Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

What You Should Know (And Probably Don’T) About Teaching Ells, Nicole Sanchez

The Utah English Journal

As an intern teacher at a middle school in Payson, I struggled on a daily basis to juggle all the balls a teacher keeps in the air: trying to come up with engaging lesson plans, differentiated instruction, classroom management, connecting with parents, and so on. In January, just as I was finally getting to a point where I felt somewhat confident, Ana arrived. She had just moved to Utah from Mexico and was a brand new English Language Learner (ELL). Her vocabulary consisted entirely of “hi” and “good.” I was baffled as to what I could do. How could I …

Representations Of Self In Reflection Essays Of Philippine University Students, Isabel Pefianco Martin

English Faculty Publications

In the Philippines, there are few, if any, studies of student compositions that investigate the use of language as an effective, efficient, and creative means of expressing the self. This study is an attempt to contribute to knowledge about student writing in the Philippines. In particular, the study aims to describe the various ways freshman students from a private university in Manila represent themselves in their reflection essays, a writing task required in the core humanities courses of the university. Two sets of compositions, one written in the English language and another in the Filipino language, are analyzed for ways …

Why Are We Doing This? Teaching Literacy Outside Of The English Classroom, Emily Robinson

The Utah English Journal

In assigning class work that involves the written word, I often find myself being presented with the ever-pressing question of middle school students: “Why do we have to do this? This isn’t English class!” And so I must ask myself the same question. Why bother with something that isn’t explicitly stated in the core curriculum for my subject area? As a student at Brigham Young University, more than one professor taught me that every teacher is a literacy teacher. I am now a social studies teacher who loves literacy.

On A Roll: Enticing English Language Learners To Absorb Vocabulary, Eileen Hennessy

The Utah English Journal

It’s true what they say: Teaching is full of surprises. It’s never boring and no day is ever like the previous or the next. Many times in my career I have been astounded by the knowledge that those little second grade brains bring to my Room 25. And, every once in a while, I am astounded for the opposite reason. That was case on this particular day when I was introducing a lesson on multiplemeaning words to my English language learners. Naturally, I wanted them to determine on their own what multiple-meaning words were.

If The Ninja Explores The Cave, Go To Page 8, Rebecca Stasney

The Utah English Journal

In the lowest level of developmental writing at my community college, students really do learn skills from the ground up. Our objectives include covering basic grammatical concepts such as parts of speech, plurals, and subject-verb agreement. We also discuss different elements of writing such as main idea, supporting details, and transition words. Many college students feel resentful for being placed in a class that teaches them skills that are so elementary, and as a result, they are often resistant to class activities and assignments. In my experience, the choose-your-own adventure writing project is a great way to incorporate these learning …

Grammar With Santiagos, Noel Sloboda

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Taking Note, Sadie Rawlinson

The Utah English Journal

“Modeling” is another way of saying “Be a good example”—only you do it with purpose. One of the earliest forms of modeling in my classroom was when I was desperately trying to get my ninth-graders to read during their Teacher Advisory (TA) class on Fridays when we had DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time. I tried everything from threats to bribes to apathy.

Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

The Marine, My Students, And Me, Kim Irvine

The Utah English Journal

My philosophy of education and learning is simple. I believe that all students can learn. I believe that student learning is incumbent upon me, the teacher. I believe that the future of the quality of life for each of my students is directly related to whether or not they learn what I have to teach them. I believe that authentic learning can only occur in an informed, stimulating, and safe environment, and I believe that the creation of that environment is my responsibility.

