Education Commons^™

Dismantling Anti-Blackness In Teacher Education: Centering Black Epistemologies To (Re)Construct Elementary Language Arts Education For Linguistic And Racial Justice, Jasmyn Kymberly Jones

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Black students and their linguistic resources are undervalued, disdained, disrespected, and disregarded in language arts classrooms. Not only is Black Language often ignored in English language arts instruction, but language more generally remains largely hidden within elementary ELA. Elementary ELA educators are tasked with teaching a vast array of skills, content, and concepts. So, teacher education programs are responsible for ensuring that preservice teachers leave prepared to take on the task of cultivating language arts classrooms that foster students’ literacy development. However, traditionally, literacy teacher education and the ELA curriculum has maintained white mainstream English as the standard for which …

Teaching Empathy For Others Through Young Adult Literature, Madison Boeckman

Honors Projects

Literature can let a reader grow in empathy by learning about a character’s experiences and cultures. Teaching literature with diverse characters to young people can help combat bias and hatred towards people who are perceived as different.

This project uses Rudine Sims Bishop’s metaphor of mirrors, windows, and doors, Gloria Ladson Billings’ Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, and Gholdy Muhammad’s Culturally Responsive Pedagogy as foundation for creating activities for diverse literature. These activities are for the texts Ms. Marvel: No Normal, The Poet X, and The Marrow Thieves, all texts that are academically enriching with diverse characters that would …

Quickwrites And The Quest To Reverse Writing Reluctance, Jenna Dunn

Honors Projects

Current research suggests that students’ enjoyment of writing will positively impact their writing achievement (Graham, 2007; Bulut, 2017). Given this trend, the following study explores the extent to which quickwriting, a teaching strategy developed extensively by Linda Rief (2003, 2018) as well as Donald Graves & Penny Kittle (2005), impacts the attitudes of reluctant writers. A total of nineteen eleventh-grade students were interviewed in three focus groups. All of the students within the study experienced three weeks of regular classroom quickwriting along with one week of a quickwriting extension workshop prior to participation in the focus groups. Students were asked …

To Read Or Not To Read: Navigating Young Adult Literature In The Classroom In The Age Of Trigger Warnings And Banned Books, Ashley Sell

Honors Projects

Most public school libraries or English classrooms celebrate Banned Books Week during the school year, featuring dozens of Young Adult novels that have been challenged or banned in public schools across the country. However, books aimed towards young readers are typically not optimized for educational use in the classroom. In this project, I will explore the benefits of using Young Adult literature in the classroom, while also investigating the obstacles that one might face in order to do so, i.e. censorship, sensitive subject matter. I also want to summarize and respond to an argument for the retainment of classic literature …

Up Against A Wall: Combating Fatigue And Oppression In Antiracist Education, Erika Horwege

Race and Pedagogy Journal: Teaching and Learning for Justice

No abstract provided.

Developing A Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Through The Use Of Diverse Literature And Perspective-Taking: A Resource Guide, Katie Dushek

Honors Projects

There is a growing diverse population in today’s secondary schools, yet the literary canon that is taught remains extremely white. Additionally, students today are rarely challenged to step into another’s shoes to see from a different perspective. With this lack of diversity in mind, I have created a resource guide with the goal of helping in-service and pre-service teachers to develop a more culturally relevant pedagogy through the use of diverse literature in their curriculum and the incorporation of more perspective-taking activities into their lessons. This guide provides a list of diverse books, recommendations on how to teach more diverse …

The Negotiation And Development Of Writing Teacher Identities In Elementary Education, Shartriya M. Collier, Suzanne Scheld, Ian Barnard, Jackie Stallcup

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Identity development in writing is a unique process. While many studies have explored the process of developing a professional identity among future teachers, few studies have investigated how teacher candidates develop a writing teacher’s identity. This study explores the development and negotiation of writing teacher identity among 21 pre-service multiple-subject teacher candidates at a large public institution in California. More specifically, the study examines the students’ journeys as they transformed from students of writing in a university methods course to student teachers of writing in a local school district. Our findings indicate that the use of a sociocultural-based approach to …

Language Of Harry's Wizards: Authentic Vocabulary Instruction, Divonna M. Stebick, Constance N. Nichols

Education Faculty Publications

This study was the result of a year long action research project within a middle school language arts classroom. The students showed improvement in their vocabulary skills due to this instruction using Harry Potter as a context.

The Role Of Young Hoosier Book Award Nominees In The Classroom: Using Approaches To Multicultural Education As A Lens For Evaluating Literature, Shaylyn Barrie Marks

Open Access Dissertations

This study demonstrates the need for the integration of multiculturalism in the K-12 curriculum as well as provides a heuristic based on the work conducted by Sleeter and Grant (2009) to evaluate literature for level of multiculturalism. In the study, the researcher uses an evaluate heuristic to critically analyze and evaluation ten of the books from the 2011-2012 Young Hoosier Book Award (YHBA) nominee list. The heuristic created for this study is applied to the books appearing on the YHBA nominee list to evaluate each book on an individual basis, but also by association, the types of books that that …

Professional Writing In The English Classroom: Let's Get Real: Using Usability To Connect Writers, Readers, And Texts, Jonathan Bush, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The article discusses the application of the concept of usability and user-centered design in the interaction between the writers and the readers in the English classroom. It is inferred that the interaction with readers is essential during the process of writing. The elements of effective lessons on usability and user-centered design are highlighted.

