English Language Arts/ Parent Participation
Classroom Voices
In this issue the Classroom Voices column focuses on writing for change.
Deepening Sociopolitical Consciousness in Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Alice Lee shows us a classroom where literacy is used for growing sociopolitical consciousness. She provides readers with suggestions for communicating outside the walls of the classroom.
WLU on the Move! President’s Message and Board News
President Caryl Crowell’s message and news of interest to WLU members.
Reading for Real: Creating a Culture of Literacy through Inquiry
Heidi Mills and Tim O’Keefe help us develop a stronger understanding of the culture of inquiry through a focus on students knowing themselves and their abilities. Examples from Tim’s classroom provide a glimpse into the power of literacy.
Beyond Appealing to Students’ Interests: Studying Sports Culture for Critical Literacy
Luke Rodesiler shows us how sports can be used to pique students’ interest in critical literacy and move them to take action on issues of social justice.
WLU on the Move! President’s Message and Board News
President Caryl Crowell’s message and news of interest to WLU members.
Classroom Voices
This issue’s Classroom Voices column includes a look at some
Operationalizing Critical Digital Literacies: A Holistic Approach to Literacy Education in the Modern Age
Ah-Young Song offers many resources and strategies for engaging students with critical digital literacies.
Classroom Voices
This new feature section by Kathryn Mitchell Pierce and her colleagues includes interviews with educators educators’ writings student work samples and photographs from classrooms.
Blogging about Books: How Choice in Modality Influences Upper Elementary Students’ Responses to Reading
Classroom teachers Betsy Cease and Meg Wilmarth share a study investigating the use of a Kidblog as an option for fourth and fifth graders’ responses to literature.
Second School/Education as a Human Right
Rick Meyer invites us to critically reflect on the past and future of our profession.
When Interpretations of Assessment Data Collide
Mary Fahrenbruck provides a detailed case study on the assessment of reading skills for Lily a third grader.
“They Teach Their Hearts Out”:Communicating the Importance of Writing
Sharon Zumbrunn discusses a study concerning students’ (in grades 3–5) perceptions of the ways in which their teachers communicate the importance of writing. The findings—have much to say about effective writing instruction.
WLU on the Move!
President’s Message and Board News
“Even Though You Don't Have Pretty Clothes, You Are Still a Princess”:Unpacking Princess Images in Picture Books
The author critiques princess images in picture books and looks at their influence on children especially girls. She advocates teaching media literacy so children can—become more informed decision makers.
Learning Together in Holistic Online Critical Professional Development Spaces
The authors describe a critical literacy professional development project called Global Conversations in Literacy Research through which participants from all over the—world engage in live issue-oriented discussions around literacy that are based on research and theory.
Making Sense with Informational Texts: The Interactive Read-Aloud as Responsive Teaching
Authors May and Bingham advocate for interactive read-alouds of informational texts as an avenue for supporting literacy development while building on the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse children.
Professional Resources
This issue’s Professional Resources column includes a short article on inquiry by NCTE president Kathy Short who points out that for inquiry to be student-driven students need to do more than solve a problem presented by a teacher: they must pose the problem themselves. Also included are brief reviews of four recent books about language a list of “classic” books on inquiry and a profile of an early-career teachers study group in Columbia South Carolina.
Socialization to Writing: When Writing Is Not “School-Like”
Cheu-jey Lee and his eight-year-old daughter Penn demonstrate through their written conversations how writing is a social practice that is both situated within and informed by multiple Discourses.
“How Do You Have Two Moms?” Challenging Heteronormativity While Sharing LGBTQ-Inclusive Children’s Literature
Selena Van Horn uses inquiry in a second-grade book club to investigate the rich questions children have about differences among people and to help her students learn to challenge heteronormative texts. A selected list of LGBTQ-inclusive children’s literature is included.
WLU on the Move!
President’s Message and Board News.
WLU on the Move! President’s Message and Board News
Includes news of interest and a message from WLU President Debra Goodman about the upcoming Literacies for All Summer Institute.
“I don’t know how to get there”: Tensions of Transforming Critical Literacy Challenges into Action
Laura Darolia writes about feeling like “the captain of a sinking ship” as she tried to implement a critical pedagogy in a classroom space limited by outside mandates on instructional time.
Professional Resources
This issue’s Professional Resources section includes two short essays reviews of featured books and a brief interview with members of a literacy study group at the University of Louisville.
Miscue Analysis v. DIBELS: A Tale of Resistance
Caryl Crowell pushes back against her school’s assessment policies and uses miscue analysis to learn about the readers in her class finding it to be a valuable tool for informing instruction.
Literacy and Vulnerability: Shame or Growth for Readers Who Struggle
Elizabeth Jaeger draws attention to the vulnerability of learners through the assignment of labels like “struggling reader” and pushes back in her discussion of readers who are vulnerable.
From the Editors
An introduction to the current issue on Learning English as a New Language and the concept of “emergent bilinguals.”
WLU on the Move!: President’s Message and Board News
This message from WLU President Debra Goodman highlights the importance of whole language classrooms in multilingual settings.
“Drive my mind into thinking”: Using Freewriting in an English Language Learning Classroom
The authors examine the benefits of freewriting for three undergraduate English language majors from China.
Transforming Literate Identities: Writing and Multilingual Children at Work
Tasha Tropp Laman’s article documents how writers’ notebooks can be used as mediational tools for meaning making especially the creation of multilingual texts.
Stories from the Past: Using the Language Experience Approach in Correctional Education ESL
Susanne Gardner highlights a unit of study in writing that is grounded in a Language Experience Approach (LEA) and designed to support male inmates in developing and using English to share their life stories.
Common Core: Ignoring Education’s Real Problems
Stephen Krashen discusses current issues related to emergent bilinguals and the Common Core Standards.
Professional Resources: Teaching in Diverse Classrooms
The Professional Resources section provides foundational texts for exploring this topic along with Web tools and a historical timeline.
Exemplars and Epitaphs: Defending Young Adult Literature
The authors explain the value of using young adult literature in the curriculum and argue for its greater use while expressing concern that the integration of the CCSS may work against that goal.