Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Great Lakes Great Books: A New Season, Lynette Marten Suckow

Michigan Reading Journal

Five book reviews from the Great Lakes Great Books list for the 2022-2023 school year.

Using Crossover And Traditional Picturebooks To Discuss Emotions, William P. Bintz, Shabnam Moini Chaghervand

Michigan Reading Journal

This article describes how literature, particularly crossover picturebooks, can be used to provide teachers and their students with a helpful perspective on the complex nature of problems, especially human problems with physical and mental health. We begin with an example of a picturebook that provides a unique perspective on the value of problems; namely, problems as unexpected gifts that can promote understanding, the first step in wellness. Next, we introduce crossover literature as an innovative genre for better understanding complex and controversial problems. Then, we share specific examples of crossover picturebooks, along with research-based instructional strategies, that teachers can use …

Taking Up The Work: Snapshots Of Disciplinary Literacy Instruction, Part I, Laura Gabrion, Jenelle Williams

Michigan Reading Journal

This article is part of a series devoted to unpacking disciplinary literacy instructional practices for educators at all levels. Here, we explore the role of disciplinary literacy instruction at all levels, in light of recent changes to Michigan's teacher certification grade bands. This article provides suggestions for getting started with addressing disciplinary literacy in instruction, as well as practical examples of what this might look like within English Language Arts classrooms.

Enacting Disciplinary Literacy Instruction: Essential Practices In Action, Darin B. Stockdill, Stacie B. Woodward

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In this paper, we will explore elements of the Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy: Grades 6-12 , a statewide initiative in Michigan designed to support exactly this kind of teaching. In particular, we will discuss key instructional implications of the Essential Practices for both social studies and ELA instruction and highlight important commonalities and distinctions across these two content areas. We provide concrete examples of these practices in action as we share activities and reflections from a curricular project we undertook with US History and ELA teachers called Equitable Futures. In this initiative, teachers engaged their students in inquiry-driven …

Literacy As A Civil Right In The Past, Present And Future: Disciplinary Literacies As An Act Of Advocacy, Liberation, And Community-Building, Rosalyn Shahid Ph.D, Melissa A. Brooks-Yip

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary Classroom were presented to the educational community in 2016; in this article, we look back at history and ahead to classroom instruction to present the evolution of the purpose and practices of disciplinary literacies. By examining literacy as a civil right throughout history and the creation of the Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy, a path is revealed for educators to collaborate, differentiate professional learning, and implement classroom practices to engage students with content knowledge to foster real and relevant literacies for life.

Journeying Toward Liberation: Creating Civic Utopias Through Restorative Literacies, Rae L. Oviatt, Megan Mcelwee, Owen Farney

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In this article, we forward three narratives from educators whose lived experiences moving from underrepresented youth to queer educators support the necessity of furthering representation for historically marginalized youth across classroom spaces. We begin with situating our argument in response to current policies that would seek to silence historically marginalized voices, histories, literacies, and thereby inhibit a more just social and civic future. Our narratives provide three varied perspectives of lived experiences as youth moving toward our current status as queer educators. Finally, we seek to call in other educators to engage advocacy and resources to support this work in …

The Impact Of Learner & Instructor Expectations On L2 Online Motivation, Sara Kate Simon

Masters Theses

Post-pandemic L2 learning is a landscape of new challenges and opportunities for language learning. One of these challenges is maintaining learner motivation in an online environment. Motivation plays a crucial role in L2 learning success, which requires educators to better understand how to support learner motivation, a focus that had not yet been widely researched for the online environment. This study begins to address this gap in research by examining the relationship between learner and instructor perspectives in online L2 classrooms and learner motivation. Using a survey instrument to measure learner perceptions of four variables; class design, teacher presence, and …

Great Lakes Great Books Go Graphic, Lynette Marten Suckow

Michigan Reading Journal

Reviews of grade level graphic novels and illustrated books that rely on the use of picture and text together for effective storytelling.

Teacher Of Literature And Literacy: Rethinking Secondary English Language Arts, Jenelle Williams, Laura Gabrion

Michigan Reading Journal

This article aims to explore the complexity of instruction in secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classes, addressing the role of teacher identity, educator preparation programs, equity and access, and the role of the Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary Classroom. We suggest that there is a possibility to attend to both teaching literature and literacy within middle- and high-school ELA classrooms and provide a vision for working toward this balance.

Power Of Yet: The Integration Of The Culturally Responsive Literature With The Productive Struggle In Mathematics, Kathleen Crawford-Mckinney, Asli Ozgun-Koca, Kristy Rebar

Michigan Reading Journal

We used a children's book with three groups of students (ages 6-9) to foster mathematical engagement through read alouds. We will share lessons learned from this experience as we integrate children’s literature with mathematics through the lens of Power of Yet.

