Who Is DeAndre? Tapping the Power of Popular culture in Literacy Learning

Gainer talks about the importance of connecting students’ background knowledge, experiences, and interests to curricular goals. He highlights the voice of DeAndre, an eighth-grade boy in special education classes, whose participation in an after-school club led to the creation of a video. According to Gainer, “[W]hen given the opportunity to engage with popular culture as a text, DeAndre was a highly organized, self-confident, and caring leader who coached, scaffolded, and taught others using a variety of high-level literacy competencies.” DeAndre’s experiences reflect the power of popular culture in helping us build bridges between students’ in-school and out-of-school literacies.