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Describes a project in a fifth-grade classroom that uses dialog to teach students expository writing and research reports. Describes how students worked together using all four language modes to explore a topic. (SR)

Discusses the "Report in a Can" research process that focuses on the successful gathering of data, and outlines its four major steps. Argues for engaging primary students in well-planned research assignments. Describes how to create a "Report in a Can." (SG)

Discusses the Travelling Literacy Trunk concept developed by teachers of a young writers' camp in Oregon. Basis for creating Travelling Literacy Trunks; Development of concept; Benefits from the concept.

This paper examines, from the perspective of mediated action (Wertsch, 1991, 1998), the ways in which an experienced, primary-grade teacher used and continually modified an instructional too-'the practice page'-to mediate specific aspects of interactive writing, an approach to beginning writing instruction. The authors provide a detailed, theoretical account of the teacher's use of this instructional tool and argue that it provided a context for the kinds of explicit instruction and authentic activity that research demonstrates is essential to young children's literacy learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the elementary level reading and authorship program `Image-Making Within the Writing Process' created at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Process-oriented art explorations; Paper-texturing; Provision of concrete tools for thinking and designing stories; Children's personal interaction with print.

Presents children's book illustrator David Wisniewski's explanations of his illustration technique, how and why he chooses stories with a moral center, and his thoughts about winning the 1997 Caldecott Award for the book `Golem.' Wisniewski's work as a shadow puppeteer; Tools and materials used by Wisniewski to craft his cut-paper illustrations.

Dialogic teaching - a pedagogical approach that involves students in a collaborative construction of meaning and is characterized by shared control over the key aspects of classroom discourse - has been largely advocated by contemporary research and theory. However, studies in the US and UK continue to document the persistence of monologic instruction in today's classrooms. This paper reviews empirically-supported features of dialogic teaching and relates them to relevant theoretical models. It describes the Dialogic Inquiry Tool (DIT), an observational rating scale designed to engage elementary school teachers in a systematic and deliberate examination of their interactions during group discussions of assigned readings. The paper uses excerpts of classroom discussions to demonstrate the use of the DIT and to discuss its potential for informing teacher practice and encouraging reflection on the relationship between language and pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the reciprocal teaching technique utilized in improving reading comprehension and independent reading among students. The author explains the concept of reciprocal teaching and effective methods for introducing the concept to students. Examples of implementation of the concept, including the use of charts, props, and paper plate dials, is presented. The author stresses the concept of discussion in reciprocal teaching. Strategies for documenting reading assessments, including charts, clear summaries, and questions booklets, are also provided. According to the author, effective reciprocal teaching can raise reading levels by a grade or two in a few months in addition to creating an enjoyable classroom environment for students.

Highlights a performance assessment process where the teacher and the students work together to generate specific performance standards. Partnership of teachers and researchers in the classroom; Factors that led to the use of rubrics for assessing students' writing performance; Steps for the process.

Toolbox features content adapted from ReadWriteThink.org lesson plans and provides practical tools for classroom teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a position paper of the International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children on teaching policies for reading and writing. Issues outlined in the paper; Recognition of challenges in teaching due to the growing variation among young children in education programs.

Discusses the educational value of Transactional Literature Discussions (TLD), an instructional approach for reading, writing, and talking about the whole books. Theories concerning TLD; Activities included in the cycles of literacy events; Role of teachers in TLD; Creating a climate for spontaneous response from the group; Learning opportunities presented by TLD to students.

This article provides ideas for teachers to develop word consciousness among school children. Word consciousness describes a child's interest in gathering new words and using them in oral and written communication. Word jars is an activity in which the students will collect words that are unfamiliar and will be written in a piece of paper to be placed in a jar. These words may be discussed within the classroom or at home with the family. A teacher can also create a rich words bulletin board with decorations.

In this paper, we explore the affordances of literature-based, arts-infused and digital media processes for students, as multimodal practices take centre stage in an English Language Arts unit on fractured fairy tales. The study takes up the challenge of addressing multimodal literacy instruction and research in ways that utilize a range of modalities. Incorporating the perspectives and multimodal texts of five students, Alvin, Adamma, Emmett, Layla and Yacoub, we highlight the highly supportive writing environment made possible for these fifth grade learners. The oral, embodied, visual, and written group explorations of the language of fairy tales, story and parody, found in fractured fairy tales, afforded the students numerous, rich opportunities to explore and experiment with language, which ultimately led to the production of individual fractured fairy tales written with a level of sophistication their teacher had not previously seen in their writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contends that for children learning to read, imagination is not something separate or extra that their teachers add to their learning. Notes that how hard children work to make sense of the world is evinced in their play and in research analyses of it. Explains that young imaginations often move into a mental space they recognize from what they read. (PM)

Discusses the two functions of a teacher during a writing conference. Purpose of a writing conference; Instructional role; Elements of nurturing role.

