Three years ago, in the basement of the Mather Elementary School in Dor-Chester, Massachusetts, a group of third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade after-school students gathered to watch a video about a circus. The activity was intended to inspire the students to think about what kind of circus performer they might like to portray in a variety show they were producing. But when the teacher passed out pencils and paper so that the students could describe their characters, one student looked at the materials and said, 'What's this for? We're not supposed to do any work in here." The teacher and a researcher who were present had assumed that the context was appropriate for a writing activity. Clearly, for this student, the after-school setting had an entirely different purpose. Two years later, however, students' perceptions of the Mather Afterschool Project had changed. For example, when two students approached one of the program directors and asked if they could have some money to go on a field trip to a nearby pizzeria, the director asked them to write a proposal that explained where they wanted to go, how much it would cost, and why they should be allowed to go. The students turned around, went back to their classroom, and wote a proposal. For them, this