Elementary Education Commons^™

Building Online Writing Community Through Other-Oriented Lenses In An Era Of Crisis, Kristin A.K. Sovis

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This narrative describes how an undergraduate writing teacher educator’s personal response to the COVID-19 pandemic influenced her approach to working with writing methods students. The piece outlines her process for supporting students’ social-emotional and academic needs as the classroom community’s work shifted from face-to-face class meetings and K-5 clinical placements to the online space. Important to this process is building on the course's previously covered course content to re-imagine with students the approaches, routines, and procedures for the now online-only writing community.

Blended Learning Showing Gains, Jessica Lynn Becker

Graduate Teacher Education

In light of what is known about how children learn and the use of technology in society, blended learning is proving to be an effective teaching strategy to improve student academic achievement. Blended learning is a combination of digital technology with face-to-face direct instruction. The purpose of blended learning instruction is to combine the benefits of face-to-face direct instruction with the personalization and collaboration of digital technology. Blended learning comes in many different models that meet the many needs of teachers and school districts. It has succeeded in improving student academic achievement in different subject areas by allowing students to …

Primary School Pupils’ Perceptions On Narrative Model Essays In An Esl Classroom, Kanniappan Jamuna

Student Works (2020-2029)

Writing problems faced by Malaysian primary school pupils have led the teachers to find a way to help them in their writing ability. One of the strategies teachers have had is to use model essays in the writing classroom. This study examines the use of narrative model essays in a writing classroom in a school in Selangor. This study aims to identify the aspects of language which second language learners notice in reference to narrative model essays and gather insights regarding pupils’ perceptions on the use of narrative model essays in their narrative essay writing. The theoretical framework that underlines …

Making Summer Learning Equitable For Students In A Rural, Title I School District: Turning On The Faucet Of Resources, Kathrina M. O'Connell

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

This research explores summer learning loss and the effect of summer resources on students’ literacy growth. Using the faucet theory, this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was designed to provide equitable resources and educational support for students in grades five through eight in a rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged school district. Transportation, breakfast, lunch, books, and a literacy-focused enrichment program were coordinated and provided for all participants in an effort to reduce learning loss during summer break. The pragmatic approach to inquiry incorporated both quantitative (e.g., literacy outputs, registration, and attendance data) and qualitative data (e.g., parent open-ended question responses). Convenience sampling …

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

Innovations and Critical Issues in Teaching and Learning

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

Breaking Silence: The Voices Of Syrian Refugee Children In The Canadian Classroom, Sara Shahbazi, Alyssa Palazzolo, Geri Salinitri

Journal of Global Education and Research

The researchers in the study explored the lived experiences of Syrian refugee students in the Canadian classroom. The participant sample included four students who entered their first year in a South-western Ontario public school as of the 2015-2016 calendar year. Data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Analysis of results indicated the District’s growing need for understanding refugee students using a holistic approach, utilizing and building peer relationships for language acquisition, and recognizing the effects of the structure of the learning environment on student experiences.

Investigando Los Éxitos Y Las Dificultades De Implementar Un Programa De Inmersión Dual A Través De Las Perspectivas De Tres Administradores, Victoria E. Slaybaugh

World Languages and Cultures

This Modern Languages and Literatures senior project investigates and analyses the successes and struggles of implementing a dual immersion program through interviews with three dual immersion principles. In interviewing three highly experienced administrators, ample information was collected on why some programs are prosperous while others see little success. Each individual principal had unique and valuable input, especially with regard to why their respective schools changed programs from 50/50 to 90/10, why they implemented K-12, and even why they chose to eliminate the program entirely. Using supplemental studies to more thoroughly examine the historical and social context of dual immersion, this …

Teaching Children To Decode Words: Connected Versus Segmented Phonation, Selenid M. Gonzalez-Frey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Two methods of decoding instruction were compared. Kindergartners who could not decode nonwords participated in the study, N = 38, M = 5.6 years. Segmented phonation, frequently used in synthetic phonics programs, taught students to convert graphemes to phonemes by breaking the speech stream (“sss – aaa – nnn”) before blending. Connected phonation taught students to pronounce phonemes without breaking the speech stream (“sssaaannn”) before blending. Kindergartners were matched and randomly assigned to the two conditions. Both groups were taught to decode the same set of CVC nonwords consisting of continuant consonants and vowels that could be stretched and connected …

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 …

The Beliefs And Practices Of Second Grade Teachers Who Implement Independent Reading And Its Effect On Students’ Reading Achievement And Reading Volume, Lauren R. Brannan, R Burke Johnson, Rebecca M. Giles, Andrea M. Kent

