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The purpose of this study was to evaluate a form of writing instruction designed to teach second-graders to write compare and contrast informational texts. 73% of the participants (N = 45) were White, 22% were Hispanic, 2% were Asian, and 1% were Black, with 63% of the students eligible for free or reduced lunch. 48% of the students were female and 52% were male. Data collection included pre- and post-instruction writing samples that were scored using both a holistic and analytic writing rubric. A paired samples t-test revealed statistically significant differences (p = .000 for both the holistic and analytic rubric analyses) in student writing scores before and after instruction with a medium (d = .52) and large (d = .95) effect size reported. These findings suggest that the integrated science and literacy instructional approach supported the second-graders as they learned to write science informational texts that employed a compare and contrast text structure. Because the analytic rubric produced ordinal data, a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used to explore any differences noted for the individual rubric elements. Results in these analyses indicated that there were statistically significant increases from pre- to post-instruction for the use of science vocabulary and definitions, for word count, and for the use of periods. There were no statistically significant differences in the use of signal words to indicate the compare/contrast text structure, in the use of capitals, or an introduction or conclusion.

The purpose of the study was to examine how integrated science and disciplinary literacy instruction influenced the quality of science informational text produced by first-grade students and student perceptions these young children held about scientists. The disciplinary literacy instruction took place over the course of 8 weeks (three 20–30-min lessons/week) and incorporated reading, writing, speaking, and listening as literacy tools to make sense of science content. A single-subject design (N = 76) using a paired sample t test was used to compare results of the scores from the informational text writing samples using a writing rubric and the Draw-a-Scientist Test. Results revealed that students were able to produce higher-quality science informational texts in all areas being examined on the weighted writing rubric. However, the perceptions the first graders had regarding scientists remained essentially unchanged from beginning to end of the study. Implications for these findings are discussed. Educators should consider disciplinary literacy instruction as a way to support young children in learning to write science informational texts effectively.

It is believed that by classifying the branching patterns of the facial artery, surgeons will have a better understanding of arterial distribution across the face, resulting in a greater success rate with regards to facial reconstructive surgery using this vessel. However, there is still a dispute within the literature as to how the facial artery should be classified. The purpose of this study was to identify the branching pattern and termination point of the facial artery and to establish if these classifications corresponded to those in the literature. The facial artery was dissected in 21 adult embalmed Caucasian cadavers. A superficial pre-auricular incision was made in the coronal plane anterior to the auricle, extending from the tragus to approximately the mid-point on the sternocleidomastoid muscle. The skin and platysma were retracted anteriorly to expose the facial artery. Twenty-five different arterial branching patterns and six main termination points over 40 facial arteries were found. Some of the patterns found correlated with those described within the literature, whilst many were unique to this investigation. The wide variation in the branching pattern and termination point of the facial artery demonstrates the difficulty in producing classification patterns for this vessel. It also raises the question on the usefulness of producing classification patterns. With the increasing use of pre-operative imaging and planning, coupled with meticulous dissection of every branch of the artery intra-operatively, it may have no clinical relevance producing many sub-classification patterns of arterial variation.

Teaching children in the primary grades the text structures and features used by authors of information text has been shown to improve comprehension of information texts and provide the scaffolding and support these children need in order to write their own information texts. As teachers implement the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS), they will need support and training on how to meet these increased curricular demands. In this article, we describe how children’s information books can be used as exemplars of well-structured text models to teach young students how to write selected discourse patterns required in the CCSS. As children in the primary grades learn to recognize and use well-structured example information texts as models for their own writing, they will be better prepared to deal with less well-structured, more complex text examples in their reading and writing in the years to come.

Alphabet knowledge is consistently recognized as the strongest, most durable predictor of later literacy achievement. Recent research offers practical implications for increased effectiveness of teaching alphabet knowledge to young children. In this article, we outline Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge instruction (EAK), a method of practical instruction that early childhood teachers can use to organize, plan, and teach the essential skills of alphabet knowledge. EAK emphasizes identifying the letter name and sound, recognizing the letter in text, and producing the letter form, through flexible, distributed cycles of review based on factors that influence acquisition of alphabet knowledge.