Reviewing+Roadville

~ Jamye, Anna, & Scott

//Directions:// As a group, discuss and decide what the important and defining characteristics of the Roadville community members are in terms of their “ways with words.” What does this mean for the children of this community in the context of their being prepared for school? List your characteristics and findings here on this wiki page. When time is called, your group will present your findings to the class.

Defining Characteristics - Lower class white families - Students play in a very, very structured way. There are certain ways to play with certain toys. - Letters are written by the women of the community - These women see this as a form of etiquette; letters are written chiefly for holidays, birthdays, thank-yous, etc. - Purpose and etiquette driven

These same letters are often seen as an extention of the oral tradition; they write very rarely and refer to the letters saying I "told" her, I "said" to her. Although they aspire to write more often and understand that they should, they rarely do. The letters can be seen as very surface-driven, having to do with local gossip and news.

These letters act as the longest written texts by community members. There is a slight difference between letters and notes (brevity). It's also important to note that children are limited in their writing (told by their parents what to write) and write even more rarely than their mothers.

They assume that there will never be an interpretive challenge in their letters. Oftentimes, their audience is the same person each time and they could not imagine someone not understanding their words.

For Children: - Writing is not a priority - They are only doing it in school assignments, their training will be completely had in school. - Reading is not a priority; praised, but not encouraged. - Little to no experience with any other text than letters -