Why Use Popular Culture in the Classroom?

While I was on March Break, I was sitting around with some friends discussing my blog. When I explained that its purpose was to encourage teachers to the use of popular culture in the classroom by tapping into our students lives and interests outside of school, things like: music, current TV shows, Pokemon and all the forms it includes, comics and cartoons. This started a bit of a debate. My friend feels that if students are allowed to bring the 'unofficial world' into the classroom on a regular basis, they will end up using it as a crutch. Suffice it to say, we agreed to disagree. Interestingly however, she did agree that using pop culture in the classroom is a great way of enticing the reluctant reader or writer to engage with the literacy process. I'm not sure why it's good for one type of student and not the other, in my eyes each student benefits by its addition.

I have often wondered and I guess walked along the path that questions why children are so engaged in: video games, music, trading card games, Pokemon etc. As a parent whose son loves t play his DS, I admit to wondering about the damage the DS was having on his learning. After many fights with him about leaving is DS behind, or stopping playing it, I decided to find out more about Pokemon, other video games and what they involve. Thanks to the power of Google, I came upon several articles on literacy and Pokemon, and video games and literacy. If you are interested in seeing what they have to say please see the link to the pages What the Experts Say. They say hindsight is 20/20 - guess I have to agree because as I look back, it was Pokemon (the DS game, the trading cards and books) that got my son excited about reading.

Go-Go's

If I walk around my school's playground Iam constantly seeing groups of grade one and two students battling with their Go-Go's. I am new to this type of figurine. They are approximately 2 centimetres tall and come in a variety of shapes and colours. When I first heard the name I immediately thought back to the girl singing group! Similar to Pokemon, go-Go's are named based on their appearance. The excitement that goes along with the battles is infectious. I see students bring out signs that they have made to cheer on their classmates as they go into battle. Some students to help solve my confusion have offered to write out a how-to-play guide so that I will understand the rules. This is a great example of bringing a child's unofficial world into the classroom. Why can't I develop a writing unit that is inspired by these action figures? Speaking with a colleague in class one day she told me how based on an informal discussion with her grade one male students, she developed such a unit. this unit included a detailed written description of each character, a study of their habitat and then the creation of the city that they lived in. this is the type of freedom that needs to be encouraged in the classroom - a curriculum that is created based on the needs and interests of the students.

Let Student's Incorporate Popular Culture into Their Writing

Here are some things that I have observed about boys and writing in my classroom and at home:

1. Boys like to write about what matters to them.


2. Boys like to write about things they feel they are experts in.


3. Boys like to write with others. They like to discuss what they are writing.


4. Boys like to hear their writing read aloud.


5. Boys enjoy it when their teacher shows genuine interest in their writing.


6. Boys like things like music, sports, Pokemon and/or Anime, cartoons, video games, and DS.


7. Popular culture is part of their daily lives.
   

One way to capitalize on this interest in popular culture is to incorporate it into your language program. Something that I have used and seen in other classrooms is a 'free writing' journal. Students can write about anything they want to in these journals at a set time each day. The students are encouraged to write freely. If you think about it, most classrooms dedicate time for students to read independently but very few provide students with the opportunity to write independently and freely. By letting students write, doodle, and draw about anything they want - their outside interests and influences - they can then transform their knowledge and learning into school writing. It lets them write as experts. I know I feel more confident writing about things I know and care about so we shouldn't be surprised if our students do too. As a teacher you can choose to collect the journals periodically or you can let the students ask you to read them. Use their journals as a way t respond to or provide feedback to the students about their writing. Don't mark these journals. Instead use them and your feedback as a way of showing your students that you are genuinely interested in what they write and care about making them even better writers by providing them with whatever support they need.

A free writing journal will:

• Give the student to explore, and take risks while trying different things with writing.


• Let the student develop their own personal interests through their writing.


• Enjoy and experience having someone read and enjoy their writing (teacher).


• Experience genuine response from an interested reader.


• Let's the student connect his home life with his school life.


• Gives the teacher a window to see and learn about the student's hobbies and interests. It also gives the teacher the opportunity to share some of their own interests with the student through feedback and written comments.

Video Games - Positive or Negative Influence?

The amount of negative press that children playing video games have received in the past decade has made me as a mother first and teacher second question the usefulness of them. The reality however, is that no matter how much we as parents and teachers try and ignore it, video games and the electronic devices attached to the games play a significant role in our children's lives.

I find myself counting the number of children I see with DS's in stores, restaurants, on airplanes, in cars, or sitting around the playground and unlike what many people believe, it is not only boys playing on them. What strikes me is the intensity that the children are playing these games with. Each child is actively engaged in solving a puzzle, conquering a new world, or in the case of the Pokemon video or DS game(s) capturing different Pokemon, befriend them and 'level them up'. With the reality of this sinking in, I find myself dialoguing with my own kids and students about what makes these games so enticing to them. I get a few answers: they're exciting, challenging, provide an escape, require strategy and following a story. One aspect that is very important especially to my son is the social aspect that is associated with gaming. There is most definitely a comradeship that develops among children when playing the same DS/video game. Each child uses a language common to the game and that allows them to exclude the 'commoners' or those that do not speak the same language. As several researchers that I have read have noted - if allowed students (in particular boys) will include aspects of these video games in their creative writing. Since reading some of this research, I no pay more attention to the types of stories my son and other boys write during their writing blocks at school. At times I see role play with their story's main character taking on similar traits as themselves and Ash (the famous Pokemon trainer) or other mythical creature from a video game. There is a sense of power that pervades their stories - almost as if the boys are escaping the control of the classroom and the teacher. In these stories they are able to be anything they want, they can create anything they want, and they can socialize while they do it. "Hey Dude, take a look at this. I have him flying through the air, using his penetrating sound wave to attack the opponent". (Overheard in a grade 2 classroom)

Recognizing the importance that video and DS games play in our children's lives and opening my class to them has enabled me to encourage otherwise reluctant writers to write in class. My son, who hated writing, has come alive as a writer since his teacher game him the freedom to write about anything including Pokemon. Surprisingly, Pokemon (as one example) can fit many different writing genres - non-realistic fiction, biography, procedural, and essay forms. For example students can create new Pokemon and write stories or develop new games with them; write about the life of a Pokemon; write a how-to-lay guide; or write about the Pokemon's habitat. If you haven't already let your student's unofficial world into your classroom, maybe you should.