Characteristics of Tasks in Two Approaches to Literacy Instruction

This study examines everyday classroom processes in 2 approaches to literacy instruction. 40 days of instruction were observed in second- and sixth-grade classrooms implementing either a literature-based or a skills-oriented literacy approach. Using a task perspective for analyzing classroom processes, a total of 180 literacy tasks were identified in the observed data. These tasks, comprising the literacy experiences over 1 week of instruction in each of 8 classrooms (2 representing each approach at each grade level), were analyzed on 7 dimensions including subject-matter focus, duration, product type, activity format, product specification by students, cognitive complexity, and task size. Distributions of literacy task characteristics were markedly different in the 2 approaches. When compared to literacy tasks in the skills-oriented approach, tasks in the literature-based approach were larger, were more complex, and provided more opportunities for students to influence both the content and the processes of literacy tasks. The distributions of task characteristics in the 2 approaches describe very different learning experiences for students, especially since both approaches showed considerable consistency at grades 2 and 6. To the extent that students learn what they do, long-term participation in one or another approach can be expected to lead to different knowledge about, and dispositions toward, learning and literacy.