ABSTRACT

The typical classroom contains a great deal of print, in books, magazines, newspapers, student work, and signs on the walls. It is not always obvious that we think of the computer sitting in the back of the classroom as containing print, but it does. When we think of a reading lesson in a typical classroom, we think of students sitting in groups with books. We do not think of them sitting at the computer, but we should. When we think of students writing, we think of pencil and paper, not keyboards and computers, but we should. When we think of students reading, we do not think of them sitting in front of a computer, but we should. When we complain about students not reading, what we mean, most often, is that students are not attending to a book, magazine, newspaper, or other source of conventional print. We forget that a great deal of student leisure time is spent in front of computers, surfing the web, sending instant messages or e-mail to friends, or doing other activities that require a great many literacy skills. Many of our concepts about print, reading, writing, and even instruction have not kept pace with the changing nature of print.