Education Commons^™

World Language And Culture Intensive Summer Camp: Window To The World With Access The World, Dilnoza F. Khasilova Dr.

The Montana English Journal

The purpose of the article is to introduce readers to the summer World Language and Culture camp. The author of the article describes two-weeks camp activities that participants took part, and she concludes with participants’ feedback and resources used to create the World Language and Culture Program’s summer camp.

Beyond The Label: Multimodal Strategies For Working With Multilingual Learners, Reka C. Barton

The Montana English Journal

This paper encourages teachers to move beyond the label of English language learner, and the possible connotations and limitations that may be associated with the designation, and instead expand their notions of the possibilities of working with linguistically diverse students. In this expansion, multimodality can serve as a basis for instructional strategies that would benefit multilingual learners and their classmates. Two strategies are offered, Visual Thinking Strategies and Talking Drawings. Both strategies move past the modes of reading and writing, and allow entry points via visual modalities which offers more opportunities for multilingual learners to access content and express themselves.

These Are The Books We Have Been Waiting For, Elisa M. Schroeder

The Montana English Journal

This book review focuses on diverse children’s literature and how it can be used to promote teaching practices that emphasize equity and justice. Within the article are five book reviews of new books for children and young adults. Featured in each review is information about the authors, a glimpse into each story, as well as teaching ideas for teachers and librarians. The author discusses why diverse texts are valuable for students and how diverse classroom libraries can support culturally-responsive pedagogy. Included in the article are additional resources for teachers regarding diverse children’s books.

Viewing Rural, Rurality, And Ruralities As Social Constructs: An Author Interview And Book Review Of Teaching English In Rural Communities, Jordan Parker

The Montana English Journal

"Teaching English in Rural Communities: Toward a Critical Rural English Pedagogy" by Robert Petrone and Allison Wynhoff Olsen provides insights and practical strategies for teachers working in rural areas, where they often face unique challenges such as limited resources and cultural differences. This book provides a lens of criticality through the critiques and celebrations of rural living. This article opens with reviews of Critical Rural English Pedagogy and the chapters in the book. After the review, there are highlights of the exclusive interview with Petrone and Wynhoff Olsen as they relate their personal experiences and reflections on teaching in rural …

Find (Y)Our Place In The Universe: Humanizing Curriculum Through Unit (Re)Design, Ashley R. Olsen, Abby Stitt, Jessica Van Kerkhove

The Montana English Journal

In this article, the authors share a revised unit from their district's core language arts program that utilizes areas of multimodality, criticality, and layered texts. The authors’ goal is to make the content accessible for all students while also incorporating marginalized perspectives. The authors describe how they drew on Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s (2020) Culturally Responsive Framework to provide a diverse unit of study that leverages the multimodal possibilities within layered text sets. The authors then emphasize the importance of humanizing the content and modes in which it is presented in order to foster a critical stance towards text.

Creating Opportunities For Digital Writing: Multimodality In Argument Writing Tasks, Kristina D. Bybee, Mandy Luszeck

The Montana English Journal

Writing students need opportunities in their language arts classrooms to develop the global skills that are paramount in today’s digital world. Students should not only be prepared to communicate in traditional forms but also through multiple literacies as well. Secondary ELA teachers and first-year composition instructors can build interest in writing tasks by including digital writing and multimodal elements that appeal to Gen Z students while also developing skills that transfer to other disciplines, civic life, and career goals. A digital writing sample unit for secondary ELA and FYC is included.

Shifting Educational Paradigms To Match Learners: Sustaining Cultures, Languages, And Paradigms Through Educational Sovereignty, Lona R. Running Wolf

The Montana English Journal

The U.S. system of education was developed by visionary forefathers that knew American democracy would be stable only through educated citizens. The system was developed to produce citizens that would carry on the new world's vision and values. The educational system was built within that paradigm. Simultaneously, Indigenous tribes in America were being stripped of their traditional educational systems whose purpose was also to develop productive citizens of their communities and carry on their values. Traditional educational systems among tribes developed children with positive self-identity carrying the pride of their culture, language, and paradigm. That is not the case for …

Learning And Reflecting Together: A Conversation With Beverly Ann Chin About The Power And Importance Of Mentorship, Abigail Lynes, Beverly Ann Chin

The Montana English Journal

This interview with Beverly Ann Chin delves into how mentorship can transform the teaching profession. With almost 50 years of experience in the field of English Language Arts, Chin recently retired from her role as the director of the English teaching program and the Montana Writing Project at the University of Montana. She remains an active member of several committees and organizations dedicated to advancing the field of English teaching. Mentorship is an integral part of Beverly's approach to teaching and equipping students for success, and this article addresses the most pressing questions that current and aspiring educators have about …

From The Editor: Introducing The Spring 2023 Edition, Stephanie F. Reid

The Montana English Journal

No abstract provided.