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

The purpose of the present study was to explore the beliefs and practices of teachers who implement independent reading in their classrooms. Results showed that teachers who implemented independent reading believed in the importance of both the quantity and quality of student reading. The teachers’ practices of independent reading showed students selecting books that were “just-right” for them to read, social experiences around reading, guided practice through reading conferences with the teacher, and setting a purpose for reading through response activities. A nonexperimental comparative design was used to examine the effects of independent reading on reading volume and reading achievement. …

Developing Strategic Learners: Supporting Self-Efficacy Through Goal Setting And Reflection, Zoi A. Traga Philippakos

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

When students face academic challenges, when they receive poor grades on a subject, and when they see unchanged performance -even though they put effort on a task- they often develop the belief that they are not capable of overcoming challenges. Continuous underperformance affects students’ self-efficacy and belief that success is an achievable goal. The purpose of this paper is to explain the process of goal setting with continuous reflection to support students’ writing growth and persistence. The paper further comments on teachers’ goal setting for instructional and professional goals in order to support their instructional delivery and their growth as …

Reader Self-Perceptions And Map Reading Scores: Is There A Relationship?, Acacia Browne

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

Academic growth of all students should be the focus of education. The Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment measures academic growth and aligns to state standards. The purpose of this study was to understand students’ perceptions of themselves as readers. Another purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between reader self perceptions and their MAP reading scores. Student data was collected through individual interviews, student surveys, and MAP reading assessment scores. The major themes developed from the data were reading preferences, perceptions of reading assessment, reading at school, reading at home, and reading progress perceptions. …

Implementing Writers’ Workshop Into The Special Education Classroom, Taylor Denning

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

Writers’ Workshop has developed prominence as a method towards providing authentic writing experiences. The purpose of this study was to determine what happens to student perceptions and quantity of writing when Writers’ Workshop is implemented into a special education setting. This study took place in a self-contained special education classroom of third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders. Data was collected through focus group interviews with the teachers, focus groups with two students from every grade, perception surveys, and writing samples.

Surveys and focus group interviews were completed before and after the implementation. Writing samples were collected at the beginning, middle, and end …

Little Girl In The Country: A Children's Book, Holly Mcginnis

Honors Theses

A Work of Children’s Literature to Address Realities of Childhood in the Southern United States

This thesis investigated the intersection of life’s realities and children’s literature. Representation is an oft-talked-about area of children’s literature. It is coming to light that many groups are underrepresented in writings for children, and recent works are attempting to broaden the types and backgrounds of characters to represent the diversity of readers and authors. This thesis is the author’s attempt to accurately represent the types of students she encountered in student teaching experiences in the Oxford-area. Using inspiration from her own childhood and knowledge of …

Supporting Biracial Students Through An Equity Lens: Multicultural Literature And Advocacy In School Libraries, Jacqueline Ahlborn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biracial students make up a substantial allocation of the school population, and their demographics are only expected to increase within the coming years. With this emergence of a larger Biracial community, schools need to consider how they will implement equitable resources and practices to meet the needs for this unique population. School librarians, serving as instructional leaders, can provide the necessary materials and strategies to support their students who are Biracial in order to foster positive racial identity. The purpose of this study is to explore school librarians’ perspectives on the influence of multicultural literature on students’ acceptance and understanding …

Efficacy Of Response To Intervention For Students Struggling With Reading, Emily J. Warburton

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Response to intervention (RTI) has increased in popularity in schools recently as a means of helping students according to their responsiveness to 3 different tiers of intervention: general classroom instruction, small group instruction, and individual instruction. Using a PsychInfo search, we examined articles to determine the how well the current RTI model fulfills its intended purpose in providing remedial reading instruction to struggling children, teacher perceptions of the system, and what changes could improve the model in coming years. For elementary aged students, we found that RTI has helped students achieve grade-level benchmarks. For secondary school students, there is much …

Students' Attitudes Towards Standardized Testing: A Literature Review, Kelly Gard

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

Standardized testing is a task that all students must undertake during their educational careers. Standardized tests are large determinants to course placements, exceptionality placements, grades, school sanctions or rewards, and education policy. It is imperative that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed on standardized tests. However, bias, stress, and anxiety in standardized testing often hinders the opportunity for many students to excel on the tests.

The purpose of this literature review is to discuss the research conducted on standardized testing bias which includes the prevalence of testing bias as well as the causes and types of testing bias. …

The Language Outcomes Of Hmong Dual-Language Immersion Program, Chao Vang

Doctorate in Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a K-12 Hmong dual-language immersion program on kindergarten through fifth-grade Hmong students’ academic performance in the category of reading Hmong and English. Moreover, the parents of those students were investigated concerning specific factors they used in choosing a dual-language immersion program for their child. Hmong bilingual students have different perspectives about their cultural identities, retaining the Hmong culture, and learning English when the Hmong language was used as the instructional language. It was also imperative to determine the most prevalent factor that parents consider when selecting a program with …

Letter From The Editor

Georgia Journal of Literacy

A Letter from the Editor

A Book Review Of The Writing Strategies Book, Dale Suzanne Ioannides

Georgia Journal of Literacy

Instructional Coach Dale Ioannides shares a review of Jennifer Sarravallo's The Writing Strategies book.

