The need for twenty-first century learning skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and the use of technology are paramount to success in today's classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore what happened when children engaged in collaborative and critical discussions of themes related to social skills and social justice using children's literature as a springboard. Furthermore, this study extended the analysis of critical literacy to critical writing pedagogy to explore how students used writing in digital spaces to reconstruct text and advocate for social justice. A critical pedagogy and socio-cultural lens guided this research. Specifically, I employed a qualitative case study design conducted over six weeks during the fall of 2011. Participants included twenty first-grade students, their teacher, and their teacher's assistant. I conducted this study in a public charter school located in a suburban area outside of a large southeastern city in the United States. I triangulated my data by collecting from various sources including individual interviews, observations, and classroom documents. Data analysis included a holistic in-depth, interactive, inductive, and recursive examination of themes and patterns in data. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]