Education Commons^™

Shifting The Balance: 6 Ways To Bring The Science Of Reading Into The Upper Elementary Classroom- A Review, Mary-Jo Morse

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

In recent weeks, the New York State Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled her “Back to Basics” plan to improve reading achievement in New York State. As part of her plan, Governor Hochul has proposed that millions of dollars be allocated in the state’s budget to train “20 thousand teachers in Science of Reading Instructional best practices and announced an expansion of SUNY and CUNY’s microcredentialing programs for teachers focused on the Science of Reading.” (Hochul, 2024). With the Science of Reading becoming a major component in reading instruction, this new text, Shifting the Balance: 6 ways to Bring the Science of …

Lessons From The Bluest Eye: The Discovery Of Self, Shanda D. Boone-Hurdle

Virginia English Journal

This article will explore the profound impact of reading, utilizing Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye as a catalyst for students to create real-life connections that resonate with their own experiences. The love of reading is a transformative force that not only enriches the intellectual landscape but also serves as a powerful tool for fostering empathy and understanding. This article will demonstrate how reading empowers students and helps them find solace and strength in the realization that their struggles, dreams, and aspirations are not isolated but are woven into the fabric of a broader narrative in which students can reflect …

Revamped Socratic Seminars: Great Ideas, Morgan Taylor

New Jersey English Journal

Revamped Socratic Seminars called 'Great Ideas' encourage student ownership and active participation. Preparing with open-ended questions and online tools, the approach fosters a learner community and deepens subject understanding, assessed through a tracking system.

Pursuing Happiness: Teaching Scientific-Based Strategies For Subjective Well-Being In The Ela Classroom, Adam V. Piccoli

New Jersey English Journal

Increased rates of mental health issues have hurt student engagement levels. This article offers research-based strategies designed to improve subjective well-being for students. Practical examples of how to apply these strategies in the English Language Arts classroom are provided.

Toward A Theory Of An Integrated Theoretical Approach Of Literacy For Black Boys, Aaron M. Johnson

Michigan Reading Journal

In the education landscape the literacy of Black boys is viewed from deficit framing. Often, educators, politicians, and laypeople point to scores on standardized assessments such as the MSTEP, NAEP, ACT, SAT, and NWEA, these tests only tell a part of the story. The part of the story that those assessments do tell is the abject failure of schools’ ability to engage Black boys in school-based literacy and catapult them into proficient and advanced proficient reading levels. The part of the story that those assessments do not tell is the literate lives that Black boys lead. Furthermore, schools do a …

Great Lakes Great Books: Making Classroom Connections, Lynette Suckow

Michigan Reading Journal

Use stories from the Great Lakes Great Books list to connect readers to the classroom curriculum.

Home Involvement And Reading Achievement On Drop Everything And Read (Dear) At-Home Activities Of Selected Students In A Technical-Vocational School, Dyan S. Escuadra, Joanna Paula A. Francisco, Rita P. Rivera

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

Reading literacy begins at home. Several studies focusing on home involvement showed that the engagement of parents leads to the improvement of their children’s reading achievement during primary school age. However, the changing educational and family landscapes in the Philippines pose a considerable shift in family members’ roles in assuming responsibility regarding learning facilitation at home. This calls for the participation not only of parents but also siblings, grandparents, guardians, or other members of the family, who in this paper are tagged as home reading partners (HRPs). Using a case study design, this study explores the role of home involvement …

More Than Words: Using Children's Literature To Promote Self-Awareness In The Primary Grades, Vicki L. Luther

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Children at the beginning of their formal educational experiences are developing cognitively, socially, and emotionally. However, due to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, many children are behind in these developmental areas. Self-awareness is a foundation of students’ understandings of themselves and the world around them. Without a greater perception of self-awareness, children learning to read in the primary grades might struggle in self-efficacy and motivation, and a lack of self-awareness can even affect students’ understandings of texts in later grades. This article focuses on how teachers can use children’s literature to discuss socioemotional components and to help students recognize …

Staying “Above The Fray” With Julia B. Lindsey’S Insights On Effective Reading Instruction, Troy Hicks, Emma Chappel, Kirstin Fish, Anne Hosking, Jill Johnston, Jodi Juergens, Georgianna Murray, Lindsay Picarski, Heidi Turchan, Meghan K. Block, Chad Waldron

Michigan Reading Journal

In this crowdsourced, collaborative book review, participants in an online book club share their insights on Julia B. Lindsey's 2022 Scholastic Professional text, Reading Above the Fray.

Book Review: The Oldest Student (Literacy - Not Just For Elementary School), Megan R. Brown

Education Insights: Journal of Research and Practice

A review of the book The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read, highlighting the importance of learning to read to access God’s written word, a skill that has no age limit.

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.

