Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Blogging On K-12 Student Learning: Engagement, Self-Expression, And Higher-Order Thinking, Brian Mcgurk

Graduate Research Papers

Blogging has become an increasingly important instructional tool in education. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the impact of blogging on K-12 student learning with special emphasis on engagement, self-expression, and higher-order thinking. The review analyzed thirty scholarly articles that incorporated perspectives on best practices associated with blogging. Special attention was given to empirical research with sound research design, and the scope was limited to sources published between 2004 and 2014. The results of the review find that blogging can increase student engagement by cultivating a student-centered online environment that motivates students to write for an audience. …

An Investigation Of Adolescent Boys' Dispositions Toward Leisure Reading, Julie Barnett

Graduate Research Papers

When children are very young, they seem to enjoy books. However, as they grow older, those positive feelings about books and reading begin to change for some students. Some studies agree that it is in middle school or adolescence that this change often occurs, and it most often occurs in boys. This study had two purposes: to investigate the factors that may influence adolescent boys' attitudes toward books and reading and their changes from elementary to middle school and to identify activities or events that evoke a positive response toward reading among adolescent boys.

This qualitative descriptive study gathered data …

We The People: Elementary Pre-Service Teachers And Constitutional Readability, Lori T. Meier, Karin Keith, Edward J. Dwyer

ETSU Faculty Works

In light of increasing mandates to incorporate close reading of primary source historical documents at the elementary level, this study explored the reading difficulty level of the US Constitution with preservice elementary teachers using a traditional cloze assessment procedure. While best practice pedagogy of social studies has long included thoughtful reading of primary sources, new language arts guidelines situate the analysis of primary documents within formulaic quantifiable frameworks, often problematic to the pre-service teacher. With implications for reading and social studies, this paper explores several relevant issues to both pre-service teachers and the elementary classrooms they will teach in.

Bringing John Green To Schools: Incorporating Young Adult Literature In A Secondary English Language Arts Classroom, Emily Adams

HIM 1990-2015

As educators and administrators continue to struggle with the low literacy proficiency rates in this country, a new genre of literature is making its way into the classroom. Young Adult Literature, such as the works of John Green, are becoming a more familiar sight inside the classroom. However, some parents, educators, and members of the school districts are not happy with this new trend. In the last year, alone, young adult books have been challenged hundreds of times in hopes of getting them removed from the classroom and library. I believe that these books need to stay in the schools, …

Exploring And Evaluating The Pedagogical Usefulness Of Online Public Language Corpora: A Guide For Esl/Efl Teachers, Karlyn Koughan-Thornburg

All Master's Theses

In recent years, ESL and EFL teachers have experimented with using language corpora as pedagogical tools. Corpora have proved useful for providing examples of authentic language use that help deepen both students' and teachers' understanding of contemporary English. Due to the increasing number of available online corpora, teachers who wish to use corpora as pedagogical tools may find the choices overwhelming. This study compared three online corpora of Contemporary American English in terms of their usability for certain types of searches. The corpora chosen for this study were the Google Books Ngram Corpus, the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English …

Teaching Undergraduates How To Analyze, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Rosalind Raymond Gann

ETSU Faculty Works

Analysis is typically listed in taxonomies of higher order thinking. Academics consider these taxonomies worthwhile, but they are hard to teach and we are apt to ignore them. Today higher education is criticized for “dumbing down” curriculum or lowering standards. To rectify this, many policies at the state or national level are requiring higher education institutions to change. In K-12 education, Race to the Top and Common Core requirements are placing new demands on K-12 teacher preparation, which include evaluation of the analysis skills of pre-service teachers. But professors do not always view their disciplines as the proper place for …

Encouraging Literacy And Mathematics Achievement Through Study Of Real Estate, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Lori T. Meier, Karin J. Keith, Erin E. Doran, Edward J. Dwyer

ETSU Faculty Works

The era of high stakes testing often puts pressure on teachers and administrators to deemphasize creative activities not perceived as directly related to improving test scores. Alternatively, the authors propose that using environmental text is essential for encouraging overall learning competencies in general and reading/writing/ and mathematical achievement in particular. The authors propose that using real estate booklets can be helpful in generating learning activities in literacy, social studies, and mathematics. In addition, integrating music and art comfortably accompanies strategies presented. Real estate booklets are colorful, rich in content, and readily available at no expense.

