Browsing by Author "Pappila, Eeva"

This research aimed to investigate how Arne Trageton's "writing to read" method was incorporated into the reading practices of preschool children and first graders. The research questions were: 1. What kind of actions and collaboration emerged when students used the Trageton method for their reading practice? 2. How did the collaboration between children emerge, and how did it support student work within the Trageton method? The new curriculum for pre-primary education and basic education emphasizes learning by doing, phenomena, play and technological teaching skills. In Finland, we have a long tradition of teaching children to read. The concept of reading is changing, however, and it demands new teaching methods. Many studies (e.g. Fallon & Khoo 2014; Hyun & Davis 2005; Kumpulainen 1996; Lim 2012; Maynard 2010, Yelland 2011) have proven that technological environments can offer a motivating learning setting and may increase collaboration and interaction between students. The video material for this study was filmed in a primary school in Espoo in Spring 2013.Six preschoolers and six first graders were working using Trageton method. They were inventing and writing words with a word-processing program. They worked in pairs. The video material was analyzed through a content analysis. The Trageton method resulted collaborative actions. When pairs discussed, for example, the names or sounds of letters, it helped to find those letters on the keyboard and create words together. Simultaneously, it revealed the children's knowledge about language to themselves and to the teacher. The emerged literacy did came out as students were discussing about writing. Teachers could thus assist students if it was discovered that their ability to hear the sounds of letters or create words differed from that of their partners. As a result, writing via this method led to immerse joy in learning and increased motivation. It can therefore be said that writing to read can be used as a part of a new curriculum. This method enables children to learn at their own level, helping them work together and use technology by their own basis. There were also some weaknesses in the method. The most significant were the lack of spelling in general and the fact that the students weren't so enthusiastic on checking up the spelling independently afterwards.