This text is excerpted from by Kathryn F. Whitmore (Language Arts, Sept 2015).
Imagination, as part of play, allows children to conceive of things they have not yet experienced for听themselves, including defining themselves as literate.
For children who are viewed by deficit mainstream school discourses听as 鈥渓ess than鈥� more 鈥渘ormal鈥� children, a view of literacy as embodied and multimodal opens听the door to local understandings of children鈥檚 participation (Kliewer, 2008; Collins, 2011) and,听therefore, children鈥檚 identities.
In . . . , all children can imagine new places, whom they might become in those places, and ways to solve problems in those spaces (Catterall, 2009).
Explore the world of pretend and how it can afford young children “the space and听encouragement to take on additional literate identities” in an inspiring new article in the September听Language Arts:听