Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

"So Many Hopes": A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Children's Picture Books That Portray Refugees, Janine J. Darragh, Jane E. Kelley

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Researchers used content analysis to analyze 40 award-winning and “best of” children’s picture books that portray refugees to answer the questions: How are refugees depicted in picture books? What messages are embedded in those depictions? Results show patterns and themes regarding depictions of trauma and violence in conjunction with setting as well as the portrayal of the arts as a vehicle for refugees to ignite personal agency in coping with the trauma they experienced. Implications for practice are discussed.

Differences In Elementary Students’ Self-Regulated Processes For Computer Versus Printed Reading Assignments, Katerina Sergi, Anastasia Elder, Tianlan Wei, Kristin H. Javorsky, Jianzhong Xu

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this study was to investigate metacognitive self-regulated learning (SRL) differences in computer- and paper-based reading assignments across elementary students. Students in two after-school programs in a southeastern U.S. public school district were recruited. The final sample consisted of 48 students in Grades 2–5 who participated in two counterbalanced conditions involving a computer- and a paper-based reading assignment. The study employed a 2 x 4 (condition-by-grade) mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) and followup tests to examine metacognitive SRL differences between conditions and grades. The results indicate that elementary students used various metacognitive SRL skills across both conditions. The …

Editorial Review Board

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

The Teacher’S Role In Writing: A Study Of Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions, Joy Myers, Kelly Tracy, Amanda Wall, Linda D. Smetana, Chinwe H. Ikpeze, Sonia M. Kline, Jenn Raskauskas, Roya Q. Scales, Vicki Mcquitty, Pamela Hickey

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

A team of teacher education researchers conducted a qualitative study to explore how teacher candidates viewed the teacher’s role in teaching students to write. Participants (N = 107) enrolled in writing-focused methods courses across four universities completed a reflective quick write near the end of the course. Since writing is a complex and multidimensional activity, these responses were analyzed through the theoretical framework of social cognitive theory. When describing the role of the teacher, the data indicated candidates across all institutions primarily focused on the affective aspects of teaching writing, specifically supporting and developing students’ confidence in writing. Some mentioned …

Literacy Coaching For Instructional Change In Guided Reading: Navigating Form And Function, Denise N. Morgan, Celeste C. Bates, Robin Griffith

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this research was to examine how one teacher’s guided reading instruction evolved while engaged in a job-embedded professional development experience across the school year. The teacher taught and debriefed multiple guided reading lessons per visit with a literacy coach. The authors employed qualitative methods to analyze the transcripts from interviews and pre- and postconferences, written reflections, and field notes from the lessons. Findings demonstrate that the teacher shifted from being hyper-focused on the form of guided reading to the actual function of guided reading. Initially, she concentrated on text level, time and planning, and management, which the …

Developing Preservice Teachers’ Critical Literacy Praxis In A Rural Teacher Education Program, Vera Sotirovska, Margaret Vaughn

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This research examined preservice teachers’ beliefs about critical literacy praxis in a rural teacher education program. Using qualitative methods, preservice teachers participated in interviews, reflective engagements, and picture book analysis. Thematic analysis was used to understand preservice teacher reflections on critical literacy, structured around discussions about multicultural literature, and preservice teacher experiences with critical literacy practices in their coursework. This article presents preservice teachers’ beliefs on critical literacy praxis.

Problem Solving Like A Mathematician: Disciplinary Literacy Instruction In Elementary Mathematics, Charlotte Frambaugh-Kritzer, Stephanie Buelow

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study aims to grow the literature by examining the how of disciplinary literacies (DL) elementary mathematics instructional practices in teacher education, which is under-reported. Using qualitative case study methods, we examined how one cohort of elementary preservice teachers (PTs) enacted the DL instructional practices in their field practicum K–6 classrooms. Using a social constructivism perspective, we combined directed content analysis with real-time dialogue and the writing process as analytical tools to examine our data. Data sources included observation notes from the mathematics methods course, observation notes from the field practicum, and multiple artifacts (e.g., post observation oral and written …

Editorial Review Board

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

From Writer To Teacher: The Gradual Release Of Responsibility In An Early Childhood Education Writing Course For Pre-Service Teachers, Denise N. Morgan, Danielle G. Gruhler, Kristen I. Evans

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Teaching students to become confident, capable writers is imperative in today’s world. Growing attention has been paid to the amount and kinds of writing students are experiencing in schools with an urgent plea for more time and attention given to writing instruction (Nagin, 2003; National Commission on Writing, 2003). Yet, few teachers feel well prepared to teach writing.