Thunder Rock: The Play, And Enriching The High School Curriculum, Jason William Bayless

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis is a position paper developing an argument for the advancement of the play Thunder Rock, by Robert Ardrey, into consideration for the California Reading List for Public High Schools. To support the validity of the argument the thesis explores three key elements: the content of the play itself; connections to the California Content Standards for California Public Schools; as well as related instructional methods appropriate to the task of teaching the play. The goal is to develop in this thesis not only an argument for the inclusion of Thunder Rock into the California Reading List, but also create …

"Struggling" Adolescent Writers Describe Their Writing Experience: A Descriptive Case Study, F. Jean Mcpherron

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Four adolescents identified as struggling writers in an English language arts classroom were interviewed about their perceptions of a writing task--how they judged their capability to succeed, how they ranked their passion, persistence, and confidence about writing, and how they responded to classroom activity. Student perceptions of self-efficacy and the related self-beliefs of motivation and interest as well as self-regulation were stated and implied as students described a planning worksheet, instructional scaffolding, peer interactions, and ownership of their writing. Wersch's view of mediated action and Engestrom's model of activity systems were the lens through which the students' descriptions were analyzed. …

Professional Writing In The English Classroom: Beyond Language: The Grammar Of Document Design, Jonathan Bush, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The article offers guidelines in teaching professional writing in an English classroom. It highlights the elements in deciding for a good document design which include layout, fonts and color. It outlines the CRAP acronym (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity) formulated by Saul Greenberg which summarizes the essential techniques in grammar design.

Professional Writing In The English Classroom: Professional Writing: What You Already Know, Jonathan Bush, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The article offers the authors' insights on professional writing that are taught in the English classroom, in which it is defined as writing within professional context with genres such as formal reports, directives, and proposals. They state that many teachers learn professional writing not only from advice, but also from experience and practice. They also mention that professional writing can be integrated in all fields of English language arts classrooms that can be taught to students.

The Art In Teaching Writing, Sally Helene Tooley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to determine how exceptional writing teachers utilize visual images in their teaching of writing. Specifically, the researcher was interested to discover how drawing might be used as a learning tool in the various stages of the writing process. Nine elementary teachers - recognized as exemplary teachers of writing, completed a detailed questionnaire in reference to their writing instruction. All of the teachers surveyed value visuals highly and recognize the potential impact that drawing can have on writing. However, not all of these teachers are utilizing drawing or visual strategies in their writing instruction on …

Latino Middle School Students Read To Learn Critical Literacy: Social Justice Through Action Research, Jennifer Grenardo

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explored if changes in the reading curriculum, specifically implementation of critical literacy approaches that acknowledge bicultural students, increase student learning as perceived by teachers and students in a Catholic elementary school, where students have been chronically performing at the lowest level in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. By using critical pedagogy (Darder, 1991; Freire, 1970; Giroux, 1983; Macedo, 1994; McLaren, 1988) as a theoretical framework, this action research project investigated the effective elements of critical literacy (Cadiero-Kaplan, 2004; Shor & Pari, 1999) that promote academic learning for Latino middle school students in a low-income Catholic elementary …

Creating A Student-Centered Learning Community In The College Reading Classroom By Incorporating Web-Based Technology, Michael James Shefchik

Theses Digitization Project

This project investigated the problem of how to enable a student-centered environment in reading instruction through effectively incorporating meaningful web-based technology into the community college reading curriculum. Three multimedia strategies were tested to promote individual and collaborative meaning making: ePortfolios, eJournals, and the Class Know-It-All. The success of these strategies was measured against that of a previous course with identical materials and resources with the exception of multimedia integration.

Three Key Factors That Influence Reading Comprehension, Denise Michelle Cates-Darnell

Theses Digitization Project

This study explores the factors that influence the ways in which intermediate students learn comprehension strategies. A substantial scholarship offers evidence of the success of three factors: the teacher, Support structures, and the efficacy of the specific comprehension strategies taught.

Using Literature And Language Arts To Teach The American Revolution To Fifth Grade Students, Tara L. Affholter

All Graduate Projects

Teachers who combine language arts with social studies are not only able to teach content, but can also integrate literary elements and comprehension as well, while using literature groups. Students who were taught using novels, with various writing tasks to complete, lectures, and projects made great gains in social studies content, reading writing and communication skills.

Writing Center Practices In Tennessee Community Colleges, James E. Crawford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to develop a profile of writing centers in twelve community colleges governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents. This profile included how they were established, how they are funded and staffed, what services are provided and to whom, how training is provided for staff, and how technology is incorporated. More important than the profile itself, however, was an analysis of successful and unsuccessful practices, especially those related to governance, structure, and training of staff, as revealed through the perceptions and experiences of writing center directors. Because electronic technology has transformed the craft of writing, …

Student Storytelling: A Strategy For Developing Oral Literacy In The Intermediate Grades, Rita E. Mccarthy

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Quiet And Outgoing Language Minority Students Through Journal Writing, Paula Riley Garcia

Theses Digitization Project

Outgoing students have the advantage over quiet students in oral class participation. Our problem was to determine whether this relationship was the same in the medium of writing by studying differences in quantity and quality of writing between a quiet and an outgoing group.

Integrating Literature And Illustration In Seventh And Eighth Grade Language Arts Curriculum, Signe A. Buckley

Theses Digitization Project

Transitional theory of teaching reading -- Ezra Jack Keats -- Artistic elements of color, shape, and pattern -- Use of collage in creation of picture storybooks.

Language Studies- Where To Begin, Ralph L. Corrigan

English Faculty Publications

The question in the minds of many teachers of language today is: where do I begin?