This interview continues ROL's "Teachers' Voices" series, a monthly feature celebrating teachers who, with their students, have accomplished remarkable projects that combine literacy and technology. For more about Teachers' Voices and links to other interviews in the series, visit the series introduction.

"…all my students were enriched by this new means of sharing a book with people beyond the walls of the classroom. It broadened their views of literacy, too; there are other ways to appreciate and learn from literature."

Cathy Fowler

Cathy Fowler is a Year 7 teacher at Kawungan State School in Queensland, Australia, and a participant and coordinator of the extremely popular Harry Potter Book Rap, a guided Internet book discussion among students all over the world. Cathy's is one of many Book Raps featured on the Book Rap website developed by oz-TeacherNet, a site that shows teachers how to join or even coordinate a Book Rap of their own.

In our interview, Cathy talked to me about her own "rapping" experience and how the activity fueled her students' love for reading. On her website, you can learn about the reading-related activities her rappers participated in, read their book discussions in the archives, and view some of the wonderful work they created, including illustrations of the book’s characters. It is a wonderful documentary of an exciting literacy activity.

Other Interviews in the Teachers' Voices Series

• Literacy, the American Revolution, and the Three R's of Our Fight for Freedom: An Interview with Judy McAllister and Erica Lussos
• An Interview with Roxie Ahlbrecht About Writing, Technology, and the "Apple Bytes" Project
• Collaborative Internet Projects: An Interview with Susan Silverman About Her Passion and Hobby
  
• An Interview with Mark Ahlness and Jean Carmody About the Earth Day Groceries Project
  

In 1998, my class and I became involved in an Internet research competition called Wet and Wild that involved researching clues about animals and plants. Every Monday we received an e-mail listing 24 clues, which we had to sort and [use to] identify a mystery animal or plant. On Fridays we e-mailed our solutions. It was a very challenging activity, and it helped students develop their Internet searching skills.

In terms of technological literacy, the more you incorporate computers in the children’s learning, the more comfortable and skilled they become in using them. We learned to appreciate the ever-expanding uses of the Internet and the unlimited ways of using technology in and beyond the classroom.

Of course, I also wanted my students to be participants and so I had to do all the groundwork you would do when studying any book with a class. This involved reading the book to them, doing character analyses and plot summations, and as we read the story, examining the various issues and concepts raised.

Also, as none of my class had ever participated in an Internet activity involving reading and posting responses via a list, I had to explain the procedure and have them ready to become participants. I had to set up an e-mail account for the class. Once the Book Rap started, the class enjoyed doing a Rap Map to show where all our rappers were joining us from.

For the Rap Point you’re referring to, Rap Point 2, we decided to appeal to the readers’ imagination and have them create on paper how they saw the characters unfold for them. We all got to have a look, to some extent, at the images created in our minds of the characters we all grew to love (and hate) as we consumed Harry Potter! The children enjoyed being able to respond in a graphic form. This activity also allowed those students who are hesitant to participate in discussion type activities to be willing participants in the Rap.