ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that sociodramatic play is a perfect vehicle for providing the rhetorical needs identified by Reither, for providing literacy and literacy-related experiences that are more ideologically situated than is normally the case in classrooms, and can allow schools to contribute to children's understanding of the role of literacy in community life. The literacy experiences mostly occurred outside of the play itself, it was the commitment and engagement of the children toward the sociodramatic play that provided the impetus for the literacy work, sustained it across a considerable amount of time, and generated an intense level of engagement by the children. What was to be different about this experience was that most of the literacy was associated with the play, but outside of it. Inside the play area, the children could play as they wished, but that play provided the social context and motivation for external engagement in a range of relevant, complex literacy events.
