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Abstract

Community mapping can be an important tool for educators who aim to freely allow students to share their own connections and experiences. During community mapping, students identify areas within their own localities that matter to them, and engage in various literacy events centered on those places. Often, classes will study foreign lands and cultures during the course of a school year. While this is a wonderful learning opportunity, do they take the time to look deeper into their own personal neighborhoods and surroundings? This study uncovers the nuances of community mapping, as a group of third grade students work through the process together. Through their work, they were able to positively increase their local knowledge as well as gain a deeper understanding of the thoughts, ideas, and opinions of their classmates. While this case study addresses elementary school students, it is possible to perform variations of community mapping with students of all ages. For those who interested in implementing community mapping in their own classrooms, this study serves as a step-by-step guide.

Author Biography

Chris Sclafani is a literacy educator on Long Island, NY. He earned his Doctorate of Education from Hofstra University in 2019, where he was given honors for Dissertation of the Year. He hopes to continue to help students with innovative techniques while also sharing his work with others in the field.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

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