The Reading And Writing Connection: Merging Two Reciprocal Content Areas, Renee Moran, Monica Billen

ETSU Faculty Works

The purpose of this article is make connections between two content areas, reading and writing, which have traditionally been separated and consider the relationship between their theoretical underpinnings. Based on their reciprocal nature, the authors posit that students could greatly benefit by reading and writing being taught simultaneously. Relying on this premise, this article provides the reader with three practical strategies that could be applied in the literacy classroom to intertwine reading and writing. These practical strategies include: classroom blogs, graphic depictions, and pen pal responses to literature.

Generative Learning Strategy Use And Self-Regulatory Prompting In Digital Text, Alan J. Reid, Gary R. Morrison

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The digital revolution is shifting print-based textbooks to digital text, and it has afforded the opportunity to incorporate meaningful learning strategies and otherwise separate metacognitive activities directly into these texts as embedded support. A sample of 89 undergraduates read a digital, expository text on the basics of photography. The treatment prompted the reader with selfregulatory questions and embedded a generative strategy, paraphrasing, and confirmed previous research on the relationships between prior knowledge and level of self-regulation on reading comprehension.

A one-way between subjects ANOVA revealed significance for the level of self-regulation on comprehension-level items and for the level of prior …

Equitable Written Assessments For English Language Learners: How Scaffolding Helps, Marcelle A. Siegel, Deepika Menon, Somnath Sinha, Nattida Promyod, Cathy Wissehr, Kristy L. Halvorson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This study investigated the effects of the use of scaffolds in written classroom assessments through the voices of both native English speakers and English language learners from two middle schools. Students responded to assessment tasks in writing, by speaking aloud using think aloud protocols, and by reflecting in a post-assessment interview. The classroom assessment tasks were designed to engage students in scientific sense making and multifaceted language use, as recommended by the Next Generation Science Standards. Data analyses showed that both groups benefited from the use of scaffolds. The findings revealed specific ways that modifications were supportive in helping students …

Using Interactive Reading Techniques With Word World To Enhance Emergent Literacy, James B. Godfrey

Theses and Dissertations in Early Childhood Education

Facets of emergent literacy such as phonological awareness (PA) and alphabet knowledge (AK) are precursors to later conventional literacy (Dockrell, Stuart & King, 2010; Neuman & Dwyer, 2009; NELP, 2008). Interactive reading techniques such as dialogic reading (Whitehurst et al., 1988) and explicit print referencing (Piasta et al., 2012; Justice et al., 2010) have been used effectively with printed text to enhance emergent literacy. This quasi-experimental study was designed to determine the extent to which interactive reading techniques combined with the viewing of educational television may enhance facets of emergent literacy such as PA and AK. A convenience sample of …

Textbook Aliteracy In Teacher Education: Information Everywhere, But How Much Do They Read?, Rosalind R. Gann, L. Kathryn Sharp, Scott Mcilquham

ETSU Faculty Works

This article explores the problem of textbook aliteracy, i.e. the failure to read assigned texts despite the ability to do so. Constructivism is its theoretical frame. Teacher education students at a medium-sized university in the Southern Appalachian Mountains were surveyed on their textbook reading practices. Ninety percent of the 116 students completing the survey reported studying instructors’ power points in preference to completing assigned readings, at least some of the time. All were readers, though a majority (68%) reported at least some difficulty reading assigned texts. Often, they appeared to be avoiding the challenges posed by demanding text. The authors …

Gjr Volume 36 Number 2 Fall 2013, Christine Draper, Lina Soares

The Georgia Journal of Reading Archive

The Georgia Journal of Reading's Fall 2013 issue includes:

Message from the Editors by Lina B. Soares and Christine A. Draper (pg. 4)

President’s Page by Loleta Sartin (pg. 5)

Helping Strugling Readers Track Their Own Learning Growth by Susan Szabo (pg. 6)

The ABCs of Literacy: Creating Excitement About Learning Through Reading, Writing and Poetry in an Early Learning College Literacy Session by Anne Katz (pg. 11)

Close Reading of Informational Texts: Assessment-Driven Instruction in Grades 3-8 by Lina B. Soares and Christine A. Draper (pg. 17)