Culturally Relevant Teaching For The 21st Century: The Success And Challenges Of Pre-Service Teachers When Using Technology In Critical Ways, Virginie Jackson, Stacy Delacruz, Dominique Harry

Georgia Journal of Literacy

This case study examined pre-service teachers' use of technology as they implemented culturally relevant literacy lessons while tutoring elementary students in their field placement sites. As we enter a new decade, we want our students to be future-ready with technology skills. Here, we present an examination of how pre-service teachers integrated culturally relevant teaching with technology along with a discussion of the tools and devices their students used. Findings provided evidence that as pre-service teachers experienced authentic and engaging learning experiences within a supportive space, they emerged equipped to teach in culturally responsive ways that supported student learning and deeper …

Writing For Comprehension: How Does Writing Influence Informational Reading Comprehension In The Elementary Classroom?, Tori Golden Hughes, Roya Q. Scales, W. David Scales

Literacy Practice and Research

This quantitative study was conducted through a school and university partnership. Data from benchmark reading assessments and writing rubrics were gathered over five weeks in a third-grade classroom in the rural mountains of the southeastern United States. Results indicate student growth in reading comprehension and writing. Findings confirm the positive correlation between reading and writing, which suggests integrating explicit reading and writing instruction supports students’ reading comprehension. Based on these findings, we suggest ways teachers can improve reading comprehension skills, blend reading and writing instruction, and pique student interest through an informational writing unit.

Comparing Three Different Vocabulary Teaching Techniques For Retention, Nermin Punar-Ozcelik, Levent Uzun

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

In relation to all languages, communication is the key concept, so vocabulary and grammar are the basis of communication. There have been conducted some studies considering the effect of different techniques on vocabulary retention. However, these studies are mostly limited not to integrate skill-based activities to language teaching techniques for effective vocabulary retention. Based on this gap, the present study aimed to discover the differences among three vocabulary learning and teaching techniques integrated with skill-based activities (reading only, pictured reading with writing, and video watching with speaking) for vocabulary retention. Pre-experimental research was carried out, and the treatment based on …

Carrying The Stories Of Las Mariposas: Literacy As Collective And Transformative, Deborah Vriend Van Duinen

Michigan Reading Journal

Literacy is often understood as the acquisition of individual skills and knowledge. In this essay, I explore different approaches to understanding literacy that focus on social meaning-making and action. Drawing on historical examples of literacy learning and my recent experiences in a community-wide reading program focused on Julia Alvarez’s (1994) In the Time of the Butterflies, I use the concept of “carrying stories” to reflect on how literacy learning can be collective and transformative for self and society.

Learning To Adapt: Redesigning Ela Instruction While Student Teaching During Covid-19, Elizabeth A. Morphis

New Jersey English Journal

Preservice teachers who were student teaching in the Spring of 2020 were faced with unprecedented challenges, however, they were also presented with many learning opportunities. This article considers the perspectives of the newest members of the teaching profession and how they adapted ELA instruction during COVID-19.

Uniting In A Reading Education Course To Support Mental Health Awareness During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Latasha Holt, Teesha Finkbeiner

New Jersey English Journal

This article discusses a unique attempt to support pre-service teachers in a reading course as they grappled with abrupt changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. A partnership raised awareness of mental health impacting pre-service teachers in the present and serving students in the future improving academic success.

Reading: The Key To Addressing Students’ Social Emotional Needs In The Time Of Covid-19, Kathleen A. Adler

New Jersey English Journal

This article examines students engaging in purposeful independent reading and its effects on students’ social emotional well-being. The areas of focus include: creating a culture of reading, the physical and social benefits of reading, and how we can support our students by having empathy in the time of Covid-19.

Should Reading Be A Core Class In Middle School?, Irica R. Dunkley

Essays in Education

This article discusses the value of reading as a core class in middle school. Research has shown that Language Arts, tasked with reading instruction, is insufficient for the development of the reading ability of middle students. Students are also expected to develop their reading skills through other core classes, such as Science, Social Studies, and Mathematics, but the development of reading ability is secondary in these classes. On the contrary, reading as a core class could improve reading achievement as it would be mandatory and provide all middle school students with explicit reading instruction by trained reading teachers.

Autoethnographies Of Reading As An Occupation, Catherine Candler, Randa Mikeska, Kendall Lacy, Nancy Elliott, Audrey Huddleston

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: The conceptualization of reading as an occupation is an emerging area, and guides for occupational focus in reading intervention are incompletely formed. We explored our own experiences with reading and awareness of reading as a personal occupation for perspectives to inform our practice.

Methods: We used autoethnography to capture our five separate experiences. These experiences were analyzed collectively for themes using the lens of occupation as framed by the model of occupational adaptation.