Reviewing Brett Pierce’S Expanding Literacies: Bringing Digital Storytelling Into Your Classroom, Monica J. Dierken, Georgina M. Kepferle, Madeline Wenberg

The Montana English Journal

This book review details chapter overviews and highlights from Brett Pierce’s Expanding Literacy: Bringing Digital Storytelling into Your Classroom. Along with this comprehensive look at Pierce’s pedagogical approach to Digital Storytelling, the author also responds to interview questions surrounding his latest published work.

From The Editors: Introducing The Spring 2022 Edition Of The Montana English Journal, Stephanie F. Reid, Katie Kotynski

The Montana English Journal

No abstract provided.

Presence And Reflection Are Key: A Review Of The Art Of Reflective Teaching: Practicing Presence, Whitney Wichman

The Montana English Journal

This book review provides an overview of and shares the key takeaways from Carol R. Rodgers’s newly published book, The Art of Reflective Teaching: Practicing Presence. Additionally, the author of the article suggests how the takeaways from this professional book could be helpful for teachers.

Sharing The Pen: An Exploration Of Interactive Writing In Early Childhood Classrooms, Marilyn B. Keller Nicol

The Montana English Journal

Although preschool aged children begin to engage in a variety of early emergent writing tasks, research shows that teachers rarely engage in writing instruction in meaningful ways at this grade level (Gerde et al. 2015; Bingham et al. 2017). This practical teaching article will explore the implementation of interactive writing in early childhood classes. These tips and examples will help teachers move instruction beyond the foundation of letter formation, and onto the elements of writing as a process of creation.

Male And Female Interactions: A Multimodal Analysis Of Shonen Manga, Alexandria Perez

The Montana English Journal

A qualitative multimodal content analysis of popular manga examined how female and male character interactions represented gender roles. An analytical tool was developed using multimodal, semiotic, social semiotic, gender, and feminist theories to understand representations of males and females in this popular media. This study showed that traditional gender norms are still present in manga, but there are some that break stereotypes. Also, in using both textual and visual elements to interpret multimodal texts, understanding of character interactions were enhanced because the intermodal interactions created new meaning. Implications suggest positive outlooks for manga being used as an educational tool by …

I Seek The Daffodil’S Glimmer: A Poetic Literacy Autobiography, Ashley R. Olsen

The Montana English Journal

No abstract provided.

Boston Discusses The Massacre, Jean C. O'Connor

The Montana English Journal

Teachers may use this chapter from The Remarkable Cause: A Novel of James Lovell and the Crucible of the Revolution as a short story for grades 7 – 12., to explore themes of interpersonal conflict, conflict resolution, and the value of law.

The chapter “Boston Discusses the Massacre” is taken from The Remarkable Cause: A Novel of James Lovell and the Crucible of the Revolution (Knox Press, 2020), and used with permission. James Lovell, teacher at the Boston Latin School, discusses the pivotal events of March 5, 1770. As the conflicts that become the American Revolution begin a group of …

Thinking With Images And Words: Multimodal Possibilities For Reader Response Journals, Stephanie F. Reid, Lela Horst Baumann, Bobbi Rodriguez, Megan Sorg-Pignataro

The Montana English Journal

In this article, the authors discuss crafting multimodal responses to weekly readings in the university setting. The authors offer a brief description of reader response journals before using social semiotic perspectives on multimodality to justify expanding the reader response journal to include modes beyond written language. Three of the teacher candidates enrolled in the course share one of their multimodal responses and provide insight into their process of creating the response. They share the materials and tools used. The authors conclude this article by considering how educators might assess multimodal responses.

Amplifying Rural Voices: Defining, Reading, And Writing Rural Stories, Chea L. Parton

The Montana English Journal

This pedagogical piece introduces teachers to Literacy In Place - a resource that supports the readingand teaching of rural young adult literature. It also outlines an example unit to highlight how secondary ELA teachers could use Literacy in Place to support students' reading of Nora Shalaway Carpenter's (2020) Rural Voices anthology.

Responding To Diversity With More Than Simple Lip-Service, Donna L. Miller

The Montana English Journal

Using contentious topics like those addressed in Joe Limer’s poem “White Hollywood” as catalysts for sparking conversations on complex social issues has potential to raise social consciousness and to support collaborative conversation. Miller’s GREEN APPLE acronym guides teachers and learners in honoring diversity and nurturing social justice. In critical race theory fashion, GREEN APPLE questions enable students of all races and ethnicities to have informed, productive conversations about the forces that have shaped, and continue to shape, the society in which they live.

Listening To Images: Creating Disruptions & Building Community, Allison Wynhoff Olsen

The Montana English Journal

As humans we empathize through stories, and images foster human connectivity and represent understandings of and experiences in place. Teachers can empower students by listening with our eyes and our ears. This talk examines images and foregrounds the use of creative and revision processes that add nuance and build community.

