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Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Education

Beyond The Label: Multimodal Strategies For Working With Multilingual Learners, Reka C. Barton Jun 2023

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 Jun 2023

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 Jun 2023

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 Jun 2023

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.


Shifting Educational Paradigms To Match Learners: Sustaining Cultures, Languages, And Paradigms Through Educational Sovereignty, Lona R. Running Wolf Jun 2023

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 …


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

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 Jun 2023

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.


Sharing The Pen: An Exploration Of Interactive Writing In Early Childhood Classrooms, Marilyn B. Keller Nicol Feb 2022

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.


I Seek The Daffodil’S Glimmer: A Poetic Literacy Autobiography, Ashley R. Olsen Feb 2022

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

The Montana English Journal

No abstract provided.


Thinking With Images And Words: Multimodal Possibilities For Reader Response Journals, Stephanie F. Reid, Lela Horst Baumann, Bobbi Rodriguez, Megan Sorg-Pignataro Feb 2022

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 Feb 2022

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.


Listening To Images: Creating Disruptions & Building Community, Allison Wynhoff Olsen Feb 2022

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 Jan 2020

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.


Montana Shape Poem/What Makes A State?, Alan Hoffmann Feb 2019

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 Feb 2019

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.


From The Boston Stone Jail, 1775, Jean C. O'Connor Dec 2017

From The Boston Stone Jail, 1775, Jean C. O'Connor

The Montana English Journal

Primary sources can open doors to stories we can only imagine. I share the discovery of an actual letter written by American patriot James Lovell in September of 1775, the more startling because in my research for my historical fiction novel The Cause I had already read a clerk-written version of the letter. I encourage teachers to utilize primary sources to entice their students’ development of narrative, and offer links to excellent sources from the Montana Historical Society.


Writing Coaches Of Montana: Providing In-Class Support To Middle And High School Writers, Beverly Ann Chin Ph.D, Catherine Filardi Ph.D Dec 2017

Writing Coaches Of Montana: Providing In-Class Support To Middle And High School Writers, Beverly Ann Chin Ph.D, Catherine Filardi Ph.D

The Montana English Journal

Teachers of writing know the importance of giving students feedback throughout the writing process. Teachers of writing also know the value of having students write for authentic audiences. However, classroom teachers often face challenges in these two areas. Writing Coaches of Montana (WCM) is a non-profit, independent, community-based organization that addresses these challenges. WCM’s mission is to help Montana students write competently, think critically and express themselves confidently. WCM supports teachers by recruiting, training and supervising community volunteers who work individually with students in middle and high school classrooms on writing assignments that require critical thinking and revision. The success …