We now have an evidence base that documents that we could teach every child by the end of first grade. However, most schools have almost none of the key aspects of instruction that have been available in the research to ensure we achieve this goal. In this paper I argue that this failure is not the result of inadequate funding but rather primarily results from an aged system of beliefs about the inevitability that some students will always fail to learn to read. That belief system along with a lack of familiarity with what researchers have demonstrated in the past decade perpetuate schooling where far too many children fail to thrive as readers. In the end, it is up to us, the adults in the school system, to alter our efforts such that every child becomes a reader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to explore ways in which blogs can support literacy communities while developing a writing community. Examples of how a classroom teacher uses blogs to strengthen the writing process is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the visuals second grade students included in their own information book compositions during a science unit on weather during which multimodal science trade books on the topic of weather were read aloud. First, the multimodal nature of the information books used in the unit are described. Second, the teacher's talk about visual representations during read alouds of books on weather is presented. And third, the children's own information books about weather topics are examined for inclusion of labeled pictorial illustrations with accompanying captions and graphical representations. These analyses reveal that 1) information book authors vary in their use of visual information, 2) some graphics may be more salient for children, and 3) children's use of pictorial illustrations and graphical representations in their own compositions seems to be impacted by both teacher attention to particular types of visual representations and immersion in information book graphics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the teaching of writing to students. The authors question what constitutes good student writing and suggest that the views of contemporary experts on what makes writing good should be challenged. They report on a research study in which varying perspectives on good writing were analyzed and compared. The writing style popularized by William Strunk and E. B. White, authors of the book "The Elements of Style," in the 20th century is discussed for its emphasis on limited adjectives and adverbs and plain language. This is compared with the 6 + 1 Traits writing model, which emphasizes the development of a common vision of good writing among teachers and students.

This article describes a teaching method used by one classroom teacher to illustrate how classroom teachers can promote incidental learning and word consciousness through frequent and deliberate use of sophisticated vocabulary. The teacher organized her kindergarten class so that students were given roles to play. One student was the zookeeper who fed the class animals and one student was the cleanup helper who picked up all scrap paper from the floor. The article describes how the teacher used the student weather watcher role to help students understand certain weather-related words.

This article presents an author study project in an early childhood classroom that explores the words and pictures created by author Leo Lionni. Reading books by the same author may develop children's emotional sustenance, wisdom and interest in the author. The use of an author study that encourages a variety of activities, such as drama and music, may increase the possibility of meeting the needs of multiple learners and deepens the quality of their response. It encourages children's personal connections with the author.

Presents a list of books selected by the International Reading Association for its Teachers' Choices for 2003 project. Criteria for selecting the book; Process of selecting the books; Regional coordinators for the 2002-2003 field test.

Presents guidelines on administering a successful writing workshops for kindergarten students. Advantages of drawings as a prewriting organizer; Processes and procedures involved in a kindergarten writing workshop; Challenges in the implementation of such writing workshops.

Examines the writing process for young children. Stages of children's writing process; Writing framework; Stages of prewriting, drafting and revising and editing; Recursive process of writing; Description of a writing step map; Use of a star organizer; Suggestions for primary publishing.

Lists books for children and teenagers recommended by the International Reading Association for curriculum use. Includes `Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America,' by Joseph Bruchac; `Saguaro Cactus,' by Paul Berquist and Shirley Berquist; `Leon's Story,' by Leon Walter Tillage; `Tomas and the Library Lady,' by Pat Mora; `Chasing Redbird,' by Sharon Creech; `Honus & Me,' by Dan Gutman.

Provides teaching ideas that could be adapted to readers at various grade levels. Role of middle school remedial readers as cross-grade tutors; Use of wordless picture books with disabled readers; Benefits of fold-a-book.

Discusses the use of word processor FrEdWriter in whole language classroom. Reading instruction; Advantages of the word processor over commercial versions; Students' preference for computer typing.

