Grounding Word Analysis Through Nature Journaling: Strategies for Complex Learners
Field journaling is a tool for closely observing and documenting natural phenomena in order to more deeply understand it. Using evidence from elementary-aged learners in a summer program for struggling readers, we investigate the use of field journaling as an engaging pedagogical strategy for building foundational literacy skills.
In alignment with evidence-based reading instruction, educators are increasingly engaging emergent readers in analyzing the structures of words, including phonological, morphological, orthographic etymological analysis (Moats, 2020). As a relatively new practice for many, educators need strategies to scaffold these competencies, especially for struggling readers. Field journaling (FJ) is a pedagogical strategy involving close, structured observation and documentation of natural phenomena, often supported through metacognitive prompts (Laws et al., 2020). While the impact of FJ has been examined in the context of outdoor education, strategies applied during FJ may also provide a promising framework for scaffolding core competencies of reading and writing. First, FJ can set the stage for increased willingness to engage in reading and writing activities. FJ encourages learners to tap into curiosity, which lowers the affective threshold that might otherwise cause struggling readers and writers to shut down or refuse to participate. Second, FJ supports sustained attention, encouraging learners to notice features of the subject–an essential skill for successful decoding. Third, FJ gives learners multiple modalities to encode target phenomena, which can increase long-term retention. Fourth, FJ develops metacognitive skills such as questioning and reflecting on learning strategies–important skills for self-regulated learning.
Participants will be able to implement FJ experiences with examples for applying target skills to systematically observe and analyze written words. Furthermore, we will provide a rubric used to analyze nature- and word-based journal entries which practitioners can use to interpret levels of conceptual knowledge, identify misconceptions, and attend to metacognitive skills displayed by learners.
Participants will be able to:
1) Guide elementary-aged learners in a set of introductory field journaling activities with pictures, words, numbers and questions, using a set of metacognitive prompts.
2) Identify connections between key competencies developed through field journaling and skills that can be applied to analyze the structures of words, including phonological, morphological, orthographic, and etymological analysis
3) Identify connections between key competencies developed through field journaling and skills that can be applied to analyze the structures of words, including phonological, morphological, orthographic etymological analysis
4) Apply a rubric for analyzing the contents of field journaling pages to assess understanding of key linguistic structures, such as phonemes, graphemes, syllables, and morphemes
Introduction
Brief overview of the program, participants, and the context through which data was collected
Background
Sample
Research questions
Data collection procedures
Nature and word journaling protocols and prompts provided and explained
Data Analysis Methods
Examples of journal entries and coding framework provided and explained
Summary of key findings
Limitations, emerging questions and future directions for research and practice are examined
Implementation strategies and considerations
Key protocols (with lesson plans) and analysis rubric are provided (hand-out) and explained
Addressing the needs of complex learners including non-dominant language speakers, learners with dyslexia or dysgraphia, ADHD, and other dis/abilities are discussed
Applications for both formal and non-formal educational settings are reviewed
Q & A
Field journaling (FJ) has been used to spark interest, engagement, and connection to science content (Brown et al., 2017) and bolster vocabulary development for non-dominant language speakers (Mueller & Herrera, 2023). Integrating drawing and writing increases conceptual understanding of target phenomena (Wilson & Bradbury, 2016) and promotes long-term retention–effects which appear especially potent for struggling readers (Hardiman et al., 2014). Journalers frequently apply critical reasoning skills like elaboration, question-generation, pattern recognition, and hypothesizing (Canfield et al., 2011; Laws et al., 2020).
The structure of FJ presents an opportunity for educators to apply these skills to develop core language and literacy competencies: to scaffold foundational decoding skills like orthographic mapping (Ehri, 2013) and identifying word meaning and origin (Bowers & Bowers, 2018) and connect this learning to relevant content (Hammond, 2014). However, the use of FJ as a pedagogical strategy to enhance reading instruction has yet to be explored. To assess the potential of this tool, pose the following question: 1) How do emergent readers apply competencies developed through FJ to the practice of word analysis?
We use a mixed-methods design to analyze journal entries and survey data of elementary-aged (1st-5th grade) participants (n=36) who attended a reading-focused summer program. We apply thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) to inductively code and compare nature-focused and word-focused journal entries generated pre/post participation in the 2-week program. All data has been collected and analysis is underway. The small sample size limits generalizability, but is ideal as a pilot for evaluating this novel approach.