Free To Read: Growing Elementary Students' Literacy In The Summer, Allison M. Nieboer

Michigan Reading Journal

This article describes the implementation of “Free to Read”, a summer reading program with three key components: free student-selected books, Little Free Libraries and one-minute parent videos. The author explains how these three components come together to form a summer reading program that provides access and choice to a community of readers. Recommendations on creating such a program are shared at the end of the article.

Writing As A Vessel For Thinking: Incorporating Self-Regulation, Metacognition, And Formative Assessment In The Middle School Ela Classroom, Alyssha N. Ginzel

Michigan Reading Journal

This article examines three approaches to teaching writing: self-regulated instruction (Graham, 2018; Graham, 2020; Graham & Perin, 2007), metacognitive strategies (Hacker, 2018; Madison et al., 2019), and formative assessment (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Fleischer, 2013; Madison et al., 2019). Implementing these approaches, secondary ELA teachers can strike a balance between order and chaos while empowering adolescents to recognize, develop, and take ownership of their thinking and writing. Writing can and should be about grappling with big ideas that ultimately help us come to deeper, fuller understandings of ourselves and the world. This article explores how secondary ELA teachers can help …

The Stance, The Text, And The Talk: Three Components Of A Critical Race-Oriented Interactive Read Aloud, Rebecca Witte

Michigan Reading Journal

The flexible structure of an interactive read aloud (IRA) provides a platform to address issues of race for those educators who have the desire, but may not know how or where to start. Using a visual of a three circle diagram, the paper illustrates the importance of aligning a critical racial stance, the text, and the talk together to maximize student learning. One text, Can I Touch Your Hair? (Latham & Waters, 2019) is highlighted as a model to show the possible convergence of the three components. In addition, the author notes the importance of reflexivity and provides suggestions on …

Socially Just Literacy Teaching Within Virtual Spaces: Using Woods’ Model For Evaluating Practice, Elizabeth Isidro, Laura Teichert

Michigan Reading Journal

This study inquires into pre-service teachers’ teaching experiences within a virtual tutoring practicum in a literacy methods course. Using Woods’ (2018) model of Socially Just Literacy Pedagogy, we approach the research question: What are undergraduate pre-service teachers’ experiences in virtual tutoring that align with socially just literacy teaching? Drawing from interviews, we engaged in Narrative Inquiry as a way to highlight participants’ experiences while providing us rich contextual, temporal, and social understandings of their experiences that move towards socially just literacy teaching. Our findings suggest socially just literacy teaching practices along the dimensions of knowledge and skills in literacy pedagogy, …

Feedback To Feed Forward: Creating Formative Feedback To Improve Student Writing, Adam R. Huttenga

Masters Projects

Feedback to students has been highlighted in the literature as an area where improvements are needed. Students need high quality, specific, usable, and timely feedback. They also need guidance and tools to help them engage with, reflect on, and learn from that feedback in order to close the gap between their writing and the expected standards. In order to help students improve their writing, teachers must develop written feedback that is formative and feeds forward into future writing assignments. This project explores how effective formative feedback can be achieved within a social constructivist theoretical approach to learning, in which an …

Supporting English Language Learners: Preparing Content Area Teachers To Promote Academic Achievement Among Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Learner Populations., Molly K. Roesler

Masters Projects

Teachers throughout the United States continue to be ill-prepared to support the evergrowing English Language Learner (ELL) population. ELLs often experience less academic achievement than their non-ELL peers. One factor in this academic gap is the amount of preparation content area teachers receive. Content area teachers are not sufficiently prepared to teach ELLs because of the lack of training they receive in Second Language Acquisition theories and strategies. This project examines what the research has identified as negative factors that result in lack of teacher preparation, and how to address these factors. Additionally, the project examines what the research highlights …

Increasing Academic Achievement Through Reading Motivation And Strong Family Partnerships, Megan Hubbard

Masters Projects

Research has shown that reading motivation has a significant impact on the academic achievement of students in elementary school and beyond. This project explores the importance of reading motivation and the factors that influence it in elementary aged students. Students need access, choice, and challenge in their reading materials to be engaged and experience success in reading, which in turn leads to increased motivation. Additionally, families play a major role in influencing a student’s reading experiences. Consequently, family literacy is a key aspect that impacts student motivation. Educators must utilize students’ families by creating on-going, strong partnerships that celebrate literacy …

Understanding Dyslexia As A Neurological Learning Disability: A Plan For An Instructive Website For Parents And Early Elementary Teachers, Rasma M. Gertners

Masters Projects

The learning disability known as “dyslexia” is often misunderstood by parents and educators. Dyslexia is a life-long, neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a deficit in phonological awareness and processing. Its likely causes are genetic as well as environmental. Other conditions known to co-occur with dyslexia are Speech and Language Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, memory problems, and others. In order for children with dyslexia to reach their highest reading potential, the disorder must be remediated before age seven or eight using intensive, explicit reading interventions. Teachers and other education professionals, using prescribed screening instruments, can identify phonological awareness …

Teachers Leading Teachers: An Approach To Content-Area Literacy Instruction To Address Inequitable Education, Leah Metivier-Kearney

Masters Projects

The current state of education establishes the norm of consistent literacy intervention in elementary education and through specialized accommodations thereafter; unfortunately, many students reach secondary levels without the literacy skills necessary to be successful in their classes and beyond into adulthood. The task of managing this gap is overwhelming, and it stems from various economic, racial, and situational variables that schools cannot address entirely. Instead, teachers may make the choice to improve the equity within their immediate environments by prioritizing equity through direct literacy instruction, consequently providing opportunities for these students to attain those necessary skills for lifelong success.

