. Girls in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade were paired with high school girls to read and discuss novels via an e-mail discussion list. This practice was submitted by the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency in November 2001.

Issue

According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW) report How Schools Shortchange Girls:

Only one out of seven textbook illustrations include girls in pictures of children
In animal stories, male animals outnumber females two to one
In classrooms, boys receive the teachers' attention five times more than girls do
Girls read six times as many biographies of males as females
Boys are twelve times more likely to speak up in class than girls

When the report appeared in the late nineties, the country was shocked by this documentation of the inequitable education girls were receiving at public schools. Since that report was issued, extensive reform efforts have accomplished much. AAUW's latest study, Gender Gaps: Where Schools Still Fail Our Children, describes the progress that has been made and points out a new area of concern: girls lag considerably behind boys in technology. Girls rate themselves much lower than boys do on computer ability, and actually use computers less often than boys outside of school.

Action

Read n' Rap is an innovative program that integrates reading and technology. Girls in fourth, fifth, or sixth grade are paired with high school girls to read and discuss novels via e-mail and e-mail discussion lists.

The girls read books chosen from a list selected by their teachers. The novels all feature strong female main characters and are at an appropriate reading/interest level for the younger girls. Historical and contemporary fiction, and biographies are among the choices.

While reading a particular book, the partners discuss the book and their reactions to it using e-mail. Some schools allow the use of free Web-based e-mail accounts, while others elect to have all mail sent to the teacher's e-mail address. A moderated e-mail discussion list is used to monitor the correspondence.

The girls also use a digital camera to take pictures of each other to share with their partner. Video conferencing on the Internet was piloted last year and will be used more extensively this year. The girls also meet face-to-face on the Iowa Communications Network (a statewide fiber optic interactive television network) twice during the year.

Context

Students at Muscatine High School and Franklin, McKinley, and Mulberry elementary schools in Iowa pioneered this program in 1998-99. In succeeding years the word spread and Harrison Elementary in Davenport, Grant Wood in Bettendorf, Andrew Elementary in Andrew, Colorado and Washington elementary schools in Muscatine, and Maquoketa Middle School joined the program. Through a serendipitous connection, elementary education students at the University of Northern Iowa also became involved. The project is coordinated by Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, a regional service agency.

All school districts participating in Read n' Rap are located in eastern Iowa and range in enrollment from 356 to 16,753.

The objectives of Read n' Rap are to:

Build a positive mentor relationship between high school and elementary girls
Critically discuss literature
Critique positive roles played by women in a variety of settings
Increase the amount of daily reading time for participants
Increase the proficiency and comfort level of the girls in using technology
Support Information Power Standard 5: "The student who is an independent learner is information literate and appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information."
Support National Education Technology Standard 4-1: "Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences."

Outcome

This e-mail project gives girls a chance to think critically about their reading and about themselves and reflect on their interests, activities, and issues of importance to them, and then write about them to another girl.

According to a study by Christine A. McKeon entitled "The Nature of Children's E-mail in One Classroom" (The Reading Teacher, April 1999, also available online in ProQuest), students engage in three categories of book talk over e-mail: opinion about the book (e.g., "So far, it's a good book"); specific information about the book (e.g., "Marion's family has just been put on a train"); and reference to placement or page location in terms of reading the book (e.g., "I'm in the middle of chapter 6").

The e-mail of the girls in the Read n' Rap program was similarly recorded. The girls engaged in social conversation in 24 percent of their correspondence. Research on reading, writing, and language acquisition suggests that engagement in social communication plays an important role in children's literacy development (Cambourne, 1995). As McKeon speculated, the students are initially unfamiliar with their partner and perhaps want to share knowledge about themselves in order to establish a relationship. In the process, "the walls of the classroom dissolve as literacy is used to establish new friendships."

Evidence

All girls filled out a questionnaire before and after participating in the program. According to those results, improvement was achieved in three areas: proficiency in using e-mail; opportunity to use a digital camera; and number of minutes spent reading daily.

Many researchers have pointed out a decline in reading activity between middle and high school because of jobs, extracurricular activities, social lives, television, and computers. There are many influences against reading, and school can be one of those. Some students get so burned out, turned off, upset and frustrated about assigned reading that they may give up reading altogether. One of the best things educators can do to get students reading again is to provide age-appropriate literature for them. The goal should be to create and nourish young readers so they will become lifelong readers. Read n' Rap works toward this goal — with the added bonus of providing positive role models for pre-adolescent and adolescent girls.

Posted On

November 2, 2001

For More Information

Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency

729 21st Street

Bettendorf, IA 52722

Phone: (563) 359-1371

Fax: (563) 359-5967

Website: http://www.aea9.k12.ia.us

Resources

American Association of University Women. Gender Gaps: Where Schools Still Fail Our Children. New York: Marlowe & Company. 1999.

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