Education Commons^™

Frozen In Time: The History Of Frozen Food In America During The 1940s To 1950s, Mahyoub N. Gobah

The Exposition

Frozen foods are a powerhouse when it comes to the food industry. In 2020 Frozen foods registered $65.1 billion in US retail sales, which marked a 21% increase when compared to the previous year. Frozen foods have always been big and popular, and they are available in most stores around the world. The history of frozen foods can explain how they became a powerhouse in the present day. Frozen foods history started with the Clarence Birdseye. Clarence Birdseye is considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry; he was able to invent a new way to freeze food. The …

Testing The Knowledge Of Early Childhood Educators, Dianne S. Mccarthy

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Teacher certification exams are supposed to assess if a student is likely to succeed in teaching. What if an exam seems to be inappropriate? This article is an inquiry of the New York State Content Specialty Test for Early Childhood Candidates, particularly the math section. It raises the issue of whether we are asking the right questions and ascertaining the right data to decide if someone has the appropriate math knowledge and is ready to teach math to young children.

Writing And Reading Connections: Giving Value To Both Sides Of The Same Literacy Coin, Zoi A. Traga Philippakos, Penelope Wiese, Adalea Davis

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

The purpose of this article is to comment on ways that writing-reading connections can take place enhancing reading comprehension and composition. Drawing from a genre-based instructional approach, examples are provided to explain such connections in the process of (a) a rhetorical analysis conducted on writing prompts and prior to reading, (b) examination of writing purposes and genres for writing and reading, (c) read alouds for retelling and monitoring meaning making, and (d) of critical reading for reviewing purposes and determination of clarity of written ideas. The article concludes with guidelines for classroom teachers and recommendations for the implementation of the …

Explicit Instruction In A Second Grade Picturebook Author Study, Ted Kesler

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Using the Learning by Design multiliteracies framework, writing workshop was transformed into composing workshop. The researcher worked with a team of four second grade teachers in an urban public elementary school to redesign their Kevin Henkes author study to equally value art and design, guiding their students in creating their own narrative picturebooks. The researcher addresses the following two research questions: 1. What explicit instructional practices did the teachers enact? 2. What influence did these explicit instructional practices have on the second graders’ composing work? The researcher applied cross-case analysis, first to create an inventory of explicit instructional practices, and …

Empathy Throughout The Curriculum: Using Picture Books To Promote Activism & Equity, Kathleen M. Olmstead, Peter Kalenda, Logan T. Rath, Jeffrey Xue, Jie Zhang

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

The authors—a panel of teacher educators, an education librarian, and a high school student activist, share classroom practices, recent research, and scholarship that centers on fostering empathy and activism through picture books as part of culturally relevant-sustaining practices. A variety of new children’s literature and practical ways to incorporate these inclusive picture books across the curriculum are shared. Useful strategies for teachers to locate culturally responsive & sustaining children’s literature and related resources for classroom use are also provided.

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 …

Coaching Teachers Under Duress, Cathy A. Toll

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

At a time when teachers are feeling exceptional amounts of duress, literacy coaches often feel ineffective. However, coaches can be more important than ever when their collaborations increase teachers’ self-efficacy, resiliency, and success with students. This article provides six simple rules that literacy coaches can use to enhance their work and strengthen the effectiveness of their teacher partners: be realistic, respond to teachers, adjust the scale, keep eyes on the prize, make a difference, and stop the spiral. Rooted in theories of complex adaptive systems and research on the needs of teachers in times of stress, the suggestions herein provide …

Reflecting On And Embracing The Complexity Of Literacy Theories In Practice, Christine Lare, Katarina N. Silvestri

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This paper responds to the need to support complexities of literacy instruction by identifying and illustrating teaching strategies used by a practicing special education teacher rooted in a multi-theoretical approach to teaching literacy. We argue the importance of teaching from multiple theoretical standpoints and utilizing student-centered, asset-based approaches to pedagogy, assessment, and learning relating to literacy. We share our multi-theoretical approach to understanding and teaching literacy, defining literacy and its complexities. Then, we illustrate several teaching practices including using growth mindset, implementing asset-based data collection, utilizing feedback, and integrating inquiry-based learning that ultimately supports the cultivation of empowered literacy learners …

Sharing Experiences To Cultivate “A More Open Mind About Teaching”: A Co/Autoethnography Of Pre-Collegiate Teaching Experiences, William Davis, Abigail Julian