The article presents a lesson plan for third through fifth grade elementary students which teaches students to read and analyze expository texts.

Presents information on the author's idea of a perfect reading classroom. Book choices and book shelves; Furniture; Educational materials; Children and storytelling.

Describes an activity designed to help students recognize the importance of literacy in the world outside of school. Analysis of the world literacy using a strategy called classical invention; Literacy scavenger hunt; Examples of types of literacy from writing telephone messages on scraps of paper to reading formal work reports.

Focuses on the use of fanny books in teaching reading. Features of fanny books; Children's attitude concerning reading of books; Steps for the construction of a fanny book.

The purpose of the present paper is to introduce the Teachers' Choices Cognate Database. English-Spanish cognates are words that are orthographically and semantically identical or nearly identical in both English and Spanish. To create this free online database, the cognates from every one of the 146 International Reading Association's Teachers' Choices books for the years, 1998-2012, were compiled and published at www.angelfire.com/ill/monte/teacherschoices.html. The cognates in the database may be used to create vocabulary lessons or mini-lessons to accompany book read-alouds for Latino English Language Learners ( ELLs) in the early primary grades. Ideas for teaching English-Spanish cognates through picture book read-alouds are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toolbox features content adapted from ReadWriteThink.org lesson plans and provides practical tools for classroom teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canine-assisted reading programs show promise as an innovative method for engaging reluctant readers and motivating them to practice. In such programs, specially trained dogs visit classrooms and libraries, and children read to them. Children who struggle with reading may be motivated to read more because they find dogs to be calming and non-judgmental. This paper outlines the research that supports the use of canine-assisted reading programs and provides examples of successful implementation in schools and public libraries. Steps for implementing a canine-assisted reading program are provided, along with resources for teachers or others who are interested in starting their own program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dialogic teaching--a pedagogical approach that involves students in a collaborative construction of meaning and is characterized by shared control over the key aspects of classroom discourse--has been largely advocated by contemporary research and theory. However, studies in the US and UK continue to document the persistence of monologic instruction in today's classrooms. This paper reviews empirically-supported features of dialogic teaching and relates them to relevant theoretical models. It describes the Dialogic Inquiry Tool (DIT), an observational rating scale designed to engage elementary school teachers in a systematic and deliberate examination of their interactions during group discussions of assigned readings. The paper uses excerpts of classroom discussions to demonstrate the use of the DIT and to discuss its potential for informing teacher practice and encouraging reflection on the relationship between language and pedagogy.

This article presents strategies for integrating explicit vocabulary instruction within a reading workshop. The author begins by describing a process for involving students in word selection. The author then provides a weeklong instructional sequence using student-selected words. Finally, the author briefly examines the role of vocabulary instruction within the framework of workshop-based teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How might book introductions open up spaces for critical literacy? This is the research question we asked while examining the records of teaching and learning within a yearlong teacher-research project in a second grade classroom. We designed a series of literacy units focused on themes of human rights, freedom, peace, and civil rights. Our focus in this paper is on one slice of the classroom's literacy life: book introductions. Our findings indicate that spaces for critical literacy were opened up through the teachers' careful selection of books; the teachers' use of purposeful prompts, and the teachers' willingness to let silence reign during the book introduction. We display three important findings through 'telling examples' of what critical literacy book introductions sound and look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the lessons learned from a five-year project to develop urban literacy coaches in a large, diverse, metropolitan school system. The narrative begins by reporting on the progress of the schools in the project, which documents gains exceeding both the state and the district gains. It further describes survey data from principals and teachers, both of whom highlighted the role of the coach in these gains. The main part of the paper describes descriptions of practices that contributed to the success of the project, including those to build a strong, communal knowledge base; collaborate to make the curriculum visible in new ways; emphasize culturally relevant instruction and resources; help emergent coaches define their roles over time; support coaches in developing a model for goal setting and coaching cycles; build understanding that development as a coach has recursive phases; provide facilitation that differentiates for coaches-in-training; design methods for coaches to build teams around student data and shared inquiry; help coaches balance "fidelity of treatment" with "formative treatment"; and, finally, connect coaches with the wider professional community. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 1 note.)