Sensible Sequencing: Traditional And Popular Texts Sharing Space In The Ela Classroom, Luke Rodseiler

The Utah English Journal

The place for texts from popular culture— viewed here as “everyday culture” (Hagood, Alvermann, & Heron-Hruby, 2010, p. 9)—in the English language arts (ELA) classroom continues to be defined as literacy and English education scholars extol the benefits of incorporating such texts to support student learning (e.g., Beach & O’Brien, 2008; Dyson, 2003; Morrell, 2004, 2009; Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2004, Sánchez, 2010). Despite the potential benefits that the classroom use of texts from popular culture has to offer, such as promoting culturally relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2000), providing greater motivation for students (Morrell, 2004), and tapping into students’ everyday funds of …

Stop The Coughin': Immersing Ell Students Into The Reading Culture, Mariya Ogden

The Utah English Journal

For me, moving to California from St. Petersburg, Russia, was an exciting thrill beyond belief. Everything looked just like in the American movies I watched growing up: the quiet suburbs, pizza delivery, and the smiling public. The schools were colorful, the playgrounds weren’t broken, and the teachers called you by your first name, not your last. Yet, there were certain cultural aspects that clashed with this new American society that I was in. I made friends on the playground, but always felt outside of the loop. For some reason, my clever Russian jokes sounded idiotic and weird when translated to …

A Bloody Lesson, Debbie Davis

The Utah English Journal

I stood at the front of the room as my 9th graders began reading the next segment of Great Expectations aloud. With about 30 minutes left in the period, I had divided the character and narrator roles between students. Students sat huddled over the text; the mood in the classroom was calm and focused—an ideal educational environment. Thank you, Dickens, I thought as I enjoyed this brief period of civilized, even sophisticated, behavior from this high-energy group. “Soon forgotten,” read one student as Miss Havisham. “Moaned Miss Havisham,” read the student serving as narrator. “Times soon forgotten!” read the student …

Cinderella Can Be A Guy!, Kathleen Thompson

The Utah English Journal

In the spring, when a seventh grader’s thoughts turn to summer vacation, my classes embark on a thought-provoking journey into our most engaging term as we study the universality of the folk tale. Students have been prepared since the beginning of the year as I preview this last and favorite study of theirs, variations of Cinderella and mine. “Sometimes Cinderella is a guy with magic boots,” I explain as they giggle. “You’ll see.”

United In Literacy: Narrative Accounts Of Encounters With Young Adult Literature, Mary Rice

The Utah English Journal

The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiences I have had reading, learning, and growing in that apprenticeship with my students and the young adult literature they read. After providing some background on social literacy practices as a basis for the idea that such enriching experiences can occur between teachers and students and that they can be unifying, I will share my stories and the understandings I have developed. Although I have stories of reading young adult literature with many students, I have selected specific narratives featuring boys to preserve the continuity of experience and because the notion …

Black Sheep, Ann Taylor

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Anomaly, Sharon Nauta Steele

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Using A Wiki To Teach College Level Academic Writing, Dawn Moore

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Teaching writing by employing the tools made available by Web 2.0 technology allows students to meet the changing educational requirements for writing with technology. This paper argues that the wiki is a facile tool for teaching academic writing at the college level. It theoretically and pedagogically situates the wiki in a threedimensional rhetorical context. This paper also demonstrates how and why the wiki functions as a collaborative writing tool adhering to a socially constructed view of knowledge. As a constructive hypertext, wikis can be used to teach, clarify, reinforce, and deepen many fundamental writing skills. This paper reviews the body …

Does Introductory Writing Instruction Help Students To Succeed At Montclair State University?, Sean Molloy

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study examines whether Montclair State University (MSU) students who were placed into an introductory writing course between 2005 and 2009 later succeeded as measured by retention rates, academic advancement and available grade data. While available data was limited, retention rates and grade data suggest that most of these students have succeeded so far at MSU. The study also submitted an online survey to former introductory writing course students which asked whether they believe that their experience in that course was an actual contributing cause to their academic success. Survey responses of 68 students confirm that most believe the course …

Preparing Low-Income Middle And Secondary Students To Participate Effectively In Academic Discourse Through Writing, Franc Lacinski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Students from low-income families often perform poorly on formal assessments in language arts. Examining data using the 2008-2009 State of New Jersey Department of Education School Report Cards, a comparison was made between low-income districts and affluent districts in three areas: High School Proficiency Assessment Language Arts Literacy Scores, SAT Verbal Scores and SAT Essay Scores. Students from low-income districts performed significantly lower in these areas than students from the higher income districts and from the average performance rates for the State of New Jersey. This lag in performance affects students’ choices for higher education, for job opportunities, as well …

The Effects Of Coauthoring On Student Writing, Stacey E. Spector

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Teaching student writing can be a very frustrating yet rewarding experience. Because there are so many ways to approach writing instruction and the writing process, there is often a disconnect between teachers’ expectations and students’ performances. A plethora of research has been done on teaching the writing process: peer editing, revising, and other areas of writing instruction. However, not much has been explored in terms of how writing can improve if we ask students to write together.

