Chapter 4: Expanding Early Childhood Literacy Curriculum Through Play-Based Film-Making and Popular Media

Literacy Playshop is a way of expanding literacy curriculum that features play and filmmaking with popular media. This research represents work that emerged in collaboration with teachers in early childhood classrooms as they engaged in productive kidwatching and reflective practice to look for ways to build on children’s strengths in storytelling and to link children’s existing media knowledge to emergent abilities in media production and school literacy. Four key processes of filmmaking; play, storying, collaboration, and production are illustrated through a play scene from a kindergarten/first grade Playshop supported by instructional practices that resulted from teacher inquiry groups.