The …

Great Lake Great Books Adapting To Change, Lynette Marten Suckow

Michigan Reading Journal

Things change quickly in a global pandemic. Books can remind us that the world is always changing and we have the resilience to adapt to those changes.

Using A Ternion Of Michigan’S Resources To Support A Symbiotic Family/School Partnership, Darreth R. Rice

Michigan Reading Journal

The author used three recent policy related resources (Literacy Essential #10, MiFamily Framework, and Read at Home and parent workshops through Read By Grade Three) in Michigan to connect scholarly literature to classroom practice. In this article, the author provides suggestions for using these resources to foster a solid partnership between teachers and families.

Lift Every (Student) Voice With The Essential Instructional Practices For Disciplinary Literacy, Jenelle Williams, Laura Gabrion

Michigan Reading Journal

In this article, the authors make the case for re-engaging students in learning during the 2021-2022 school year by prioritizing social emotional learning and whole child principles, along with student voice and discourse. The Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary Classroom: Grades 6 to 12 are one tool to define instructional practices that align to these efforts.

Building Bridges: Culturally Relevant Teaching With Literature Circles And Multicultural Literature, Amber Lawson

Michigan Reading Journal

In this article, the author suggests that teachers can create culturally relevant learning experiences by creating a diverse classroom library, using culturally diverse literature for their read-alouds, and adding literature circles as a routine for literacy instruction. Literature circles around diverse books offer students opportunities to discuss texts and expand their meaning-making and comprehension skills. The article provides readers with a guide, resources, and education research in doing so effectively to support culturally diverse learners’ literacy development through meaningful and authentic approaches.

Missing Pieces And Voices: Steps For Teachers To Engage In Science Of Reading Policy And Practice, Kathleen S. Howe, Teddy D. Roop

Michigan Reading Journal

The current wave of dyslexia legislation backed by the science of reading is the latest literacy policy added to a decades-long list. Teachers, whose voices were largely excluded, are key stakeholders in any literacy policy initiative and are well-suited to inform policymakers about the complexities of teaching readers who struggle, including those diagnosed with dyslexia. This article previews the implications of legislation that narrowly focuses on “science” and disregards unique individual reader profiles. This article encourages teachers to get involved with policy that impacts their practices and provides suggestions to ensure their voices are included in this and future initiatives.

Bounding Our Liberation Together: Toward Pedagogies Of Coalitional Liberation, Rae L. Oviatt, Stephanie F. Reid

Michigan Reading Journal

This article draws on the long history of movement building, culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies, and abolitionist solidarity in presenting a way to bridge ELA standards and humanizing curriculum. The authors’ present their vision of pedagogies for coalitional liberation through five actionable and manageable tenets of practice. These tenets have been formulated to guide teachers in designing their own units or lessons. Each tenet is described in detail and accompanied by classroom examples from a critical qualitative research inquiry that foregrounds one pre-service teacher’s intentional curriculum co-design. The examples show how teachers can move with their students moving from theory …

Expanding Vocabulary With Children's Books, Sara J. Churchill, Kathleen Everts Danielson

Michigan Reading Journal

This article will briefly examine why it is important to explicitly teach vocabulary and review some of the best practices in vocabulary instruction, including three prominent strategies for teaching vocabulary: read alouds, developing word consciousness, and interactive activities. Following that is an annotated bibliography of children’s picture books that highlights selections that are useful for teaching vocabulary. Summaries of the texts and instructional suggestions are provided.

English-For-Teaching In Higher Education: Discourse Functions And Language Exemplars, Eun-Young Julia Kim

MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL

Increasingly more colleges and universities in non-English speaking countries are requiring instructors to teach in English. Although existing research addresses various issues related to using English as a medium of instruction in higher education, few studies have specifically addressed how to provide language scaffolding to college instructors who are asked to teach their subjects in English for the first time. The study builds on Freeman et al.’s (2015) discourse functions for English-for-teaching and presents a refined functional framework to suit college-level classes. It provides authentic language samples to help instructors prepare to teach in English based on the analysis of …

A Teacher's Guide To Vocabulary Development Across The Day, Annie P. Spear

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.

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.

Grey Clouds And Silver Linings: Professional Learning For Secondary Educators During Covid-19, Jenelle Williams

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.