In this special issue on writing methods courses, we discuss the evolution of our writing methods course for early childhood preservice teachers (PK-5). Specifically, we examine the current pedagogical practices within the course to support preservice teachers’ experiential learning. This piece examines …

Responding To Literature Through Student–Author Interviews: Eighth-Grade Students Challenge Chris Crowe’S Mississippi Trial, 1955, Danielle L. Defauw, Chris Crowe, Christine Burnett

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study explores virtual, student–author interviews eighth-grade students led with Chris Crowe in response to his young adult novel Mississippi Trial, 1955. The opportunity to interview the author motivated students to read the novel. Through their text-world development, students connected with the fictional and nonfictional characters, Hiram Hillburn and Emmett Till, respectively. Through their critical reader-responses, students sought truth about Emmett Till’s case as they questioned Crowe about the choices he made as an author and researcher, which supported students’ understanding of character development and historical significance of Emmett Till’s case. Crowe’s answers to the students’ critical questions were …

Editorial Review Board

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

Supporting Informational Text Comprehension: One Educator’S Scaffolding During Instruction In Kindergarten, Nicole M. Martin

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Educators’ support when using informational text in kindergarten is foundational to children’s comprehension and future learning. Prior research has not offered clear insight into their help when children experience difficulties during informational text comprehension instruction. The current study examined one kindergarten educator’s support. Mrs. Swanson’s teaching was observed two to three times per week for 15 weeks, and lesson artifacts were collected. Discourse analytic coding procedures, constant comparison, and thematic analysis revealed that the educator consistently provided verbal scaffolding but inconsistently supported the individual children who were experiencing comprehension difficulty. An expanded focus on educators’ scaffolding at children’s points of …

“Pockets Of Hope”: Changing Representations Of Diversity In Newbery Medal–Winning Titles, Kathleen A. Paciga, Melanie D. Koss

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Newbery Medal–winning books provide cultural models for children’s developing cultural understandings of themselves and others. This article presents results of a critical content analysis that used sociocultural and historical lenses to examine representations of race/ethnicity, gender, and ability of main characters across the Newbery-winning corpus and how these representations have changed over the history of the award, 1922–2019. Findings present a lack of consistent diverse representation across all fields, with increased diverse representation in the most recent decades. The discussion contextualizes findings against historical events. Understanding the representations of diversity in these texts and the historical contexts within which such …

The Status Of Phonics Instruction: Learning From The Teachers, Sherry Sanden, Deborah A. Macphee, Luminita Hartle, Stephen Poggendorf, Caleb Zuiderveen

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Increasingly alarmed by instructional mandates more founded on journalistic rhetoric and popular opinion than on research findings or practitioner expertise, researchers gathered survey data from teachers to better understand the status of K–2 phonics instruction. Data demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of these K–2 teachers teach phonics, rely on a published curriculum, and teach phonics in systematic and explicit ways. These findings contradict media assertions that reading classrooms are largely devoid of phonics instruction and that teachers fail to include phonics as an important element of their reading instruction. Implications include calls for researchers to explore what teachers can share …

First-Year-Composition Writing Conferences As A Pathway For Becoming Graduate Teaching Assistants, Meng-Hsien (Neal) Liu

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Notwithstanding a veritable avalanche of scholarship in the past decades of the writing conference (WC), these studies tend to concentrate exclusively on the WC engagement done by secondary-school writing instructors or by senior faculty members and/or specialized instructors at the tertiary level. Little has been done on how first-year-composition graduate teaching assistants (FYC GTAs) establish their unique identity roles as GTAs. This current research study, through a qualitative case-study design, aims to further the understanding of two FYC GTAs’ identity formation at a large Midwestern university in the U.S. through the interconnectedness between WCs and institutional spaces. Methods included researcher …

“I Kind Of Pushed Back”: Efficiency And Urgency In A No-Excuses Writing Curriculum, Katie Nagrotsky

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Drawing on the concept of structuring contexts (Berchini, 2016) this article explores a white teacher’s understanding of teaching writing in a no-excuses charter management organization network. Through a deductive analysis, the author traces how the teacher’s beliefs about language were shaped by the CMO’s emphasis on efficiency, influencing how he acted on and adapted centralized curriculum and assessment practices. Documenting the ways that whiteness works within the writing curriculum and assessment practices despite stated broader organizational commitments to culturally relevant teaching, the author shows how the curriculum appropriated texts written by People of Color while the assessment practices prioritized correctness …

Conflict, Politics, And Self-Censorship: Psts And Their Struggles With Writing As Civic-Engagement, Mike P. Cook, Gail Harper Yeilding

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This collective case study of five secondary English language arts (ELA) pre-service teachers (PSTs) examined the ways they used writing as avenues for civic engagement. Two questions guided this inquiry: 1) In what ways does a composition course focused on writing as civic engagement impact PSTs’ views of civically-engaged writing? 2) In what ways does a composition course focused on writing as civic engagement impact PSTs as writers of civically-engaged texts? Findings suggest the PSTs experienced a variety of conflict as writers and future teachers of writing. These conflicts often connected to the PSTs’ struggles to view teachers and teaching …