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

The purpose of this study was to create a third space between a teacher educator and an undergraduate student to explore teaching experiences while in high school within NFE programs in which we participated. We developed a series of five prompts that we responded to individually, meeting via Zoom to discuss our experiences and teacher learning. Our collaborative and iterative analysis revealed four categories related to our non-formal education teaching experiences: 1) how teacher learning was impacted by particular contexts in which it took place; 2) how our experiences revealed different and broader notions of teaching than we observed in …

Utilizing Video-Based Pedagogical Action Research To Transform Teacher Practice In Elementary And Secondary Classrooms, Kimberly A. Lebak

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This article introduces a video-based pedagogical action research model for primary and secondary teachers. The video-based pedagogical action research model incorporates video as a self-reflective tool to provide opportunities for teachers to utilize concrete artifacts in each phase of the pedagogical action research process. Sixty-seven practicing teachers participated in this qualitative study. Teacher self-reflections completed during the evaluation phase of the process and school administrator surveys were analyzed to evaluate impact of participation in the process. Results provide preliminary evidence that the implementation of the model can lead to shifts in how teachers think about their practice and ultimately lead …

Individualized Clinical Coaching With Bug-In-Ear: Enhancing Fidelity Of Implementation Of Behavior Specific Praise Among Novice Teachers Of Students With Developmental Disabilities In Rural Classrooms, Dennis P. Garland Ph. D.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Five novice special education teachers in rural classrooms received individualized clinical coaching (ICC) via the Internet to increase their use of behavior specific praise (BSP) with their students who had developmental disabilities (DD) during clinical supervision. Web cameras provided opportunities for the teachers to be observed during their regularly scheduled classroom teaching. The participants received brief coaching prompts through a wireless earpiece that they wore while teaching. A single subject multiple baseline across participants design was used to determine if a functional relation existed between the ICC and the rate of BSP use per minute for each of the participants. …

A Failure Of Imagination, W. Jesse Blackstock, William L. White Ph.D.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

In the wake of increased behavioral issues in the peri- and post-COVID environment, schools have resorted to zero-tolerance policies that imposed uniform and predetermined punishments for even the slightest infraction. In this article, the authors argue that these policies represent a failure of imagination that installs punitive policies that do more harm than good. Further, they suggest that restorative justice and/or school-wide positive behavior support systems are better means of creating educational environments in which all students flourish.

Reinforcement Practicality For Middle School Students: A Meta-Analysis, Kelly C. Dreger Ed.D., Steve Downey Ph.D.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

The need for evolving support interventions that can help students in a wide range of settings is an ongoing requirement for middle schools today. Token reinforcement, which is a form of extrinsic motivation and incentivization, is studied within this meta-analysis to determine if significant treatment effects exist overall and if there are studies that show more gains than others. Most studies report significant positive gains individually, but the statistical significance is lost when the studies are reviewed as a whole. Variables such as sample size requirements, treatment effect variation, and session time all influence treatment effect size. Reinforcement has been …

Goal Setting In Kindergarten: Motivating Young Learners To Be Successful In Learning Sight Words, Ashley Brudvig, Taylor Anderson, Jarrett D. Moore

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of goal setting as a motivator for kindergarten students in learning grade-level sight words. This study was conducted over a 6-week period in two Midwestern kindergarten classrooms. The participants in the experimental group were trained in self-setting goals and participated in weekly check-ins and bi-weekly assessments. Themes in motivation were documented using a reflection survey and anecdotal notes. Student growth was tracked using sight word assessments and growth charts. Data suggested participants who set goals achieved higher gains than participants who did not set goals.

Pilot Study Of The Dynamic Early Literacy Framework For Implementation Of Science Of Reading Aligned Instruction, Jaclyn Galbally Ph.D., Nancy Scharff

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

A growing, research-based consensus supports addressing our nation’s literacy crisis through instruction aligned with the Science of Reading (SoR). We recognize, however, that the complexity of SoR content, alongside the multiplicity of instructional decisions and practices, and the unique features of each classroom and school, make simple implementation designs unlikely to achieve desired results. To guide schools in developing higher levels of SoR-aligned early literacy instruction, we developed the Dynamic Early Literacy Framework (DELF). The DELF primarily serves as a framework to guide inquiry and innovation of SoR-aligned early literacy drivers, while documenting progress as well as identifying change priorities. …

Writing Instruction In The Middle Grades: A Cross-Cultural Inquiry Of Teacher Perceptions And Practices In South Korea And The United States, Carrie Eunyoung Hong, Geon-Ah Choi

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Despite its importance in promoting student academic achievement and career development, writing pedagogy has received little emphasis in research and professional development efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher perceptions and practices of writing in the middle grades from a cross-cultural perspective. 16 middle-grade teachers from South Korea and one state within the United States were recruited for a semi-structured interview. Transcripts of the interview responses were analyzed, using a constant comparison method. The findings showed that teachers’ instructional practices in writing were contextualized with their personal and professional knowledge and experiences. Country specific patterns were found …

