Education Commons^™

Great Lakes Great Books: Continuing To Learn, Lynette Marten Suckow

Michigan Reading Journal

Five book reviews from several grade levels focus on the value of lifelong learning. Titles were chosen from the Great Lakes Great Books Award list.

Creating Effective Parent-Teacher Partnerships To Positively Impact Student Reading, Ashley A. Durack

Culminating Experience Projects

Research has proven that when families and educators work together the student benefits immensely and they are more prepared to reach greater academic success. Students today need more support than ever in many academic areas, especially literacy, that is why the creation of parent-teacher partnerships is crucial. When families and educators form strong parent-teacher partnerships they are able to communicate more openly and are able to effectively address the reading difficulties that students may encounter through a variety of different strategies. It’s important for educators to keep an open mind during the creation of these partnerships. It’s essential for teachers …

Text Based Discussions: An Approach To Teach Reading Comprehension, Georgeanne R. Green

Culminating Experience Projects

Research has revealed that students’ reading comprehension success is a direct reflection on teachers’ knowledge of the content and level of comfort with instruction. Teachers play an important role in facilitating and managing meaningful interactions with a text amongst students. This project explores factors that contribute to reading comprehension. The main factor acknowledged in this project is the varied levels of teacher knowledge and instructional practices in reading. Consistency in instructional practices within a school matters. With that, this project highlights the importance of implementation of a reading approach, text based discussion, that entails many opportunities for collaborative learning. This …

A Framework For Interdisciplinary Read Aloud Lessons, Lyndsey M. Bensel

Culminating Experience Projects

Science and social studies instruction at the elementary level has diminished in quantity and quality as a result of increasing pressure to maximize English language arts achievement. This approach exchanges short term gains in reading proficiency for long term deficits across many disciplines. Research establishes a strong connection between background knowledge gained through content area learning and the ability to comprehend expository texts. Moreover, deprioritizing science and social studies instruction limits opportunities to explore disciplinary literacy practices which serve as the foundation for acquiring knowledge in different disciplines. The framework for interdisciplinary read aloud lessons developed through this project, will …

An Examination Of Reading Interventions At The Upper Elementary Level, Bethany Vangessel

Culminating Experience Projects

Students of all ages face challenges in their reading and while some challenges begin early in learning to read, other challenges develop as students begin reading more complex texts. However, research into the most effective forms of intervention for students who struggle with reading have focused more on beginning readers in the lower elementary grades. As students enter the upper elementary grades, there are increased demands on foundational reading skills with multisyllabic words, comprehension, and the added pressure of standardized testing. Changing demands on reading skills result in a more diverse need to intervention as students may struggle with foundational …

A Spark Of Light In The Darkness: A Framework Of Habits And Routines That Grow Literacy Identities, Andy Schoenborn

Michigan Reading Journal

Using familiar and flexible classroom routines, authentic literacy habits, and encouragement, his students moved from "I hate reading and writing" to self-identifying as readers and writers in a matter of eighteen weeks.

Teaching With The Genius In Mind: Enacting Literacy As A Civil Right, Katie Glupker, Pam Gower, Angela Knight

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Because literacy is a civil right, educators are responsible for designing and implementing literacy education that is designed with the excellence of all students in mind. In order to learn about ways to ensure that literary practices are equitable for all students, the authors joined an educators’ book club to read Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Gholdy Muhammad. Muhammad describes the Black literary societies of the past and challenges educators of today to enhance classrooms by upholding equity and excellence through a five-layered framework: Identity, Skills, Intellect, Criticality, and Joy.

We studied Muhammad’s …

Book Review Letting Go Of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction For White Students, Jeremy Hyler

Michigan Reading Journal

Race, racism, and literary whiteness are at the forefront of many conversations in education today. In Letting Go of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction for White Students, authors Carlin Borsheim-Black and Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides highlight what should be addressed in our classroom today to address race and racism.

Engaging Disinterested Adolescent Readers In The Middle School Classroom, Elizabeth M. Lezman

Culminating Experience Projects

Reading is a necessary skill and habit that adolescents need to carry into adulthood to set them on a more advantageous life trajectory. As students reach adolescence and their interest and engagement in reading tends to decrease, it is vital for educators to implement strategies and structures to promote engagement, passion and interesting in reading. Three key factors of increasing engagement are to build a community of readers, implement choice reading, and provide texts representing a variety of identities, cultures, traditions and voices. Research has proven that students are more engaged in reading when they feel part of a community, …