Results: Across our experiences, occupational patterns, products, and meaning were identified. Themes in patterns of reading highlighted the challenges of the academic setting …

Lectura En Crisis: La Importancia De La Experiencia De Lo Sensible, Pablo Álvarez F

Revista Electrónica Leer, Escribir y Descubrir

La lectura es una práctica que tiene mucho de sensorial, no solo por la decodificación de los signos, sino también por otros elementos asociados a la práctica que la enriquecen. Cuando se trata de libros dirigidos a niños y niñas, la experiencia de lectura se hace aún más sensitiva: las materialidades de las publicaciones, sus dimensiones, el tipo de papel, los elementos adicionales en sus tapas, la encuadernación, entre otros elementos, enriquecen la experiencia sensible de lectura. El aumento de las publicaciones digitales provocados por la reciente crisis sanitaria, y la tentación por digitalizarlo todo, ponen en juego estas experiencias …

Biblioteca Se Sentanemililis. La Experiencia De Una Biblioteca Comunitaria Desde Las Voces De Sus Actores, Guadalupe López Hernández

Revista Electrónica Leer, Escribir y Descubrir

El presente artículo comparte el proyecto de una biblioteca comunitaria, ubicada en una comunidad rural e indígena de México, desde las voces de quienes la idearon y construyeron; de los niños que la frecuentan y de los jóvenes responsables de atenderla. La historia “única” de la lectura que prevalece en el discurso hegemónico es la de una actividad escolar o de intelectuales, recientemente de actores o deportistas. Sin embargo, las prácticas de lectura son muchas y muy variadas, pero los discursos oficiales han legitimado solo algunas, invisibilizado otras que no son menos valiosas o legítimas y han creado falsas imágenes …

El Desarrollo De La Lectura Y La Escritura Académicas En La Dirección De Tesis Doctorales, Mercedes Zanotto González

Revista Electrónica Leer, Escribir y Descubrir

El presente trabajo tiene la finalidad, por una parte, de argumentar la relevancia de favorecer el desarrollo de la lectura y la escritura académicas durante la formación doctoral mediante el proceso de dirección de tesis y, por otra, de abordar las propuestas generadas a partir de la investigación que aportan intervenciones educativas que el director de tesis puede llevar a cabo para coadyuvar a dicho desarrollo. En esta lógica, al inicio de este trabajo se describen características relevantes de la lectura y de la escritura académicas durante la investigación doctoral, luego se especifican las dificultades que enfrentan los estudiantes de …

Innovations And Critical Issues In Teaching And Learning, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2020

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

Complete text of Innovations and Critical Issues In Teaching and Learning, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2020.

Helping Students Choose A Reading Frame: Three Ways Of Teaching Jacqueline Woodson’S Harbor Me, Emily S. Meixner, Anne Peel

New Jersey English Journal

Choice and autonomy in ways of reading are just as important as choice and autonomy in what to read. Teaching students different frames for reading novels provides students with essential tools for making meaning of texts. This article explores three frames using the middle grade novel Harbor Me.

Incarcerated Fathers’ Experiences In The Read To Your Child/Grandchild Program: Supporting Children’S Literacy, Learning, And Education, Esther Prins, Tabitha Stickel, Anna Kaiper-Marquez

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

In response to rising parental incarceration, some correctional facilities and outside organizations offer family literacy programs for parents in prison. However, research on these correctional education initiatives is scant. This paper uses qualitative data to analyze how 11 fathers in a rural Pennsylvania prison were involved in their children’s literacy, learning, and education before and during incarceration and through the Read to Your Child/Grandchild (RYCG) program. Before RYCG, most fathers had taken steps such as reading to children, teaching reading and math, attending parent-teacher conferences, helping with homework, and singing and rhyming—and then sought to continue supporting their children’s learning …

A Comparative Study Of The Effects Of Computer-Assisted Instruction On The Reading Achievement Of First Graders, Tracy Renae Hudson, Linda Reeves, Rebecca M. Giles, Lauren R. Brannan

Georgia Journal of Literacy

With reading proficiently by the end of third grade as a common goal, many school districts are exploring options to enhance early reading instruction. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the supplemental, computer-assisted reading program i-Ready would significantly affect first grade students’ reading achievement. Participants (n=159) were first graders at two elementary schools - treatment (n= 82) and comparison n= 77). An independent samples t-test was used to compare the mid-year reading achievement scores of the treatment and comparison groups and found no statistically significant differences between groups. Following 10 weeks of twice-weekly 45-minute sessions of …

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.

Learning To Teach Reading Responsively Through Tutoring, Jodi Nickel, Scott Frederick Hughes

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This article describes a community service learning collaboration between a teacher education program and a nonprofit literacy society. Seventeen teacher candidates (TCs) tutored young readers weekly for seven months as part of their course-related field experience and completed reflective assignments analyzing their own learning and the learning of their tutees. The study demonstrates how the tutoring experience enhanced the pedagogical competence of TCs (kid-watching, assessment, instruction, responsiveness, professional conversations, and affirmation of impact). These findings align with contemporary research in literacy teacher preparation, which identifies that the combination of coursework and tutoring is effective in promoting the integration of TC …

Effect Of Student Teams-Achievement Divisions And Think–Pair–Share On Students’ Interest In Reading Comprehension, Eucharia Okwudilichukwu Ugwu

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The study investigated the effect of two cooperative learning strategies (the student teams-achievement divisions and think–pair–share methods) on students’ interest in reading comprehension. Seventy-eight senior secondary II students were randomly selected from three schools in Vandeikya Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria. A pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design was adopted. The Interest in Reading Inventory (R = 0.09) was the instrument used. Two hypotheses were tested at .05 levels of significance. Three intact classes were randomly assigned as Experimental Group 1, Experimental Group 2, and the control group. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, and analysis of …