Developing Strategic Learners: Collaborative Reasoning With Strategy Instruction To Scaffold Debate And Support The Writing Of Arguments, Zoi A. Traga Philippakos

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

The paper explains the role of oral language and dialogic interactions in the development of individual thinking and reasoning processes. Collaborative reasoning and its contribution is explained while examples are shared to illustrate ways to scaffold students’ questioning, meaning making, and writing in the context of read alouds during genre-based writing. A process to support students’ written production that builds on dialogic applications of argumentative discourse is provided, too. Finally, the paper comments on ways that dialogic argumentation scaffolds students’ entry into debate and written argument. Cautionary notes are provided regarding instructional practice and guidelines to teachers.

The Impacts Of Self-Efficacy And Intrinsic Motivation: Mentoring Students To Be Motivated Readers, Vicki L. Luther

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Motivation is a vital element of reading success. However, motivation does not always occur organically; it often takes strategic mentoring for students to be inspired by the prospects of reading. Such mentoring can occur when students can begin to see teachers as fellow readers, and when educators can help students to develop their own, independent goals, passions, and reasons for reading. Based upon Bandura’s social cognitive theory (1997), this article focuses on what research says about the importance of reading motivation and self-efficacy. In addition, the author will give strategies to support student-and teacher-motivation.

"To Get Free": How A Black Girl’S Ways Of Being And Knowing Inform A Literacy Teacher’S Multimodal Pedagogies In An Alternative Secondary Context, Delicia Tiera Greene Ph.D.

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This qualitative inquiry examines how a White literacy teacher learns from and with a Black girl through multimodal composing in an out-of-school, alternative learning context. Data collection instruments include field observations, teacher planning sheets, teacher reflections, and researcher feedback. Multimodal Literacy Pedagogy and Black Girls’ Digital Literacies drove this study. Critical Discourse Analysis was employed to interpret the data. This inquiry accounts for the factors that reposition the role of a literacy teacher while working with a Black girl’s digital story development process. This inquiry found a literacy teacher’s multimodal pedagogies were shaped by a Black girl’s: (1) home, community, …

Book Review Of A Young Writer's World: Creating Early Childhood Classrooms Where Authors Abound., Hannah D. Szatkowski

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

A Young Writer’s World: Creating Early Childhood Classrooms Where Authors Abound (Giles, 2020) provides early childhood educators with the knowledge and resources in order to create an immersive learning environment conducive for developing pre-school and kindergarten’s writing development. This book review evaluates the layout and key components of the text in order to identify the potential implications it could provide within an early childhood classroom.

Process Drama, Play And Popstars: Integrating Expository Writing Rehearsal Opportunities Across The Day In A Fourth Grade Inclusive Classroom, Mary R. Coakley-Fields

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

With increased focus on informational writing and opinion writing in U.S. curriculum, Common Core State Standards, and state standardized tests, upper elementary school teachers need to teach their students to write expository paragraphs and the five-paragraph essay structure. This ethnographic study focused on how one fourth grade teacher of an inclusive classroom integrated playful talk-based activities across each day in support of her students learning to write in the expository genre. Qualitative data were collected, including field notes, interviews, and documents such as lesson plans and student writing. Classroom talk and interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Findings indicate that the …

Initiating Courageous Conversations About Race And Racism With Read-Alouds, Brittany Adams, Annemarie Bazzo Kaczmarczyk

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This article describes a classroom activity developed by two teacher educators to support pre-service teachers in integrating culturally responsive teaching practices with reading methods instruction. The activity tasks pre-service teachers to select culturally authentic children’s texts and design read-alouds that engage elementary students in conversations around race and racism while simultaneously meeting English Language Arts standards. This reimagined classroom practice will be of interests to educators who are seeking resources on how to address culturally relevant topics, such as race and racism, in the classroom.