About The Authors

Georgia Journal of Literacy

Read this to learn more about this issue's authors.

Teacher Expectations, Self-Efficacy, And Collective Efficacy In Three Tennessee Literacy Networks, Amanda Tinker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the dependent variables- teacher expectations, self-efficacy, and collective efficacy among the three levels of the independent variable- membership in one three literacy networks in Tennessee- Leading Innovation for Tennessee (LIFT), Read to Be Ready Coaching Network (RTBR), and Tennessee Early Literacy Network (TELN)- and if significant correlations existed between the dependent variables for each network. The population consisted of 161 K-3 Tennessee teachers who had been involved in the work of one of the three networks. Participants responded to an online survey via Google …

Educator Researched Methods And Interventions That Increase Below Level Readers’ Fluency And Comprehension, Shawnee Knott, Shannon Tovey

Georgia Journal of Literacy

A student walks into a classroom multiple grades below grade level and already on day one that student is behind and will most likely be behind their entire school year. Many teachers are faced with this scenario year after year. Students entering their classrooms unprepared for the on-level content they need to be on. Reading below grade level is just the beginning of the learning gap that exists in today’s classrooms. Teachers work hard to close that gap, but by upper elementary is it too late? What can teachers do to help these students grow and become successful learners?

This …

What’S Next For Literacy Education In Georgia? An Interview With Dr. Caitlin Dooley, Deputy Superintendent, Georgia Department Of Education, Shannon Tovey Howrey

Georgia Journal of Literacy

An interview with Dr. Caitlin Dooley

Books And Bagels 2020 Bibliography, Emma Gisclair

Handouts and Brochures

The Curriculum Materials Center’s Books and Bagels event is an annual book talk of some of the best books of the previous year. This bibliography is a list of the staff’s favorite and notable books of 2019, with a brief description of each book. It includes titles for grades PreK-12—picture books, young adult and middle grade fiction, graphic novels, and nonfiction. Original event held on March 5, 2020.

Story Squad: Connecting Books, Standards, And Literature Circles, Leslie Cowell

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Story Squad was developed after experiencing the use of Literature Circles in a fourth grade classroom. Students enjoyed the idea, but the jobs themselves and process were not engaging. Story Squad presents roles for connecting to literature after giving students “a mission” to solve. Roles expand past the traditional Literature Circle roles and directly connect to state standards. Can be used and adapted for 3-8^th grade.

Behavioral, Cognitive, And Health Benefits Of Walking While Listening To Educational Podcasts, Debra D. Ives

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This session will highlight the behavioral, health and cognitive benefits of walking while listening to educational podcasts. Improvement is learning, mood and healthy habits result. Attendees will get to experience these benefits first hand when they go for a walk listening to a Walking Classroom podcast. Attendees will Walk. Listen. And Learn.

Read, Write, Rhyme: Increasing Reading Performance With Hip-Hop Texts, Crystal Monique Lavoulle

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation describes the Harlem Renaissance to Hip Hop Movement, a literacy program that uses best practices in literacy instruction to improve reading comprehension, critical thinking, and writing. Moving beyond educational hip-hop songs and videos, this presentation offers insight into effective ways to increase Georgia Milestone Assessment scores in both English language arts and social studies using a variety of hip-hop texts.

Prek–5 Teacher Views Of Professional Development Integrating Common Core Language Arts With Science And Social Studies, Janie Hubbard, Melisa Fowler, Lee Freeman

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Three preK–6 U.S. university methods instructors-researchers (literacy, science, social studies) joined 17 Title I school teachers for collaborative lesson planning and teaching within the preK–5 school setting. Each team’s goal was to create and teach interdisciplinary curriculum units using U.S. English language arts Common Core State Standards with social studies and science. A year-long instrumental case study design was used to examine (a) how teachers perceived collaborative professional development to create interdisciplinary unit plans and (b) how teachers viewed outcomes of teaching interdisciplinary units of their own design. Practice articles regarding Common Core State Standards curricula integration are plentiful; however, …

Arguing About Science: Empowering Students And Developing Issue-Based Pedagogies Through Debate, Cynthia Deaton, Jacquelynn A. Malloy

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation will guide 4th-12th grade educators to engage students in using content area knowledge to solve real-world problems. Using an adaptation of policy debate, learners use facts and evidence gathered through their participation in Science and Engineering Practices to create resolutions to place-based issues that are occurring in their own communities.