The goal of having students write together, or coauthor, is to allow them the chance to learn from each other and explore the …

The Effectiveness Of Content-Based Instruction In Literature-Based Esl Reading Classes., Uma Rani A Rethina Velu

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study investigates the effectiveness of CBI in Literature-based ESL Reading Classes in an urban Primary School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The researcher used quantitative method to collect the data, which were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences), version 16. Sixty students were the subjects for this study. The data for this study was gathered via three questionnaires and 3 tests. Findings revealed that the students, who had medium and low proficiency levels in English, had a positive attitude towards the use of CBI in the teaching and learning process in the reading classes. The CBI approach was …

The Wolf Yearling, Jeffrey Alfier

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Words, Ken Solomon

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Spectral, Ann Taylor

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Re-Assessing Persuasive Writing: An Essay-Free Approach, Alyssa Randall

The Utah English Journal

As many of you may be aware, the ninth grade Utah persuasive writing test was changed to the eighth grade year. The state core requirements, however, did not reflect this change, and as many of you probably did, I began thinking of the challenge I faced to fit a persuasive writing unit into my already tight schedule. The more I thought about how to implement this new requirement, the more I thought about the typical persuasive essay that seemed mandated by the test and I cringed. While I believe the five-paragraph essay to be an important writing tool, I did …

At Home With American Literature, Shauna Robertson

The Utah English Journal

In 1822, the American actor, poet, and playwright John Howard Payne wrote a song called “Home! Sweet Home!” It became an instant hit, and its refrain, “[b]e it ever so humble, there's no place like home,” has become etched in our cultural memory. The author L. Frank Baum echoed this sentiment with a twist at the end of his novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Most people are familiar with Dorothy’s chant as she clicks the heels of her ruby slippers together in the 1939 film, but Baum’s literary version is even more powerful. "No matter how dreary and gray …

Terrific Biographies For Teens: Do They Exist?, Amanda Mackay

The Utah English Journal

About the time I began my career as a junior high English teacher, I started reading a lot of biographies. I felt empowered as I read real stories of real people overcoming real obstacles. Recalling my first experience with this genre, I couldn’t help wondering why I didn’t read more of them when I was younger. I realized that I’d rarely seen my students choosing to read biographies either. As a teacher, I became curious about my students’ experiences with biographies. Had my students even read biographies? If so, what did they think of the genre? What would make them …

An Interview With Gary Soto, Mary Rice

The Utah English Journal

Gary Soto is a Mexican-American author and poet from the San Joaquin Valley of California. Soto’s poems are mostly about his daily life and experiences. He was the guest author for the 2009 Utah Council of Teachers of English conference. In the following interview Soto discusses his poetry and himself as a poet.

Helping Students Find That Comfortable Place Within Themselves, Denee Tyler

The Utah English Journal

Just like all English/Language Arts teachers, every August is a new beginning for me. I know I will see room after room of new faces, and my challenge will be to create a class atmosphere where each student will feel accepted, valued, and safe—all while encouraging my students to take risks and grow. It can be a very daunting task, but it is always rewarding. I’ve found that focusing on narrative writing—particularly memoir—during those first few weeks together is the key to building the classroom community I am looking for.

Revisiting Revision: Redefining The Writing Process, Kevin Lemley

The Utah English Journal

If you were to ask one of your students to tell you where to fit revision into the writing process, they would probably tell you it was one of the last steps. “The writing process begins with pre-writing, then drafting, then revising, and last of all proofreading,” they might respond. As teachers, we generally teach some form of this writing process. The problem with this instruction is that students often perceive the writing process as an unflinching standard, a one-way road with a dead end—no U-turns allowed. Revision becomes nothing more than a stop sign, a landmark that must be …