Changing Terms, Not Trends: A Critical Investigation Into Children’S & Young Adult Literature Publishing & Its Effect In Curriculum & Pedagogy, Keith Newvine, Sarah Fleming

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

The central argument proposed within this article is that while recent publishing trends in children’s and adolescent literature have changed for the better (Cooperative Children’s Book Center, 2019) and research about the importance of diverse reading experiences for students has become concentrated, centered, and validated (Bishop, 1990; Adichie, 2009; Tschida, Ryan, & Ticknor, 2014; Thomas, 2016; Parker, 2020: Ebarvia, German, Parker, & Torres, 2020), many schools are still struggling with (or hesitant to) changing the texts centered in classrooms with youth. Therefore, this article provides practical steps that practicing teachers can take in order to center the voices and narratives …

Think Aloud Modeling: Expert And Coping Models In Writing Instruction And Literacy Pedagogy, Zoi A. Traga Philippakos

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review the utility of think alouds in writing instruction and highlight the function of think-aloud modeling in the development of cognitive and metacognitive strategies that support learners’ independence. For these purposes, modeling with coping is also explained. Coping models, in which teachers encounter challenges and show how to resolve them using specific strategies, are more effective than expert models according to which tasks are completed at a level of mastery. The paper reviews learning theories and focuses on specific practices that can support learners’ self-regulation through the use of models that verbalize …

Review Of Intensive Reading Interventions For The Elementary Grades By Wanzek, Al Otaiba, And Mcmaster, Sarahlee R. Desir

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Abstract

In the book Intensive Reading Interventions for the Elementary Grades, Jeanne Wanzek, Stephanie Otaiba, and Kristen McMaster (2020) provide teachers and literacy strategies intended to help students in tier three interventions, particularly students with intense reading difficulties. The authors wrote each of the eight chapters to be a resource full of research information and instructional strategies on how to help students succeed in various reading difficulty areas. The authors include multiple vignettes dealing with issues that teachers and children with reading difficulties are facing and provide additional resource materials at the end of each chapter to further assist teachers …

Review Of The Vulnerable Heart Of Literacy: Centering Trauma As Powerful Pedagogy., Zipporah Galimore

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

In The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy: Centering Trauma as Powerful Pedagogy (2019), Elizabeth Dutro provides educators with heart-felt, inquiry-based strategies for using trauma as pedagogy in literacy classrooms. This book describes how to situate both educators and children to provide testimony and be critical witnesses in an effort to allow life knowledge, empathy, and wisdom be brought to classroom learning experiences. Dutro uses classroom vignettes and student work samples to illustrate how the concept of trauma as pedagogy can be applied across genres. Experiences and examples of literacy instruction in children's work from several elementary classrooms, from second grade through …

Book Review: Thinking Tools For Young Readers And Writers, Jennifer Steil

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Abstract:

This article offers a book review of Thinking Tools for Young Readers & Writers (2018), by Carol Booth Olson, Angie Balius, Emily McCourtney, and Mary Widtmann. The book presents the cognitive strategies tool kit, which includes strategies such as: planning, goal setting, tapping prior knowledge, asking questions, making predictions, making connections, summarizing, inferencing, forming interpretations, adopting an alignment, monitoring, and clarifying. The teachers share lessons for how they teach these strategies to students in their various grade levels. For each lesson, the authors include research, connections to Common Core State Standards, and examples of classroom lessons putting …

Review Of Pre-K Stories: Playing With Authorship And Integrating Curriculum In Early Childhood, Harmony Petty

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This book review discusses salient themes within Bentley and Souto-Manning’s (2019) Pre-K stories: Playing with authorship and integrating curriculum in early childhood. Bentley and Souto-Manning present a case study of one pre-K classroom in which a teacher-researcher endeavored to honor young children’s strengths and authentic stories as they co-constructed an emergent curriculum together. This text considers researchers and practitioners as it includes theoretical discussions in addition to teacher reflections and classroom vignettes. The first three chapters explore the researchers’ theoretical foundation of emergent curriculum and a sociocultural view of play-based authorship. The following four chapters trace the development of the …

Exploring The Discourses And Identities Of One Aspiring Literacy Specialist, Elizabeth Y. Stevens, Kathleen Hinchman

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Becoming an effective literacy specialist means developing tools to support students’ and teachers’ reading and writing aspirations. They are thought to be self critical and respectful of their students’ and colleagues' strengths, however, this is not easy. This case study examined the discourses and identities of a highly reflective white female teacher who was completing studies to become a literacy specialist. Critical discourse analysis was used as a theory and a method to examine the focal participant’s language-in-use to learn about how she made sense of her world, including her work with students and colleagues. This analysis suggested that she …

Assessment Literacy: Implications For The Literacy Professional, Bobbie Kabuto, Sinead Harmey

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This article explores how the general term of assessment literacy can be specified to the area of reading through the lens of the informal reading inventory, Qualitative Reading Inventory-5. This article will investigate the common misconceptions that teachers, who were enrolled in a graduate program to become state-certified specialized literacy professionals, had when conducting and interpreting the QRI-5. The data that will be presented is from a project that examined the theories that undergird informal reading inventories, and how teachers understood these theories. We will then include recommendations for improving assessment literacy for developing specialized literacy professionals.