This article describes how third graders combine traditional literacy practices, including writer's notebooks and graphic organizers, with new literacies, such as video editing software, to create digital personal narratives. The authors emphasize the role of planning in the recursive writing process and describe how technology-based audio recordings, using iPods and LiveScribe pens, allow students to narrate, critically evaluate, and revise their stories before writing first drafts. The authors discuss the benefits of integrating recorded oral rehearsals into the writing process and explain how, with peer conferencing and teacher support, the audio drafts evolve into multiple written drafts, storyboards, and iMovies. Creating digital stories that are shared with proximate audiences (e.g, classmates and families) and distant, sometimes unknown audiences through a class blog, provide students with meaningful, engaging, 21st-century opportunities to communicate ideas through the use of multimodal resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a contest designed to improve reading abilities in students by encouraging oral reading. In the contest, called the Great Poetry Race, students are assigned a poem and earn prizes for reading it aloud to as many people as possible. The author discusses the importance of parental participation in reading education and suggests home educational activities should be enjoyable for both children and parents. She comments on how cooperation between parents and teachers increased student participation in the contest and notes how the program has been adapted to incorporate rap songs, nursery rhymes and language experience narratives.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experiences using classroom writing activities to improve students' mathematical abilities.

The article focuses on the use of sound boxes, also known as Elkonin boxes, as teaching aids for teaching phonemic awareness in primary language education. Details are given outlining the construction and classroom use of the devices to assist in student recognition of individual phonemes in vocabulary words. Comments are given describing various levels of difficulty and involvement one can take from the instructional model as well as providing several systematic classroom activities for comprehension and sound-letter matching exercises.

The article offers a look at a variety of ways in which computer and information technologies are being used by teachers in addressing assessment issues and improving their classroom practice. Each type of software is described, including the computer scanning software, which allows schools to process answer sheets at their own sites, the computer-based assessment software, which is available for installation and administration on school computers, and the Accelerated Reader, which was the first major recreational reading management system to gain popularity across the U.S.

The article focuses on the Kovalcik Café, a classroom activity designed to teach poetry reading and writing. In this activity, poetry minilessons in a series of writing workshops were presented. The first minilesson focuses on color and rhyme. This is where children are taught about the use of rhyme in their poetry. The second minilesson focuses on repetition and alliteration. In this workshop, children are asked to read aloud poetry that used repetition and alliteration. The third minilesson focuses on onomatopoeia which refers to the use of words with sounds that reinforce their meaning. The fourth minilesson focuses on collaborative poetry.

The article presents two instructional strategies for teachers on teaching reading comprehension. The strategies presented here were based on authenticity, ability to use repeatedly and capacity for use with different age groups. The first strategy is called visualized creations in which teachers are suggested to create visual images about the text they are reading. While the other strategy, in the moment read-aloud journal partners, calls for read-aloud activities with predetermined times to start and stop. Details of both strategies are presented.

The article offers ideas for teachers on using student-focused coaching in reading instruction. Student-focused coaching incorporates several aspects of other multifaceted and responsive professional coaching models. It is based on a research in school consultation which identified the processes and procedures that influence the success of collaborative efforts in addressing the needs of students. Student-focused coaching aims to improve the reading skills and competence of students. It focuses on the strengths and needs of the student and uses data-based decision-making.

This article describes the school-wide approach that was developed for an activity known as character trait vocabulary. This approach has two goals. First, to share an effective practical strategy for coordinated vocabulary instruction that could be added to existing reading program. Second, to encourage literacy educators to determine the school-wide potential of other vocabulary instruction strategies. A chart is presented that lists grade-level character traits. These traits were considered useful for students across the K-12 spectrum.

The article presents a study on the use of word processors as tools supporting the writing process in a grade 1 class in Canada. Among the topics in the interview with the classroom teacher include the aspects of student behavior, qualities of student interactions and the teacher's approaches to writing and technology. The study found that the students were generally focused when engaged in writing tasks, were enthusiastic writers both on and off the computer and were often observed counting the number of sentences they had written. The authors presented a number of implications for classroom practice that emerged from the findings of the study.

This article presents a study on the use of written conversations as a communicative forum to explore writing and their surrounding social worlds among first to third-grade and fourth to sixth-grade students. Options exist beyond daily oral language activities in classrooms, such as the use of theme cycles and strategy lessons to analyze the use language use. This study suggested that written conversations invite participants to explore language in ways that demonstrate the social work accomplished as writers engage with others in textual activity.