Shifting The Teacher Mindset: What Counts As "Real Reading", Sarah E. Pennington

The Montana English Journal

In this article, the author shares how her epiphany about what texts she valued in her classroom pushed her to change how she defines what counts as "real reading" and how this shift in mindset allowed more of her students to view themselves as readers. As part of this process, the author began introducing more alternative text formats and digital texts into her classroom library and instruction, allowed students to bring in their own texts for independent reading, and provided space for students to read their peers' writing for pleasure during reading time.

Progressive Portfolios: A Yearlong Process Of Research, Reflection, And Revision, Dana Haring, Tom Kelner

The Montana English Journal

An English teacher and a Social Studies teacher collaborated to create a year long progressive process of research, writing, reflection and revision at the middle school level. After their own reflection and substantial planning, they implemented this plan at the beginning of a school year. In these joint, cumulative research projects, students were engaged in the acts of questioning history, practicing methodology, and developing essential literacy skills as required by the Common Core State Standards. Throughout the process, digital tools were employed for presentation, research, writing, reflection, revision, and portfolio management.

Creating Strategies: Designing Lessons For The Elementary Classroom, Elizabeth A. Morphis

The Montana English Journal

The relationship between reading skills and reading strategies is important to consider as teachers design individual strategy lessons to support bigger concepts or skills that elementary students need to apply. This article highlights three reading strategy lessons that were designed and implemented by preservice teachers to support students in the elementary classroom. The reading strategies supported the skills of communication, summarizing, and reading comprehension. The lessons were effectively planned and executed because they connected to the students’ lives and interests, facilitated communication, and focused on the lesson objective.

Poverty, According To Gorski, Kristyna M. Rudio

The Montana English Journal

In this poem, "Poverty, According to Gorski", the main points of Paul Gorski's book Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap (Second Edition) are outlined. The poem discusses and summarizes topics heavily researched by Gorski such as meritocracy, equality, equity, equity literacy, ideologies, and strategies to help classroom teachers, administrators, and leaders in literacy help to break down barriers for students and families experiencing poverty.

Montana Shape Poem/What Makes A State?, Alan Hoffmann

The Montana English Journal

Savage teamed up with the Yellowstone Writing Project in order to foster a writing community at Savage Schools. As part of that process, teacher leaders in Savage had to write original works for discussion. This is one of those pieces. During this time, I became interested in word art, and set out to see if I could create something. The poem is inspired by the book Fifty-Six Counties by Russell Rowland as well as by the works of Mark Z. Danielewski. The small font size represents all of the little things that go into making a state what it is. …

Leveraging Technology To Build Professional Communities For Teachers In Montana, Christy Mock-Stutz

The Montana English Journal

Providing equitable professional learning for educators across Montana is a challenge. In the Content Standards and Instruction (CSI) Division at the Office of Public Instruction, we often grapple with the how to provide equitable access to high quality professional learning for all teachers. With so many teachers living in distant places and without easy access to the larger towns and cities that often host professional learning events, how can we provide up-to-date learning? Technology is a powerful tool to help us bridge the distance.

Using 3d Card-Making Project To Motivate Students’ Writing, Dan Li

The Montana English Journal

Based on the ideas of inclusive education and multiple intelligences, I advocate using a “3D card” project to inspire students' writing. A 3D card project incorporates sessions on organization's logo appreciation, discussion, letter design, slogan design, and 3D card making as well as a writing task. All of these steps provide students with background information on the topic. In this article, I use these steps to teach my diverse middle school students to design a logo and write a statement for a nonprofit organization.

Happiness Is...Poetry!, Ann M. Ellsworth, Julie Papp

The Montana English Journal

This article shares one teacher's story of how her fifth graders were inspired to write poems after she shared aloud a mentor text.

Refueling Through Scholarship, Student Authors, And Curricular Connections, Allison Wynhoff Olsen, Aaron Yost, Katie Duncan, Emily Nelson, Hali Kirby-Ertel

The Montana English Journal

This article created space for five writing project colleagues to both reflect on our experiences from a recent conference and fuse our writing together to share our message: We need one another to stay connected as a writing community and to help us engage with our writing selves. In this collaborative reflection, we weave our voices together to offer multifarious experiences and writing moments.

Hold Steady In The Wind: Reclaiming The Writing Workshop, Sheryl A. Lain Ms.

The Montana English Journal

Abstract of Article:

This article, rooted in the knowledge of pioneer researchers and practitioners, urges teachers to hold on to their writing workshop, because this classroom method not only promotes student voice and choice, but also achieves the fundamental aim of the education reform movement: to foster student success. As students become better writers, their test scores improve. The writing workshop offers students the opportunity to explore their own voices, to write all kinds of modes of writing, and to experience some autonomy, so important if they are to persist in the hard work of learning.