O Jornal Escolar: escrita e pensamento.

Abstract

This dissertation reports on a research project that investigated the making of a school newspaper, in first language classes, by a group of thirty 7th graders (Ensino Fundamental) of a municipal school in the city of Pelotas/RS. The project aimed at stimulating the pleasure of reading and writing, taking into account the official norm, as well as exercising and developing pupils´ superior psychological functions (the capacity to compare, differentiate, abstract, plan, argue, evaluate, for example) through activities that critically assessed the quality of press texts, in terms of both form and content. The investigation has been based on the work of theoreticians from the areas of Linguistics and Socio-Historical Psychology, like Halliday (1976) and Vygotsky (1982), who have investigated the role of language in development. A dialogue has also been established with researchers that have been dedicating themselves to the study of first language teaching and literacy, such as Faria (2002), Kato (1986), Tfouni (1995), Soares (2003) and Possenti (2002). The project evaluation methodology had a qualitative character and the data referring to the pupils have been collected through two questionnaires, applied at the beginning and at the end of the work, respectively; a final project evaluation (written); and texts written during the classroom activities. These data have been complemented by the researcher’s fieldnotes. Data from the questionnaires and the evaluation had undergone a process of content analysis and the texts have been examined in terms of their linguistic aspects, trying to capture the effects of the activities upon pupils´ writing abilities. The results suggest that the Project Newspaper in the Classroom have given meaning to the activities carried out in the classroom, increasing pupils´ awareness of what reading and writing are. There were also signs that seem to indicate an increase in pupils´ interest in reading and writing; progress in the capacity for verbal planning, and advancement in terms of authorship, which indicate the development of thinking processes. The findings of this research can contribute for the discussion of newspaper making in schools as a motivating activity that can also promote learning.