PLAYFUL LITERACY LEARNING IN PRESERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION: CULTURALLY SUSTAINING PEDAGOGY WITH PICTURE BOOKS, PLAYDOUGH, POETRY, AND PROSE

Abstract

This study showcases a literacy lesson in which two literacy teacher educators from different institutions engaged their elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) with multimodal activities including reading multicultural children’s literature, creating playdough sculptures, and writing narratives and poetry. The purposes of the activity were twofold: 1) to increase the students’ understanding of culturally sustaining practices through guided discussions of multicultural children’s literature, and 2) to build PSTs’ understanding of the levels of diverse cultures, from surface level markers like food to deeper layers rooted in identities and ways of knowing. Picture books on dumplings and dim sum were used to involve PSTs in reading, discussion, and writing activities, highlighting reading-writing connections and multimodal composition. The results suggest PSTs were engaged in this active learning process, which brought joy to community building and literacy activities. The authors provide practical suggestions for teachers and teacher educators to integrate playdough into ELA instruction in their contexts in meaningful ways