Teaching Academic Vocabulary K-8: Effective Practices Across the Curriculum by Christine A. …

Improving Metacomprehension And Calibration Accuracy Through Embedded Cognitive And Metacognitive Strategy Prompts, Alan J. Reid

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

A societal shift from print-based to digital texts has afforded the ability to embed reader support within an instructional text. Numerous factors make eBooks an attractive option for colleges and universities, though undergraduates consistently reaffirm a preference for print-based materials. Given that many undergraduates arrive to college with a deficiency in reading comprehension skills and metacognitive awareness, digital text is able to offer an additional layer of support. A sample population of college undergraduates (N = 80) read an expository text on the basics of photography in the form of a fill-in field PDF. The most robust treatment (mixed) read …

Meeting The Communities Standard Through Language Exchange Via Video-Based Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication And Effects On Motivation Of First-Year Spanish Language Learners, Emily Andrews

Theses and Dissertations

Current research supports a link between the foreign language Communities standard, learner motivation, and the use of computer-mediated communication in the language classroom. The Communities standard, although it is the least addressed in classrooms, calls for learners to interact with the target language community. Research into motivation has found that learners react positively to the use of communication technologies in the classroom and the opportunity to use the target language for authentic communication with native speakers. However, few studies have been done to assess how connecting with target language community members through online video-based conversation affects learner motivation. This study …

Reader's Theater For Deaf Students: A Tool For Developing Literacy Skills, Caroline Suggs

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Reader's theater is a method used in classrooms to encourage the development of literacy skills. Research has shown that the use of reader's theater in a classroom is linked to increased fluency, increased comprehension of text, and positive attitudes towards reading. Because research also shows that Deaf people are often delayed regarding literacy in English, a unit employing this method serves to bridge the gap between expected and actual levels of English literacy among deaf students. Intended for use with Deaf middle school students who sign, this unit of reader's theater is a plausible option in a bilingual approach since …

The Best Practices For Teaching Writing To Postsecondary Students With Acquired Brain Injuries, Julianne Candio Sekel

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Because the writing abilities of postsecondary students with acquired brain injuries (ABI) are often determined by the student’s age when the injury was acquired, the severity of the injury, the amount of time that has passed since the injury, and the quality of the student’s writing education before the injury, it is impossible to generalize the best strategies to assist students with ABI in writing. However, through a review of existing literature on teaching writing to students with ABI, the relationship between oral and written discourse, expressive writing, educational intervention, and assistive technologies, this study presents a list of recommendations …

The Transformative Potential Of Boundary Spanners: A Narrative Inquiry Into Preservice Teacher Education And Professional Development In An Nclb-Impacted Context, David Whitenack, Patricia Swanson

Faculty Publications

This narrative inquiry uses pedagogic discourse theory and organization theory to frame pre-service teacher education and in-service professional development initiatives in a school district facing tensions related to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Implications for similar future initiatives are considered.

The Effect Of Public Pre-Kindergarten Attendance On First Grade Reading And Social Achievement: A District Level Analysis, Michael James Haslip

Theses and Dissertations in Early Childhood Education

The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between attending a school district Pre-K program and children's later literacy and behavior outcomes in the beginning and middle of first grade. Children's text level, letter-sound identification, sight words, spelling and citizenship skills were measured. The study included 880 children who attended the division Pre-K program and 176 children who attended no formal or institutional preschool of any kind. Selection bias was addressed through propensity score matching, completed using optimal matching. Independent-samples t tests were run on literacy and behavior measures. Subgroup analysis was performed to test the effect of …

Teaching Undergraduates How To Analyze, Ryan Andrew Nivens, Rosalind Raymond Gann

ETSU Faculty Works

Analysis is typically the first of the higher functions listed in taxonomies of higher order thinking. Academics consider these upper categories extremely worthwhile, but they are hard to teach and we are apt to ignore them. Today higher education is being criticized for “dumbing down” curriculum or lowering standards. To rectify this, many policies at the state or national level are requiring higher education institutions to change. In K‐12 education, Race to the Top and Common Core requirements are placing new demands on K‐12 teacher preparation, which include evaluation of the analysis skills of pre‐service teachers. But professors do not …